Levi doesn’t know why he agreed to this. He doesn’t know why he suggested this. This whole vigilante justice thing was a terrible plan. He’s been walking for hours and they haven’t found anything.
And by hours he means about half an hour but he’s lazy, alright? Half an hour is a long time to wander around aimlessly. Shep might have an idea of what he’s doing or might not, and Levi’s too afraid to ask because he doesn’t know what he’ll do if Shep does not.
“Somewhere around here…”
Oh, good. They’ve finally found something. And by good he means terrible because neither of them can use magic properly at all and if they find a demon that’s even remotely powerful they’re just going to die immediately.
They probably won’t. But if they do-
“Levi. This way.”
-they’re fucked.
Levi follows Shep along darkened alleyways, each alleyway becoming darkened-er as they run deeper in. Even if there’s no demon here, there’s still a chance they’ll get murdered because of how dodgy this place looks.
What joy. To die at the hands of a stranger because you took a wrong turn while pretending to be Batman.
This was a mistake. This is a mistake. This whole thing- everything is a mistake. Levi should have abused his powers when he had them to destroy all of humanity because now that he doesn’t have his powers he can’t. He can’t achieve sweet mercy from the pain that he once called life.
...it’s been a rough night.
Eventually, Shep finds a demon. A proper demon, kind of. At least it’s not a rat this time. Then again, it’s not exactly a proper humanoid demon but it’s getting there. It’s kind of E.T. shaped and long and spindly and wearing a hat of some kind.
It opens its mouth and sputters some indecipherable garbage.
“M…milady…”
Is it wearing a fedora? Christ.
“And…t…hen….what…?”
With every consonant it speaks, specks of grime fly out of its mouth and dribble onto the ground.
Shep stands still, breathes in deep, and a light begins to glow from his palm. It starts off small, then grows in his hand until it almost resembles some kind of sword. Maybe not as well-defined and physical as a sword but the general shape is there.
Shep lifts it above the E.T. thing and Levi takes a step back. Just in case Shep unlocks some secret demon-killing abilities.
Shep brings it down and the demon doesn’t even have time to be cut in half before the light evaporates it. All that’s left of whatever this demon used to be is a small green puddle.
“There’s still another demon around here. A stronger one. I can feel it.”
God damn it, Levi knew that the first time round was too easy. Of course there’s another one.
Unless it’s just him. He shouldn’t be recognisable as a demon yet, but maybe…
“This way,” says Shep.
Oh, no, never mind. He’s safe another day.
They weave through more alleyways and they’re never going to find their way out of here if they live but Levi follows Shep anyway. He isn’t really sure why, at this point. Momentum. Some twisted kind of trust. Friendship. Whatever it is, he’s following Shep even if it means he might die.
They turn the corner and Shep points his sword at something. It’s another small, green extraterrestrial neckbeard.
It lets out a sad attempt at a roar that comes out high pitched, and Shep edges closer with his sword.
He should say something sarcastic. Wow, what a powerful demon. What an enemy. We’re never going to beat this thing-
Before he can say anything, the demon’s face contorts with rage and its body expands. It grows bigger and taller and the next time it roars, it isn’t whatever pathetic mewl it made earlier, it’s loud and deep and grating.
It smashes a fist against the ground, splintering the pavement around it.
Shep jumps backward, swearing under his breath as the demon takes another swing. “How the-“ He narrowly misses another shot from the demon and runs to Levi. “Okay, shit, I wasn’t expecting this. Is there any magic you know that will help?”
“A bit?” Levi says. He knows a lot of magic. He just can’t use it.
“Oh God, you’re going to have to help me here.”
This is part of the whole teamwork deal that Levi never really expected he’d have to hold up. Putting himself on the front line for the sake of vigilante justice.
Well, fuck it, the worst that can happen is he’ll die and what’s another twenty years to a three thousand year old anyway? He’s gotta do it. Levi grabs a piece of shattered pavement – god, this is heavy, he’s so weak – and throws it at the demon. It doesn’t go very fast because he’s a weakling but that demon isn’t particularly solid and it roars again as the concrete sinks into its body. Green blood spatters across the walls before Shep jumps in and stabs it with his sword.
It gives an ear-piercing screech and Levi almost feels bad until it pulls Shep off and flings him to the ground. Cracked concrete digs into his skin but he doesn’t make a noise.
Fuck.
“Shep-“
“I’m...” Shep grits his teeth and pushes himself to his feet. “Fine.” The sword in his hand flickers, but Shep grips it harder and walks toward the demon again, breathing slowly.
He’s clearly not fine, he’s bleeding and in pain and any normal person wouldn’t get up from that, but this is Shep, he’s persistent as Hell, he’s an angel, he’s been trained-
He’s probably felt this hundreds of times before. After all, they wouldn’t let you be a guardian angel without being able to fight, and without magic in any fight you’d probably take a lot of hits like this.
Right. Shep might not be able to use magic, but he’s capable. He’s still alive, for now, and he’s standing.
They have to kill this thing before it fucks up anyone else.
It raises another arm to swing at Shep and oh fuck it’s coming for Levi and it’s too late for him to move and this is gonna hurt-
Shep jumps in front of Levi, slicing the demon’s limb with his sword but also taking another hit full-force. He’s thrown onto the ground. His sword falls from his hand and disappears.
Shep can’t fight like this. He’s getting the shit beaten out of him, and Levi can’t just sit back and watch while Shep gets more and more injured. Levi’s going to have to do it himself.
“Shep, stay there.”
“No, Levi, wait, I can-“ Shep staggers forward. His arms are scratched up and he’s bleeding, but he’s still trying to stand and fight.
“Stay fucking still, Shep.” He doesn’t care how much of an asshole he sounds like. Levi’s not letting Shep lose any more blood and he’s definitely not letting Shep back in the line of fire.
It looks dangerous, it feels dangerous but Levi is pretty sure the demon’s worked out what’s up because Levi is pissed and there’s a fire burning along his arm again. Just like the time that other demon ruined his jeans.
Levi’s glare is fixated on the demon as he walks slowly forward. The demon’s body bubbles more and more the closer Levi gets.
Levi grabs the demon, he doesn’t know what part of it he’s grabbing but he grabs it and pulls it to him and he burns it. Fire surrounds him and his body and then it surrounds the demon as well and the angrier Levi gets about this whole thing the hotter the flames get.
Why him? Why Shep? Shep doesn’t deserve this, Shep doesn’t deserve any of this. He’s doing his best. It just so happens that he ended up with Levi who is constantly targeted by demons. Shep would have been better off with anyone else but he just happened to be assigned the guardian angel of Levi The King Of Hell.
He’s way out of his depth here.
There’s nothing Levi can do to fix it except make sure Shep gets home safe.
He ramps up the heat and the demon begins to evaporate. It’s given up on roaring, Levi isn’t sure it can even feel any pain because really he’s boiling it to death you’d think it would make some kind of pained noise. Instead it just shrinks as Levi wraps his flames tighter around its body.
“Levi?”
Levi relaxes his fists. He hadn’t realised how tight he’d been holding them, or that he’d still been clenching them even afterward.
The demon has completely disappeared. Shep’s limped over to Levi and now he’s seen Levi using magic and boy he’s going to have some explaining to do.
Everything feels wrong. Horrible, actually. He hasn’t used magic like that in a while, and not in this particular lifetime and he feels lightheaded. He doesn’t like this.
Levi takes a step back to balance himself.
....Yeah, that’s not going to work.
“Are you-“
Shep rushes forward just in time for Levi to collapse in his arms.
Comments
Post a Comment