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[center] Time: Some time after the fight between Cade and Samad vs Angel. 
 Location: Void [/center]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/eiPi3ur.png[/img][/center]

[center][img]https://imgur.com/eW3DkFq.png[/img][/center]

Before the next match started Cade and Samad had already been placed in the fishtanks with numerous support staff surrounding the duo. A specialized division had already been called to perform alchemic healing on the Iranian and the Medic. Their bodies as well as their alchemic drives seemed to be in a critical state meanwhile a custom built ‘fishtank’ had been brought in for the Lost Number, the primary difference being that it had no anesthetics and as such you would not be forced to lose consciousness. 

[i]“Such a handful these young alchemists, the whole lot of em…”[/i] Angel mused as the green liquid filled the tank and covered him entirely, his chest heaving steadily while breathing through the sinister looking oxygen device planted on his face. [i]Might as well give those two a chance to sort somethings out, could be amusing…[/i] The Lost Number contemplated, a smirk spreading across his face over the devious ideas formulating. 

[i]I walk the void and you walk with me,[/i] the Silver Reaper mumbled, his gaze settled on the air bubbles surfacing the tank, watching them slowing and then stillness, stillness all around and then a shrill disturbance bombarded Angel before the world shattered around him

[b]Angel, Re…. we……. help…..link…...hurt….reconnect…[/b] 

“What?” Angel thought suddenly, just realizing that both his palms were pressed to his ears. “That was….unusual….a side effect of the alchemic poisoning perhaps?” The Reaper thought to himself, his intrigue eventually fading away as soon as Cade and Samad’s consciousness materialized in this word, their bodies representing how they view themselves as well as the state of their mind. 

Angel was dressed as he was before when in the void, dressed in a fine black suit with a red waistcoat, his hair far neater and longer, almost below his shoulders. He wore no glasses but both his eye sockets were shrouded in swirling pools of darkness. “And how are you lads?” With that questions the blank white world around them suddenly shifted and warped until the three were standing in a massive, victorian inspired gothic library. Gargoyles rested on massive pillars with isles of endless bookshelves next to them and the only source of light, a pleasant glow from countless candles spread around. 

Cade was the first to appear. 

The blonde asylum’s thin legs straightened then found a wobbly balance. Quickly his arms and electrical wings spread out to assist, easing him away from performing a face plant into the floor. His appearance seemed unchanged, but the aura felt stronger. A sense of awareness and budding confidence surged through his veins to spread into it. 

Before Cade could fully absorbed what was happening, his ears caught Angel’s comment. His eyes, sparking slightly with electric blue, blinked in confusion. 

[color=7CCD7C] “Please tell me you’re not here to finish the job you started…”[/color]

Angel did not look amused, if this was a joke, instead he observed Cade with a rather weary and blank expression. “There would be far easier ways to kill someone Medic, you should know that. And I take offense that you assumed I would attempt such a thing when I was obviously giving you two some enlightenment in regarding to the slump you both are in.” As the Lost Number spoke he summoned a throne like chair which materialized out of thin air. This endeavour had taken much out of him, which was quite peculiar and even more so was the strain his mind was facing, he found it hard to focus as if his sight was constantly switching to his peripheral. 

“I had assumed our little sparring would have had an impact on both your psyche and I see yours has improved considerably, though your partner…..” Angel tapped his temple as his hollow gaze found the Iranian. 

Cade had been about to point out there was far better ways to improve an individual’s psyche than trying to kill them both. His words caught in his throat as his attention turned with Angel’s gaze. He finally found his partner’s figure sitting in the corner. Samad’s face had a skull-like appearance in the candlelight, his eyes glazed over and his attention ignoring the conversation between the pair. 

The medic’s heart sank at seeing the new appearance his partner had taken. It looked like all will to fight and life had evaporated from his spirit, killing him slowly. 

No coaxing was needed when he moved from Angel toward Samad. Gently his fingers pressed to the Iranian’s neck, searching for the pulse for several moments. It was faintly beating and appeared to rest into an irregular beat. Samad didn’t acknowledge his exist at the gesture. 

Immediately Cade turned on heel to ask Angel where his medical bag was before his foot smacked something heavy. His head turned downward, blinking in surprise. His bag was sitting near his foot. Not bothering to question this world’s logic, he bent down and snatched it up. Gradually his hand rummaged through it for something to check Samad’s blood pressure. A cuff attached to a hand pump emerged then shortly was about to be applied. As if noticing him for the first time, Samad’s head snapped into his direction then growled. 

[b][color=DEBA5E] “Leave me alone…”[/color][/b] 

Cade just frowned, [color=7CCD7C] “Are you really going to do this all over again?”[/color] 

“How utterly dull,” Angel bemoaned, his tone regaining its tauntingly imperious touch. His fingers continued to tap the side of his temple in a rhythmic pattern. 

[center][i]Tap, tap, stop. Tap, tap, stop. Tap, tap, stop.[/i][/center]

His hollow, blackened gaze switching from Cade to Samad and often simply staring past them and then returning back to them with a slight shake of the head. [i]Something is a miss….what is it….it’s in the corner of my eye….I just can’t catch it…[/i] Angel mused silently while observing the Medic and the Iranian with the silent tune of his tapping. 

“As I said before, there are easier ways to die,” Angel finally interrupted the two Asylums, his blackened eyes resting atop the fool of the two. “A time comes when a choice is needed, live. And to live it to suffer. Or die. And to die is to fail. You are in a merciless bog, decide, clutch to frail branches and flail in hopes to survive or descend and suffocate for eternity.” 

Cade shot a glare at Angel. He honestly didn’t expect it to affect the Lost Number in the least, but doing so made him feel better at least. 

Samad didn’t seem to care what Angel thought. Not even the tapping seemed to grate on the Iranian’s nerves while Samad continued to stare off into space. His hand folded under his chin and eyes unable to make contact with either of them. 

[color=7CCD7C] “I like to think life is a bit more complicated than merely clutching to frail branches and flailing about,”[/color] Cade commented. 

He had hoped to draw Samad to him and tap into the broken link between them, seeking answers to his questions. Naturally he hit a mental wall. His wings flickered in intensity to reflect his annoyance.  

[color=7CCD7C] “I don’t know what happened to your old partner, but you can’t just give up. This isn’t just your choice anymore. It’s ours. The sooner you realize that, the better it is… I’m not ready to just give up yet,”[/color] Cade stepped back as electrical energy surged along his back, shoulders and arms,[color=7CCD7C] “Now, get up and let us get out of here.”[/color]

“Not to interrupt such a fine and valiant moment but there maybe a slight hindrance,” the Lost Number spoke casually as he finally ceased tapping his temple. Things finally made a bit of sense. The mind numbing headache, his lack of focus, the ever so subtle distortions and those sounds, the pull. 

[color=7CCD7C] “What do you mean? You brought us into this… now you can’t simply dissipate it?”[/color] 

“Not per say, I can most certainly leave. The architect always has a single key….in most cases the key isn’t required, the mind is calm enough to phase through the void. Though it seems everything is fractured, the void is quite literally splintered and it seems you all are tethered.” Angel drew a sigh, his fingers clutching the bridge of his nose as if explaining the intricacies to the void was quite the chore. “Following?” 

Cade turned from Samad to Angel, his lips tightened into a deeper frown and his expression souring quickly. Samad’s issues were enough, but now he had to deal with Angel’s inability to release them. His electrical energy instantly fizzed out as his right hand pinched his nose bridge in frustration. The left hand supported his right elbow while he forced himself to calm down. 

[color=7CCD7C] “I’ve never said this to anyone until now. You and your partner attracts trouble like magnets. Whatever can go wrong, will in your presence,”[/color] Cade’s eyes opened after briefly closing. 

His head glanced back at Samad still indifferent to the rising trouble. He turned back to Angel with a sharp reply,[color=7CCD7C] “Being the designer of this place, you can go any time. Your ‘guests’- Samad and I- have no such luxury right now.”[/color] 

He paused to breath then continued,[color=7CCD7C] “Someone or thing has broken your design, which has us stuck here. Is that the bare bones of it?”[/color]   

“In a highly crude and simpleton manner, I suppose. It’s not just you and Samad, but we need not dwell on that.” Angel casually brushed any further questions on the matter and moved on. “My designs are flawless boy, all your survival is a testament to that. And it is true my ‘guests’ cannot eject from the Void, I nudge them out. As I mentioned you are all tethered and that may have arisen from the fracture in the void but have no doubts, each of you is unwilling to leave.”

[color=7CCD7C] “If I wasn’t willing to leave, I wouldn’t be asking Samad to get up and leave with me….,”[/color] Cade’s arms crossed over his middle. 

“It is not up to your conscious mind boy. It is normal for the subconscious to be latched to fears and regrets. All it took was a minute distortion and it tethered you all.” Angel shook his head almost as if disappointed, his gaze once more losing focus and then returning. 

[color=7CCD7C] “Yes, just like a ‘pain’ can be physically manifested when a patient thinks they are hurt. However, wouldn’t that reflect on our psyche manifestations in the Void?”[/color] Cade pointed out, noting his appeared better rather than worse. 

Angel simply pointed towards the Medic, his hollow gaze now fixed on the roof. “That is your conscious manifestation. It is true that any influential impact outside the void will show changes, it is how you view yourself. You who have always struggled with your own self worth, upon witnessing it, you changed. The Iranian saw his failure, his ineptitude, he saw the reality that he is a corpse decaying. All of that is almost gentle compared to your ‘Red Doors’.” As the Reaper spoke his tone had taken an almost somber tone, the subject matter was not one which even he would jest over. “It is your shame, it is your regrets, it is your fear, a tether to the Void and a stain to the soul….do you understand boy?”

[color=7CCD7C] “Calling me boy isn’t helping, but yes… I think I understand on a crude level,”[/color] Cade replied. 

“A thousand years and you cannot comprehend the sheer magnitude of it, that is why you... are...a boy. But it is refreshing to see an infant grow. You have yet to grasp your potential, to know what the experiment is, to know your contribution, the sacrifice. We are indeed the harbingers of misfortune, the little one and I, and yet the debt that is owed is always forgotten. How trivial it would be to let it all collapse.” At this point Angel didn’t seem to be addressing the duo, it almost seemed as if he were talking to his own reflection. “How tiring it is, how exhausting. It would be a simple matter to leave now, to not face what will come...all it takes is a word and the rest is ash. Do it….” 

Before Angel could continue his focus realigned on the duo in front of him. The Lost Number’s appearance had changed, a slight wither in everything. The fabric, the hair, the posture. “This will be good for the two of you. You both need to face the things holding you back and I believe it is something that will certainly assist the Iranian in forging his way forward, yes?” 

Cade’s gut feeling stirred into the bottom of his stomach. It churned and thickened, becoming a heavy weight that settled there. If he could see his insides, he was sure they were twisted in many knots. 

[color=7CCD7C] “By your philosophy, it might… if we could survive it.”[/color] Cade simply confirmed, but not officially answering with a yes or no. 

He was cautious over Angel’s abrupt change in appearance. Unsure what it was reflected as the consciousness appeared to have changed drastically in an unpleasant way. He couldn’t control his right angelic wing extending slightly and curved around his side, shielding him almost from what was about to come.  

“I am sure you both will. You are young, there are far...far greater regrets and fears than what you may ever know. Seek solace that there are souls out there more damned then you will ever be.” With that Angel finally lifted himself of his throne which suddenly turned to dust, his body toiling to stand against a wall. “How easy it would have been….” with a slight chuckle the Lost Number vanished, his body phasing through the wall causing a ripple to travel across the world the Lost Number had created.