ARCHANGEL || A Michael Jackson Fanfiction ||

3. The Trespasser

Michael passed through the Veil.

Though he was in a hurry, he paused to admire its loveliness, a beauty no human description could fully capture. He supposed, though, that to the eyes of a human, the Veil might resemble a sparkling waterfall whose waters had been stilled in time and space. Well, not completely stilled, he thought. The Veil seemed to breathe, gently swashing and rippling like a lake of silver.

The Veil was a tear in the natural universe, and now, it was the only entrance to the supernatural realm.

There used to be many like it, but the Divine sealed all but this one after that fateful day, the day that filled the heavens with chaos and changed the world forever.

Michael shook the tragic thought from his mind and refocused on his task. Someone was still calling him, more strongly now than in Elijah's hospital room. I hope there hasn't been a problem, he thought as he stretched his wings and took flight, setting his gaze on the path toward home.

He soared with incredible speed, and far below him, the Road to Heaven whizzed by. It glowed bright like lightning, dazzling and wondrous. He was grateful for his wings then, for it was a long walk for those who could not fly, and the road was always crowded with people – the souls of deceased humans arriving at their eternal home.

Hundreds of humans were on the road now, and when Michael's great shadow passed over them, they looked up in wonder, gasping and pointing. One of them, an old man, gazed up at him in reverent astonishment and wiped a tear from his eye. Another, a little girl, jumped up and down excitedly, whooping and hollering as the gust from the Archangel's wings sent her clothes and hair billowing.

Michael smiled down at them and waved.

Soon, the gates of paradise came into view. Heaven's walls stood tall, shimmering gold, reflecting the ethereal glow of the heavens. They were new – the archangels built them the same day the Divine sealed all but one of the Veils – and Michael despised them. To him, the gates were exclusive and restricting, and the walls were a bizarre, worldly feature of the otherwise natural landscape of his home.

But they were necessary.

Michael landed and approached the gate, which was, technically, more like a forcefield in disguise. Only non-threatening beings could pass through, and any creature wishing harm on heaven or its inhabitants were repelled immediately.

Michael passed through them.

On the other side, he stopped and admired the vast green expanse of heaven, its trees and glorious flowers, its singing streams. He tilted his face skyward, closed his eyes, and breathed the crisp air into his lungs. He exhaled slowly, grinned, and opened his eyes. This place, his beloved home, was worth protecting. If the gate and its walls were not there, who knows what sort of vile beast would get in? Michael thought. Lucifer certainly would, or at least one of his hideous, mangy pet demons.

A black, leather-skinned creature the size of a horse barreled past him.

Unamused, Michael sighed. "Ah, yes, a demon just like that one."

Whoosh.

Four armored archangels soared past Michael, chasing the beast at their highest speeds.

"Get it!" shouted Gabriel, the divine messenger. His blue eyes gleamed with adventure, but he could not ignore the way his stomach turned as he watched the bounding demon.

"Faster!" demanded Uriel, the angel of justice. He led the flock, keeping his amber gaze glued to the target.

"It's getting away!" hollered Cassiel, the angel of tears. She got the awful feeling something was different about this demon, and she looked to the others with concern.

"We won't let it," said Raphaela, the angel of life. But her confident reassurance did not match her troubled face.

The angels hollered to one another, but on the ground, Michael gritted his teeth and roared above them all. "How did that thing get in?!"

At the sound of the familiar voice, Gabriel halted and hovered. He looked down at Michael and flashed his friend a welcoming smile, but when he saw the anger ablaze in Michael's eyes, his expression turned nervous and desperate.

"A little help here?" Gabriel asked.

Michael took off before he could finish asking and joined the pursuit. He glided beside Gabriel. "How could it have gotten in?" Michael asked.

"We don't know," Gabriel admitted, shaking his head. "It just showed up, and we've had a hell of a time trying to catch it."  Gabriel smirked and elbowed Michael.  "Heh heh, get it?  A hell of a -"

"Yes, I get it, Gabe," Michael said, unimpressed.  "Now be quiet and focus on taking the thing down."

Gabriel almost winced at his friend's unusual moodiness. "Right," he said, frowning.  "How you propose we do that?"

"Cover me while I take care of it," Michael said. He moved to grab his sword, but his fingers grasped nothing but air. He remembered Elijah then, and the realization sunk like a rock in his gut.

Gabriel noticed Michael's empty sheath and stared at him in alarm. "Where is your sword?" he shouted, his voice chopped and smothered by the whipping wind.

"Don't worry," Michael replied. "I won't need it." He glided ahead, passing his fellow angels with ease until he was directly above the galloping demon, a creature with the wings of a bat, the eyes of a spider, the fangs of a saber tooth tiger, the claws of an eagle, and a body unlike any creature Michael had ever seen, like a half-man, half-dog.

"Once I stop it, surround it.  Don't let it bolt," Michael commanded.  His comrades nodded.

Undaunted, Michael dived to the ground and stood like a fortress in the demon's path. The beast yelped at the sight of him and dugs its claws into the soil to stop itself and change direction, but it was too late. The archangels had already encircled it. With one hand, Michael grabbed the creature's throat and squeezed with all his immortal might, tightened his grip until the fiend's throat crunched under the pressure and its eyes – all eight of them – bulged out of its head. The demon struggled and thrashed for an instant before it hung dead and limp from Michael's hand.

The other angels watched in horrified awe.

"Get me a large cloth, please" Michael instructed. "I will dispose of it, but we cannot let the humans see it. It would only cause panic."

Cassiel flew off and soon returned with a cloth. It took nearly all Michael's effort to haul the massive beast onto the sheet, but once he had done it he tied up the corners and threw it over his back. He eyed each of his friends like a menacing parent.

"Meet me at the gate. We need to have a chat when I return," he said.

The four angels snapped to attention and said, "Yes, sir."

Michael took to the sky and headed for the Veil, his wings straining under the weight of the load.

This time, as he soared above the Road to Heaven, the crowd of human souls gazed up at him, not in awe but in confusion. They squinted up at the sky, furrowed their brows, and pointed curiously. Michael waved to them nonetheless, hoping to give the impression that nothing was wrong, that an angel carrying a peculiar load such as this was normal.

By the time he landed at the Veil, Michael was exhausted. He let the heavy beast's body fall to the ground for a moment, then he lifted it once more, right up to his face as if he wanted to whisper into the monster's ear.

"Tell your traitorous master I said hello," Michael hissed.

He wound up his mighty arm and hurled the demon out of heaven, the same way he threw Lucifer, the Fallen Archangel, millennia ago.