Flashback~
Jin pov~
I knocked only once on the thick wood before the door opened, the grungy unshaven face flashing me a bitter smile before letting me in.
"Haven't seen you in ages!" He exclaimed, welcoming me into the dank room, only furnished with a leather chair, a small desk, and a low-hanging broken chandelier. "How you been keepin?"
I ground my fangs together, staying calm. "Okay, I guess. You?"
"Fine, fine..," he trailed off, pulling a packet of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket, before stuffing one in his mouth already. He dropped down into the leather chair, raising his feet up to rest on the desk.
"You're not fit to be a father, let alone to a girl." I taunted, leaning with my arms crossed against the wall.
He laughed, and passed me a cigarette, which I gratefully snatched from his hold. "You know, just because we don't share the same opinion, does not mean I am your enemy."
"But you are my enemy," I gripped onto the dull unlit cigarette I was holding, praying his ignorance would end. "Killing for the sake of killing is not a human thing to do."
Ryo chuckled. "Right, because you know all about what it's like to be human, ey?"
I stayed silent, watching his frozen face, the only indication he was still alive was his irregular blinking.
He smiled humorlessly. "You've been very patient with me. It's almost like you're waiting for me to change my mind. When are you going to accept that I won't?"
"People change."
He laughed. "People only change when they want to change."
"Then I guess there's hope for you," I muttered, lighting the cigarette and holding it between my lips, letting the smoke curl into my lungs, relaxing my shoulders. He never responded, and it was a long time before I spoke again.
"How's the girl doing?"
He smirked at me. "Which girl?"
"You know which one!" I heaved a long drag from the cigarette in desperation to cool the fire in my veins.
He tutted, flicking the ash from his cigarette onto the armrest of his chair. "She's doing just fine. It was wise of you, not to try to steal her again."
My jaw went rigid, and with a sickening feeling in my stomach, I could only guess where he was going with this.
"What's the matter?" He quirked an eyebrow up, "You finally decided it wasn't worth losing anyone else? Oh, Yixing would be proud.."
"Shut up!" I bellowed, throwing the cigarette into his chest, pacing in a small circle with brimming tears. I knew he'd bring him up.
He moved his feet from resting on the desk, sitting upright in his chair, mouth dressed in taunt. "Oops, I think I nudged a sour spot.."
"How could you do that to me!?" I screeched, still pacing. "You knew! You knew everything, Ryo, and you still-"
"You're blind, you idiot. You never look at the bigger picture. Sometimes, sacrifices need to be made."
"You never had to kill him."
"Yes, I did." He extinguished his cigarette on the same armrest, a horrible smell filling the air of tarnished leather. "And I will have to, one day, kill this girl, too. She's just another sacrifice, the world will move on."
"This is why I hate you," I seethed, clenching and un-clenching my fists over and over in hopes it would be a good enough distraction from the urge to kill him that was bubbling over every thought in my mind. "There is always another way, another path, and you still chose this one."
He stood up from his chair, coming nose to nose with me. "That other path would have been to slaughter a third of the entire human race, so they became physically incapable of damaging the planet for a very long time. And you call me the killer?"
I grit in my teeth, not bringing myself to look at his eyes, and he scowled and stepped back.
"Not gonna say something?"
"I have nothing to say to you." I shot back, red staining everything I could see, or even think.
He clapped his hands together, turning away from me. "I didn't think so. I can't believe I used to call you my friend."
And that did it for me.
I spun close to the ground, forcing my nails through the flesh, muscle, and bone of his leg, slicing it rather uncleanly off. Ryo screamed and toppled to the ground, his crimson blood sprouting from the wound into a puddle on the floor. He glared up at me through crying eyes, swearing undecipherable words. I sighed, and rose to my feet, holding the part of his leg that I'd just severed.
"I'll be waiting for your common sense to kick in. If you hurt that girl in any way, I'll kill you."
~~~
Hoseok pov~
They were waiting for us.
"It'll be fine," Jin hissed, tugging his fingers far away from my hold, already pulling out multiple weapons from his bag.
Ryo only smirked, lowering his arms to his side, his entire body covered in thick armor. I looked down at myself, dressed casually, loose jeans and a shirt.
Jin cursed under his breath at the wound in his shoulder, wiping away as much of the blood as he could with his hand, but only ending up spreading it further. I remained frozen to the spot, staring at them in front of us - Ryo, of course, and at least fifty armed soldiers, all covered in black armor. I couldn't move, one hand clenched into a firm fist, the other gripping onto the strap of the duffel back slung against my spine.
How the heck were we supposed to win this?
Ryo walked towards us, synthetic leg clinking along the cement floor, and I scanned the surroundings; it was barren. No barriers, nothing to hide behind.
Jin shifted, pushing me behind his body defensively and I let him, gaining small comfort in that. I was so young when he'd found me, that in a strange way, it'd always felt like he was a father to me, or an older brother. Someone I could trust no matter what.
"You know," Ryo sneered, gun swinging carelessly in his hand, "it's not too late to change your mind. You can hand her over."
"After you killed Yoongi? Never!" I snarled, starting to lunge for him, but Jin held me back with a strong hand.
Ryo's beady eyes flickered from me to Jin. "Like I said, it's not too late. Surely, you know you won't win this."
Jin only glared at him and I sensed his entire body heating up with fire. "Why don't you just shut the fuck up?"
Ryo peered around behind us. "Who else is with you?"
"No one."
"Is that so?"
Jin snatched the gun from his hand and aimed it at Ryo's head, and in unison, every other person in black holding a gun lined up and aimed at Jin. The shithead smiled, knowing he'd already won.
Jin tossed the gun away of course, holding onto a cursed blade behind his back, and Ryo stepped away from us. "I'm trying to give you another option here. After all," he cocked a single eyebrow at me, "revenge is just an empty gesture."
I snapped, and Jin didn't even try to hold me back this time. While I battled Ryo, he sprinted to the others, a blade in each hand and a murderous aura surrounding him.
Ryo drew another gun on me from behind his back and I held up my forearm defensively as he shot repetitively at my head. It stung with every bullet sinking in my flesh, but I was powered by an immense rage; he might have kicked my ass last time, but this time, I'm going to win.
He roared in rage and threw the gun away, settling for his hands instead, reaching out to snap my forearm but I ducked beside him and sliced through a small piece of his armor with my claws, his filthy blood covering my hand when I pulled away.
Ryo tackled me to the ground, and I lodged my claws through any cracks in his armor, but he only laughed and pressed a knee into my stomach, forcing me to stay on the ground. I coughed through my glare, forcing my nails in further, and he spat the blood onto my face.
I snarled. "That's truly disgusting."
My fingers sparked with ice and he cringed and I knew I'd found a weakness. The fire clearly didn't destroy him last time, so maybe ice would.
Goosebumps raced down my spine as I focussed on his pain, filling his every nerve with cursed frost. His teeth clenched together, and his knee pressed harder into my gut, a piece of his armor breaking through my skin, the bullets stinging like a motherfucker.
He bent down and plunged a hand into my chest, and I screamed. I struggled to stay concentrated and sent out a muffled cry for Jin, and he was there a moment later, a barbed wire somehow in his hands, which he used around his neck to get him off me.
As soon as Ryo wasn't pinning me to the ground, I jumped onto him, sinking the ice in everywhere I could, and Jin did the same while countless voices screeched at us and sprayed bullets into us. My exhaustion peaked as I forced more and more pain into him; he deserves to feel exactly what Yoongi felt when he died. Ryo let out one last breath and I pulled away, panting wildly while my vision and senses recovered from all the energy I'd used on him.
I stood and watched as Ryo finally fell to the ground, completely still and vacant-eyed. I looked over at Jin who grinned in victory; at last, Ryo was no more.
Through the sea of soldiers I caught a glimpse of a red dress and long white hair.
Xierro was here?
She grinned and stood still, and with a single wave of her hand, at least a dozen soldiers ran towards me. Well isn't that just rude? I'm clearly not done yet.
There might have been a seemingly unending supply of soldiers and armor and bullets, but they weren't very highly trained. In a blur, they all froze around me in a circle, before collapsing to the ground in sync, completely motionless.
And right when I was grinning in victory, a knife flew through my ribcage, lodging itself into my frozen heart. Xierro cheered, jumping on the spot right over the body of her deceased ex-husband.
Well fuck.
"Hoseok!" Jin screamed as I dropped to the ground, eyes glued open, looking at the sky. The clouds were so beautiful, hiding some of the stars. Why hadn't I ever looked up before?
Jin landed on his knees beside me, pulling my shattered body into his arms, screaming my name over and over. I looked at him slowly and calmly, a ghost of a smile etched onto my face. Why was he screaming so much? It hurt, it hurt a lot, but I was going to be free, I was going to see Yoongi again. Didn't he want me to move on to a happier place?
I brought a shaky hand up to his face where his tears were falling. Why was he crying? I was happy. Should I be crying too?
He froze and looked at me, pleas on his lips for me to heal, to stay alive, to stay here with him. But even if I hadn't made up my mind on what I wanted, it was impossible. This was my time, and I knew I was ready.
My body lurched and landed hard on the ground again as Jin was pulled away from me. Xierro only sent me a triumphant sneer while she enjoyed the view. My smile grew for a second at the thought of how foolish I must look right now. Maybe Yoongi would be smiling at me too.
Jin yelled and bellowed in pain as they pinned him to the ground, diving thin poles through his body in order to tie him to the concrete. I winced for him, it looked terribly painful, and now through his moment of weakness, they'd immobilized him.
I saw him look at me pleadingly one last time, his thoughts echoing in prayers for my recovery, but I turned my head away, looking up at the night sky.
It was beautiful, and right as my eyes closed, I could feel Yoongi with me, his voice so far away but so close to my ears, scolding me for being such an idiot, but smiling at me with love, welcoming me in death.