A Partisan Bout - Part 3

"What the heck are you trying to do!?" Malique lashes at Michael after he deliberately stops his strike from hitting Lucifer, thus saving him.

"Malique, calm down," Michael grabs Malique by his shoulder with a highly concerned look on his face. "What's gotten into you?"

The sudden behaviour strikes Michael when he sees it as an Angel supposed to be calm and composed. One should not act without consideration and is not allowed to show emotion. Therefore, Malique's attitude is somewhat unacceptable to his kin.

"You're breaking the code of conduct one Angel should follow," Michael lectures and is somehow able to suppress Malique from bursting insatiably. "Right now, you're displaying yourself as a disgrace."

"But killing him is the key to saving this whole universe, am I right?" Malique argues back. "Did God not order us to silence him no matter what? Ages ago when the Great War started?"

"Still, what advantages do we get by simply cutting off the head of a snake?" Michael sharply glares at Malique. "I bet this mastermind has already had everything planned for any course of action that might and could have led to a different event to happen, including his death."

Infuriated, Malique sits down and facepalms himself disheartened. He cannot even look Michael in the eyes because his mind keeps imagining the worst that could have come if he continues to bicker with him longer.

"It was as if the same way that Gabriel sent me back here to retrieve you and get you to safety. He doesn't know about any trouble that we can come in contact with like now, and chances for us or just me to harmlessly reach Heaven were almost none."

"Meaning..." Malique tilts his head slightly upward, trying to figure out the exact definition of what Michael was rambling about.

"That if I fall into the enemy's hands right here, the order still proceeds regardless of us losing a member in it. In this dire situation, where all the Demons escaped and in pursuit of satisfaction, following the plan is the right course of action to do."

"Then what are we going to do with him?" Malique questions while gazing at Lucifer, who is crawling on the ground not far from them.

"Let me try to sweet talk him into his senses," Michael suggests, and Malique impolitely lets out a disbelieving chuckle to which Michael quickly replies. "He's not who you think he is."

Malique shrugs off Michael's warning but still secretly forms his blade out, just in case Lucifer suddenly lashes out at them. Michael, on the other hand, is barehanded. Unlike how other angels think of Lucifer, he assesses him in a different light.

They used to work together, talk to each other, and understand each other. There's no reason for either of them to harbour ill intentions.

"Hey, Lucifer. You're back...?" Michael's fingertip touches Lucifer's broad back, and they both scream harmoniously.

"Aaaahh!" While Lucifer is startled by Michael's uninvited gesture, Michael is shocked by Lucifer's surprised reaction. At the same time, Malique is frightened that his friend might have been harmed, so he jumps toward them, only to realize that it was a false alarm.

"Michael! Is that you?" Lucifer recognizes Michael's face immediately.

"Yeah, just plain old me. What's up?" Michael replies casually, thinking that Lucifer is probably used to his style of communication.

"Where am I?" Lucifer frantically observes his surroundings, which are unfamiliar to him. "Aren't I supposed to be in Heaven right now?"

"Heaven? An outcast like you thinks he deserves to be in the sacred garden?" Malique interrupts their conversation.

"Outcast?" Lucifer's face is filled with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"After you massacred hundreds of innocent lives, you tried to feign ignorance!?" Malique loses his cool and rages at Lucifer. "After everything you've done, you dare to falsely display yourself as being amnestic!?"

"Malique, seriously. What's wrong with you?" Michael tries to calm him down and stop the oncoming train of destruction.

"He's the problem that causes me to be like this!" Malique pushes Michael away and swiftly launches at Lucifer with both arms out.

[Slam!]

"Ack!" Malique yelps when the impact injures his brain. Enraged, he stands up and manifests his sword, but Michael snatches it away in time to prevent things from escalating further.

Observing the event happening in front of his eyes without his consent, Malique dashes forward to try and grab the object back. Unfortunately, Michael deliberately throws it away. Fuming, Malique goes to Garrotte Michael with his own hands.

Michael, with speed comparable to light, counters Malique's bashful performance by taking him down to the ground. He attempts to lock him by securing his neck, yet Malique is faster by rolling himself and Michael as well to reverse their roles in the stupid quarrel.

Even though Michael is now trapped, he intelligently escapes from the trouble by holding onto Malique's arm to push himself down and twist his body sideways into the opening between the arm and the knee. In that position, he can kick Malique far from him thus saving himself from hardship.

[Thump!]

While Malique is currently spinning uncontrollably further away, Michael rapidly backs on his toes and aims directly at the speeding barrel and perfectly times himself so that when he clings onto him, he should be behind his opponent for an easier takedown.

In the wake of the odds siding with him, Michael uses each of his feet to immobilize of Malique's feet and hooks his neck into submission. Malique seeks to hurt Michael by throwing his elbow to his side, but most of his shots end up hitting the ground instead.

'I won't release you even if you tap out.' Michael warns. 'Only if you agree to stop applying these aggressive manners, I'll let you go.'

In response, Malique forcefully grasps the choking hold and violently makes a break for it, emphasizing that he is not going to heed the warning mentioned before. Opposingly, Michael tightens up the strangle to not let Malique free himself.

Now, the irresponsible brawl turns into strength of will. In Malique's point of view, each second that is passing begins to feel longer and longer. As the world around him starts to grow darker and darker, his feelings slowly get stiller and stiller.

For Michael, though, nothing changes much. His arm does feel tired more than usual, but his energy is already drained to the fullest. With Malique's force getting weaker, he did not aware of the changes that feel normal to him, so he does not stop choking him.

However, before he could tell or even show in any way that he finally accepts Michael's proposal, he blanks out first. Michael has not realized this until Malique's hand drops a second later, he knows he went overboard.

'Crap!' Michael lets everything go, hoping that it is not too late, but the outcome fails him. When he looks to the side, he finds Lucifer watching or perhaps enjoying the entertainment with a distasteful expression. 'Lucifer, help me!'

Michael also waves desperately when calling for Lucifer due to the reason that he hardly uses brute force no matter who, especially over a simple disagreement. Ulteriorly, Lucifer checks on the sleeping handsome and comes to an answer.

'He probably wakes up in less than an hour.' Lucifer concludes.

'You're sure?' Michael anxiously makes sure that Lucifer is not joking.

'Hundred per cent.' Without a single doubt, Lucifer gives his remark.

'Good.' Michael mumbles to himself. 'How am I going to explain to Gabriel about this when I meet him back?'

Talking about Gabriel, Michael promptly wonders how the state of the affair must be running on in Heaven. Does Gabriel find any trouble happening to him? Is there an emerging need for him at the moment? It concerns his passionate heart to no end.

With what is occurring here, the distance left to reach Heaven might take up a whole week if it goes on smooth sailing. Nonetheless, he has to figure out what he is going to do with Lucifer foremost before anything else. Disposing of him surely be the very last option he puts in his mind.

But the army of Demons could also arrive at their spot at any given time, which is unhelping and only adds an extra amount of stress. Figuring this out with Lucifer is off-limits, and Malique is still unconscious. Oh, how he hopes that Gabriel is with him right now.