A strong life force fled from this darkness, as it had from beginning, but now there was no where left to run. It had been held off by mind strengthening meditation for longer than any human body could withstand and could not be held back any more. Time was up. The internal abyss consumed the soul, becoming a solid mass between the shoulder blades once this was done. White wings tore savagely from the tanned flesh, but they were not average to that of an angel. Blades sharper than razors rimmed these wings, their bearer�s eyes a solid white. A berserker had been born.
Dinner consisted of macaroni and cheese with a small side of meat. As was typical at the dining table, the quickest got the most chow or the strongest could take it from you. Quatre, as usual, was the one with the least amount of food on his plate. By the end of the meal, he�d received a donation from Trowa who�d muscled it from someone else. Jess and Amber had learned days ago that if they expected to eat anything, to do it before the dinner bell was rung.
Once his plate was clean, Duo stood with a wide grin set on his face; a spontaneous piece of humor entered his mind. Without putting a second thought to it, he placed his right hand over his heart, �I pledge allegiance to the united Earth Sphere Alliance and to the democracy for which it stands. One solar system, under Romafeller, very divisible, with oppression and retaliation for all!� Silence covered the table as he finished, no one moved. All eyes were studying him curiously. When no one laughed, Duo picked up his plate in a huff and turned to walk away, �Fine, it was too sophisticated of a joke for any of you to understand anyway.� He started to say more, but fell, face first, into his dinner plate instead. A gray booted foot slid back under the table as the silencer burst into laughter. The bewildered stares turned to him at this point; Amber�s mouth fell open. She could see a different person in his laughing face, a child he�d never gotten to be. Jess rushed to her boyfriend�s side, �Oh, Duo, did you trip on something?� The darkly clad teenager propped himself up on an elbow; macaroni clung to his waist length hair, �Alright, who did it? Who tripped me?� The room became quiet, yet again, the occupants now peering questioningly at each other. Amber spoke up before any one else could, �You probably tripped Duo, you are pretty clumsy.�
Jess pulled the thoroughly embarrassed boy to his feet and away to clean him up before he did anything irrational. She half led half-dragged Duo into the hall bathroom, a trail of macaroni marking their path. Shinigami hopped onto the counter in frustration as the short redhead wrung out a warm washcloth over the sink; �She probably did it! She�s so mean to me!� The last bit of his statement was more of a whine than he meant it to be; he stuck out his bottom lip. Pilot seven sighed as she sponged drying cheese from the teenager�s face, �Duo, she was on the complete opposite side of the table, she couldn�t have possibly tripped you.� Duo sniffled angrily, �She has a way to do anything that would embarrass me or hurt me. She did it, I swear!� Jess pressed her mouth over his to quiet him, pulling away only when she felt the tension leave him, �Even if she did, Duo, it�s over now and doesn�t matter. So are you going to pout the remainder of the day or�� She slid both of her hands inside the front opening of his catholic attire, �Are we going to find a place to passionately make out?�
There was a new presence in the house; it was unusual. Heero set his bowl in the sink as he felt the light that had seemed to materialize upstairs. He peered up the staircase curiously, wondering what the force could mean. Tossing his napkin in the trash as he past, the lithe youth took the stairs two at a time, stopping in front of the solitary dragon�s door. The energy came from inside. Heero knocked lightly as he entered, �Wufei, I�m coming in.� Pilot five was sitting cross-legged on his futon, two white wings fanned out behind him appearing almost as a cape of feathers. The Chinese warrior turned a blank gaze to the perfect soldier as he entered; �Do you need me, Helios?� The golden arch faltered, backing away several steps, �You? Give me your name, berserker.� The insane creature considered him with pupil-less eyes that had once contained intelligence, �Themis.� The brown-haired youth leaned heavily against the doorframe and pushed the door into place, the latch slid home, �Themis? No one informed us you were accompanying us, we thought you were human. Why were we not told?� Wufei cocked his head to one side with a faint smile, �It was a sudden decision, and I am the swiftest. Only I could have reached you in time.� Helios shivered as Wufei�s blank eyes bore into him, �I will tell you if I have need of you, you will not act otherwise. Got that?� The angelic berserker nodded, a twisted smile playing at his mouth, �Of course, Heero.� The arch shivered again, opening the door with a hand behind his back, never had fear gripped him so tightly, �Good, then, you can do what you like until I tell you. Your only restriction is not to kill anyone in this house, other than Duo, you can have at him.� A look of glee entered those white eyes, causing Heero to hurry out more quickly.
Once he had the door shut behind him, Helios allowed his terror make its appearance on his face, �Sweet Lord of Heaven, why allow such things to exist?� Sweat dripped from his cheeks and forehead, spilling into his wide eyes to sting them. Heero furiously wiped at them and pushed off Wufei�s door. Familiar laughter mocked him from further down the hall; it was the laughter of the true Shinigami rather than the boy that kept him hidden, �They exist, not by his will, but their own. He can not stop their birth.� Red irises gleamed at him from the shadow that spilled as black ink across the eastern wall; Duo emerged from the darkness, his gaze colder than typical. The only trace of humanity on his face was a smear of red lip-gloss that had apparently been left by Jess earlier that day, Heero didn�t notice. �He can stop anything he wishes, you ass wipe.� Shinigami left the shadow completely, his movements like that of a panther stalking his prey, �He can�t stop us, that�s why he made you, but even that�s proven to be a useless effort. Hasn�t it?� Helios raised his face angrily, but refused to answer him, clenching his hand into a tight fist. Duo grinned, but not good-natured, �You want to know the biggest mistake you ever made, Yuy? Betraying me. You may have been a god-blessed angel, but I thought of you as my friend. They didn�t even give you orders to do this, did they Helios?� He tugged at the white collar around his neck with two war callused fingers. Heero was the one to laugh at this point, �Me, consider a demon to be a friend? Who the hell ever said I took you to be one of mine? That�s pretty funny, demon. An arch doesn�t associate with a creature of darkness unless he has intentions of using him somehow.� Pulling back as though slapped, the death of darkness snarled, �Bastard! You never had any other plan but to use me? I�ve defended you in battle you ungrateful, glowing piece of shit!� He yanked back one white knuckled fist to lay across the perfect soldier�s cocky smile but the white band about his neck cut off his windpipe. �Don�t make your presence a nuisance Duo, or I�ll be forced to take more drastic measures against you.� Not breaking away his amethyst gaze, pilot two�s hands scrabbled against the tightening collar. His words were heavily choked as they strained to leave his throat, �What are you going to do, threaten to send me to Hell just like you do Trowa?� Heero�s smile widened as he leaned close to the dark boy�s face, �No Duo, I�ll change Jess into an angel and kill her so you can have nothing to do with her ever again.� Despite his lack of air, Duo paled, �You couldn�t��
Jess sighed heavily and leaned against Duo�s well-muscled chest, �Why so quiet? You�re usually more talkative.� The god of death returned her sigh with more exasperation, �Just had a fight with Heero is all. Not a big deal.� The small girl twisted to peer up at him; �You guys fight a lot, don�t you? Why?� He shrugged helplessly, �I guess because he�s an arch, that and he tries to control me just like he does everyone else. I fight him about that.� A sweet kiss plucked away his tension, pilot seven grinned, �Why not use your power to break the collar?� He sighed faintly and ran his fingers through her unraveling hair; �Cause my power isn�t capable of that, neither is Heero�s for that matter, but I have a few other neat tricks I can pull.� The small girl grinned and ran her hands up his chest, �And what tricks are those, my little demon?� Duo choked back his gasp of surprise and pleasure, instead kissing her lightly in return, �I can manipulate the darkness, travel through the shadows, heal wounds and stop time at my will.� Jess undid the top of the dark boy�s shirt and pushed it back over his shoulders, she ran her fingers across his collarbones, �And what do you do with these abilities?� He slid his hands down her back almost cautiously as he chose his words, �Well, I use them for defense, attack and a little fun in between.� She cocked her eyebrows curiously, �What kind of fun? You stop time a lot, don�t you?� He blushed and nodded. Jess straddled his lap, her hands tracing paths up the muscles of his thighs, �You stop time while I�m in the shower, don�t you?� Blushing deeper, he nodded again, slower this time. She pinched a muscle on the inside of his leg with a wicked grin, �You�re a little pervert Duo, you know that?� He winced but smiled, �Let me show you.� The clock on the bedside table stopped ticking. Jess looked over at it, �No way!� She checked her watch; the seconds had paused on thirty-seven till two oh eight. �Holy shit! Is it like this all over the world?� The dark boy nodded, �Wanna see what everybody�s doing?�
They found Quatre meditating; the only clue to the paused time was the incense smoke. It remained frozen as it twisted towards the ceiling, dissipating before it reached its destination. They moved on to find Wufei with a dagger in one hand, he seemed to be examining his fingers with an insane amount of interest. Blade infested wings draped behind him; blood still caked in their crevasses. Jess shivered as she peered at him; �You never told me Wufei was an angel.� He shrugged helplessly, �What can I say, I didn�t find out until today either. He�s a berserk, completely insane. He only follows orders now.� His blank eyes registered nothing as the two stared into them; no pupil or iris was apparent in them. Jess backed to the door nervously, �I don�t want to be in here, he�s really creepy.�
The small redhead opened the next door in the hall to find Heero on one knee as he looked up fondly at Relena, a small black velvet box in his hand. Her face was in the process of changing from shock to glee, frozen halfway between the two. Jess gasped, �Oh my gosh! Duo, come see this!� He did as he was told, chuckling as he entered, �So, he finally found his guts after all. I�ll be.�
Downstairs, Amber blocked the entrance to the kitchen, though she seemed to have no intention of entering it. She was watching Trowa in the midst of building himself a sandwich; the mayonnaise, ham; lettuce and cheese sat out on the counter. Jess scratched her head; �Well this is a boring pair. Wouldn�t you say?�
