Rebirth

078/365

Over grassless dirt, in the middle of a sunless woods, a gold glowing circle forms. Twenty four yards in each direction, it shines the sun’s brightness with intricate lines and plunges straight into darkness consuming the trees over it. Allowing the sun to break through the now empty patch. The trees reappear hundreds of yards above the ground, roots and all. They’re suspended in the sky.

The woods have the view of skyscrapers from the nearby city. The roof of one explodes in what seems from this distance like a firecracker bowing up at arms-length. Then another explosion in the same spot. And then another. Then the top twenty levels of this far skyscraper are consumed by the same glowing circle and plunges into darkness. When the circle vanishes, the upper floors are still connected to the building.

Back here at the woods, another bright circle appears, and goes dark. When this one vanishes it leaves behind two men, one dressed in black clerical uniform and the other elegant with large feathery wings. A suit. A crooked smile on his face.

Before the two men appears a third man, bald with a black transmutation circle on his head and in a suit. And a young boy in a white short sleeves T-shirt, bloodstained, torn and burnt in random spots, and sneakers, his left arm covered in transmutation designs.

They stand before each other, some hundred yards apart, dusting themselves off. Patting dirt off of their clothes.

When they finish recomposing, the winged man and the cleric begin to close the gap. A giant dirt and dust cloud forms as the previously air suspended trees make impact with the two. Tree after tree, six times in a row. The force pushes a gust of forest junk right at the other two.

Isaiah smiles as his suit is dirtied again and he commences to brush it off. “The end of a priest and a fake angel!” he says proud.

Sebastian doesn’t bother, he remains eyes fixed on the trees ahead.

Isaiah’s smile is wiped clean as the trees shift nearly beyond perception. And they shift again.

A large flaming explosion launches the trees in every direction, shredded to wooden shards from the blast. The area around the priest and the celestial are charred, but as the blast clears the priest and celestial are revealed to be unharmed. Furious, their stride towards the two transistors is faster, more determined.

“Looks like we’re not done yet, kid,” Isaiah says.

“Looks like you’re right. Maybe we should be done, I’m bored of them,” Sebastian responds awaiting Isaiah’s approval.

Isaiah watches him carefully, the two threats still closing in, the pause seems endless. “Alright... Just don’t take it back to the city. Let’s end this here,” he says.

“Message received!” Sebastian says as his left arm commences to glow brighter and brighter gold, crossing over to yellow.

Sebastian starts pacing towards the cleric and celestial headed his way.

A lit cigarette and a long drag later Isaiah is following Sebastian. Then he’s walking faster. Finally he runs right by Sebastian.

The cleric begins to run and the celestial takes flight close to the ground and burst into a ball of fire aimed straight for them.

Isaiah drops to one knee and using his back Sebastian propels himself high into the sky and then fires a blast launching him too high up to see. Isaiah sinking and vanishing into the dirt mere seconds later.

Hands reach up from beneath the priest and drag him down into the dirt dropping him from a circle formed high above the action. Another circle appears before the celestial, but heightened in anticipation he stops just shy of entering and instead reaches into the portal, grabbing Isaiah and pulling him out. A spear generates onto the celestial’s extended hand and he aims it at Isaiah’s throat. “It’s been fun, Transistor,” he says just before he attempts to pierce Isaiah’s throat with it.

Sebastian drops out of the sky just in time to land over the spear, seemingly weightless held up by the Celestial’s raw strength. An energy blast from the palm of Sebastian’s right hand sends the celestial tumbling away through the woods.

“Close call, kid. Thanks!” Isaiah says.

“No problem. Ready?” Sabastian says.

“Ready!” Isaiah responds.

The Celestial and the priest land on the same spot.

Isaiah sinks into the ground and reappears across the two unfortunate foes. His hands go up, his eyes glow and in perfect sync a gold barrier encompasses the celestial and the priest. Isaiah remains motionless, almost meditative.

Sebastian’s left arm begins to turn red and spark and glow before bursting into a fireball like the celestial before it. His entire left arm consumed by flames, he approaches the dome.

Both the foes panic within the dome and scream and plea for forgiveness. They claim to change their ways, to stop what they’ve done and align with what is truly good, what they know is truly good. But neither Isaiah nor Sebastian seem concerned by their failed attempts at pity through deception.

Face to face with the dome, Sebastian places his palm flat against its glowing glasslike surface. The inside of the dome begins to steam and combusts. At first the priest and the celestial seem unharmed, but it’s brief before the priest is clawing at the dome and screaming in agony.

The celestial’s durability to high temperatures allows it to survive longer allowing it to continue pounding the dome long after the priest is no more than charred remains.

Sebastian and Isaiah are both lost in meditation, focused on maintaining the execution they don’t so much as breathe.

Eventually even the celestial breaks and it too begins to scream. “FUCK YOU! THEY WILL FIND YOU AND KILL YOU CHILD!” are its last words before nothing is left of it except a burnt winged corpse along a burnt once human corpse.

Isaiah drops the barrier, but Sebastian doesn’t notice. Zoned out he continues to char the same spot.

“KID!” Isaiah calls him out of it. “It’s time to go. We’re done.”