Revelations

 172 DAYS, 18 HOURS, 2 MINUTES(2)

“Jimmy says using traditional weapons is fine, so there’s literally no problem,” Kenny said firmly, ignoring the bit of weirdness he felt over their mod’s name being Jimmy. 

“Dude, bu-” Craig started

“Did you not fucking see the way Clyde broke his arm?” Kenny snapped, a little bit too defensively. He was used to seeing injuries like that on himself. But seeing a compound fracture and the boy he adored’s face contorted in agony hit a bit too close to home. 

“How are we even gonna get traditional weapons?” Kyle asked. 

Kenny and Stan exchanged a look. Stan just nodded slowly and only then did Kenny realize just how tired he looked. I have to check on him. “Jimbo. We can boost part of a shipment from Jimbo. Crazy ol’ thing won’t notice,” Kenny responded simply. 

“Stan, you’re okay with that?” Kyle cut in. 

“Don’t see why not. What’s he gonna do, call the cops?” 

“Dude! This could fuck all of us,” Kyle responded with urgency. Stan and Kyle stared at each other for a moment and Kenny wished he’d developed that sixth sense where he knew exactly what they were on about. But before he could fester on it too long, Kyle relented. “Fine, but I’m not coming with.” 

“It’s fine. Me, Kenny, and Craig,” Stan said firmly. 

“Fine.” 

 171 DAYS, 9 HOURS, 2 MINUTES(2)

“Okay,” Clyde said with a laugh. “Actually playing super heroes for the first time during peak Black Friday hours is pretty rad.” 

“We have a 10-80 at 16th Street Mall. Requesting backup.” 

A laugh bubbled out of Kyle. “Speaking of.” 

“Race for it?” Stan offered up. 

“No fucking racing! Kyle’s gonna beat us all there thirty times over!” Clyde complained. 

“Foot race?” Kyle offered, small smirk present.

Kenny had already fallen for it once. He wasn’t letting it happen again. He belted out a sound of affirmation before taking off so Kyle couldn’t send a massive gust of wind in his direction. Kyle managed to get Craig partially and nearly knocked Clyde on his ass before he started running, attempting to catch up with Kenny. 

“You guys are shit at racing! You always cheat!” Clyde yelled. 

“You’re just mad because you’re always losing!” Kyle responded through laughs. 

They ran through the night, no caution for what they were wearing or what they were doing. There was no need. It was Black Friday. It took them ten minutes to get to the mall parking lot from where they were. It was an absolute shitshow, the cops barely getting a grasp on belligerent shoppers. Kenny heard the tiniest laugh out of Craig before he ran into the fray. 

That was how most of their interactions had been so far tonight. Craig would jump in, they’d beat up the people that were a bit too much, drop a zip tie around their wrists and take off before the cops could get to them. In and out. Easy, effective, and a very fun distraction from regular life. While making their city just a little bit safer. Exactly what they wanted.  

Kenny couldn’t help but be extra proud when he saw Clyde take off in the opposite direction. For a moment, he was ready to scream at him, but then he realized what Clyde was doing. Some guy had snatched a woman’s purse in the chaos. Craig barked out a laugh when Clyde jumped, winding up fully horizontal to tackle this guy that must’ve had half a foot on him without hesitation. 

Clyde landed on top of him, dealing a swift, but regular human, punch to his face, before taking the frilly hot pink purse and standing up. He dusted himself off before literally skipping back to the group with the purse. “What the fuck are you guys doing?! Go take cover! I’ll meet you around the block! If we get arrested we’re fucked!” 

“Clyde, please tell me how I was supposed to walk away from what I just watched you do,” Craig responded, trying to hold in his laughs. 

Clyde swatted at him. “Give me five! I’ll be right back!” Clyde took back off into the chaos, dramatically shrugging the purse’s strap over his shoulder as he did—Kenny only moving when Kyle grabbed him by the hood, giving him a teasing yank. Kenny jumped slightly, snapping back to reality. He rolled his eyes and followed the group towards the closest parking lot exit. 

-

 171 DAYS, 6 HOURS, 18 MINUTES(2)

“Okay, is anyone actually tired?” Clyde asked.

“I mean, I took a nap so we could go crazy tonight,” Kyle noted. 

“Same,” Craig responded. 

“I’m good,” Kenny chimed. Kenny looked over at Stan to see a very familiar faraway look. “Stanny?” 

Stan looked up and over before offering Kenny a weak smile. “I’m alright.” 

The tiniest of pits made itself known in Kenny’s stomach. It’s in your head. Stan’s eyes were not ever so slightly darker. They were just out all night. Kenny didn’t take a nap, he was just tired. 

“So, then… Are we doing this?” Clyde’s voice was just the slightest bit hesitant. 

Kenny was on edge at the thought of fighting an angel for the first time. The sun was just starting to make itself known. Cold nipped at them relentlessly all night, but he was just starting to actually feel it. 

“I don’t see why not. We gotta start at some point,” Kyle responded without a second thought. Stan and Craig were quick to agree. 

Kenny’s nose twitched slightly before he pushed off the curb and stood up, stretching slightly. You’re fine. It hasn’t been the same. And it hadn’t been the same. Sure, there were some painfully uncanny coincidences, but this isn’t the first time.Déjà-rêvé is a well known thing. You’ve lived it. It’s fine.“Anyone have any suggestions?” he chirped. 

“I think I heard what might’ve been a lure back on 14th. Not a hundred percent sure,” Kyle responded. 

“Dude!” Clyde yelled. “Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“I wasn’t sure and we were kinda in a rush!” 

“Okay,” Clyde responded slowly. “Can we all be in agreement that if we hear or see something, we say something?” He paused, lowering his voice as he continued. “Angels eat people. Meaning if we don’t deal with them, people can literally die!” 

“It was down an alley,” Kyle dismissed. 

“Still!” Clyde argued. 

Kenny shot Kyle a look. Kyle was almost always the first person to pick hills to die on, but he didn’t seem very opinionated either way on this. Kyle’s face softened up a bit. “Sorry,” he muttered. “Don’t quite think this whole thing has actually settled in yet.” Stan put a hand on his shoulder, but didn’t interject.

“I get you, man,” Clyde responded quietly. “We just gotta stick together though. It’ll be totally sweet.”

Kyle shot him a small smile of acknowledgment. “Totally, man.” 

The group stuck together, lazily conversing as they followed Kyle’s lead towards the alley in question. As they closed in, Clyde nudged Kyle. “You’re smart,” he muttered. Kyle raised an eyebrow, urging him to continue. “What fucking song is this? I know I know it.” 

“Spring, Vivaldi,” Craig answered. 

“Wha-” 

“Everyone knows the four seasons, dumbass. They just either know or don’t know that they know the four seasons,” Craig responded flatly, earning a laugh from Kyle. 

“It’s too early to be mean, Craig!” Clyde pouted. 

“I wasn’t even being mean. And we’ve been up all night. It’s late,” Craig deadpanned. 

“Whatever,” Clyde responded with an eye roll. The group started down the alley, keeping their pace slow and uncertain. There was a small phone on the ground, violin ringing out around them gently. “So we just… walk in?” 

“Yup,” Stan responded, seeming like he just wanted to get this over with. 

“Alright boys,” Clyde breathed out. “In we go.” He grabbed Craig’s hand and pulled him forward. Kyle didn’t need prompting to step in at the same time. 

There was a small moment where neither Stan nor Kenny moved. “Stanny…” Kenny started awkwardly. “Are you good, man?” 

Stan offered him a weak smile. “Just a little tired. Y’know, long night.” 

Kenny nodded, putting a hand out. “I got your back, bro.” 

His smile grew the tiniest bit as Stan took his hand. “Mhm.” Kenny raised a brow and Stan let out a small snicker before stepping forward, pulling Kenny inside with him. It was disorienting to go from being in a regular alley, something the group had seen hundreds of times throughout their lives, to being in a dreary cave like the one they were suddenly standing in. They blinked and the color was sucked out of the world completely. 

The air immediately grew heavy, something genuinely unsettling about the stillness around them. The only thing around them was solid gray stone. They all exchanged a look. “This is fucking weird,” Clyde muttered. 

Two quiet shushes came from across the brunette before Kenny and Stan exchanged a look. The three all gave them questioning looks. “The vibes are just weird,” Stan whispered, barely audible. “Don’t think we should do anything risky until we know what we’re doing.” 

Which Kenny thought was perfectly reasonable and agreed with whole-heartedly until Stan decided without a second thought to take the lead. Kenny all but scrambled to follow closely, the only things left to break the silence being the quiet echoes of their footsteps against the stone below them. Their own shadows surrounded them as they walked into the narrow passageway across from them. 

There wasn’t any other option. The tiny room they’d spawned into seemed to serve as a foyer for what was to come. Kenny couldn’t remember this. He could vaguely put his finger on mazes and caves and the importance of being quiet, but never this exact place. It was as comforting as it was unsettling. That had to be a dream, meaning they weren’t all destined to die. But he also had no idea exactly what to expect. He didn’t know how to save anyone. He didn’t know if anyone even needed to be saved. 

The walls around them seemed to constrict ever so slightly as the path twisted and turned unpredictably, leading deeper into the depths of the cave. Kenny wasn’t exactly sure how long they walked in silence, the tension lingering around them just growing heavier. 

It started to grow colder around them, the chill seeping deep down into his bones. The walls felt like they were closing in dramatically. They had maybe six inches of clearance on either side of them at this point. Kenny whipped around when he heard a quiet ‘fuck!’ 

He would’ve laughed, had his heart not been in his throat. Clyde, who was about a foot directly behind him, had obviously talked himself into a panic and reached out for Craig’s hand, managing to scare the shit out of him. He spun back around with a quiet deep breath, ignoring the way it just didn’t sit right with him. That was something he could stress out about later. 

Kenny’s breath hitched when the lack of all presence was quickly disproven. He halted in his tracks, immediately putting a hand out behind him, his other one grabbing the back of Stan’s shirt the second he heard something from further in. A quiet whir graced his ears in the worst way possible as the airflow around them slowly started to pick up. Clyde bumped into the hand Kenny braced for him and Stan whipped around, brows furrowed. 

Kenny slowly took hands off both boys and raised them before pointing ahead of them and nodding. “You think i-” Craig started, nasally voice barely even coming out. Kenny quickly put a finger up to his lips. Craig frowned at him before realizing the second he started talking the whirring grew ever so slightly louder. 

The pure urge to spin around and run was clearly starting to make itself known. It was practically radiating off Clyde. It made Kenny’s chest actually hurt, despite the fact that they weren’t that close. He reached out and put a gentle hand on Clyde’s shoulder. 

Clyde looked at him wide eyed and anxious. 

You’re going to be okay, he mouthed. We got you. 

Clyde’s lips twitched upwards slightly. Kenny lifted his hand and gave Clyde’s cheekbone a playful nudge before facing Stan and nodding. He pulled his right pistol out. Stan shot him a smirk, pulling his nail gun out of his holster. He heard a quiet click from behind him, registering the safety being turned off on Clyde’s pistol. 

They all kept their pace even and steady as they made their way deeper into the depths, further away from safety. But Kenny knew in the back of his mind that this was an illusion. There was no safety the second they’d stepped into this realm. There was no exit. The only choice they had was to move forward or wait for whatever was drawing them closer to come to them. 

The whirring got louder as they kept moving, but something came with it. For a moment it was light, but suddenly it smacked them all in the face, Stan visibly cringing as it rolled in. A painfully overpowering smell hit them all without much of a warning. It was heavy. Suffocating. The smell of pure, bitter rot practically clung to the inside of Kenny’s nostrils the second it invaded. The alarm bells that he was honestly getting used to were suddenly out of control. They screamed at him to get out. He swallowed hard, blinking back tears before grabbing Stan’s shoulder. Stan spun around, tears in his eyes from the vile onslaught. Kenny gave him a slow nod, gesturing ahead. 

Stan wiped at his eye with the heel of his hand, disrupting his safety glasses slightly, nodding fervently. Kenny slipped past him and started forward, on a warpath at this point. Exhaustion was starting to settle in the longer they were in there and this smell was too much. He wasn’t even sure if the others were actually behind him as he stalked forward as if he’d navigated the twists and turns of this realm millions of times. 

He was just frustrated at this point. He didn’t want to see the others scared or stressed. The oppressive feeling of not knowing just got worse the longer he was in it. He needed to see this thing and he needed to stop smelling the literal corpses that were definitely close by. He needed this to be done so he could go stew in everything. He needed to sit in his thoughts and try to separate dream from reality, a sensation that was going down to his core at this point. He couldn’t tell what emotions—what feelings—were just some weird nonsense his subconscious had cooked up in the long dream from hell he’d recently experienced. Everything was quickly becoming overwhelming. 

He just needed this to stop. 

He barely even registered the first gunshot ring out, despite the fact that it came from him. He barely registered the fact that he was standing twenty feet away from the first angel he’d encountered. It floated maybe five feet above eye level from him. It was a large gray ball. He blinked once before snapping into action, immediately sending another bullet out. 

He realized what it was when he felt like he could finally breathe again. Other shots were ringing out from around him. It was a nucleus. There was a cloud around it, but not a clear cloud. It was a model cloud. Smaller spheres wildly flurried around it in distinct shells, the only thing interrupting the small scale solar system being the bright white, almost blinding to look at, rectangles of discord that chaotically swarmed the thing. 

An atom. 

A tiny laugh forced its way out of him when he heard Clyde yell, “I DON’T LIKE THIS!” 

And that first twenty seconds was fine until one of Stan’s nails actually made contact with one of the electrons violently rotating around the nucleus. Kenny moved on instinct, tackling Stan out of the way. The angel shot back, without hesitation, a small sphere sliced through the air towards Stan. It was faster than Kenny, but not by much. 

Kenny had died a lot of times. Kenny had had a lot of nightmares. Kenny knew what pain was and he knew what hell was. Kenny had felt some of the worst fears he could imagine in real life. And felt the worst ones he could imagine in his dreams. But that didn’t stop the raw terror from flooding in as the sharp searing pain shot through skin and muscle. The electron the size of a baseball punctured through bone completely. But it wasn’t the pain that did him in. 

He hit the ground with a wheeze and the only thing he could think was ‘they can see me like this and I can’t protect them.’ The deep, throbbing ache and burn settled it. He could smell it. He swallowed what felt like a lump as he slowly turned his head to look slightly downwards at the root of his agony. A near perfect hole sat just between his right shoulder and his sternum. He gagged, seeing the projectile was so hot it nearly cauterized the wound. 

The pain was intense and dizzying. His vision was starting to blur, his thoughts growing to an incessant buzz that overwhelmed the actual silence around him. Wait. He blinked hard, trying to focus. Everyone was staring at him in silence. The angel wasn’t attacking. It was as if the entire world had been paused, save for the rings rapidly rotating around the angel. The whir had dulled down to a near silent hum as the entire cave seemed to hold its breath, waiting for something from Kenny. 

He swallowed hard, trying in vain to get his shaking to stop. “Craig,” he choked out. 

Kenny had never seen Craig look actually afraid before. Even now, he wasn’t exactly sure this was fear. But he was definitely thrown off. Completely unsettled. Obviously concerned. And hearing his name was all it took to pull him out of his stupor and into action. He broke eye contact with Kenny, gaze snapping towards Atom to see that the angel was not actually making a move. He quickly registered what Kenny had before closing the gap between them, smoke pouring out of him quicker than Kenny had gotten to see so far. 

“Slow down,” he muttered. “Don’t know about your drawbacks.” It came out hoarse and garbled, but Craig got the gist. 

“Shut the fuck up,” he snapped quietly. “It’s fine. You’re fine.” 

Kenny inhaled sharply as the pain went from a million suns scorching through him to about a six. Stormy blue eyes were glued to him, trying to assess for more damage that didn’t quite exist. “Thank you,” he muttered. 

“It’s not-” Stan said, quietly recovering from his shock. Kenny looked over to see Stan still on the floor, staring at the angel, nail gun trained on it. 

“It only counterattacks,” Kyle murmured. 

“So what do we-” 

“If we all shoot at the nucleus that should be enough.” Everyone slowly looked at Kyle. “If we’re going off monster rules, that’s the equivalent to its head and its heart. We can’t lose.” He faltered slightly, the tiniest shrink in confidence not being lost on Kenny. “Right?” 

“You’re right,” Kenny responded as quickly as the words registered in his brain. 

Stan let out a slow exhale. “You okay, Kenny?” 

“I’m okay.”

“The nucleus, right?” 

“Mhm.” 

Kenny wasn’t exactly sure what he thought was going to happen from that point, but what he definitely wasn’t expecting was for Stan to rapid fire at the nucleus. Thirteen little thwacks rang out from Stan’s spot on the floor in rapid succession before any of them could even react. Each nail drove into the target. Upon the first impact, white started to radiate outwards from where the first nail had hit, completely overtaking the nucleus. 

Kenny could feel the breath he was holding let out as the endless gray-hell started to warp out of existence around them. The sun was up, greeting them like everything was right in the world. The early morning chill felt almost warm into comparison to what they’d just been in. 

“Stan, what the fuck!” Kyle snapped. 

Stan let himself transform back into his hoodie and sweatpants as he braced a hand on the ground and stood up. “What?” 

“Why would you just–” Kyle scoffed. “That was so reckless!” 

“Seriously, dude,” Craig huffed. 

Stan just shrugged. “I trust you guys. I had it.” 

Kenny raked a hand through greasy hair before standing up with a quiet sigh. Kyle and Stan had devolved into a quiet argument that Craig immediately exited, leaving him, Kenny, and a very silent Clyde. Kenny was almost afraid to look at the smaller brunette. 

“So… That was fucked.” 

“I don’t want to see you get hurt like that again,” Craig said, with an edge that almost made it sound like an order. 

Kenny knew the defensiveness creeping in was just a mix of being an emotional wreck and overall exhaustion, but still, he argued anyway. “It’s not like I wanted for that to happen. Are you serious?” 

Craig on the other hand, wasn’t having it at all. “Completely. Don’t make me heal you like that again.” 

“Or what?” 

Craig blinked slowly, clearly debating on if he wanted to indulge Kenny’s random need to get combative. He let out a quiet sigh. “I’m not arguing with you, McCormick.” 

Kenny’s nose scrunched. Why do I want to escalate this so bad? He flattened his palms, stretching out his fingers. I’m just tired. “Fuck, dude,” he breathed out before laughing awkwardly. “I’m sorry, that was just-” he paused, not able to actually settle on a word. 

He looked up to see one of those odd looks he couldn’t place from their oddly tall companion. “I genuinely just don’t want to see you get hurt. Alright?” 

And now he felt like an asshole. Kenny took another slow deep breath. “Right. My bad.” 

Craig shook his head as if it wasn't even a thought before looking at Clyde. Kenny hesitantly looked over to see Clyde standing there with his arms crossed as he stared at the ground, tears slipping out. Craig didn’t say a word at first, he just closed the gap and threw a lazy arm around him, pulling him into a half hug, gently patting his back. 

Kenny’s first thought was the acknowledgement that the random tinge of bitterness he’d been feeling towards Craig for the past few days was totally justified. Secondly, it wasn’t at all justified. He was annoyed at someone over things that happened in a literal dream. Which was ridiculous. But it felt so–Thirdly, was that it didn’tmatter if he felt bitter or not. He felt alone. Stan and Kyle continued to go at it in hushed whispers, not even acknowledging the other three. Clyde was crying into Craig’s side while Craig actually took the time to comfort him. And Kenny was just Kenny. 

The pit in his stomach that had been coming and going returned with a vengeance, bringing guests of full blown nausea, anxiety, phantom pain, and pure sadness. His chest felt tight as a headache crept in. 

“Uh,” he muttered, to no one in particular. “I need to make a call.” He spun around and walked down the alley, just needing to get out of what felt like an extension of the claustrophobic nightmare they were just in. 

The second he was out of the alley he felt like he could breathe. He eyed his phone, wondering if she would even be up. It was almost nine in the morning. She usually slept in. Unless that’s a lie. He bit at the corner of his lip, silently debating if this was important enough to disrupt her morning over. He shook his head slightly. She never lied to him. He never asked so she wouldn’t have tolie to him. He was okay with that. He was okay with having someone close, even if it meant hiding things to keep that closeness. He took a slow deep breath, shaky fingers pressing the call button of the contact he’d been eyeing. 

-

 171 DAYS, 5 HOURS, 7 MINUTES(2)

“You’re gonna catch a cold,” Wendy warned. 

Tammy stretched as she continued to look out at the city, surprised people were actually going to their nine to fives, but not all that concerned. “I look fucking hot. Take a chill pill.” 

“We’re literally about to go home, loser,” Wendy responded with an eye roll. 

Tammy spun around, facing the most beautiful girl she knew with a teasing smirk. “Okay…” She took a few steps forward. Wendy stood still, bundled up in two hoodies with her arms crossed, completely unimpressed. Tammy leaned forward, tapping a light poke to her chest in the way she knew pissed Wendy off to no end. “Admit it, Wet Blanket. I am the hottest, prettiest, most magicalof all the magical girls.”

Wendy gave her a cocky head tilt that actually made her back up the tiniest bit. That was something that would never not catch her off guard. “Alright… Then-” Tammy rolled her eyes hard when the most annoying ringtone she had on her phone cut Wendy off. She was curious about where Wendy was gonna go with that. They weren’t being serious. They just got into it sometimes. It was funny. Whatever. 

She exhaled, secretly reveling in the warmth her hoodie and pajama pants brought her. “Yes, Kenneth?” she greeted. 

Wendy gave her a questioning look and Tammy shook her head, rolling her eyes. “Hey. I’m sorry, are you busy right now?” Generally, after just fighting an angel, or if Tammy didn’t feel like talking, she’d say yes because this clearly wasn’t an S.O.S. call. But she really didn’t like how fragile Kenny’s voice sounded. She held up a finger to Wendy, receiving a nod as she started to pace out of earshot. 

She bit at the corner of her lip. “No. No, Ken. What’s up?” 

“I just…” he trailed off for a moment. “I had a bit of a rough morning, I guess.” 

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

There was a long pause. Tammy thought he hung up for a moment. “No. I don’t think so, at least.” 

“That’s okay.” 

“I just… You’re-” He laughed, the sound filled with quiet devastation. “You’re my friend, right, Tam?” he whispered. 

“Fucking-what the fuck, Kenny,” she muttered. “Of course. Of course. Always. Do you need me to-” 

“No. I’m just being dramatic. I’ve been in my head a little too much recently, y’know.” 

“I know.” A sad smile crossed her face as she looked down, watching the cars pass by on the street below. “Hurts sometimes.” 

“Tell me what I need to hear,” he murmured. 

“It’s gonna be okay,” she said reassuringly. “It doesn’t matter what it is. You can do it and you’ll do wonderfully. Okay?” 

“Okay.”