Toxn Story 2

         Toxn lay on the rooftop, actually wearing his Nobody coat for once. Its hood was up to throw his face in shadow, and he took care not to make a sound. Inching forward slightly, he kept his eys on the man in white standing below. Every so often, the figure would shift, and the gray-haired Nobody would tense in response. But the man seemed to be waiting for something – aside from checking his watch a few times, he did not move from where he stood at the edge of the White area.
         The edge of Toxn's mouth twitched up in a half-smile. He decided the moment was right. Rising, he dropped over the edge with only the slightest scraping sound. The rem heard it, though, and glanced up, mouth already forming words. Then he caught sight of Toxn. His eyes narrowed.
          "Hello Alannic," Toxn said casually, pushing back his hood.
         The man looked startled when Toxn said his name, but then his eyes narrowed, suddenly hostile. "Toxn."
         Toxn arched an eyebrow. "Oh, you know me?"
          "Been dealing with your victims for weeks now," the man spat. "They all say you find it funny."
         Toxn grinned and gave the man a mockery of the rem formal bow. "Guilty as charged, sir." He noticed the man's hand reach toward his belt for a short sword that wasn't there and his smile widened, just an inch too far. Suddenly it no longer looked like a smile, instead resembling an animal baring its teeth.
         To his credit, Alannic stared the Nobody down without a sign of fear. The helpless motion of reaching for his weapon was turned into a hand on his hip as he slouched, appearing casual. "So what do you want?" he said, trying to sound nonchalant.
          "Oh, I haven't really decided yet." Toxn ticked off the options on his fingers. "I could wait until your girl arrives and kill you both, or puppeteer you and have you kill her… Hm, I like that…" He paused. "Or I supposed I could just kill y-" Alannic lunged, trying to catch Toxn off guard as he spoke. Toxn reacted as if he had been waiting for the movement, dodging to one side and spinning away. A sharp metal disc was in his hands now, as if it had appeared out of nowhere – which it had. He stepped away further, laughing, as the man made another clumsy grab for him.
          "Calm down now," he said, flicking his wrist. The disc leapt out of his hand and bit into the other man's body. Alannic cried out in pain and bent double, clutching his abdomen. Toxn moved forward, a second disc in his hand, and stood over the bleeding rem.
          "How do you feel, Alannic?" he said, his voice deadly soft. "Confused? Surprised?"
          "Damn you," was all Alannic could gasp before falling silent again. He attacked Toxn again, but the Nobody brought his hand down on Alannic's neck, kicking his feet out from under him. He gripped Alannic's neck like a vice.
          "It's over," he said quietly as green lightning crackled around his fingers.

          "You waited!" said Mel in surprise, hurrying to the edge of the Forgotten territory. She glanced at the white pavers at her feet, then back up at Alannic. "I didn't think you would."
          "Of course I did," said Alannic smoothly. Mel smiled, waiting for him to cross into Forgotten territory. She always abided the rules, fearful of the consequence if she were caught doing otherwise.
         A moment passed. Mel took a closer look at her lover. She gasped in shock. "Alannic, you're bleeding! What happened?"
         Alannic stepped forward. His face was pale. "I had a run-in with a Nobody." Mel began to reply when a dry voice from overhead interrupted her.
          "He didn't enjoy it as much as I did." A black-clad form sprang from the rooftop and landed easily in front of her. Tall and gray-haired, with dark glittering eyes, the man had an air of cruel amusement about him.
         Mel hesitated. The Nobody smiled and stepped back, spreading his hands in an expansive gesture. "Don't worry, darling. I'm not going to hurt you." There was a beat of silence, then he jerked a thumb at Alannic. "He is."
         And then Alannic was coming at her and everything was happening far too fast. Mel jerked to the side, avoiding whatever sharp weapon he was wielding, and reached instinctively for the knife in her belt. But she hesitated again, staring at her lover, who was already turning and bringing his hand up for another blow.
          "What—" She had clung to the hope it was all some weird trick, that Alannic would drop the weapon and comfort her. As the disc in his hand tore a line of jagged pain across her body, she was forced to accept that everything had gone horribly, suddenly wrong. Her street-fighting reflexes took over, and she slashed out, knocking Alannic's next cut aside. Eyes hard, she tensed, darting backwards as he turned the blocked attack into a low, slicing backhand. As his body met no resistance, he twisted, off balance for a second. Mel took advantage of the moment and drove forward, knocking him backward. He hooked his foot around her ankle as he fell, and she crashed down with him.
         Someone was laughing. As Mel scrambled to her feet, she saw the Nobody was sitting on the edge of the roof, watching the fight like it was an amusing diversion he had happened on. When he saw her watching him in silent fury, he winked and raised his arm. Next to her, Alannic mimicked the motion.
         That was when the entirety of what was happening hit Mel like a punch to the gut. She looked down at Alannic, who was climbing to his feet. "You… it's not you…"
         Alannic smiled crookedly, blood staining the front of his shirt from his previous battle. "You don't know, do you?" he told her. "How do you know he hasn't convinced me that you're just a scavenger? Worthless."
         Mel's anger flared and she flew at Alannic, determined to do something, to beat the Nobody's power out of him. The Nobody was laughing again, she could hear it. As she closed the distance between herself and the rem, he snapped his wrist, throwing the disc at her. He saw it coming and moved, but not fast enough. It hit her in the face and she went down, face red with blood. And Alannic was on her, another disc in his hand, cutting… Mel's instincts took over and she convulsed, stabbing upward in blind desperation. She crumpled forward, clutching her head, at the same moment that she saw Alannic reel backward, the knife embedded in his stomach. As he sank to the ground, she moaned, realizing through the haze of pain what she had done. She crawled over to him, leaving blood trails behind her.
         Booted feet approached. As she looked up, helpless, the Nobody surveyed the situation.
          "That did not go as expected," he commented. "Still, what can you expect from a rem?" He spat on Alannic's prone body, then sighed. "And the guard will triple 'round here when they find him. Time to move on."  Mel rose, gripping the knife, anger coating her like a hot flood. The Nobody did not move. He just pointed to Alannic. "I think he's trying to say something." As Mel turned, she saw Alannic shuddering. Then he tensed, face suddenly rigid with pain, and she knew in the back of her mind he had thrown off the Nobody's control… or else the Nobody had purposely let go, knowing how much pain the sight would cause her. As Alannic groaned, his life pouring out with the blood from the knife's wound, she dropped to her knees beside him. His eyes found hers, and his hand moved weakly toward her. She took it, watching his lips move as he struggled to speak.
          "Tell them," he whispered hoarsely, his voice so soft she almost didn't catch it. "Tell them it…" He coughed. "…it was Toxn." He sagged backward, hand going limp, and Mel leaned forward, convinced he had died. But there was a spark of life still in his eyes and he opened his mouth once more.
         Then his eyes unfocused and he went still. Mel knelt there, despair hanging like a heavy weight in her heart. She looked up through eyes dull with sadness.
         Toxn stood there, studying the two discs he was holding in his hands. In a flash of blue light, they vanished, and he looked up.
          "Sorry, darling," he said, sounding not sorry in the least. In fact, if anything he was struggling not to laugh. Malice danced in his eyes.
          "Damn you," Mel said viciously, head throbbing. Blood ran into her eyes and she scrubbed at them angrily, tears mingling with the blood.
         When her vision cleared, Toxn was gone.