Blessed by Night

Arias was a lot of things.

A tiny bit egotistical.

Somewhat genocidal. (He considered that term up for debate)

Incredibly handsome. (He did not believe that one was up for debate.)

And even a pretty damn good Uno player.

But no matter a person's thoughts around him, the one thing that was for sure was that Arias cared about the territories under his leadership.

So much so that when a large explosion rang off in the middle of the city, he didn't waste a second with unfunny quips or jokes.

His entire body burned with divine light so powerful that everyone except Morgan and Mal had to shield their eyes.

There was a loud crash followed by a strong gust of wind before the group could open their eyes again.

When they looked up, they found a giant melted hole in the window, and something that looked like a shooting star rocketing away at the speed of light.

"I'll be back in a second everyone." Mal cracked his knuckles and slipped his glasses back on.

"Aye. We'll be back." Morgan emphasized.

Mal paused just shy of jumping out the window and looked at the orange haired man who was one and a half pounds away from being declared malnourished.

"…You're joking, right?"

Morgan laughed as he gave Mal a firm slap on the back.

"I appreciate your veiled attempt to call me a debilitated old fuck, but don't forget who was in this blessed world long before you, lad. I'm not fully without my bag of tricks just yet. Besides…"

Morgan's eyes drifted towards the massive blaze that literally seemed to be calling his name.

"I've just had a really splendid meal. I should burn it off best I can."

Morgan lifted his body off the ground and flew after Arias; albeit at a much slower pace than the blonde ruler.

Malachi looked back at Morgan's wives and saw immense worry on both of their faces.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing happens to him."

The girls seemed reassured by this and offered him a smile of thanks in return.

Malachi called Zazu from the next room and leapt on his back.

With every flap of his feathers, Zazu's wings sounded like thunder rolling in from over the horizon.

In less than a second he had passed Morgan's speed and found the area where Arias was standing.

And his focus… Well, it was the hospital building that just so happened to be on fire.

Malachi only saw Arias for a moment before he flashed towards the building.

Just like Bianca's favorite super hero, Arias appeared in and out of sight as he evacuated any survivors he could carry by the armful.

Finally, Mal noticed why exactly Arias was so frantic.

The individuals he was trying to evacuate were all children. Newborns to be exact.

Now, Mal was invested.

It had been a while since he used the absolute force manipulation he learned from eating Lucifer's chosen, but fortunately he hadn't lost his familiarity with thermodynamics.

He held out both hands and prepared to snuff out the entire building when suddenly someone else took control of it first.

The flames that were billowing up into the sky suddenly went towards a very specific source.

With his hands outstretched, Morgan called every single spark of bright orange flame towards him like they had a mind of their own.

Morgan let the flames touch his body and drew them into himself.

As his body began to glow as brightly as the sun, a strange black liquid oozed from his pores before evaporating.

His weight, vibrancy, and of course his power seemed to return in full.

But Malachi also couldn't be sure that he wouldn't go for round two with Arias now that his strength was restored.

'God damn, I guess he was right about those tricks of his.' Malachi was remembering exactly why Morgan was his idol before he got blessed.

Shaking off his moment of idolization, Malachi focused on evacuating any survivors in his own way.

He hopped off of Zazu's back and sank into the shadows on the ground.

One by one, more and more of the patients were transported by the shadows back towards the safety of the street.

Zazu took the liberty of sheltering them while they were in their infant warmers.

Next, women and staff started coming out, either teleported by Malachi or ferryed by Arias.

Some were a little banged up, some had minor smokine inhalation and burns, and others were just scared out of their minds.

First responders soon flew, or drove towards the scene and began setting up a triage station for those who were in the worst condition while they transported everyone else to another location.

Morgan landed on the ground next to Malachi, and the two of them watched Arias carefully from a distance.

"Did you notice something, lad..?"

Mal nodded. "All women, children, and doctors… but no men were being treated at all. Not even among the deceased."

"Aye. Makes you wonder about exactly what was taking place in this facility in the first place. And then there's the fire…"

"What about it?" Mal tilted his head.

At that moment, Zazu came over and perched himself atop Malachi's head.

"We heard an explosion, boss. A big one. This entire block should've been kaput, and we definitely shouldn't have found as many survivors.

When we arrived, the whole building was somehow up in flames… someone had to have stoked that fire somehow."

"…I'm sorry, did that bird just talk?" Morgan asked.

"Impundulu." Mal corrected.

"He does voodoo too??"

"…"

Malachi knew this was supposed to be a serious moment, but he was still a little amused.

All of a sudden, him is phone began vibrating furiously in his pocket.

He quickly fished it out, but Morgan read the name aloud before he could put it to his ear.

"Celeste, peach emoji and doctor emoji… Whose that?"

"S-She-" Mal began.

"She is the woman who is going to someday feel the bliss of the boss' penis!"

"What?! Zazu, shut the fuck up!"

"My bad, boss." Zazu corrected. "I forget he is what the young ladies call a 'munch'."

Morgan scratched his head in embarrassment.

"I'm a bit out of touch when it comes to modern slang… What exactly does that mean?"

Mal tried his best to salvage the remains of his reputation. "M-Morgan, please don't pay him any min-"

"It means he eats pussy like he gets paid for it!"

"Zazu!"

"And ass."

Morgan just stared at the young man with a 'wow' look.

Malachi felt as if he had just endured a level of character assasination that was nigh impossible to come back from.

All that he could do was remind himself to pluck and stuff Zazu later while absolutely never bringing up this conversation ever again.

To take his mind off everything, he answered his phone before it stopped ringing.

This was the last semi-normal moment he had before everything went to hell again.

In one ear he could hear the sound of Celeste crying harder than ever before.

In the other, he heard the sound of a gun going off. And the body of someone he knew hitting the ground.