The small child, with his big brown eyes, reached his hand out cautiously. He didn't know who this shirtless man was. He seemed quite scary.
But he was smiling.
And quite a lot of scary things had happened that day.
Surely he couldn't be a bad man!
He was probably there to help!
Surely...
"No! Nononoo!"
Dio flinched and looked up in surprise. A young man dressed from head to toe in black tactical armor came running out of the emergency exit on the right side of the room. He leaped forward and slid across the floor, putting himself between Dio and the boy.
The young man glared at the prince in defiance, though his expression was hidden behind a helmet that covered his entire face.
"I think you should leave," the man said.
"Natio, what did he say?" Dio asked.
"He thinks you're ugly," Natio lied.
"Stop lying to me, you damned compass!"
The two of them started squabbling, and the soldier whispered to the little boy to run. He didn't need to be told twice. He ran to the emergency exit, along with the other citizens, but Dio wouldn't let them get away.
"Stop ignoring me!" he shouted.
He ran to a toppled desk and hurled it at the fleeing crowd. The soldier dove toward it, and Dio's eyes widened when the desk suddenly spun. It hovered in place for a moment before reversing direction, flying straight back at him like a boomerang.
"Use her power, quickly," Natio instructed him.
Dio smacked the desk aside, and it crashed through the windows, falling outside, into the dark.
"I like this one. Let's add him to the collection," Dio said.
"We already have a psychic at home! Finish that one first," Natio replied.
"Urgh...fine," Dio grumbled.
Dio waited for the soldier to make his next move. It would be smarter to let him attack first, since the soldier seemed capable of reflecting anything thrown at him. But the man made no move to fight.
Instead, he stood guard in front of the emergency exit, where the citizens had gathered. With the building upside down, reaching the lower floors was difficult, and the crowd had nowhere safe to go. They were caught between a rock and a hard place.
"What are you doing? Fight me," Dio screamed.
Dio charged at the soldier, throwing a punch with his stolen power, but he missed. He tried again, only to miss a second time.
Over and over, the soldier stepped from side to side, his movements almost graceful, as though he were dancing. Eventually, Dio gave up, panting from exhaustion. He wasn't terrorizing the locals. He was embarrassing himself.
Giggles came from the crowd packed into the stairwell, and Dio felt his face grow warm.
"Natio, this cannot stand! Brother sent me here! I cannot fail him!"
"You need to let him come to you first. This is no normal psychic."
"Let me change. Lend me your power."
"No. After I lend it to you, and you transform back, you are melancholy. I refuse."
The soldier removed his helmet in bewilderment. He could understand the voice replying to Dio, but not Dio himself. Stranger still, the voice was giving Dio instructions on how to defeat him, yet Dio seemed to ignore half of them.
When Dio pulled a compass from his pocket and began pleading with it, the soldier finally understood where the mysterious voice was coming from.
"Oh my god, you have one of those magic items Levi told me about," Casey said. "Fuck!"
"I see my reputation precedes me. Do me a favor, and let him win, yes? It's good for his self-confidence."
"What? No, never!" the two men said in unison.
Dio wasn't going to lose to another mutt. Last time, it was a four-against-one fight. This time, the odds were in his favor. He couldn't lose, and this time, he was playing dirty.
He ran for another desk, and Casey stood still, waiting for another failed attack. Instead of throwing it at him, Dio hurled it through the wall, exposing the stairwell. Casey ran toward the crowd, but Dio was closer.
"Don't hurt them!"
Dio stuck his head into the exposed stairwell. When he looked to his right, he saw a huddled, filthy mass of people. When he looked to his left, he saw beauty incarnate at the bottom of the stairwell.
A gorgeous woman, without a speck of dirt on her, smiled up at him. She even smelled like fresh laundry. Dio felt his face grow warm and his mind wander. She waved at him, then raised her palm and ran it under her chin, in his direction.
Dio's smile faded.
"Fuck me? Well, fuck you too, you—"
"Think, you fool! How would a foreigner know an Ionadian insult!"
Dio paused, opened his mouth, and then closed it again.
"Is this a trap?" he asked her.
"It is now," Harmonia replied.
She grabbed the necklace around her neck and held it tightly. It sparkled in her hand before morphing into a cute little gun. It was pink, glittered, and had a tiny star emblazoned on its side.
Dio snickered as Harmonia aimed, but his body suddenly jerked.
Natio took over.
"Let...go...of...me!"
"Amora is angry! Move it!"
The goddess inside Harmonia's celestial fired pink, sparkling bullets. Each one burned against Dio's skin, making him cry out. No skin was pierced, but his pride was.
He stumbled to the ground, and Harmonia giggled. She climbed through the hole in the wall and into the office, the broken glass crunching beneath her pink heels as she approached him. She crouched, took his face in her hands, and looked him in the eyes.
"You...I'm going to kill you...are so...amazing..."
"Go on," Harmonia goaded.
Casey watched in disgust as Harmonia charmed her opponent into submission. She seemed to enjoy it, her bright pink skin fluctuating between pink, red, and yellow.
He hadn't known she could do that. He did know that her changing colors reflected her emotions.
He didn't know what she was feeling, and he didn't want to.
"I'm so disappointed in you," she told him in Ionadian.
"No. Please! I don't want to make you sad," Dio pleaded.
"Don't listen to the witch! She's controlling you!"
"She is no witch! She will be mine!"
Casey groaned in disgust and crossed his arms.
"Harmonia, let's go. I hate it when you do this."
"Don't be jealous," she teased.
"I'm not jealous. That gun freaks me out."
Harmonia stood up, and Dio gazed up at her in adoration. She could make him do anything she wanted, believe anything she wanted him to. She felt more powerful than any god, but knew deep down that it was superficial, like her beauty.
Gently, she put one foot onto his scarred chest and pushed him over.
He moaned.
"Damnit, Harmonia!"
"Fine, fine, I'll stop!"
She grinned and looked down at the pathetic prince beneath her. Her eyes turned black, and her pink skin darkened until she resembled a living void. With her charm still active, the transformation disgusted Casey even more.
"You're going to tell me why you're here. Then, you're going to leave us alone. Lastly, you're going to kiss my foot, and then try to eat your own fist."
"Yes. Of course, anything for you!"
He did as he was told.
When Cynbel and three of his men found him, Dio was huffing and puffing, red in the face, trying to fit his entire fist into his mouth. It took all of them to get him to stop.
=======================================
Casey sat on the filthy roof of a café wedged against the broken skyscraper, his helmet resting between his knees. He gave Harmonia an unimpressed look.
The Astrals who had been hiding inside the office building had gathered on the rooftop, determined to fight the soldiers and defend the powerless civilians sheltering below. Their prospects weren't good. Most had no combat training, and few possessed abilities that could be used as weapons.
Yet they were still there, knowing they had to do what was right.
Harmonia leaned against Casey's shoulder and grinned. She gave him a little kiss with an exaggerated mwah, making him blush.
"So you were jealous," she concluded.
"I was upset that you seemed to enjoy it."
"I will always enjoy using the power of love to defeat evil."
"And stepping on men?"
"It's a huge plus."
Casey let out a soft pfft, then quickly covered his mouth. He had to be professional! There was a war going on! How rude!
He gently pushed her away and returned his attention to the alien invasion.
"We shouldn't let these guys out here on this roof. They're going to get themselves killed," Casey said.
"They sent you here alone to evacuate people, claiming that since you can't get hit, you can just be a human shield for these people. That's insane," Harmonia replied.
"I can't hit anything, and I can't get hit. They told me backup would be coming soon. Bruno and his team. They haven't arrived. I'm worried."
Harmonia stood up, dusted the dirt off her skirt, and huffed.
"You gonna wait here and let them die? You gonna martyr yourself?"
"No. Harmonia, I'm scared," Casey admitted.
Harmonia held out her hands, and he took them. She pulled him to his feet and leaned into him, wrapping her arms around him. She ran her fingers through his hair and whispered what she always did to make herself stronger.
"You love me, right?" she asked.
"Yes," he whispered.
"Then listen to me. Don't let them see you scared. They'll get scared too."
"Okay."
"Don't wait for help."
He nodded and held her tighter. Her body glowed even brighter, his love literally giving her strength, and she shivered. He told himself that since he loved her, he could do anything, be anything. And that meant he would live.
She let go.
"Let's do this."
The two of them gathered their ragtag team of Astrals together. It wasn't a particularly impressive one, especially once everyone announced their abilities.
The first was a short businessman, still a little drunk from the party festivities. He could turn red. Casey initially thought this was some kind of metaphor, but no. That was all he could do.
Glow red, like an exit sign.
The next was an elderly woman with spectacles. She could control the volume of things around her, an ability perfectly suited to her job as a librarian.
The last was a fat, balding, hairy man wearing a wife-beater, brightly patterned floral shorts, and green flip-flops.
"So, uh. Tell me about yourself," Casey said.
"OH! I came here from Earth when I was a kid. Married. Got a few kids, did a stint for a while, then got clean," the man said. "Name's Hairy Harry."
"No, you hairy rug, your ability," Harmonia said.
"Jeez, what a mouth on this one."
Casey waited for him to explain his ability.
He did not.
"Your ability?" Casey asked in exasperation. "Mine is being unable to aim. I also can't catch things or be hit."
"Dang. I can't miss. I can also catch whatever is thrown."
"Ohmigods, that is perfect," Harmonia gushed. "Let's get you a gun!"
"No."
There was another moment when they all waited for him to continue.
He did not.
"Okay... why don't you want to?" Casey asked.
"Convicted felon. Can't own a gun," Hairy Harry explained.
"Are you mad?" Harmonia screamed. "This is dangerous! We are in DANGER!"
"I ain't going back to prison."
Harmonia covered her face in frustration, and her skin turned red. The businessman also turned red subconsciously, and the two of them glowed brightly in the dark.
"Hey, knock it off! We're targets," Casey complained.
The elderly librarian raised her hand, and everyone turned to look at her.
"You ever wondered what happens if an immovable object meets an unstoppable force?"