Papercut

"Olivia's the strongest, Aaron is the smartest and Amelia is the most strong-willed, but as for me.."

[Noah's body became enveloped in bright light before he seemingly disappeared. In actuality he'd reduced his body to photonic particles, shooting towards the cloaked figure, reforming his body, he swung a punch that this figure swiftly caught in his hand.]

"I'm the fastest."

[With one hand on the cloak and the other grasping the fist of Noah, the cloaked figure snatched their hooded cloth from their body, revealing their true self.]

"So you finally decide to show yourself? Who are you supposed to be?

"Hussein Oliver, pleased to make your acquaintance young boy. The consortium would like a word with miss Clementine if you wouldn't mind."

[Speaking, the intimidating man gave off a smirk while making his proposal to Noah only to be scoffed at.]

"A word?"

"We would like to, how do you say, borrow her momentarily."

"Gch, people aren't objects. You can't just 'borrow' her, she wants nothing to do with the consortium so what if she were to refuse"

"Maybe a bit of force would be required."

[Hussein began to grip Noah's fist tighter as if he intended to break it. This caused Noah to violently snatch himself from the clutches of Hussein, jumping back until there was once again a distance between the two.]

[There were drops of blood.]

"Huh? My..hand."

[Noah's fist was so tightly gripped into the palm of Hussein, he hadn't realized that upon pulling himself back his entire fist had been ripped off. Hussein had thrown the separated hand on the ground before it dispersed into light.]

"Mm, you could've snatched my entire arm off had I went any faster. "

"I simply didn't pull your arm off, you're speed had nothing to do with it."

[Hussein had held out his own hand, pulling out a small blade and cutting himself with it which allowed for his blood to be spilled as well. Unexpectedly, his blood began to hover above his palm, taking shape and forming an irregular body of that of a weapon and Noah looked at this strange anomaly, intrigued.]

"It looks like a-"

[The blood had finally taken its form and it appeared to be a scythe. It was indeed a scythe made of blood, at least as tall as Hussein himself and it gave off a red hue as it radiated with a pungent, crimson odor. Once the weapon had taken shape, Hussein had gripped it, holding it as one should hold a scythe before bolting towards Noah at blinding speeds. With only centimeters between them, Hussein had swung his Scythe in less than a second and without realizing it, Noah's had unconsciously avoided the attack by jumping a few feet in the air.]

"I would've been a goner, had that thing cut me"

"You're quick, boy."

[Hussein pointed his scythe towards the air suspended Noah, aiming before the blade of his weapon ejected itself towards his target only being connected to the snath through a chain of Blood]

"Damn bastard, attacking me with only one hand. Apollo's Arrow!"

[With his only hand a light began to form around his palm and fingers, taking a shape similar to that of a bow allowing its luminescent body to shine bright enough to be seen from almost 50 meters away and was almost blinding to look at. Once its body had formed it ousted a plethora of photons in the shape of an arrow which began to rip through the air. Noah's arrow had clashed with the blade of Hussein's scythe resulting in a surge of power, abolishing the entirety of London with the two adversaries at the epicenter.]

[The aftermath was a gargantuan crater, filled with particles of light in which Apollo's arrow had reduced the area too, along with the two fighters. Two collections of particles began to come together, each forming a humanoid body and it was Noah and Hussein. Both rejuvenated, but not without harm since they both had severe scars across their bodies still bleeding.]

[Noah coughed up blood]

"His scythe, it's just as strong as Apollo's Arrow and even as fast. The other's weren't in range, but the people of this city...I'll have Apollo himself restore them as my only favor. That explosion shouldn't have happened, but since his scythe is gone it should work again."

[Breathing heavily, Hussein gave Noah an insidious smirk]

"That attack you just used, you've drained your stamina variable haven't you?"

[Gritting his teeth, Noah also gave into his c.o.c.ky attitude.]

"You're right, if I wasn't a follower of Apollo I'd have been finished, unable to even reform my body. In times of need, Apollo himself will spare his followers with a Stamina variable ten times that of a normal hybrid, meaning."

[Noah's body began to slightly glow as his scars and cuts closed up, healing themselves. He wiped the bloodstains from his face and had not coughed up any blood afterward.]

"I'm ten times as strong as I was before, you won't be able to defend against my next attack."

[Hussein seemingly began to go into a maniacal laugh]

"ha..hA..HAHAHA. You're bluffing child, I'll just rejuvenate my body once more, over and over again!"

"I know."

[Noah had once again summoned Apollo's Arrow, with its previous power tenfold, aiming it at Hussein and releasing the projectile once more. Wasting not a second, Hussein formed several barriers of blood prior to the arrow piercing them, causing the shields along with the ground beneath to be reduced to particles of light. Hussein had attempted to dodge and seemingly succeeded only to look down and find his body had been impaled by the arrow on Apollo. Through his skin, the weapon had pierced his liver resulting in his coughing of blood.]

"I avoided...hch..."

"Book of Gods, Chapter X, section Apollo's Arrow. 'This arrow should continue to overwrite impossibility and improbability until its destination has been reached. Distorting

and negating the targets sensories before impaling the body.' Your senses were changed and you thought you avoided it, Hussein you've lost to a follower of Apollo."

[Hussein's body began to reduce itself into photons, slowly, as he choked on his own blood]

"Ignorant child....this won't end me, my self-healing is unmatched."

"Book of Gods, Chapter X, section Apollo's Curse. 'Those bathed in the light of Apollo should not heal before becoming a follower of the god himself.' You wouldn't have healed yourself earlier if I had applied the curse, however, I didn't feel as if I needed to resort to such measures."

[The last of Hussein's body had vanished into particles, seemingly never to be seen again. Feeling at ease once again, Noah gave a sigh of relief. He stood up with pride and stared into the blue sky as he called on Apollo]

"Apollo! Restore this city to its former glory and this shall be my last favor!'

[An almost blinding flash of light covered the entire area before disappearing and the city of London, along with the civilians, had returned]

"Now I can get ba-"

[Before Noah could finish his sentence, he hadn't realized his body had been impaled with a familiar blade of crimson color]

"This..is."

[It was the Blade of Hussein's Blood Scythe and it cut deep into the back of Noah, with the tip of the blade ejecting from his abdomen, before being violently snatched out. Noah dropped to the floor on his knees and the people around started to look at him as he slowly turned his head while coughing blood.]

"It can't be...I destroyed you. Achh!"

[Still coughing up blood, a figure was standing behind Noah and it was none other than Hussein himself.]

"I thought...I thought I killed you."

"Silly boy. One of the strongest of The Consortium taken down by a child? I think not."

"But how?"

[This time around, Noah had begun coughing up pulps of his intestines while the blood tumbled from his mouth and nose]

"I already knew of your abilities. You're a follower of Apollo correct? That moment, when I cut my palm and my blood was spilled, it was my chance at rejuvenation. I was born again from something as feeble as it and I managed to thrive, as, for you, that isn't the case. Those whose bodies are cut by my sickle are fed an ever-changing disease. Your healing is redundant, child."

[Noah's vision began to get blurred as he struggles to speak]

"You...You Bastard. You couldn't kill me from the outside..so the inside was your last option. Why couldn't I sense you?"

"Even with the distance between us I changed the properties of your blood without you noticing it, the plan was to effectively stop your abilities from functioning but you were saved by your overseer, Apollo. A God's power even has its limits and he gave up on you, you're as useful as these worthless worms watching.."

[Noah's life began to flash before his eyes as his breathing slowed and the pigmentation of his body began to shift. His organs were beginning to shut down and all he could think of was everything that happened up until this point in time.]

[Noah gave off a smirk, followed by a whispery laugh]

"Guess I won't get the...at kiss after..."

[The boy's face had plopped on the pavement of the stone bricks which once lied under his feet. He was dead.]

[Hussein looked down at the carcass in disgust as he turned and began to walk away. The people of the city tried not to stop him due to their fear of his power and so he walked untouched.]

[The Next Day...]

It was the evening time and Noah would usually be on the couch listening to music if he wasn't geeking out at the library. He hadn't come back since yesterday and I wanted not to worry since I thought of multiple worst-case scenarios in my head so I went to Olivia to talk to her about it.

[Amelia walked to Olivia's room and opened the door as Olivia rose from her bed, yawning]

"YWAHH! Naps make the world go around. Hm? Amelia do you need something?

"It's about Noah."

She gave me a look of discerning

"What about him, you seem a bit upset."

"You know he hasn't come back since yesterday, what if something happened to him?"

Before I could start my next sentence, Olivia put her finger up to my lips, shushing me.

"It's okay, I'm sure he's fine. He probably decided to stay at the library overnight, you know how much of a nerd he is.

I tried to believe Olivia so I did my best to smile and hope, but I couldn't shake that feeling in the body. I hoped that Noah was okay even though I've only known him for a few months it seemed like the four of us had grown close, so I gave Olivia an unexpected hug and I could see her face turning red from the corner of my eyes.

"Amelia, are you feeling okay?"

I started to hug my friend even tighter.

"I just hope you're right."