Chapter Text
“IS THAT THE BEST YOU’VE GOT?” Gabriel screamed, his voice echoing through the high ceilings of the Heresy chamber. V1 flipped up its middle finger while it slid along the floor, quickly patching a leak in its torso as it retreated from the angel’s frantic swipes.
“YOU WISH,” V1 shot back. It wanted to throw better insults at him, but it had to focus on deflecting sword swipes more than on coming up with witty remarks.
A spear of light shot towards V1 as it stood up from its slide with no time to dodge. It pierced through the shoulder of the feedbacker, wires and fuel lines snapping with a shrill whine of its fans. Blood flooded from the sliced tubes and it worked quickly to shut off the flow of fuel to it.
>> WARNING: ‘FEEDBACKER’ OFFLINE. HEAVY DAMAGE SUSTAINED. UNABLE TO PERFORM RECALIBRATION. DIVERTING AUXILIARY POWER TO REPAIR SYSTEMS.
>> FUEL LEVEL: 33%
“FUCK YOU,” V1 screeched, its wings turning a bright red as the feedbacker fell limb against its side. It could feel its systems rapidly repairing the limb, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like a bitch. “FUCKING OW.”
Gabriel faltered, his arms falling to his sides. “Everything alright?” he asked hesitantly. “Are you yielding?”
“NO.”
When Gabriel didn’t move, it took the opportunity to sign, “Get your fucking ass over here so I can put a railcannon through your shoulder, see how you like it.”
V1 saw his shattered halo brighten as it taunted him and he moved to throw Splendor. But he still hesitated a millisecond too long.
By the time the golden blade was hurtling towards V1, it had already done a hundred calculations. It brought the knuckleblaster forward and, instead of parrying as it usually would, it wrapped the claws around the sword’s handle, the tip of the blade grazing against its thigh and scratching the paint.
“HE. HE. HE,” it laughed slowly. V1 clumsily held Splendor with the knuckleblaster and instantly downloaded all of its data on Gabriel’s fighting techniques. It felt the blade sit more comfortably in its grasp, almost like an extension of its body. The sharpshooter twirled idly in its main hand and it used the whiplash to secure the inoperable arm behind its back and out of the way. It pointed Splendor towards a frozen and stunned Gabriel, its optic squinting into a smirk.
“GET FUCKED,” it chirped gleefully. V1 pointed at Splendor with the sharpshooter. “MINE.”
Finally, Gabriel shook from his stupor, wings flashing a bright yellow. “That is not yours to claim, machine,” he sneered. “I will grind you down into dust for attempting to steal from an archangel.”
V1 knew it was an empty threat. If his wings were anything to go by, he was thrilled by the change in their combat.
He rushed forward, wielding Justice in two hands and swinging powerfully towards V1. It sank to the ground, meeting his strike with Splendor in a splash of sparks. But his body was already littered with wounds gifted by V1. Burns from a shotgun blast in his side, nails embedded in his arms, and a dozen bullet holes from its revolvers. Blood poured from the angel and splashed onto its chassis, reinvigorating it while draining him.
“YIELD.” A command, not a statement.
“No,” he spat through gritted teeth.
Fine then. It reeled back with the sharpshooter and slammed the butt of it into the side of Gabriel’s helm. He stumbled back with a cry and V1 raised a leg to kick him into the nearest wall.
His armor made a grinding sound as he slammed into the stone and slid to the ground. Justice fell from his limp grasp as he groaned in pain. V1 dashed forward and slammed its foot into his chest. It pressed the tip of Splendor into his neck, tilting his head up with the flat edge. It cocked its head, expectant.
“I… yield,” he sighed. “Can I have my sword back now?”
V1 shook its head and placed the revolver back into its wing. “I won, so I get my prize first,” it signed. “I refuel, then you can have it back. ”
“I refueled you before the spar.”
“Not all the way. And you proceeded to then slice about half a dozen of my fuel lines and royally fucked up my arm. That takes a shit ton of fuel to fix, you know.”
It watched its fuel tick down below 30% and shuddered. It was hungry. And yet it waited for Gabriel’s permission.
“Fine,” he muttered. “A deal is a deal. Let me get Justice-”
V1 threw Splendor to the ground and pressed its hands greedily against the myriad of bleeding injuries on Gabriel’s torso. It didn’t want to wait for him to slice his palm open when there was perfectly good fuel right there.
Sometimes V1 forgot that Gabriel was flesh and blood. He was far above anything V1 had encountered that it didn’t quite remember that he was fragile beneath his armor. He was so warm, so soft, so unlike anything else in Hell. There were machines with their sharp exteriors, demons made of uncaring stone, and husks so cold and empty they were barely worth their fuel.
But Gabriel was alive. There were no sharp edges to him, no coldness, his blood pure and divine. It pressed harder against his stomach, feasting on his warm blood. V1 wanted to dig its hands into his flesh to find out where all that warmth came from.
Then a deep growl ran up Gabriel’s throat, barely escaping through his helm. V1 froze and pulled its hands away immediately. But it couldn’t quite ignore the flash of reward signals that stabbed into its processor.
The growl morphed into a huff of frustration as his helm fell against the wall he leaned against.. V1 tilted its head, waiting for Gabriel to speak. Then it noticed his breathing was staggered and his heart rate still continued to rise despite sitting down. Switching its optic settings, its thermal camera showed that his body temperature was getting increasingly warmer, too.
And then it clicked, and V1’s fans staggered.
“Hoooly shit, it signed as it struggled to remain composed while its processor sent out a confusing slew of errors and reward signals. “You’re fucking turned on. Are you getting off to this? Holy fucking shit, angel.”
Gabriel stiffened and gave V1 his best glare with his face covered. “You- that- that is so crude, machine,” he sputtered. “I am an angel, I am not-”
“Mhm yeah yeah whatever, but you were the one moaning and groaning just a second ago when I was barely even touching you.” It partially lowered its top shutter and stared at him, fans whirring erratically in its chest. “Unless that was the problem?” it added with slower hand signs before it could stop itself.
Now Gabriel fully sat up, causing V1 to slide onto the ground in front of him. “That- you are exceedingly obscene. Have you not an ounce of shame in that vulgar chassis?” he ranted, his armor starting to flicker to a familiar red- oh shit. It went too far.
“Not really, no.” It paused a moment to glance away from him. “Sorry. I can leave. I have enough fuel. Say the word and I’ll go do my own stuff until the next spar.” Assuming he’d want to keep sparing and V1 hadn’t fucked up the one good thing it still had. And it hated that its processor was still struggling to load.
Gabriel faced his helm towards V1, who could suddenly feel the intense gaze of the angel fully focused on it. It felt like a pressure was pushing down on its head, forcing it to look at him. Or maybe he would just smite it instead. Somehow that made its processor feel even more unstable.
Finally, he looked away and V1 felt relief as the unseen force was lifted from its optic. “I should go,” he muttered before standing up, his armor returning to its normal white. “You know where to find me.”
There was a flash of white light and a crack like thunder. When V1’s sensors recovered, Gabriel was gone, leaving only a small burn mark on the ground where he’d been.
That could certainly have gone worse, V1 decided. It was alive and Gabriel was still willing to spar and give it fuel. Though, a chaste angel, fallen or not, getting uncomfortable with the thought of sex shouldn’t have surprised it. But the mild warning for it to watch itself was sufficient enough to get the point across.
V1 opened up its notes and added a new one to its ever growing list:
>> GABRIEL NOTE: CONTINUE TO TAKE BLOOD FROM ARMS/HANDS ONLY. AVOID TORSO COMPLETELY.
And then it turned on its heels and leaped towards the elevator.