Ronan feels the burn before he knows what's happening, sharp and bright-hot, and he lets out a strangled groan as he yanks his hand back. Noah's suddenly between them then, his back to Ronan and... fuck, huge. Expanding. Close as he is, Ronan can see his skin thinning and bones stretching, can see the decaying corpse beneath the beautiful boy and he stumbles back further.

Noah's voice is ice, entirely directed at the other Ronan, the other him. Above them, both Chainsaws screech wildly, one of them diving straight for Noah before the other swoops in to block her, both birds tumbling away in a mess of beating feathers.

"Noah," Ronan shouts, cradling his burnt hand against his chest. Noah's a ghost and virtually indestructible, but Ronan has no idea what this other fucker is capable of and he's not about to let Noah get in the middle of it.