Adventure Twisted Side Story - CRAZZZZY RAT AND HIS CAST OF

[Anastasia]

You manage to do so, brining a halt to your frantic sprint. Yuki, that THING, crosses, Shizue, blood, it all overtakes your rational mind.

[Carthrat]

Carthrat stares at his blood-soaked hands.

"I.. ripped them apart.. just normal people.."

youdidthisit'sallyourfault

"Me... hahah... and I thought I didn't just kill.."

youllpayoneday

"Right.. and.. I don't know.. what am I? Some kind of.. vampire?"

Carthrat makes his way to somewhere dark, isolated, and alone..

[Anastasia]

The scurry of alley rats wake you...or just get your attention.  You are not sure if you have been asleep or just in your private hell.

For what seems to have been the last eternity, pure image overload has bombarded you. It started as soon as you found an out of the way alley to rest in. Not great, but the best on short call. As you fell down to your ass, it began. The only thing that seemingly prevents you from...something.....is the face of Yuki and the rememberance of the cross. When either came up, a fresh and vicious volley of recollection came to try and drown it out.

[Carthrat]

Death, destruction, fire...

It'd always been that way for him. From his youth... where he was abandoned.

Or that's what he thought. He never found out. Never cared.

Etching out an existence day by day. Being the biggest kid and just taking what he wanted from those who didn't have to fight. Yeah. He remembered. Going to the public high school. He didn't have any money. He lived in an abandoned house. He just beat up kids and took their money.

But he excelled at the school, yes he did. And so the teachers never thought *he* was the one doing it.

Didn't think he dominated.

But then he let it all go.. and he knew he spent his spare time crying.

The memories were all painful.. what joy did he bring to others?

Yeah. Joy. Right.

He *was* selfish, wasn't he?

A tinge of memory struck him.. he remembered.. a helicopter. Flying. Young, diseased ridden children. A cruiser. Medics. Doctors. A hospital.

Smiling children. Happy faces. Relieved faces.

The men he'd killed to make those faces in the long run. The zealots. The pain. The killing.

Who fought only so their children could have the same thing, really.

One vice for another. The truth for a lie.

It was a joke. Was it?

Meaning. Purpose. Lack of.

Death, death, death. It followed him everywhere like a shadow.

Fight it? Why fight? You can't fight death, it always comes. Join death. Yes, join death, then it might not come for hi-

NO! What was his old motto? That line he shot to Yuki that made her smile..

"Life's only a 100 years, so if you saved a life a year, you'd save a hundred lives who could do the same.."

Yeah, that was it. Maybe. He could be a doctor. Yeah. A doctor.

If not a doctor, maybe a psychiatrist.

Maybe yes, maybe not.

Who knew anymore..

[Anastasia]

The sound of nonsense words being strung into meaning tickle your ears. Looking up, you see a truly unexpected sight. The female mage from the railgun mess is a few feet away. Before you can react, you feel a force lock up your muscles, sending you to the ground.

A little more chanting sends you to darkness yet again.

[Anastasia]

As the blackness leaves you, you find yourself laying on the ground yet again. Gee, this is coming a habit, you think.

Looking around, you are in a large, sunlit room. Above, there is a glass or crystal ceiling, letting bright light in. Around you is a large diagram, embedded in the tile floor. It pulses with blue radiance, forming bizarre lines and pointy circles.

Strangely, the blue light is soothing.  As you take it in, you look over the rest of the room. The tile walls are carved with runes, also glowing with blue light.  To your right, you turn to see the female mage. Her greying hair and black robe are the same, but she is regarding you with a mix of amusement and disdain.  You feel no urge to hurt her...

[Carthrat]

"I'm not dead," Carthrat comments, somewhat unhappily.

[Anastasia]

"No. I was planning to do so in quite a spectacular manner befitting the revenge you deserve, but it seems Azzuroan beat me to it. So tell me, how did you get sucked into his priesthood?" she says, not hiding the humor in her voice.

[Carthrat]

"I slit my wrists and didn't die," Carthrat contiues. "I always thought slitting your wrists killed you. Guess I was wrong."

[Anastasia]

She smiles, a mixture of soft humor and viciousness.

"I suppose not, at least when Azzuroan is involved. So you are one of his unwilling followers now." she laughs. "By God, fate has given me a revenge I can never match."

[Carthrat]

"Fate? I'll have Fate's head on a stick if I ever meet her. She has it out for me."

Carthrat sighs. "It's like the domino effect, except there's only one domino."

[Anastasia]

"Hum. Call it fate, luck, God, whatever. The fact is that you are now one of the fallen priesthood. By my laws, I should strike you down here and now so you can only serve your God in Gehenna."

[Carthrat]

"Except I suppose you won't because you see I am in unbearable torment and you like this because I unwarrantedly attacked your shop?  

Figures."

[Anastasia]

"Not quite. Because, quite honestly, you are also a living gateway key. You see, Azzaroan touched your soul with His essense. This provides a direct link to the Outer Reaches, which I can use to fuel portals with minimal magic output on my part. You are a breathing key to Heaven, Hell, Limbo and every other variant of it in the worlds."

[Carthrat]

"So, let me get this straight.

I'm in heaps of shit and lots of people are about to come after me."