The Start of it All

[Naphtali]

"Oi, mate, wha's with all the shoutin'?!  Bloody bugger, shut up!"  And then Shi kicked Kwok in the teeth.

Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

[Shuten]

Sakura remained silent as she unconscious snuggled closer to the man holding her. For some reason it simply felt right.


Shuten

[acetalon]

Ace felt a blush coming on when she snuggled closer, and he felt a shiver of...what, enjoyment?  

And then he remembered who was behind him.  

"I don't know them I don't know them I don't know them..."  He thought as a sort of mantra.

"Err...Shi, what're ya doing?!"  He cried out, pretending to be outraged at Kwok's treatment just for Sakura's sake.  "What happens if he loses all his teeth?"

[Naphtali]

"'e'll have to bloody well  gum his food!  Or you can chew it for 'im, mate!"

[Kwokinator]

Kwok braced himself as he caught Shi kicking him.  Pushing himself up into the air with his arms, he went into a flip to negate the momentum of Shi's kick, then landed back on his feet.

"I'd love to play with ya, Shi," Kwok looked away from Shi and Ace, as if searching for someone. "But I gotta go.  Something's wrong.  I feel that something's happened to Angela."

"I HAVE to go find her."

He took off running.

[acetalon]

"Why that..."  Ace muttered inane curses at Kwok.  

He felt something wrong as well.  He still didn't have a damn clue who Angela really was, a problem he planned to fix soon when Kwok came back.  It wasn't her that was bothering him.  It was that cursed bracelet around his left wrist.  It was starting to pulse again.  It was coming stronger now, with more intensity.  It was starting to numb his wrist again.

Ace didn't know what the implications of that was, but he had a bad feeling.  

He looked down at Sakura again, at her beautiful and calm expression and wondered just why the hell it felt so...familiar, so right to be doing it.

"Shoot.  I'm gonna follow that dumbass.  He'll probably hurt himself more likely than not."

[Shuten]

Sakura gazed at the glowing bracelet on Ace's arm in wonder. "Kirei..." Sakura couldn't help herself as she slowly reached forward to touch it.

OOC: ...


Shuten

[acetalon]

Ace's eyes widened in alarm.

"No, don't...!"  He tried to say, but it was too late.  At her slightest touch, the gem-studded bracelet changed from pulsing to flaring.  Ace fell to his knees, his arms slackened and Sakura fell from his nerveless grip.

"AAAUUUGGGHH!!!  He screamed.  The pain!  He couldn't think.  Ace ripped the bracelet from his arm in agony.  What the consequences of his actions were was about to unfold...

What Kwok had remembered didn't hold a candle to what Ace remembered, which was become the sole reason for the death of the one he cared most about.  Sakura.  

Ace saw it all clearly, how she rose from theh ground like a marble goddess, the light from the sun illuminating her glow.  Her expression was so calm...so sad...  It was too late before Ace realized that glow wasn't from the sun.  It was her weapon systems overloading...

She died because of him.  She died because he had been depressed and spurned her.  He saw that same scene over, and over, and over again.  He saw it so many times, everything seemingly moving in slow motion, yet everything moving so fast.  It was like he had lost her all over again.

Ace screamed again, clutching his head.  This was why he had that bracelet!  This was why he was so afraid to take it off!

"She's dead, and it's my fault,"  He sobbed.
"Wait...then what happened after that?  How did I get here?"  Ace stood up.  A glint had appeared in his eyes.  

"I must be dreaming.  She'd still dead and I'm just unconscious,"  He thought emotionlessly.

Then his emotions did flare.

"If I'm dreaming...then I don't have to hold back anymore...I can let loose..."  Ace laughed darkly, his very sanity slipping from his very grip.  

"Yes...I can let loose...no more restraint... no more bullshit with the balance..."

He turned to Shi.  He couldn't even see Sakura right in front of him as he walked around her to get to Shi.  He gave them a fanged smile.

"Lets play...I've always wanted..."

[Naphtali]

Shi threw back his head and laughed.  "Ah, brother, you do amuse me so!  Of course, I'm always ready to play..."  

He grinned evilly, not paying attention to Sakura either.  He lifted a hand and concentrated.  "First... a playground..."  The earth beneath their feet begin to tremble...

"Rise!"  The ground under Ace and Shi suddenly burst, columns of stone like small mountains lifting them into the sky, which was rapidly turning dark.  A blood red moon appeared in the stormy sky above them, and black lightning cracked nearby.  

"Dramatic, but one does need a proper atmosphere for these things!"





OOC - I took this scene from SaGa Frontier, the fight between Blue and Rouge.]

[acetalon]

"Quite, brother.  It just wouldn't be the same without."

Ace flicked his hair back and materialized the Void armor.  He drew a line of blood across the welt on his wrist, unable to comprehend why he felt no pain from it.  It was probably the first time he remembered ever facing off one on one...he relished the feeling.  

"Name whatever rules you want, I care not."  For his first deathmatch,  he wanted it to be good.  Still, he was impatient.  

[Shuten]

Sakura felt nothing as her body hit the ground. Her eyes wide and unseeing. Memories from a lifetime filled her mind. Hopes and regrets. Memories... Some good and some bad.

Then *his* face assaulted her mind.
Happiness...
Sadness...
Happiness...
Sadness...
HappiSadHappiSadHappiSadHappiSadHappiSadHapSadHapSadHapSad.... "AAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!" Sakura screamed her voice filled with something unknown.

Sakura staggered to her feet slowly. She had to stop him... had to make him understand. Yet her leg simply wouldn't hold her. Collapsing again to the ground as horrendous pain tore thru her leg.

"I w... won't... g... gi...ve... up." Sakura declared gritting her teeth as she dragged herself forward slowly. Each pull like a million needles being stuck in her leg.

OOC: ...


Shuten

[RyderHakubi]

20 minutes ago:

As she ran off to find her beloved, Angela Kietsu never saw the bullet slash into her arm, nor did she see the large man in black robes slam her in the back of the head and lift her onto his shoulder...

Present time, as Shi and Ace square off:

Yamiko Yamiko stood in awe of the massive energies flowing around the two Aspects... Keril-sama had never explained to her this!!!

Of cource, awing can get you in trouble... and Yamiko joined Angela in the clutches of the black robed man.

Unfortunatly, as he attempted to grab Sakura... he got a rail shot into his hand, blasting it streight off...

"I don't think so..." Ryder said while standing in front of Sakura, railgun to his side and guitar strapped around his shoulders...

[Shuten]

Sakura was so set on stopping Ace that she had failed to notice his approach. In fact she still did not notice him. The only thing she knew was that someone was in her way...

"P... please move!" Sakura's voice was filled with desperation. "I... I've g... g... got... to st... stop... Ace-k... kun." Another bolt of pain shot thru her left leg forcing her to bite her tongue in a desperate attempt to keep from screaming out.

OOC: ...


Shuten

[RyderHakubi]

Ryder nodded and helped Sakura to her feet...

"Go stop those nuts, alright?  I'd rather not see this place become any worse..."

The black robed man tore off a bit of his robe and painfully wrapped his hand...

[Shuten]

Unfortunately Sakura's left leg had other plans. The moment pressure was placed on it she screamed bloody murder as her nerves were completely overloaded.

Sakura fell to her knees and slumped forward face first to the ground. She lay there her eyes open yet unseeing. Unable to do anything as her mind fell into pain induced shock.

OOC: ^^ \/


Shuten