[Episode 98788] [Episode 98788]**Facet 2, Xavier Mansion** Only sensations remained. Voices, They were so sad.. She was tired. Then:
**Facet 3, Limbo** The Soulsword--summation of Power and Spirit--pulsed as a Archdemon, Belasco by name, wrestled other forces, each intent on the easy road to power. Then they managed to drop it. It was never found.
**Facet 4, AOA** Illyana wished her brother hadn't gone mad, hadn't been killed. As she felt Death come, using the potential she'd had expressed in the M'kraan Crystal, she wished she didn't have to die alone. There was light and pressure, but it was too fast for any actual pain. Then:
**Facet 5, in a young victim's mind** Illyana could hardly stand it, she was doomed to die, in a way destined to drive one brother to suicide, at least in part, and all so a brother far less worthy could live! She set the spell, grimly ensuring at least that her fellow New Mutants also from her time not learn of *that* horror as well. It was all she could do not to kill herself even faster trying to give the damned Legacy back to that fucker of a eldest bro, but.. the others at least had prospects. So she just powered on through, did what was needed, and finally opened the portal, reassuring the others as she went. As it engulfed her though, she could not help but say "Let's just get back to our lives.. what's left of them, anyway." There was a feeling on unwinding, the memories and knowledge reweaving, something slipping elsewhere in transit, and:
**Nerima, Tokyo** She awoke. This was normal.. and not. Her throat was locked and there was a sense of some horrid pressure in her head reversing itself. Then she remembered, several times over in fact, and the resulting sound was only a whimper due to her jaws clenhing just shy of breaking teeth. Finally the parade of memories stopped, and she looked at herself, as if seeing herself for the first time. In a sense, she felt like she WAS.
Her long black hair was down and straight, as it should be, and her skin remained cutely shaded, her body strong and lean without losing femininity. She was in pajamas, and as she headed to the furo to splash some water on her face, she moved as gracefully as ever. Moreso, she felt, but that couldn't..
She froze in place seeing her eyes. They were blue! Not just any shade either, the shade she saw in the mirror in her dreams Nightmares Hallucinations!.. Memories. Continuing to splash a bit, she wearily checked, quietly cursing it all, in Japanese, English, and finally in native-fluent Russian. She cut it off before she started naming things better unnamed, as she felt Power here, but varying in strength. Best not do things that could blow up on all concerned. Not after Inferno.
"Dammit, Akane, now what?" She said to herself, in Japanese. She did manage a lasting spell to mask her eye color back to the near-black brown she recalled having.. this time around, at least. Then she went back to sleep.
On waking in the morning for true, and heading to school for her half-day, Akane comtemplated the decisions she'd made by sheer instinct the night before. All she could manage after some thought on it was a mental shrug. Willy-nilly, this is obviously Akane Tendo's life, however much she retained of her past or pasts, and after thoise endings, likely better. Still, there was something she felt she was missing in her consternation.
She crossed the threshold of Furinkan's enclosure and was rather rudely reminded of what she'd been distracted from recalling. The Horde. Looked to be about 3 score of 'em this time, but some were obviously the dilletante type, explained why they waited until the weekend for this. They charged her at that point.
As they attacked, she actually was further away than normal, not having charged them this time, so she had a second or two to debate then discard her using her powers on them. Weakened as they likely were, this not being Limbo, the fact remained that these twerps weren't anything close to a threat. Especially not when..
Akane just Grinned in a way that had the less fanatic ones pause, shudder, and in two fortunate cases flatout retreat, as she completely tore into the others! Between her previous knowledge and her newfound 'Audrey Rose' memories of training under Stevie Hunter, the block she'd hit self-teaching in Anything Goes was simply not there! It'd take time to integrate, of course.. But it was plenty already, as her actual *dodging* of attacks and basic redirection of foe into foe had them eating dirt--and with less injuries--in record time!
As the Sumo hopeful (one that kept fighting on behalf of the now oddly awestruck Gosunkugi) looked at her in minor amazement before finishing his thrown flight into the other 2 final challengers, Akane huffed out a bit of air. Basic Judo (from Stevie's lessons) mixed with the high power she'd developed before this revelation was all it took.
Just as she was about to go in, however, a tossed object came her way. She annoyedly knocked the thrown rose aside. The one time she'd grabbed it hard, the thorns had punctured her skin. She was weaker for the next 14 hours, and she did *not* like that. She didn't even turn as she headed on in to class, wearily calling back "Can you spare me the Tuxedo Kamen bit? He *never* wore Samurai or Kendo gear, Baka!" to the approaching Kuno Tatewaki.
As Akane had suspected, Tatewaki simply ignored that, as he did most things. Rather, he called out "Fiery-tempered Goddess! Uncouth as those boys are to challenge a true light, turn not your back on the course of love! I, the Shooting Star of Furinkan High School would fight with thee! And if you best me, I would allow thee to date with me, as I would you should I defeat you!"
As it happened, that was the very first time that Tatewaki had mentioned the challenge of her only being dated by those who defeated her in the same breath as his allowing her to date HIM should she win. Many if not most all of the boys missed it, either because of dimness, distance (on the part of those guys that didn't fight her each morning), or discomfort after the Akane-delivered beating. However, most of the GIRLS heard it loud and clear, Nabiki (who was observing for the betting pool results) and Akane among them.
She might have recently gained/recalled a whole new definition or twelve of horror and defilement for a sense of proportion, but this *was* Akane Tendo. She showed it after Kuno's line, rage creating a aura of sheerest azure (sparked with white and black spikes of something else fading in and out, which caused Hikaru Gosunkugi to faint on seeing them) as she whirled and faced the poster boy of Self-delusion.
Her voice was eerily unemotional, paced slow, but almost conversational in timbre. It scared the crap out of all listening anyway, as she said "I see. So. Let me get this straight. If you win, your little decree means you get to date me. If I win, you then persue me, figuring I'm trying to date you, until I finally do. Ergo, no matter what happens, I'm somehow obligated to date you."
The Kendo captain backed up a step, despite his intent to show fortitude. The dirt beneath Akane seeming to sizzle with each step was mostly why, but that look in her eyes, like she was measuring him for a casket--in a Thimble Funeral--well, it didn't help much! He did manage to nod, though, as she was "finally showing that she understood his brilliant means of circumventing all the folderol in the way of their glorious romance!"
About the time Tatewaki realise he'd actually said that last bit aloud, Akane Tendo literally howled like a demon from Hell (or Limbo at least--after all, she REMEMBERED such sounds.) She also stunned everyone there by pulling a Blade literally from thin air, holding it in the style of a true Master.
The blade was black-hilted and white-bladed, although its resemblance to the previous SoulSword ended there. Living as Akane (and having various facets of self merged) had had its effect, as the blade was now a Sakabattou, a reversed Katana blade. On later reflection, Akane felt this was as natural for her now as the Western-style blade it had been was for her remembered life as Illyana. She didn't even wince at having done this in the middle of the school grounds, however, as she was too furious to express without killing somebody!
"Aho. Let me explain. Aho. When you attempt to leave someone no choice on whether to date you, Aho, it is intimidation at best and attempted rape at worst. So, Aho, I'm asking you now; Did you intend to have me then leave?"
Tatewaki twitched, unable to see where she'd had the sacriligious blade, but more urgently felt the need to show his glory, lest it be defamed by such improper and incorrect words. "No, my love, you do not understand, I am sure the hateful mercenary would have you think such shame, but I amd merely protecting you from all wrong fools, that you fall into my arms and--I hope and pray--be wed to me in time most glorious, yet to come! Drop the Blade of Mockery, that so insults Samurai honor. Come to your love!"
Akane just laughed, although her aura of pure fury grew thicker if anything. "'My Love', Aho?!? Only if I am truly damned! You just admitted to the whole school that you had no intention of letting anyonbe else date me, whether I was beaten by them or not! What, you were going to swoop in and 'rescue' me, thus gaining the right to date me, should any of those pikers actually manage a win?" The flinch at how she described it gave his guilt of just such a duplicity away to all who saw.
"Of course. So, Aho, that way i am either lonely and trapped, or forced to date you alone, until you had your whore. I'd rather die. I keep calling you {Asshole}, Aho, as being a rear entry as it were is seemingly your only way to express anything. Besides, after this, it's your name far as I'm concerned! By the way, Aho. The Sakabattou is a sword bound to peace, a expression of the vow to not kill as sacred as the honor implicit in the blade of a Samurai. You know nothing of true Bushido or of the honor of a Martial Artist, or you'd know that. I've wasted too many words on you already, and I'm gonna be stuck with bucket duty again, no thanks to you, so I'll just cut to the chase. Fuck with me again (several girls gasped at the foulness of the language, but many others just nodded) and I'll make you wish you were dead. Now leave me Alone!"
Akane then made as if to turn, but kept watch out of the corner of her eye. Sure enough, Tatewaki decided to retain his Samurai act and charged, shouting "You will respect the wishes of your senior and release that evil-" before being interrupted. The interruption was Akane sliding right and skidding her sakabattou blunt (the back end is the edge, the leading side is therefore the blunt) down, catching Tatewaki by surprise and scoring a solid hit on the knuckles of each hand. It was only enough to make him loosen and retighten his grip, but enough to allow Akane a sweep at ankle level and a light shot of the blunt across.. a *private* place indeed.
As Tatewaki forgot about the blade, Akane, and his own name in the pain of bruised genitalia while writhing in the dirt like the worm she felt him to be, Akane walked back to school, banishing her Sword and losing her anger, confident that people would assume the blade to be like the Hammer of Justice some folks have been known to come up with when sufficiently ticked off. The day went on from there.
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(Posted Tue, 13 Apr 2004 09:19)
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