First Things First[Castle, Jericho]

[Slash]

I'll kill you, girl. I'll tear you heart out and force you to eat it while you still live. I'll make you wish you were dead.[/color] His original plan of recruiting them was now completely null. He hated this insolent girl more than anything. The mask was given a few more seconds before being discarded. It was getting annoying, anyway. He spoke carefully, restraining himself more successfully than Emi could. The facade was still intact- he seemed angry, but the true depth of his anger was successfully concealed. Besides, it's not like he didn't have a valid reason.

"What a lovely specimen you are, darling. Professing to not know anything to help me, then reacting angrily when your friend gives me some sort of help. I am not a liar, but of course you must be more paranoid than most, considering the proficiency of which you can lie at the expense of others. Tell me, do you enjoy it? Would it have made you happy to see me wander off into the woods, out of your sight? Of course it would have." He took the crackers out of his pocket and threw them at her feet. "I hardly need the pity of such a vile example of humanity's worse nature. Although I appreciate the gesture. It must soothe whatever blackened remnants of a conscience you may possess." He bowed slightly to reach her eye level, his eyes filled with contempt. It was clear that he thought of her as the scum of the earth. He spoke quietly now, as if sharing a secret. His voice was hard and mocking.

"You are as temperamental as you are deceitful, I see. Perhaps, as I walk away, you will attack me. How satisfying, to kill an unarmed man. So be it. I am not a fighter like you. I know that there is nothing to be gained from the blood of another. But to kill another is to corrupt oneself, and I will die content knowing that one so low as yourself has taken a great step towards becoming a mindless Soldier, to be reviled and attacked. Or perhaps you believe you can cut the corruption out of yourself? It would not surprise me. Ones of your disposition often have the capacity for self-mutilation, do they not? Enough of this. I shall take my leave." Of course, if she attacked him, he would respond in kind. But that felt really good to say.

He began walking away, very dismissively.

[Castle]

First, the guy started layering on more of his sob story, which did make Castle feel a little bit guilty, but on top of that, irritated. It seemed wrong somehow to be irritated by that, but he just was. The guy, as he had already established, was kind of a freak.

However, his opinion of who was and was not a freak quickly extended to the other person who stood close by. Emi was starting to lose it. Like, really lose it. She shot him a glance that, in spite of all his pride, made a chill go up his spine and stole any potential speech from him. Then it got worse, though thankfully, not in his direction. She went up to the guy with a hurricane of nasty words. Castle stared, eyes a bit wide, the most prominent thought in his head being a simple "whoa."

He was just beginning to wonder if coming with her was really a good idea when the tables turned again. Heck, the tables practically rolled over and went belly up for want of being scratched.

This guy was a freaking demon. That was the first comparison to pop into Castle's mind.

At that moment, a cold fire surged up through his chest cavity. Castle's arms went to his sides as his hands clenched into fists, his teeth practically grinding together. Oh, so the guy was one of those, was he? No other adjectives necessary. Just, those.

He didn't care how skinny and pathetic the man looked. He was going to beat the tar out of him. As he began to walk away, oh so dismissively, Castle broke into an all-out sprint after him. He leaped, not high enough to qualify for a high jump, but high enough to easily reach the guy's head with a roundhouse kick.

"Son of a bitch!" Castle shouted as he swung his foot toward his target.

[Slash]

If Jericho had known about Castle's comparison of him to a demon, he would have laughed and agreed. As it stood now, though, all he knew is that the irritant factors of those two had reached a fever pitch and had officially become a very large pain.

His actions for years had been governed by a deep-seated and unquenching hatred of others, coupled with a perverse enjoyment in watching them suffer and die. Normally, he considered everybody with the same amount of contempt and scorn, but a few people rose a little higher on his list of loathing. Then there were people like these two, who were given the honor of having his incredibly deep reserves of abject fury turned at them. For imagery purposes, it should be pictured as a very large tsunami hitting a small mud hut. Needless to say, people like this did not survive very long.

The boy sent a kick at his head? Really? Pathetic. Of course, he thought that Jericho was weak. Jericho was very thin, but what was hidden by his choice in very baggy clothing was that his muscles were quite defined, as well. Some people expected him to be fast, which he was, but nobody expected him to be strong. And Jericho would very much enjoy dropping the facade for the few moments of surprise he could wring out of the two.

He ducked quickly from the blow, faster than the two probably believed he could move.

During this, he was laughing. It was quiet at first, but it slowly grew in volume, never becoming loud but becoming audible enough for the emotions in it to be distinguished. It was two parts cold mocking, one part furious hatred, and a dash of contemptuous amusement. It was just as insane and creepy as it sounds.

Deciding this was the appropriate time, he took out a cigarette and lit it, still laughing. Lung cancer wasn't an issue. He'd be dead before that could be a problem. Besides, smoking made him less enemies than gambling or drinking heavily, both which he was well acquainted with.

"Beating on the weak one, huh? Yeah, admittedly I lied about that bit with the fighting. It was worth it to get you to pull some stupid crap like that. Jump kick. Please." He turned to the girl and grinned. It was an incredibly evil grin, the type that the devil himself probably wore after turning another soul to sin.

"Darling, I believe it's your turn. Unless you're so overcome with despair that you'd rather go cry in a corner about how useless you are, maybe while trying to cut yourself with a piece of bark." Man, but insulting people was fun. He was really glad when he got to act like he really was.

Laughing, he signaled Emi to hurry up. "Come on, I haven't got all day. Yell at me a bit and beat me around. Then I'll break your pretty little face. You'll look like you are on the inside. Won't that be nice?"

[Oathkeeper Emi]

"Knocked off my feet,
the earth moved beneath,
the edge of a dream and a nightmare."
-Out from Under by Red
--

She had no words. They just wouldn't come out of her mouth. The only sound coming from he was the sound of heavy, ragged breathing through her nose because her mouth was still clamped shut. Jericho's words literally echoed in her ears. The words coming out of his mouth were absolutely searing, insults like she had never heard before. She thought she'd been called every name in the book, but that was back when she was a mongrel street child. This was different. This was poetry for god's sake, he was actually putting thought into the words not just yelling out what ever crude name came to him. He was reading her, calculating what to say that would strike just the right chord.

If Emi didn't know any better, she would say this man was suicidal.

She didn't answer his questions, but she didn't shy away from his glance when he met her at eye level. The amount of hatred in those two sets of eyes was outstanding. There was one thing he got wrong: Emi was not a cold blooded killer. She had often attacked another human in anger and indeed, she had nearly killed a man in her younger days. But she didn't attack to kill and honestly, a majority of the time, she literally could not help herself.

And then he started talking of self-mutilation. Emi's eyes went wide. How did he know? she thought, the only coherent thought to bubble to the surface. Everything else was a distorted, grainy noise, a ringing in her ears that wouldn't go away. And in amongst all of that, she could hear her own pulse pounding in her ears. Unconsciously, she drew her arms close to her stomach and crossed them, although there was no way he could see the scars under the leather sleeves of her jacket.

Jericho was leaving and Emi's mind was reeling, drowning in memories. If he had not trapped her in that cycle, she probably would have gone straight for his throat- or worse.

Castle ran past her, bringing her back to reality. The rage returned with her. She uncrossed her arms and straightened, unaware that she had doubled over staring at the forest floor.


"Castle...[/color]" she called out with a warning tone. The smaller young man attempted to kick the taller one, and Emi's held her breath waiting for the impact... that never came. Somehow that demon ducked. She watched her companion fall back down to earth while Jericho began to laugh. Took out a cigarette and lit it.

Oh, that was it. It was on. The smell of cigarette smoke hit her, triggering the nicotine cravings she had very successfully been burying down deep. She was going to murder him. And then take his cigarettes.

She would have gotten right on that had he not turned to her with more mocking words. How she had been able to restrain herself this long was both a mystery and a miracle. Somehow, this man knew how to read her and had the perfect things to say to make her hesitate. That is what had kept him from being beaten to a bloody pulp thus far, but the second mention of self-injury was not tolerated and did not send her spiraling again. He had run out of options.

"I will not cry,[/color]" she said, voice shaking. Then she laughed, though it was just as bitter as it always was. "Aww, you think I'm pretty? I'm not going to waste my breath on you anymore, I'm just going to skip straight to the part where I beat the hell out of you and then spit on your unconscious body. I'm not going to give you the privilege of death. It's so much worse to have to bear the pain.[/color]"

She unhooked both kali sticks from her belt and slid into a battle stance. A shimmery purple fog began to lift from the sticks. "Trust me,[/color]" she continued solemnly. No more words. With a rough cry, she swung Duskywing hard- aiming for the man's head. If he didn't duck, the impact would surely send him stumbling if not crack his skull.

--
Battle Report
Emi used [Swift Blow]
1 use remaining

[Castle]

At first, Castle thought he'd simply missed. In a split second, his target was just gone, leaving him to wonder within that split second if he had miscalculated the jump, or if he was just going crazy and had tried to kick at thin air. Whatever the case, his momentum carried him the rest of the way through the leap, though now his feet were in a very unhelpful position for landing on. The strength of the kick caused him to turn in midair as he fell, and he had just enough time to realize that the guy had actually dodged him before he landed hard on his front on the forest floor, knocking the wind out of himself.

He was over a yard away now, embarrassment turning his anger sour, making it worse. And the guy just kept talking, like they were having a freaking conversation. He lit a cigarette, making fun of Emi, making fun of him. Castle growled as he scrambled upright, swiping the dead leaves off of his shirt and jacket. That jerk was so going down. Right now.

He hardly noticed Emi take out her kali sticks, nor did he see the shimmering fog that rose from them. He was too busy starting another attack of his own, running up to the guy from behind again, this time with a fist cocked at his hip. His fighting gloves also began to glow faintly, with a dull red aura.

Emi would probably hit first, if she hit at all, and once that happened Castle would know where to aim the punch that he launched forward from his hip; right at the stranger's kidneys.

--
Battle Report
Castle used [Swift Blow]
1 use remaining

[Slash]

Jericho noticed that both of them were about to hit him. Well, he could dodge one and get hit by the other, or get hit by both.

...This was an easy choice. He ducked the kali stick and took the blow to his kidneys.

Holy crap, that midget could punch. He staggered back a bit, but quickly regained composure. He didn't exactly want to start fighting back yet. Talking was more fun. The girl had become so angry...she was now reminding him of himself, especially in her words. How wonderful. He loved it when people acted like him.

"Ha! Girl, we're not too different. Maybe, if I don't kill you, we will meet again after you have descended further into the spiral of madness. We will see eye to eye then." He moved back a little and looked at Castle.

"Kidneys. That's a low blow. You should go higher next time. Oh, wait. You can't reach that high."

That was about enough. It was time to fight. He would go for the short guy first. He was the less interesting one. Jericho moved quickly, moving around Emi and striking at Castle's neck from the side. It wasn't a fatal blow, or a particularily injuring blow. But it would close off his windpipe for a bit, giving Jericho time to incapacitate the girl.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Battle Music: PARANOiA ETERNAL
--

Momentum carried Emi a little to the left, and she stumbled. Daggerwing and Duskywing went rolling across the forest floor, and she caught herself on her hands before she fell completely to the ground. She kept low, grabbed up the sticks- they had stopped glowing by now, she had returned to normal speed- and whirled around. She didn't bother to brush the hair out of her face, although it was a bit of a handicap. Breathing raggedly, she twirled the sticks around in her hand to regain some composure. She clenched her fists, and flames shot up the length of both Daggerwing and Duskywing, heating the metal until it glowed faintly orange. Again, she spun her weapons and started running towards him. She was already visualizing her attack. She had learned a little since her last big battle and what she had learned was to have a strategy and never go in blindy.

She was completely deaf to his words. The only thing she could ear was her own pulse and breathing in her ears.

Make sure he doesn't dodge this one. Aim low, she thought as she closed the short distance between them. She brought Daggerwing up high and brought it down fast and hard, hoping to connect with his shoulder and push him to the ground. As she struck, she readied to knee him in the side of the head.

--
Battle Report
[Swift Blow] deactivated.
3 posts until next use.
1 use remaining.

Emi used [Metalmark].
4 posts until next use.
2 uses remaining.

[Castle]

Just as he had hoped, the guy moved out of the way of Emi's attack and went straight into his. Castle gleaned immense satisfaction as his punch connected with his opponent's back, right on target. He planted his feet in a fighting stance as the blow landed to give himself more stability. It felt great, but unfortunately, the guy didn't go down.

In fact, it didn't seem like the punch had done much of anything. On top of that, in the moment that Castle's fist made contact, he'd felt how sturdy the guy actually was. Dang it. He was actually going to put up a fight. Normally, this would have been a good thing, if Castle was looking for entertainment, but in this case he just wanted to beat the guy until he stopped struggling.

Then his height was insulted. Not a big surprise, but still as annoying as ever. Before Castle could retort, his opponent moved in, startlingly fast, for a blow to his neck. On a knee-jerk reaction, or perhaps an arm-jerk reaction, Castle brought his fist up and managed to catch the blow on his forearm.

It hit on the bone, and man, did it ever sting. Castle ignored the pain and shifted his hips, still in a stance, to retaliate with a punch using his free hand, aiming for the guy's lower ribs. His gloves had stopped glowing, but he hadn't noticed the change in the first place.


--
Battle Report
[Swift Blow] deactivated.
3 posts until next use.
1 use remaining.

[Slash]

Battle Music-Majora's Wrath

Jericho turned instantly and caught the kali stick. The impact jarred his arm something fierce, and worse, the stick seemed to have heated up to the point where it burned his hand. He bit his lip and barely stifled a cry of pain- he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction. He jumped back, his arm near useless and a f***ing butterfly burned into it. Jesus Christ, he hoped that would come off. He wasn't too keen on the idea of wearing gloves for the rest of his life to hide the worst battle scar ever. Then the boy hit him, sending him back. Urgh. His arm wouldn't stop throbbing, and now his ribs had joined in the misery.

But everything was in place.

The girl seemed to have just enough control to plan. So did the boy. That wouldn't last for long. If he could Amplify them now...well, the boy might recover eventually, but the girl? The girl was already at the point of blind fury. To increase it even more would be...well, it was comparable to an amplifier. You could turn up the volume, but it wouldn't go past a certain point. And if you kept trying to move it past there, the knob would just snap off. Not the best analogy, but a good one to show that Amplifying her would certainly cause a bit of permanent damage.

That was what he wanted. Sure, it would cause her to lose control completely, giving him an advantage, but hey, lasting psychological damage was so much more fascinating.

"I'm going to make sure that you two never recover from this," he said, and smiled. He took a deep breath, ignoring the resulting pain in his ribs-

-and exhaled.

It always felt strange, as if he was a capsule filled with toxins that had just been opened. Some intangible thing rushed out of him, surrounded him-and reached both the girl and the boy.

What did it feel like? He'd probably never know. Were they aware of the change in the split second before pure emotion took the place of thought?

Wish I had my sword, he thought. Then he corrected himself. I wish that I had my sword.[/color] After all, Carter had been an English teacher. Some habits were hard to break.

Okay. He just had to dodge the newly made berserkers' first attacks. Then he could strike back. Had to be careful. Especially with a half-useless arm.

Careful.

Battle Report:[/u]

Jericho used Amplification.
2 uses left.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Gone, baby, gone.
--

Emi gasped a little bit when Jericho grabbed her kali stick, but then laughed viciously when she saw him react in pain, barely able to keep himself from screaming in pain. Castle arrived, hitting Jericho and sending him stumbling back a few steps. She took a moment to breathe, a small amount of sanity returning to her. To her, it seemed they were winning- but she didn't know what they were fighting for. That didn't mean she was about to give up. Oh, no, once Emi sunk her teeth into a battle she didn't let go unless--

She felt very strange all of a sudden and before she had a chance to full understand what was going on, her mind went completely crazy. She was used to anger, used to rage... but this was fury on a level even she had never experienced before and it almost drove her to her knees. Any conscious thought she had retained was gone. Now, she thought nothing except Kill. Kill him. Everything else was just a stream of distorted, untelligible words... a screeching feedback noise... images of violence that she had never acted out, images of blood and gore.

Emi was gone and in her place was.... someone else. There was a brief but very bright flash of light, not unlike passing through a ray of sun in a moving car. She was not aware of the transformation, she was still stuck inside her head. The girl dressed in black that had taken her place was in control. She still looked like Emi, and sounded like her. She stood, shaking and breathing raggedly, eyes wide and focused on Jericho. Later, she would wonder what he had done to trigger this but she was not capable of it now. There was only bloodlust, and no doubt that she would even attack Castle if he came too close. Soundlessly, her wings unfolded.

It was twilight now and it was getting hard to see. That didn't matter to Emi- or whoever it was- as she lashed out with Daggerwing, so fast her arm seemed to be a blur. She dragged the stick down, and then swung hard with Duskywing, as she would a baseball bat. Then she swung her leg up, hoping to catch him under the chin with her kick. She wasn't sure if the attacks were connecting and didn't care. She was blindly attacking anyone or anything she perceived to be a threat, and she wasn't going to be fair or merciful about it.

She took a step back and spun, feathers concealing the backhanded strike with Duskywing.

The primal part of her that had taken over was really enjoying this. Such speed, such strength. She craved the power and she was intoxicated by it and it was addicting. Honestly, in that moment at least, she wouldn't have minded staying like this forever. An animal, really, ruled by instinct and doing whatever she wanted. And she wanted to kill him.

--
Battle Report
[Metalmark] Deactivated.
3 posts until next use.
2 uses remaining.

Emi used [Final Form].
No uses remaining.
1 post until deactivation.

[Slash]

When he wanted to cause lasting damage, he didn't mean in the form of wings.

That was retarded. Like, that was so stupid. God damn it. Jericho tried to wrap his head around how incredibly stupid and lame this all was, almost succeeded, but ultimately failed. All he knew is that the newly made bird girl was striking quite quickly at him, and that it really pissed him right the hell off. Even more than he had been before. Hey, maybe he'd get so angry that he'd get wings too because that would just be so f***ing cool.

She was hitting, but she was blind. And she was a much bigger target. He really wanted to stab her in the wings. Right in the wings. Maybe she'd bleed sparkly rainbows. He'd give her the satisfaction of a fight, all right. He didn't care how fast she was or if she had stupid wings. He'd tear her apart.

Swing, swing, swing. The girl never stopped hitting. He could only dodge so well, after all. He was vaguely aware of the blossoms of pain blooming up in his shoulder, his waist, and a couple of other places, but he still managed to dodge the kick to his chin. He grabbed one of her hands before she swung again.

"Darling, we really do have so much in common. You should ditch the wings, though." He was at his angriest when his words were at their calmest. He knew that she wasn't hearing it- it was just force of habit.

Quickly now.[/color] He moved both arms to one of her wings, held it fast with one, and bent back with the other. He hoped it would break, but he couldn't tell while moving back.

He got back a small distance. Hm. Adrenaline rush must be blocking a bit of the pain. This is probably going to hurt like a bitch when it's all over.[/color]

[Oathkeeper Emi]

"It is to a man's honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel." - Proverbs 20:3
--

Emi tried to get away from Jericho's hands, twisting and writhing. He was more powerful than she had imagined and his hands went straight through her shield. Even as she tried to escape, she was swinging Daggerwing and Duskywing, trying to hurt him. Actually, trying to kill him. Her trying to escape ended up being what broke her- literally. The way his hands were positioned, when she twisted away she just helped him out. She broke her own wing, heard the fragile bones snap. She cried out, throwing her head back, and still she tried to get away from him. Pain was the fuel that kept the fire burning. It didn't add to the flames, but kept it stoked. She ended up on the ground, clawing at her shoulder and making pathetic little whimpering noises. This was even worse than when Sephiroth had stabbed her, at least then she had taken it like man.

As she fell to the ground, there was another flash of light and she returned to normal. She knew she was an easy target, but she rolled over on her side and continued to claw at her shoulder, still whimpering and sobbing. She'd dropped her weapons, and they lay beside her.

She was still so angry. She didn't know how it was possible but she wanted nothing more than to get up and continue to beat the crap out of him. But she couldn't get up. All she could do was lie on the ground. She didn't know how, but she could still feel the pain from her broken wing even though it wasn't there anymore. Phantom pains.

"Get up,[/color]" she hissed to herself, through gritted teeth. She pushed herself on both hands, and then to her knees... and then to her feet. She took a step forward, meaning to lash out at him with her bare fists just to appease the rage inside her heart... but instead she just fell forward.

Darkness obscured her vision and she knew she was in deep trouble. She knew Castle was there, but what chance did he stand? Even so, she didn't care. All she could think about was how she wanted to end him. The need consumed her until she blacked out completely and even in the blessed darkness of unconsciousness, she heard nothing but whispers and saw nothing but blood.

--
Battle Report
[Final Form] deactivated
No uses left.

[Castle]

Yes! He got him again! Right in the ribs! Castle was extremely satisfied with that, and the feeling caused a wicked smirk to tug on his lips. Maybe taking this guy down would be easier than he thought. Between him and Emi, there was no way they could lose. This sucker was going to get beaten. Beaten hard. It was exhilarating.

Suddenly, something changed. With one breath, the thoughts were leeched from his brain, and a dark fire spread through his chest and filled every inch of his body. The exhilaration rose to a fever pitch, mutating into an intense, feral bloodlust. All morality fled. He just wanted to kill, to rip his prey limb from limb and savor every moment of it.

He wanted to leap right in and get the job done, but as soon as he started forward, his path was abruptly blocked. A large, dark, feathered wing struck him with a surprising amount of force and sent him flying backward. He spun in midair, but managed to land on both feet, skidding backward.

There was no thought, no anger at being hit, only the desire to get back in the fray. Castle sprinted forward, taking no notice of Emi's change, her wing getting grabbed and broken, and her body crumpling to the ground. He just wanted his opponent's organs to be on the outside.

Cackling madly, he leaped forward, but went in low, swinging his leg to catch the guy's ankles and knock him off balance. From there, if the technique succeeded, he would land on top of the guy and punch until there was nothing left.

[Slash]

And so, the girl fell- and so, Jericho laughed. Even with her strange power, she had still fallen. And now the boy came after him. Jericho was injured, true, and the boy was strong and angry, but he was overjoyed all the same.

It had all played out. The girl had introduced a strange addition with her wings, but that had played so well into his hands. They had been divided, and now one of them was down. He could escape from just one assailant. And he would. The frustration from being abandoned would worsen the boy's condition. But first, he wanted to have fun.

Almost matching the boy in dark exhiliration, he laughed harder. He noticed the boy's sweep and jumped back. The adrenaline was wearing off, and at least 5 different areas of his body cried out in protest. This was going to hurt like hell later.

"Yes, boy! Hate me! Attack me! Fight! Kill! Good dog!" The thrill of control pushed him forward, the devilish joy of manipulation. He truly hoped that the boy heard those words and would recall them later. How very terrible that would be for him.

"Dance like the puppet you are, boy!" He ran at the boy, attempting to strike him with his fists.

"Puppet to the darkness! Puppet to your emotions! A slave! Nothing more!" He yelled these things in between bouts of laughter, punctuating each sentence with an attempted strike.

Of course, he was as much a slave to emotion as anyone else. He was just more aware of it. And besides, it wasn't like he was going to Amplify and manipulate himself. That would just be weird.

Besides, considering his current state it wasn't like he needed to amplify his anger anyway.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

“Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one." -Benjamin Franklin
--

Emi didn't stay unconscious for long, and when she finally did come back to, that inhuman rage returned full force. It flooded her with energy and gave her the strength to climb to her feet. While Jericho was busy taunting and attacking Castle, Emi calmly gathered her weapons. She was still in pain and it made the perfect fuel. Despite her calm actions, under the surface she was furious. It showed in her eyes and in the shaking of her hands. She clenched her fists around her kali sticks, willing herself to stop shaking.

She was still in the grip of Jericho's amplification and after only a few seconds, the calm was gone. After watching the man attack her companion, she growled and kneeled down on one knee. She hadn't used this particular attack since she was in Radiant Garden with Hyou and Cheza, fighting against the Heartless that had lured her in with bait in the form of the woman who ran the orphanage she grew up in.

She brought Daggerwing and Duskywing high into the air and then slammed them hard into the ground. It sent a shockwave out, with her as the center, distorting the ground as it traveled outwards like a heatwave.

Emi stood and waited for the shockwave to reach its full diameter, knowing three more were on their way.

--
Battle Report
Emi used Xerces Blue.
3 shockwaves left.
2 uses left.
3 posts until next use.