【 ii 】 » v i d e o ; b a c k d a t e d → 07/30; 03:15AM.
[ In medias res.
When this video feed flickers to life, the scene is already chaos. The walls of the room are lit with raging fires, the air is ripped asunder with blood-curdling screams and the sharp retort of gunfire, and the camera is occasionally obscured by the blur of people's feed as they run for their lives -- this scene is hell. -- And, luckily, it's all just the beacon's doing; regurgitating a memory from the past and spilling it over the walls of this room.
A blur whips past the camera, almost too fast for the human eye to follow, and smashes hard enough into one of the blazing trees to uproot the thing at the roots. For a second, the little form is still -- then it rises slowly back to it's feet, revealing the very sight of a familiar, dark-haired child. The boy looks disoriented by the violent blow to his head, but the split skin and crushed bone are already bubbling back into perfection -- and it's just in time, as a strikingly beautiful woman leaps from the shadows and attempts to ram the katana she's holding deep into the boy's chest. ]
... No, no, no. [ It's just a rasp echoing from off-screen; the present-day Charles doesn't even seem to notice that he's turned the video feed of his NEXUS on. ] I don't want -- You can't -- Stop.
[ -- But, heedless of his demands, the video continues rolling onwards; the boy and the woman on screen fight in bloody blurs of motion while the tiny little Vietnamese village burns to the ground all around them; but it's obvious to anyone watching that she clearly has the upper hand, and that it's only a matter of time. She is faster, stronger, better in almost every imaginable way -- and the boy is just barely managing to avoid each deadly swipe of her blade, slashing out futilely with his own claw as she whirls just beyond reach.
-- And, finally, he makes just one misstep. Within seconds, it's all over; her blade slices off his forearm at the elbow, and the boy lets out a short, startled scream of pain and denial. The blood from her blade is already starting to affect him, and the beacon's video catches the way the crystallization starts creeping up his arm. Within seconds, it'll spill over his shoulder and down his chest --
"SAYA!!"
-- It's all the distraction the boy needs to save himself.
As the woman turns away from him, his remaining hand lifts to tighten around the bloody stump of his right arm. ]
No. No! It isn't over, Saya! We're not through! [ And the present-day Charles finally steps into view, his eyes blazing with a feverish rage and his voice ragged with emotion. ] Don't turn your back on me!
[ But history doesn't heed him --
His past-self merely grits his teeth, digs his fingers in, and then --
The scream from the video blends with the scream that this present Charles utters as he lunges at the sight of Saya's retreating back -- claw raised in the air, preparing to kill this mirage before she slips out of his sight. But the bright gush of blood from his former self obscures the video on the beacon; suddenly, there's nothing left but the crackling of static as the recording fades. -- Still, he smashes a crater in the wall, screaming with rage as Saya slips away from him. ]
It's not over, it's not over, it's not over! I'll never let you go, Saya! I'll never let you leave, I'll never let you forget! We're going to dance again, you and I! We're going to --
[ And that's when his own NEXUS gets caught in one of his enraged swings; without warning, there's nothing but darkness. ]
When this video feed flickers to life, the scene is already chaos. The walls of the room are lit with raging fires, the air is ripped asunder with blood-curdling screams and the sharp retort of gunfire, and the camera is occasionally obscured by the blur of people's feed as they run for their lives -- this scene is hell. -- And, luckily, it's all just the beacon's doing; regurgitating a memory from the past and spilling it over the walls of this room.
A blur whips past the camera, almost too fast for the human eye to follow, and smashes hard enough into one of the blazing trees to uproot the thing at the roots. For a second, the little form is still -- then it rises slowly back to it's feet, revealing the very sight of a familiar, dark-haired child. The boy looks disoriented by the violent blow to his head, but the split skin and crushed bone are already bubbling back into perfection -- and it's just in time, as a strikingly beautiful woman leaps from the shadows and attempts to ram the katana she's holding deep into the boy's chest. ]
... No, no, no. [ It's just a rasp echoing from off-screen; the present-day Charles doesn't even seem to notice that he's turned the video feed of his NEXUS on. ] I don't want -- You can't -- Stop.
[ -- But, heedless of his demands, the video continues rolling onwards; the boy and the woman on screen fight in bloody blurs of motion while the tiny little Vietnamese village burns to the ground all around them; but it's obvious to anyone watching that she clearly has the upper hand, and that it's only a matter of time. She is faster, stronger, better in almost every imaginable way -- and the boy is just barely managing to avoid each deadly swipe of her blade, slashing out futilely with his own claw as she whirls just beyond reach.
-- And, finally, he makes just one misstep. Within seconds, it's all over; her blade slices off his forearm at the elbow, and the boy lets out a short, startled scream of pain and denial. The blood from her blade is already starting to affect him, and the beacon's video catches the way the crystallization starts creeping up his arm. Within seconds, it'll spill over his shoulder and down his chest --
"SAYA!!"
-- It's all the distraction the boy needs to save himself.
As the woman turns away from him, his remaining hand lifts to tighten around the bloody stump of his right arm. ]
No. No! It isn't over, Saya! We're not through! [ And the present-day Charles finally steps into view, his eyes blazing with a feverish rage and his voice ragged with emotion. ] Don't turn your back on me!
[ But history doesn't heed him --
His past-self merely grits his teeth, digs his fingers in, and then --
The scream from the video blends with the scream that this present Charles utters as he lunges at the sight of Saya's retreating back -- claw raised in the air, preparing to kill this mirage before she slips out of his sight. But the bright gush of blood from his former self obscures the video on the beacon; suddenly, there's nothing left but the crackling of static as the recording fades. -- Still, he smashes a crater in the wall, screaming with rage as Saya slips away from him. ]
It's not over, it's not over, it's not over! I'll never let you go, Saya! I'll never let you leave, I'll never let you forget! We're going to dance again, you and I! We're going to --
[ And that's when his own NEXUS gets caught in one of his enraged swings; without warning, there's nothing but darkness. ]