Twenty-Second Flare - Video/Action for Meisters/Witches - Break

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[Forward dated to Sunday, 1 a.m.]

[Somewhere in the way early morning, the feed suddenly erupts into static. Every few seconds or so, through the fuzz, one can see some very strange symbols flickering through it.Eventually, it quits, and the feed becomes just a bit more clear. It looks like, for whatever reason, Lea is on... But something's not

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[The entire time, Lea just keeps staring. It's so... odd. Just by being here, just by staring, he can understand it. What haunts them. Is this what Terezi once talked about? When she could taste colors? Can he taste... whatever this is?

Paranoia and betrayal haunt his older self's ever footstep, nagging at the back of his mind and coiling around him like a snake of smoke. And there's Riku, and it's just so similar. They're both really similar, really, and it's funny. Lea never would have pegged either of them matching the other.

And why are they doing those things? What are they doing? Should he be worried? What if it's just a ruse? A trap?

But oh. Lea suddenly smiles. It's serene, but... wrong.

With soft, careful steps, he sways over to his Nobody and crouches down. For just a brief second, his face looks... different. And then it's Lea again.

Or not Lea.]

He's getting it. He's getting it, he's getting it! I thought you would, because I'm you and you're me.

You can feel it, can't you? What it's like to be so afraid? I was like that too. Now I understand. Now I'm stronger because I've accepted things!

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[When did he sink to his knees? He doesn't remember dropping, he was standing only a moment ago, glaring at Lea, fighting that deep-seated urge to run away. It had really always been there--Axel had quickly taken to flight over fight unless the fight was really worth it; having no heart meant no guilt, or so he'd thought.

[Oh, he would give anything to stop thinking right now. So many voices, so many faces, a cacophony of accusation and indictment in his head. Traitor, murderer, fool, monster, coward, they shouted, and somewhere through the noise Axel heard Riku cry out, angry. Still pressing his palms against his head, Axel squeezed his eyes closed so hard everything swam in lines of black and white.

[Something is very wrong. Whatever has happened to Lea, it's somehow infectious--Axel cam feel his grip slipping. He hasn't felt fear like this since he'd been running from the Organization. --Heh, feel? Had he felt any of that? Does he feel any of it now? Does he feel anything at all? Oh, Light, the noise in his head is maddening. He has to make it stop. He has to get the control back. He has to snap himself out of this.

[With a snarl, Axel summons one of his chakrams and before he thinks better of it, he plunges one of the spikes directly into his outer thigh. Pain tears through his mind, blows away the haze, the voices, the fear, the guilt, washes it all aside to leave nothing but the red and white and silver of pain. Funny how that's one thing he's sure he will always be able to feel.

[Snapping his head up, he yanks the weapon from his skin, the dark inky fluid that both is and isn't blood at all steaming away from the blade, staining his clothes. The noise is gone, and he dismisses the chakram and lifts his hand, rising to his feet and closing his fingers into a fist and--

[--landing a solid uppercut to Lea's chin.]

You idiot! [His voice is angry, raw, a little desperate.] You're not strong, you're crazy! You would never admit you were anything like me if you hadn't lost your senses completely. What happened to you?

I remember just fine what fear feels like, Lea, I don't need you to remind me. Now quit hiding behind your magical crazy mindgames and tell me what the hell you're trying to do.

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[He knows that look all too well. The look of a madman, so 'cool and collected' - ha, that's a laugh - that was getting his way. It make Riku's stomach turn and left him with an uneasy feeling. And what the hell was going on?!

He notices that brief glimpse of Lea's face contorting, the three eyes. It worries him something fierce, just adding to the queasy sensation he had at the pit of his stomach. But was that just the madness affecting him too, or was it reality? The lines between the two were becoming so blurry that it had begun to confuse him greatly. Why couldn't anyone explain what was happening. Why were they feeling this way for just being in Lea's presence? It's never happened before... Well, then again Lea hadn't lost his mind before, either - not like this...]

All you've accepted is-

[It started as an indignant growl beneath his breath, but slowly, surely, it completely trails off. The shadows are moving in his field of vision, and he can't help but feel that flicker of fear as he backs up, still poised to lunge at Lea's throat if he must. But then Axel stabs himself - an action completely lost on him with the exception of smelling the dark liquid that would be his blood. Blood...

The shadows are still moving...

Voices... filtering between the borders of reality and madness... Make it stop.]

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[He has to understand. He has to. They're not that different, isn't that something they both just accept? So it should be the same for this. It should be the same!

When the fire and metal whirl into existence. Lea's head snaps so that he's staring right at it. What's going on? He doesn't get it. What's-

It's funny. Lea can't even feel the impact. It's just so distant. One moment he's crouched down in front of Axel, and the next, he's on his back, his own fire shrinking and disappearing. Numbly, he sits up, staring.]

I... I'm gonna fix things.

[He keeps saying it. No one believes him. Not the people who he thought loved him, not the people he called friends. Hardly anybody. They won't believe anything he says, but they're the liars and... and... shadows.

The shadows.

Lea freezes, eyes wide with silent hysteria. His body starts to shake. Shadows shadows, shadows like what destroy the Garden and the shadows that took Demyx and shadows and he's never been scared of the dark, never, never, he's strong now--]

A-Ah...

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[Axel certainly understands the desire to fix things, but Lea's just not making any sense. He would almost feel bad for punching him if this were any other situation, but for some reason the kid is... making him insane. And not in the usual way, either.]

You keep saying that, Lea, but what do you mean? Fix what things? If there was a way to get out of this place of our own volition, trust me, someone would have figured it out by now--

[And that's when he notices Lea's quaking in fear--like real, genuine terror--and he turns over his shoulder. The darkness around them is seething, roiling, like thunderclouds in a dark sky, almost indistinguishable. The air hisses, almost the sound of hard, stinging rain. How the hell did Heartless get here? Was that what this curfew was about? ... No, they're not Heartless--it's like Demyx said, they're not Heartless, not those Unversed, either. So this was what happened after dark now... Ignoring the residual buzz of paranoia undulating at the edges of his brain and pushing aside the pain in his leg, Axel summons his weapons and glances at Riku.]

Just what we need, right? [No rest for the wicked.] Lea's still in that screwy mess over there somewhere, so if it comes to it, get him out of here and I'll hold them off, okay? Knock him out--give him a concussion if you have to--but if we get overwhelmed, make him your priority.

[Sure, Lea was absolutely batshit out of his mind at the moment, but he was still in there. In that moment of fear, he was Lea again, and Axel wasn't going to let the kid sit and watch as the place he called home was overrun with darkness.]

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[Lea's just beating a dead horse until it comes back to life, isn't he.

His attention's no longer on the other two, solely focusing on the shadows and an attempt to maintain his sanity. At least, until Lea makes a sound. Sensitive ears pick it up with ease, and he glances over at him briefly. If it weren't for his own fear, he'd be smirking with satisfaction. See? He was right. Lea was being nothing but a coward, hiding behind a mask. Just like-

Just like me...

But there isn't time to think about it - no time to dwell on his mistakes and no time to dwell on that night, either. The sword hovering just barely over his back seems to vibrate as well, ready for some action even though in his head he knew it wasn't worth it. He glances back to Lea before meeting Axel's gaze.

He... What was Axel asking of him? To abandon him and save Mr. Needs-To-See-The-Men-In-White-Coats? Uh, no. Lea was making him go mad, too. And even though... Oh, for the love of the Light why was his sense of loyalty tripled even now?] Axel... [Riku steps up slightly, head tilted to get a better view.] Are you sure?

[...But he was right. Just glancing back at Lea even briefly was enough to see it - the kid was still in there, somehow; just afflicted by the curse like he was. And no matter how pissed he was at the idiot, he wasn't going to leave him behind.] There's no taking back that request, later.

[-past or present.]