Enter the amazing(ly evil!) Guy!

[guyexplains]

[Guy is seated at the bar, lounging with half an eye on the door but otherwise just smiling in bemusement as his drink, lost in his own thoughts. What's unusual is his outfit. Usually he's the type to wear some color, and nothing so overblown as the uniform he's now in, but black seems to be the theme and he wears it like it's natural. To those who

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[promisedsomeone]

[He twitches at that accusatory question.]

Don't be stupid. I want nothing to do with those people.

[Not a lie, but not the truth either. Guy using the term 'replica'... Didn't he spend seven years raising the dreck? And didn't he spend a couple more with Asch? He feels something twist inside of his stomach, but he keeps his expression steady, unreadable. For now. Time to feel Guy out.]

What makes you think you're worthy of being a God-General?

[He can't help but smile in a cold, malicious way. This is so ironic-- so pathetic that he could laugh.]

All you've done is run away from your past! You wouldn't even accept your position in Malkuth because you were too busy staring at your father's sword in someone else's house. Everyone else in the God-Generals made a place for themselves- they earned the right to be at Van's side. But you...

[This hurts. It's like he's talking to himself. And yet he takes all that negativity, because he knows, he /knows/, and he turns it on Guy. He needs to, in order to test him, in order to protect himself.]

You're just doing what Van tells you to.

[servidude]

[Guy's shoulders are steady as he stands slowly, pushing back away from the bar and turning around to walk up to Asch. No warning, no twitch of expression before he hauls back and punches the redhead full in the mouth, fast and hard as he can.]

[And then he lets the anger and viciousness slip through in his eyes, the hatred and the desire to kill Asch where he stands. He's got the urge contained for the moment but he's barely holding it in. And the first gesture of violence is like a crack in the dam, any more and all those years of self-control are going to break.]

[Coherent thought is not actually high in his mind right now, his ears are literally ringing, he's that angry. The rage is almost blinding him and processing Asch's words in any form of rational coherence is just not on his to do list. It is really, really far from his to do list. Killing Asch hadn't been on today's calender but he's pretty sure if the redhead says anything he can pencil it in.]

[promisedsomeone]

[What a punch. Asch kind of expected it, but a word of warning would've been nice anyway. It sends him stumbling into the wall behind him. The room spins, but he manages to stay on his feet, only hesitating to spit some blood on the floor.

Asch the Bloody... Pfft.

He stares evenly at Guy, but he doesn't draw his sword. He's not looking for a fight, just confirmation-- and that was very telling.]

I bet you've always wanted to do that... but you didn't. [He straightens.] I don't get it! Why didn't you get your revenge when you had the chance? What changed?

[servidude]

[Guy's fist tangles in the front of Asch's tunic and he slams the man right back into the wall viciously. Not playing nice. He forces himself to rest his other hand on the wall by Asch's ear, if only so he doesn't end up drawing his sword and cutting the teenager's throat right there. It's really tempting and his self-control is already being tested to a point he's not even sure he won't snap.]

If you've got a death wish I'll help you out. [His voice is low and even but far from calm. There's an undertone, a purr that is menacing and serious.] Just say the word. I've been wanting to.

[The emphasis on the word is a growl.]

So if you're asking, make it clear. [His breathing isn't even even right now, this close, he's this close...]

If I kill you here, you'll just come back after all, right?

[The look in his eyes doesn't particularly show he thinks this makes it futile. It's much more like that appeals to him. He wants it. It's sick.]

[promisedsomeone]

[He hasn't been this close to death since Akzeriuth fell. Back then, he had a death wish. He scrambled to seize the only purpose he knew-- dying at the mining town, as was foretold.

But he has a new purpose now. He has to stop Van. Has to see his plans to foil Akzeriuth through. Beyond that, he doesn't give a damn about what happens to himself... but he still doesn't want to die here.]

What will that prove?

[He can hardly believe they're having this conversation. Of all the people he thought he could trust... no, that's too strong a word. Trusting and predicting what people will do are different things. It still hurts, though. Seeing someone he knows and to an extent cares about like this... yeah. It hurts.

God damn.]

-- Nothing. [His voice can get rough, too. He's finding it hard to breathe, hard to swallow, knowing that Guy could kill him in a second. He can't cast fast enough... probably can't draw his sword either. He's underestimated his former friend completely.] It won't change anything.

[That's why he spared his replica back then.]

[servidude]

[No. It wouldn't change things, but that wasn't the point of revenge. Revenge was about misery loving company, and if there was anything Guy wanted before the world was destroyed and made anew, it was to strip away every last thing Duke Fabre loved and look into the man's eyes at the end to see the despair reflected there.]

[As cold as the Duke was, willing to sacrifice Luke, Guy knew the man had a soft spot for his son and wife. Soft enough that Asch's death would affect him.]

[True, he'd always wanted to kill Asch in front of Fabre, but he could be flexible. After all this place was kind enough to give second chances. It could be considered practice.]

[In the end Guy didn't care about saving the world, that was Van's goal. Van's ideal and Van's wish. For all Guy cared the world could burn. But Guy loved Van enough to sacrifice his own revenge if that's what it took. Though he hoped that wasn't what it took; he wanted there to be a chance before the end to exact one final cruelty.]

[His arm shifted, pressing harder and moving up so that the flat of his arm below the elbow was like a bar against Asch's throat, pressing down. It was meant to hurt and choke, without take the risk of putting his fingers around Asch's throat because if it got to that point Guy wasn't sure he'd be able to stop. He didn't want to stop now even. His self-control was nearly gone and he was teetering on falling and he didn't really mind. As long as he could watch this one die in front of him, that'd be fine. Right?]

Pathetic. [A whisper in Asch's ear, disgusted.] Are you that eager to die?

[promisedsomeone]

[Fuck. He can't breathe. He hates being at the mercy of someone else, even someone he once trusted. Asch hasn't lived this long by trusting blindly; he's made this path with his own two feet, sometimes crawling, sometimes clawing. Now is no different.

He shows some hint of struggle as he brings his arms up and tries to shove Guy off. There's no panic in his eyes, no half-choked cries for help. He won't give Guy that satisfaction.

All of him has gone cold.]

[servidude]

[Guy always thought he'd do this with his sword, with blood, the way he watched them cut down his own family, life bleeding away in strawberry colored gashes. But no, somehow this is far more personal, intimate, and he's not thinking any more. He's beyond that point. Reason has snapped and all he sees is red. Or monochrome, it doesn't matter because what he feels is Asch's throat beneath his fingers as he squeezes.]

[He doesn't remember getting his hands around Asch's neck, but he doesn't dwell on it. He wants to watch as Asch dies, and it's easier to meet Asch's eyes like this and observe.]

[Through the rage he feels nothing, almost empty. Hollow.]

[promisedsomeone]

[Asch doesn't cry out, but he doesn't cease his attempts to pry Guy's hands from his throat. He doesn't want to die. He doesn't want to die! Yet even as he stares into the cold, satisfied face of his would-be killer, the world begins to fade.

He can't-

He can't...

Can't die yet...

Asch goes limp in Guy's hold, slipping into unconsciousness.]

[servidude]

[Guy's fast, and that's the only reason he manages to dodge the spear aimed at him, sidestepping and whirling around to face Jade in the same movement, letting Asch slip to the floor through his fingers. He wasn't quite done dammit!]

--Tch.

[It takes him half a second to decide that waiting and talking is just going to end with him dodging artes. The best solution is to get in Jade's face and try to disrupt his casting. Drawing his sword as he dashes forward he attempts to do just that before Jade can release his arte.]

[servidude]

[The spell stops Guy for a moment, caught on the edge of it and forced to block a few hits before he sprints out of it and slashes at Jade with a series of fast hit combo moves, ending in a violent horizontal sweep of Void Tempest.]

[servidude]

[Guy backflips over the jab like a goddamn hyperactive monkey (not without taking a glancing blow, and that hurts) and would land neatly behind the Colonel if not for the fact that they're fighting in a bar and there's stuff like oh, chairs and tables littering the battlefield. He stumbles, losing his footing for a moment. Not only classy, but totally suave.]