This was originally a 'Song-fic', but I have been notified that using lyrics that aren't my own is against the rules/policies of this site. I'm not sure how much sense this will make now that the lyrics are gone, but whatever, I'll leave it up anyway. Happy reading...
This may be bit strong for some, and I am most definitely expecting a lot of people to not like it (Until the end at least).
Wet, red. The taste of metal lingered in his mouth as the world quickly disappeared from view. Black spots blurred his vision, the restricting pain in his head was throbbing in time with the burning pain from his neck. He could feel it, wetness all down his front and he panicked as he gasped for breath, only to draw the same liquid into his lungs, which were burning from lack of oxygen. His vision blurred further, but he could still make out the shape of the person in front of him, the shape of the sword that had, only seconds before, swiped across his neck. Pain, burning. Seconds left to live, he could feel it. Soon he would be dropping off this mortal coil. The wound to his midsection had seen part of his stomach trying to escape amid the inundation of blood seeping from his neck and every other slash covering him. With the last few seconds of his life, about to end, the man standing in front of him spoke.
"Cyclonia will rise again."
Dark Ace turned around, his breathing heavy, and he flicked his sword of excess blood. Bloodlust, plain and simple, had consumed him, anybody that came into view was a potential victim, and the woman who had betrayed him cowered in the corner, silently praying for her life. He made sure to step slowly, menacingly, towards her.
"Please," she whispered, "Please, don't kill me."
A sneer plastered Dark Ace's face as he drew his sword to the level of the woman's throat.
"You deserve the benefits."
He thrust his sword into the woman's midsection, avoiding a killing blow, but sinking his blade deep enough to incapacitate her. Again, Dark Ace thrust his sword into the woman, her hand, her leg. He was unwilling to let her off with an easy death, he wanted to make her scream, feel the physical pain equivalent to the emotional pain she had once put him through.
Dark Ace glared at her, a gaze so terrifying, so visceral. The woman, coughed blood, her entire body shaking.
He lifted his leg and kicked out. The satisfying crunch of bones being broken filled the air and the woman screamed in pain.
With his left hand he struck her in the face. Claret liquid gushed from her now broken nose, and she clasped her uninjured hand to her face.
Quick as lighting he thrust his sword twice into her chest, either side, making sure to miss her heart. The woman's scream died in her throat, hitting dead air.
"Take a deep breath for me," Dark Ace growled, stooping down so his face was almost level with her's.
More claret liquid seeped from the woman's mouth. Her strangled breaths rang out, the sound unlike anything else.
"Put that on my crimson love."
With a growl, Dark Ace began thrusting his sword into the woman repeatedly. Her body shook violently, her strangled screams never leaving her mouth. Another thrust of his sword saw the blade wedged into the woman's head. Nerves made her dying figure twitch, only just was she still alive. With a strong yank, Dark Ace pulled his sword free and one final stab to the throat had her completely still.
Even though this woman was slashed and stabbed, blood continued to seep out, and Dark Ace pulled the sword from her throat, arterial spray spurted out, covering him from head to toe. It didn't bother him, he had finally gotten the revenge he had wanted and a cold laugh reverberated up from his chest and burst into the air around him loudly.
Without cleaning himself off, Dark Ace left the two corpses and retreated from the house. The adrenaline in his system was slowly fading, but the need to put his blade through somebody else was growing. Nothing could stop him from this rampage, this massacre that was surely about to ensue. Everyone on this shit-hole Terra deserved to pay for the mistakes of that strumpet, and Dark Ace had just spotted his next victim. Walking quickly, he was soon upon the man in the town square, his sword already drawn to strike.
The man had no time to react, and within a second Dark Ace's blade was piercing every available section of his flesh. A yell sounded from Dark Ace as he continued thrusting his sword, the anger inside him unlike anything another human had ever felt before. The adrenaline. The Thrill. The hot metallic scent of blood. The lifeless man dropped to the ground. It was not just him in the town square, there were others. They were panicking, screaming, running. Dark Ace began towards the closest person.
"Another!" he roared, a maniacal look in his evil eyes.
An easy slash across this person's stomach had them falling to the ground, grasping at the last thread of life. On he went, body after body, all helpless against the insanity of Dark Ace. The town square became silent, no more people in sight. Down he went, a quiet street, oblivious to the scene that had played out just moments before. A cafe at the end, to the right, people were having coffee, going about their daily business. A couple, by the looks of it, were on a date. The woman looked almost like her, the wench who started all of this. No thoughts were needed, Dark Ace just walked towards the couple, ignoring everybody else.
A sickening growl left his mouth as he swung his sword with much force, the blade slicing through the woman's neck like a hot knife through butter. Her date screamed, and fell backwards off his chair, only to land on the small fence behind him. The spines that protruded from the metal punctured him. Dark Ace shrugged and left.
He retreated down an alley, forcing his way into a door. No one seemed to be here, so he decided that this place would do until later. Surely the caravan park would be full by tonight, and he had the chance to freshen up a bit. As much as Dark Ace loved to kill, he hated it when blood dried in his hair, it was always a bastard to wash out. So, finding his way to the bathroom, he stripped off his armour and clothes and stepped into the warm stream of water.
Immediately, Dark Ace shut the shower off and tracked down a fresh pair of clothes. He could have sworn he heard someone moving about, a bang of sorts. Picking up his sword, he crept through the house...apartment...small rectangular living space...town house...Whatever people called it, being sure to check everywhere. One room left to check, and Dark Ace took a deep breath, hoping that somebody perchance would be in there. He kicked the door open, and heard before he saw. A female voice. Shocked. No thinking was needed.
The most brutal kill by far, Dark Ace thought as he sat on the bed, gazing at the scene before him. Oh, how fresh the memory was, and he couldn't help but replay it in his head, over and over. He looked around the bedroom, it was apparent that there should be another living here. Maybe if he waited, they would be home soon. And waited, he did. For over an hour.
Pacing into the kitchen, he raided the pantry, the fridge, fixing himself some food. With a low sigh, he tracked into the living room and flopped down onto the sofa, his sword resting lazily over his legs. Not soon after, Dark Ace heard the door clicking shut. Immediately he jumped up, stalking towards the sound. A man was placing his Skimmer keys on the small table in the hallway as Dark Ace emerged.
"What are you doing in my house?" the man demanded loudly, reaching into a draw to pull out an emergency blade.
Dark Ace said nothing, just sneered at him as he took a long step forwards.
"Stab me, too, if you can. Before you die, make it fair." Dark Ace stood with his arms to the sides, indicating that the man could take a free shot at him.
The man held his blade tightly and thrust at Dark Ace, catching him in the left side. Dark Ace did not flinch in the slightest, instead he laughed maniacally at the man, unaware of the extent of his injury. The man stumbled backwards with fright, the fear evident on his face. Dark Ace advanced upon him, swinging his sword. The point punctured the man's leg, his femoral artery. Scarlet covered the cream coloured carpet. He was losing blood fast. And so was Dark Ace, the wound in his side leaking, draining his life slowly.
"Tell me - are we having fun?" He stood over the paling man on the floor, twisting his sword around in one hand. Dark Ace could feel it. He needed medical attention, otherwise this little spree would be over soon. He had to make a split second decision, and that was to leave this man here-he would bleed out and die of blood loss soon anyway.
Running down the road, Dark Ace searched frantically for a doctor-a modern day doctor. He didn't want any of the holistic herbal bullshit that they still practised here on Terra Dracarys. He had seen the last of the dragons locked away, and put an end to Rinjin and the rest of the Dragon Knights. Finally, he came upon a medical centre. In he rushed, towards the reception desk, demanding that a doctor see him immediately.
"I'm sorry, sir, the Doctor is with another patient, right now, please take a seat," The woman behind the desk sighed without glancing up at him.
Dark Ace growled in frustration, pointing his sword to her throat.
"I need a doctor, now. You see this?" he pointed to his injury. "Another few millimetres deep, and it would have caught my lung. I'm dying here!"
"I-I'll get the resident surgeon r-right away, please wait here, sir," the woman stuttered, not taking her eyes off of the sword in front of her.
In the office, the surgeon had stitched up Dark Ace's wound.
"No sudden movements, no heavy lifting. Take it easy, or the stitches will rip open," the doctor grumbled.
No words left Dark Ace's mouth as he rose and left the doctors surgery. More, he need more. More victims. More people needed to die. He couldn't stop, not now. Nothing could stop him. The doctor had served his purpose, and now, he was useless. Retrieving the sword from his back, he thrust it in the doctors face. The doctor gasped, panic filling his orange eyes.
"You're crazy, get out you lunatic!" he shouted, trying not to show fear.
Dark Ace laughed, his system quickly filling with adrenalin.
A quick lunge and the doctor lay dying in front of him. Without further hesitation, Dark Ace strode out of the doctor's office, taking a moment to dispose of the receptionist before emerging onto the street.
"HOW?" he suddenly shouted.
The sight he was met with shocked him. The Dragon Knights. All six of them, standing around him, completely alive, unharmed.
"Why are you alive?"
"We have our ways, Dark Ace, and we are going to put an end to you. This stops now!" Rinjin shouted back.
"Ahh!"
In a moment, Dark Ace lunged for him, immediately forgetting the doctor's advice. The other five Dragon Knights reacted just as fast, surrounding him completely, intent on taking no prisoners. Dark Ace laughed, he'd destroyed so many people, just because these ones had higher fighting abilities did not mean he couldn't slay them like the rest of his countless victims. With a finger on the trigger of his sword, Dark Ace activated the Firebolt at the base, and not a second later, executed his signature attack, taking out two of the Dragon knights. One lunged at him, but with an easy slash, he lay dying on the pavement.
One by one, Dark Ace caused the Dragon Knights to fall, and for the moment that Rinjin had his back turn, Dark Ace thrust his blade into him. A loud gasp tore its way through Rinjin's chest, barely escaping.
There they lay, the last of the Dragon Knights, murdered by Dark Ace. But he was not going to be tricked for a second time. Taking a rather drastic precaution, He knelt down by each man, in turn, slicing their necks. Was there anybody else left on this Terra? If there were, he just had to find them, and put an end to their lives. No one should be allowed to breathe the air that he had claimed as his only. It was so quiet. Not one single sound.
No matter where he looked, Dark Ace could not find a single soul. No one seemed to be around. No, surely he could not have killed everyone on this Terra yet, the sun was barely even going down. But then, it got dark. There was no sun. The setting changed. This wasn't reality. No, this was something else. What was this? Everyone he had murdered within the last day was piled in front of him, but standing in front of the pile was that woman, that wretched strumpet who caused all of this. She wasn't alive, although her eyes were open, they were glazed over. Suddenly, he became aware of the burning pain in his side. His stitches had ripped open during the battle without him even realizing it. And that's when Dark Ace felt it. He could feel the life draining from him. The blood staining his shirt, quietly dripping to the ground. He looked down; his blood, it wasn't red...It was black, darker than onyx. It wasn't consistent with the blood he had spilled from others earlier, it was thick, almost like some kind of goo. Nothing seemed right. All of this was wrong.
The woman, that damned woman, stepped forward, stretching her arm out in front of her. Soon she was close enough that her hand was over Dark Ace's heart. Her lips had a blue tinge to them, and they opened, revealing rotting pointed teeth. Her nails dug into his flesh, and it burned, his skin singed under her touch. She opened her mouth just slightly more, and black liquid gushed out, down the front of her blood-stained dress. The next moment her mouth was on his. He tried with all his strength to push her away, but her mouth fused to his, filling it with the black liquid. He couldn't breath. She was killing him. The burning pain from the woman's nails went deeper into his chest. She ripped through his skin, and with a tug, pulled his heart free. Finally she stepped back, allowing him to breath again. Dark Ace gagged, spitting out the black blood, staring in terror at the hole in his chest. The woman held up his heart to his face. It looked unlike a human heart should look, a pure portrait of atrophy, seeping more of the black blood that had been spilling from his side.
"What is this?" his voice was raspy, low.
"This is what you are. What you will always be. And there is no stopping it. Enjoy what life you have while it lasts. This is you, Dark Ace." The woman's voice was abrasive, caught between a growl and a choke.
"NO!"
Dark Ace continued to yell, he couldn't take it, he swung at the woman, but the blade passed right through her. He felt it go straight through, but she continued to stand. She laughed. And continued to laugh. The laugh turned into growl. The growl turned into a rumble. The rumble...it didn't change.
The rumble. This sound he recognized. It was the rumble of the Condor's engines.
A gasp tore through Ace's lungs as his eyes flew open. Sitting bolt upright in his bed, he began hyperventilating, patting his hands frantically over his body.
"I'm fine. I'm okay. Just a dream," he breathed.
With a sigh of relief, he wiped the sheen of sweat from his face and pulled back the covers, placing his feet on the cold metal floor. Never in his life had he had a dream as terrible as that. Did it mean anything? Suddenly, he was startled by a frantic knock on his door, and not a second later, Lightning Strike burst in.
"Ace, get up, It's time! War is here! We have to fight the Cyclonians on their own territory, Get ready. The rest of the team are waiting in the Hanger bay. Hurry!"
War? So it was time. This was it. Sky Knights would be spilling blood, honourable men and women taking lives. And so Ace prepared himself for the battle that would surely be remembered for the rest of time...