Resemblance

Written By Illuminet

Disclaimer: The Guilty Gear Series and characters are property of Arc System Works.

:xXx:

'He becomes stronger and stronger...this student of mine...' He thinks to himself. They spar more and more, each one becoming more intense. His student is growing in terms of power, his power over the magic of Lightning nearly rivals his father's, made even more potent by his mother's Gear strength.

"Let's go Old Man! I'm getting closer and closer! I'll beat you down for sure this time!" The young man boosts his claim as he sees the results of their training paying off progressively, his flag pole already whistling towards his teacher of his martial skills, as well as his adoptive parent and father figure. The robust blade is there to halt the attack, though the force of the blow drives the older man back slightly.

"Well...we'll see..." He drawls out in his lazy speech pattern, keeping his guard up as his student keeps advancing upon him. It was only five years of raising the boy to man, his Gear side having caused his accelerated growth. The metal rod of the flag doesn't let up as it clangs noisily against sword. Finally with brute strength, the young man shifts his mentor's weapon out of the way to land some crippling blows against his body, but he is not phased too much by it. His body has known more pain than any Human or mere Gear could ever hope to survive, having been hardened through years of war and combat. Under all the clothing he wore, his body was rife with scars, scars so large and vicious that no one should have ever been able to survive such injuries.

"Just a little bit more...!" The young man's confidence grew. With a powerful upward swing of his flag, the butt end slammed under the older man's chin, making his entire body reel back. The flag was being slammed down against his chest. He could only smirk.

"Not bad, Sin...but it's not enough yet." His body comes back forward with sudden speed, momentum making the flag go back. His head slams into his apprentice's, the headpiece he wears clinking soundly with the other's forehead and sending him off his feet. He skids against the ground, preparing to rise again only to be taken advantage of his current moment of defenselessness. The blunt side of the massive sword is slammed into his side, before cracking him across the face. The hilt slammed into his gut, taking him airborne. Before he could be struck out of the air, Sin pushed off with his flag pole to gain some distance as he gathered power.

"Ride The Lightning!" He rushed forward, electricity crackling around his body. The volts coiled about more densely, until he himself became a ball of destructive energy. He would have caught the older man had he not been ready to intercept the attack. Twisting his body, flames encircled him to crash against the lightning, everything being gathered into his right fist.

"Tyrant Rave!" He brought a massive tower of flames to crush through the mobile sphere, causing an explosions the rocked the trees loose from the ground. When dust and debris cleared from the impact, Sin was left unconscious laying against an uprooted tree.

'This may not have been the longest he's lasted against me, but he's thinking more and more in combat. If his power continues to increase like this...' He walks calmly to another uprooted tree to sit on, planting his sword in the wood and splintering it. He'll let the boy recover for the night considering they've been constantly fighting for most of the day.

'...will he finally be able to put me to rest? If one day...the Dragon finally comes out...will he be able to kill it?' He rests a gloved hand to his headpiece. It's suppressive powers have malfunctioned ever since the battle of 2172, one of his more memorable battles, considering it was a battle with his past self. When the Gears regenerative powers combined them, the control device no longer was able to hold the Dragon at bay as before. He could only speculate what That Man's real intent was, considering that all the nonsense he still spouted about how Sol Badguy would save the world with said powers. Frederick had been too weak to try and contain them already, and Sol himself could barely keep the great beast of a Gear from arising any better now.

'Sin...your still a child at heart. Would you be able to handle the world's burden on your shoulders?' He never claimed to be a hero in any way, shape, or form. But he had held the world on his shoulders quite a few times when he took down Justice, and the Blackard Company, I-No, The Post-War Administration Bureau, nor Valentine's incidents had been no different. Thoughts of Aria dug up painful memories he hadn't been aware of having. He knew he was coming to wit's end about how to end That Man once and for all, the Dragon being the only answer it seemed if only the risk wasn't so damn high. That Man was the only reason he still lived and breathed anyway. Only when he died could the Prototype Gear know true rest, but what used to seem like forever to find the elusive bastard now had a time limit: The Dragon could not be bound for much longer. Trying to reinforce the suppressive powers proved useless, as no technology could make it go back to the deep slumber it knew all too well before.

'The Dragon...it thirsts for freedom, as I do. But no one has the means to oppose it currently. No one...' It was hard, knowing that he would be responsible for the world's future again but not being able to follow through, as not even killing himself would do much but leave the Dragon to rule as the dominant persona. He had wondered of late what That Man's designs were for the Dragon, knowing that neither him nor Raven would be able to stand against it for long. If the world could all grow a backbone then just maybe it could be stopped, though chances were slim. And here he was, hoping that he had enough time to mold a warrior who had the potential to stop him. When he thought of it in those simple contexts, he was no better than That Man, who had molded him to save the world against his will.

"It sickens me...to put all hope in one person, like you Sin...just like he did with me..." He hates the resemblance that is coming out of this master-apprentice relationship, so much like with that of That Man and himself. Yet, even with all the power he currently wielded, he was powerless. Did That Man also feel the same sense of hopelessness? Somehow he believes so...the resemblance already is too great. He hates himself. He and That Man are the same, wielders of great power yet powerless in their goals. And time is never on their side. The damned cycle will repeat anew. Another Guilty Gear yet to be added in the mix.

FIN...

Author note-Another one shot. I'm starting to get hyped up about some other games about to come out in the near future, so my writing interests may shift from Guilty Gear to something else, I'm not sure yet. Guess we'll all know in the future.