Reiko vs. Drake Duo-Victory

Character Profiles:
Name: Reiko Souma (Human)/Pink Widow (Challenger/Evil Spirit)
Appearance: Reiko has black roots coming from her hair and a black line around her eyes.
Age: 21
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 102lbs.
Birthplace: Emptiness
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Class: Sword Infantry
Element: Earth
Personality: Since the Pink Widow started to take control of Reiko the day after her graduation from Tumid's Sword Infantry, Reiko has become rather unsure of herself and her abilities. Reiko still has her confidence in sword-fighting, but she lacks confidence in everything else and, if anything, has become withdrawn and now keeps to herself. Reiko still has a crush on Drake Flare from Group A.
Weapon(s): Souma Katana, Ninja Stars (Reiko); Martial Arts (Pink Widow), Mini-Dagger (Reiko/Pink Widow)
Special Abilities: Reiko is telepathic (able to read minds) and telekinetic (able to move things with her mind); Pink Widow has the ability to control other people and is controlling Reiko until she is cured of her anemia (AKA forever?). Pink Widow's key ability is feeding off the fears of others and turning negative energy into power. Reiko has recently developed few elemental abilities, but has very poor control over them and tries to avoid using them, no matter what the circumstance.
Biography: Reiko's parents were brutally murdered in front of her at the age of seven by what is rumored to be a Cold-Blood, although the rumors have yet to be proven. Shourim Manti took Reiko in as her guardian and sensei with the hopes of breaking the shell of insecurity that has formed around her heart. Thinking he has succeeded, Shourim enrolled her in the best schools, but Reiko has only gotten worse. She suffers from anemia and is constantly ill, yet it doesn't hinder her fighting spirit. While Reiko is deeply in love with Drake (but won't tell him for fear that the Pink Widow within will kill him), the Pink Widow has once again become enraged with Reiko's weakness and is now drawing out a battle against her closest allies with the hopes of making her move past her faults, even if it means erasing Drake from existence. In order to do this, Pink Widow had to first render the inner Reiko unconscious, lest she interfere and try stopping the fight. The battle will take place in the plains of Ken'ya, and Pink Widow/Reiko awaits the one with whom she has issued the challenge to.

Name: Drake Flare (The Challenged)
Title: The Young Flame
Age: 21
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 165lbs.
Birthplace: Seria
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Class: Sword Infantry
Weapon(s): 2-handed Sword
Element: Fire
Personality: Always determined to win and be number 1. But, at the same time, he believes that teamwork is power. Drake is never good at meeting new people, but not shy to try. Other people seem to see Drake as a good example. Maybe it is because of his skill to motivate and encourage others. But to describe his personality more simply, he is more of a leader than he is a follower.
Bio: Born in a small town in Seria. At age of 5, his home was suddenly attacked by an unknown species from the north. His parents died, but he escaped and was picked up by a caravan of people who were heading to Serdius. The people came to a small town called Sales and gave him away to attend TUMID. Ever since, Drake wanted to travel the world and learn more about these unknown species that tared up his town.

The Battle:
The moment had come at last; the snow was coming down in a harsh manner, the sun nowhere to be found. It was as if nature itself had turned on every living being and was now pouring down this blizzard with a high gust. Yet the Pink Widow, the vengeful spirit that had come to possess the body of a frail Reiko, didn't appear to be at all affected by the nasty weather. If anything, she seemed to be somewhat pleased with the way things had worked out. Drake, who was approaching from the opposite direction, had taken her bait, and he had to squint his eyes to keep the snow from hitting them as he walked. His body was beginning to become numb as the coldness penetrated through his clothes. His feet were soaked, and cold as anything. There was no sight of any life around; there was nothing but fields of snow as far as the eye could see. If Drake did not find a place to stay, or some way to warm up, then there was no guarantee that he would ever make it out of this awful place alive. Horrible visions filled Drake's mind as he imagined tomorrow's newspapers state the unkind truth on the front page, 'Soldat frozen alive and eaten by wolves!' Yet Drake remained unafraid. He knew that he was here for a purpose, a specific one at that. That was when a recognizable voice of a trusted friend awakened him from his deep thought.

"Drake!" Pink Widow shouted above the blizzard. She pointed at him. "This is the day that you and everyone from your feeble group dies! Now prepare to fight!" Drake picked up his head to see a familiar figure standing in the midst of the snow fields. The snowfall blurred out the face of the figure, but as Drake got closer, his most shocking thought came to mind.

Reiko!? He tried to shout as loud as possible, even though his voice shook due to the cold temperature. "Reiko! What are you doing!?" Drake was puzzled to see Reiko here, and not only that, but her request to fight. What is happening to her? Drake realized that it wasn't the same Reiko as the one he knew and cared about. But as the snow fell in between them, only the worst came to Drake's mind, that of dread and disaster. Seeing Drake, to Pink Widow, it seemed as if he were struggling to stay on his own two feet as he walked.

Heh...fool. It looks like this is going to be an easy win for me. the spirit thought, Humans are so frail...if it weren't for my stupid pawn falling for the illusion back at that dumb tower three years ago, then she would no doubt be dead by now. Oh, well. Living in this body's been worth the time. As soon as the Pink Widow heard Drake shouting above the blizzard, she snapped into focus and made a giant leap from the cliff that she had been standing on, with Reiko's concealed weapons and sheathed katana brushing up against her clothes as she landed on her feet. The recoil from the jump that she would've felt had been weakened by the snow, but it mattered none to the possessed-Reiko as she straightened herself and looked at Drake with a scowl. "Heh...Reiko?" Pink Widow said, "Oh, so you're the one that this retarded pawn of mine has been wasting her time thinking about lately. Well, the 'Reiko' you thought you knew is gone now! I'm in control now, and soon this land will be put under my rule! If it means spilling the blood of the ones my pawn has become close with, then so be it." Reiko cracked her knuckles and made fists. "Now enough talk! Give it everything you've got, and die!!"

Drake couldn't believe what he just heard. How could this have happened? He refused to fight and instead stepped forward and shouted, "Reiko! It's me, Drake! I know you're in there, you gotta fight back!" With all his heart he believed in her. Pink Widow or whoever it was, could not take her away from him. There had to be hope, there just had to be, but rather than hear Reiko's voice, the possessed-Reiko laughed at Drake's pleas for her to fight back; she had been subdued by the Pink Widow, giving her total control over the girl's body for the time being.

I know this mortal well enough that, even if she were to try, wouldn't be able to wake up for another three hours. That should give me enough time to take care of this fool and at least two others from their so-called group. Reiko lunged forth and fired a punch at Drake, a right hook that was aimed for the left side of his face. Drake quickly caught her knuckle with his right hand and then jumped forward to the right. He twisted her arm around, but not to hurt her, and placed it behind her back holding it tightly. While standing closely behind her, Drake wrapped his left arm around her shoulder so that she won't move. He then pushed his head closer to her ear and said,

"I won't let you hurt her. Reiko, I know you can hear me, you gotta fight back!" In spite of all this confusion and cold, Drake fully believed in Reiko that she would prevail over the dark spirit which was controlling her.

What's going on? The 'real' Reiko heard Drake's words as they came from his mouth, almost as if he were standing right next to her. Of course, Reiko didn't know where she was or what she was doing, all she knew was that she wasn't in control of her body at the moment. Fight back...why would I be fighting at all? Meanwhile, the Pink Widow found herself unable to move anything with the exception of her feet. She could use that to her advantage in freeing herself from Drake's grasp; in fact, that was her next plan, seeing as how her first punch had done no good.

"Stop wasting your breath, you fool! The girl can't hear you! It's pointless to try talking to someone who's half-dead!" Pink Widow stepped on Drake's left foot with full force, using her left foot to do so. Since his feet were numb from the cold, Drake barely even felt the pain of Reiko slamming it. I was hoping not to do this... the spirit thought as she started to tap into Reiko's mind. By using her telekinesis, I'll be speeding up the time it takes for Reiko to regain control over her body, but I need to free myself from this mortal's hold...now. With full access to Reiko's mind, Pink Widow now had every bit of her host's power at her disposal - even Reiko's memories - which she intended on using against her. "I'll warn you once - release me!" she ordered, using Reiko's telekinesis to slam Drake into the snow-covered ground. He felt a sudden force pulling him away, which made him fly back and hit the ground. Drake rolled backwards and withdrew his sword to protect himself.

He thought to himself, Reiko...what is happening to you? He stood up on his feet with his sword in front of him ready to defend himself anytime, but he knew he couldn't attack. He couldn't hurt her. He had to find another way to beat this demon inside of her. The possessed-Reiko gave a smirk, as the Pink Widow had succeeded in being freed from Drake's hold. If it was one thing the spirit hated, it was being unable to move, but the one thing she hated the most was having to listen to Reiko's thoughts. She thought Reiko would be down for the count for much longer, but now it seemed as if she was starting to wake up a lot sooner than the spirit had expected.

There's something wrong. I shouldn't be hearing Reiko's thoughts right now. Not unless... The spirit, still in total control of Reiko's body, reached for the weapon that was closest to her - Reiko's katana - and swiftly unsheathed it. The handle (handmade by Reiko's ancestors) started to surround itself with tiny jolts of brown and pink-colored energy, a sign that the wielder of the blade was not a Souma. "Hnh. The Souma Katana is displeased with its new wielder," Pink Widow noted with a smirk. The look on Reiko's face just then, with both eyes still glowing bright pink, made her look like a completely different person. Suddenly, her eyes flickered, and the glow vanished.

"Drake!!" Reiko called telepathically. She was awake! "You have to defeatthis 'Pink Widow' that's controlling me..! She won't leave unless her hand is forced through the loss of her host!" Reiko threw her katana and her other weapons at Drake's feet; she didn't want the spirit to use them against him. "You must stop her!!" Reiko shouted just before Pink Widow was again in control of her body. The glow in her eyes returned, only this time the spirit was more than a bit angry. Reiko knew that she had to fight an internal battle to permanently regain control of herself, but it was difficult when the one who was trying to control her was trying to destroy the life of a beloved friend.

Curse that insolent woman for taking her weapons away from me!! Pink Widow thought, lunging forth at Drake again, this time using Reiko's telekinesis to enable flight.

"Pink Widow! No matter what, I will defeat you and free Reiko!" Drake roared at Reiko as she lunged at him. Drake jumped forward and grabbed Reiko's katana on the ground with his left hand. As Reiko got nearer to Drake, he pointed the tip of her katana right at her so that she will poke right into it. His own sword, he held in his right hand. He was ready, that when she got close, he would slash her from the right.

I've done all I could. Now it's up to Drake to defeat the evil within me. Reiko thought as she felt the spirit's negative energy getting stronger within her. If it means killing me and destroying my body, then so be it. I don't deserve the right to live if it means granting Pink Widow the satisfaction of killing Drake and everyone else.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, Reiko." A familiar voice said, "After everything you've fought for in order to restore the honor to the Souma name, you're just going to give up without a fight? If you think I'm just going to let you sit around and watch this evil spirit have her way with your body, then you're in a sad state of dillusion and deserve to be caned. Now you get up and show me how much you've improved. I will lend you my strength in this battle." Reiko felt the strength of her guardian flowing through her soul as Shourim's spirit stood behind Reiko's. "Together, we will destroy the evil within and purge the Souma blood of the demon that seeks permanent residence within this vessel." Both Reiko and Shourim said in unison. Meanwhile, Reiko's body suddenly froze, and the Pink Widow was unable to move!

"What's going on here?!" she demanded, the glow in Reiko's eyes flickering. "I can't...move!"

"Your time inside this body has come to an end, Pink Widow! As of this moment, I banish you to the deep confines of hell for all eternity!" Shourim announced telepathically, and he went forth, giving his all in destroying the Pink Widow.

"Drake..!" Reiko felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders while Shourim and Pink Widow struggled within her. "Quickly-! Finish me off!" she ordered, falling to her hands and knees. "I'm so sorry...but it's the only way!" Reiko closed her eyes and awaited the finishing blow that would end her life and destroy the Pink Widow. She knew that Shourim would be all right...

Reiko's voice really startled Drake. He had a big decision to make, but he didn't know what to do. He walks up to Reiko and raises the katana in the air, about to strike. But instead, he throws it on the ground next to her. "Take it Reiko, it's yours. Let the power of your katana give you the strength you need in finishing off the Pink Widow." Drake knew that it was all up to Reiko. All she had to do is separate herself from the Pink Widow, so that Drake can take her down head on, once and for all. But it all depended on Reiko. Reiko looked up at Drake in utter shock. Kneeling in front of him, she'd waited for the blow that would end everything, but when a few seconds passed and Reiko heard Drake still talking, she was surprised.

He won't do it..? Reiko thought, confused.

"Leave her!" Shourim ordered to the Pink Widow. He had the spirit on the run now. Beads of sweat poured down Reiko's face, which was quite unusual, considering they were in Ken'ya, in the middle of a blizzard. She sat up, still kneeling on her knees, and suddenly slapped her hands in front of her heart. Something was happening inside of her, Reiko could sense it.

"Ugh..!" She felt like vomiting, that's how bad the pain inside of her was, and she would have, had she not started to cough just then. For the moment, Reiko felt as if she were dying, but then she fell onto her back as the spirits of the Pink Widow and Shourim came out of her body. Reiko's guardian took form next to the now-unconscious Reiko while Pink Widow became visible in front of Drake.

"No more bars! It's time I've finished you off so I can start my takeover of that school and make it my throne of darkness!" the evil spirit hissed. Shourim, holding Reiko's limp hand in his, looked at the frail woman that he had trained and cared for since first taking her in after the death of her parents.

Reiko...the battle was too much for your body, the tall man thought, gently placing a hand on her cheek. He started to give Reiko mouth-to-mouth resucitation, hoping it would work in successfully reviving her, but the odds weren't looking so good. "Whatever you do, don't die. That man is fighting for you, do you realize this, Reiko? You must live on to fulfill the Souma legend as the Legendary Sword-Bearer, even though you are a woman, and are different from everyone else." Shourim said before breathing some of his air into Reiko.

Drake stared at the new figure which came out of Reiko and pointed his sword at her, "It's about time you've gotten some courage and face me directly. But your days are now over!" Drake lunged forward with his sword now by his side. He ran full speed at her ready to jump at any time and unleash his powerful Blazing Dynamo attack. As he got close enough, he leaped into the air and swung his blade from the right heading from top to bottom right at Pink Widow.

As Shourim continued his recussitation on Reiko, the Pink Widow was finding it hard to stay warm, now that she was no longer inside of Reiko's body. Without a host to manipulate like a puppet, Pink Widow no longer had any negative energy to absorb, except for whatever was around her, but there was nothing to absorb. The spirit's once-rapid speed was greatly hindered by the cold now, so her speed was cut in half as she jumped to the left and landed on her side in the snow. She rolled to her left until her hands landed on something small and pointy and picked it up. It was the mini-dagger that Pink Widow had stolen from Wizard's Tower just before possessing Reiko, and now it would prove useful to her. The spirit stood and charged Drake with what was left of her energy. Her target? Drake's heart, of course. Pink Widow wanted a trophy of her victory over the former leader of Group A, and she wanted it on a gold platter, and she considered the heart as the key to getting this trophy that would be Drake's head.

Meanwhile, Reiko's chest had started to move, meaning that Shourim had succeeded in restoring life to his first student, but now there was another problem: How was he going to keep Reiko from getting frost-bitten to death? The guardian of Reiko looked up and saw the Pink Widow charging at Drake with the miniature dagger. He recognized it as the Cursed Skull Dagger of the Wizard's Tower and gasped, his eyes big. If that dagger touches any part of him, then he's done for! I've got to stop her! Shourim removed his coat and spread it over Reiko's body like a blanket before rising with his own dagger in hand. "Get out of the way!!" he shouted, running over to push Drake out of the path of the Cursed Skull Dagger. At the same time, he stabbed his own dagger deep into the evil spirit's chest and fell to the ground. Drake hit the ground on his left side, but he quickly regained his balance and landed back on his feet. Looking at the sight that the Pink Widow was stabbed in the heart by the unknown man, Drake said to himself,

"Wow, and I thought that I was supposed to finish the dirty job." He scratched the back of his head in confusion. However, he was glad and grateful to be saved by that man. Shourim coughed as he landed in a heap on top of Pink Widow; he was still alive, but it wasn't going to be for much longer.

"You...you're lucky that Cursed Skull Dagger didn't touch you,..." he sputtered, coughing up blood. "The evil within would have killed you instantly...now hurry. Reiko's waiting for you." Shourim, using the little strength he had left, reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a folded paper, which he held out for Drake to take. "I've managed to restore life to her...she wanted you to have this." The letter was from Reiko; she had written it the night before the Pink Widow had taken over her body and issued the challenge to Drake for a fight.

"Drake, I'm writing this to you pretty late at night; it's probably the last thing I should be doing, considering my anemia's been getting worse lately. But I feel as if I won't be able to sleep until I've written all of my thoughts out. As you may have known, I've never been fully able to move past the death of my parents fourteen years ago. Up until three years ago, I thought I'd at last come to forget about the memory of that brutal night when I found myself being shoved through the window at the Wizard's Tower by my own guardian - or what I thought was my guardian, Shourim. Instead, I've found myself being the slave to an evil spirit that calls herself 'Pink Widow' and has gained power by feeding on the negative energy of my doubts. At one point, I almost found myself laying at Death's Door, begging the spirit to usher me into the next life by putting an end to the pain that I suffer daily. Should I not make it to the end of the next day, I want to pass down to you the Souma Katana that my family has sought to preseve for so many generations. I know you will be the only one who can properly wield the katana without the energy within reacting against you. Back in the beginning of my days at TUMID, you were, to me, the one brother I never had in my life. I quickly found myself befriending you, seeing you as my "Onii-chan," my Big Brother. Over the years I've seen our friendship grow, and it was just a few short years before our graduation from TUMID as Soldats that I then found myself seeing you as more than just friends. I won't make this any mushier than I have already, but the truth must be told of how I feel to you now, Drake. It's too bad I probably won't be living to see anything come of this for us. Oh, well. It was a good dream while it lasted, so take care, and...sayonara.
"Much regards from your "Onee-chan" Little Sister, Reiko A. Souma."

Tears formed in Reiko's eyes and started to slide down her face as she expected the worst to come next...his reaction, but as Drake finished reading the letter, he then came over to Reiko and took her hand. He took out his dragon spirit and called out Slyther to come out. Although Slyther was out for a second, his hot presence was able to melt the snow away around them and warm both of them up. Drake helped her get up, and he put his left arm around her shoulders and said, "It's okay, let's go home." Reiko gave a nod as she woke up, and she felt immediately warm just from standing next to Slyther with Drake. The dead bodies of Shourim and Pink Widow laid in a pile in the snow, and Reiko felt an unusual emptiness within her as she then remembered her guardian.

"Shourim!" Reiko's eyes went wide when she didn't see her guardian anywhere. "Drake, we need to find Shourim! He might still be alive!" she said, her voice full of worry as she looked to Drake. "We can't leave without him! He'll freeze to death out here!"

Drake looked into her eyes with compassion. "Sorry Rei, but he is gone. He is in a better place now." He gave a small smile and waited for her reply. Reiko was shocked beyond belief. Shourim dead? It seemed too hard to believe...a dream, almost. At first, she could say nothing. Reiko didn't move, but then, after about two minutes, the tears began to pour down Reiko's face like waterfalls. She turned to Drake and leaned against him as she cried; Reiko needed his shoulder right now.

But...how?! Reiko thought, feeling devastated. How could Shourim have done such a thing? He was always giving me the advice I needed, being there for me in spirit, praising me when I did good and scolding me when I was being my usual stubborn self. Reiko looked up at Drake. "How?!" she wailed; the one person who had taken the place of her parents was now gone, never to be seen or heard from again. Reiko was forever going to have a deep void within her that she honestly believed would never be filled.

今やつ!