A Twist Of Fate
Sakura Yamanagi and Zyrael Eclipse - Virtue Server
The streets of Paragon City were bustling as usual and every so often heroes could be seen running around, either on missions or just stopping crimes on the street, "That should be me...." A soft sigh escapes the lips of japanese exchange student, Sakura Yamanagi as she shoulders her backpack and continues down the street towards the library. The only warning the young psychic got was a sharp premonition of danger before a hand closed over her mouth and she was dragged around the corner into an alley. Her dark, almond-shaped eyes well with tears as her captor grabs a handfull of pink hair and yanks her head back roughly at a sharp angle... a Hellion. She hoped that she could get away with nothing worse than a mugging, but that hope ebbed away as she heard the voices of other men.
"Sup, Z? Yo, you find anythin'?"
"Yeah, cute lil thing too. Think Scorch'll let us play before the ceremony?" Sakura grimaces as the tall Hellion holding her licks her cheek, but she manages to catch his eyes with hers. That was just the opening she'd needed, reaching out with her mind to mesmerize her captor. As she steps away from him she raises her arms, normally dark eyes seeming to flicker with an aquamarine energy as a sudden violent gust of wind picks up the rest of the thugs and knocks them backwards.
"Holy... she's a freakin cape!! Get the lil freak!!"
"She's not the only one..." She turns, looking up to see a group of five heroes standing on the roof above and looking down at them. Two of the Hellions pull out shotguns and immediately begin blasting away, and Sakura dives behind a dumpster in hopes that the gang will forget all about her.. maybe this superhero business was more dangerous than she'd thought. She could hear the fighting, but every time she tried to peek out there was an explosion of some sort. A flash of movement catches her eye and she tilts her head curiously, watching as one of the Hellions slips a small bundle out of his vest and stuffs it up a drainpipe before running off. "Where'd the girl go?"
She breathes a sigh of relief as she recognises the voice of the hero and slips out from behind the dumpster, running over and watching as they handcuff the unconscious Hellions, "Thank you all SO much! You're lifesavers!!"
The heroes all smile.. they heard similar sentiments all the time, but it never got old. Just knowing that they made a difference made everything worthwhile, "Did you happen to see any of them carrying anything unusual?"
Her mind immediately went to the bundle in the drainpipe, but she shook her head, instead pointing in the direction that the last thug had run off in, "No, Sir.. but I did see one of them running off that way and he was acting sorta funny." The heroes nod and run off in the direction she'd indicated, and she waits for only a moment before dashing over to the drainpipe and pulling out the bundle. She knew that the Hellion would be back soon now that the heroes were gone, so instead of unwrapping it she instead tucks it into the pocket of her school uniform and runs. She felt like she had a bullseye painted on her forehead as she carefully headed down Hyperion Way, trying to avoid the clusters of Hellions that normally hung out there.. all it would take was for one of them to stop her and it would be all over. Finally she reaches the open park of Atlas Plaza and collapses onto a bench with her hand resting over her pocket. This was as good a place as any.. she figured that if anything went seriously wrong then the horde of heroes visiting Ms. Liberty for training would be able to handle things. She could sense something stirring within the bulge in her pocket.. she had something important here, something that the Hellions had, no doubt, been planning on using against either their rival gangs.. or the heroes and innocent civilians of Paragon City.
Sitting there, she takes the bundle from her pocket and unwraps it.. blinking as a softly glowing red stone set into a golden circle marked with magical sigils falls into the palm of her hand. Looking it over she found what looked like some sort of latch that might open the circle and free the stone bound inside... and for a moment she looks towards Atlas Plaza and the building behind the gigantic statue. Maybe this was something that she should take to M.A.G.I. but.. then maybe it was something that should be used against the Hellions instead of sitting in a M.A.G.I. storage facility. At that thought the amulet within her hand seemed to give a little lurch and she looked down at it, "You -want- to be used.. don't you?" She runs her fingertips over the stone and the gold finding, not really realizing as she flips the latch until the ring pops open to free the stone.
Before her startled eyes the stone seemed to throb and then dissolve into a reddish mist that swirls around her form a few times before flowing to a spot a few feet away. As she gathers herself, ready to scream and run for Ms. Liberty at a second's notice, the mist seems to swirl and grow.. finally dissipating to reveal a huge man with deep red skin and humungous horns branching from his forehead. He was kneeling and looking at the ground, not moving or seeming to breathe for a moment before a visible shiver runs through him and he inhales deeply. His head slowly rises.. coal black eyes meeting hers before he speaks "I am Zyrael Eclipse.. how may I serve?"
Sakura's mouth drops open as she watches him for a moment, a thousand ideas flashing through her mind. She'd realized in that alley that if she really wanted to make a difference in Paragon City she'd need a partner.. a protector. And what better use for the demon that the Hellions had planned to control than to turn him against them. She raises to her diminutive height of five feet and smooths the tiny black skirt of her school uniform over her thighs as she watches him, "My name is Sakura. You are going to help me protect the innocent people of this city by being my protector.. let's get over to City Hall and get ourselves registered."