Sacrifice

(Zombo Sand)

"Death it is. Say your goodbyes~!" Red Rum sung out as he reeled his claws back, a savage grin on his face underneath his mask. It was quite fortunate that the murderer had stumbled upon the couple, Taupa and Terra, as the two seemed to be rather close from what he could see. Their banter, the way the fought, and the desperate pleas from Taupa to let his girlfriend go. It all pointed to some form of love that would have blossomed to something spectacular if it wasn't for Red Rum ripping his claws through Terra's back, the other end of said claw stabbing through her chest instantly.

"I'm sorry…" Was the last sound that Taupa had heard from Terra Vasquez as blood started to form in her throat, her life suddenly coming to a violent halt. The life faded from her emerald eyes, leaving behind only a dead glance directed towards the brawler as she went limp. Taupa was completely silent as he watched the event, his eyes wide as he saw Terra, the love of his life, suddenly died right in front of him.

She was gone. She was actually gone, Taupa slowly began to realize as tears poured down his face, the shock hitting him like a wrecking ball as he watched Red Rum kick Terra's lifeless body off of his claws. She… Terra… Grabbing at his heart, Taupa felt a rising sense of guilt, grief and pain as something was torn out of him. A piece of him, maybe? No, a chunk. He could feel a chunk of his heart had suddenly been ripped out of him the moment Terra… Oh god…

"Terra… No, please… I…" Taupa tried to say, his body visibly shaking as his vision went blurry from his tears, his fist tightening. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't do a thing to save Terra from Red Rum. He had failed her. He could protect anyone. Not his grandpa, not Terra. He was a fucking joke. He…

Oh, god. She was actually gone…!

"TERRA!" The brown haired brawler cried out as his hands found their way onto his face, his teeth grit. He let out a scream as he felt himself be torn apart by his own grief, rage and sadness boiling and swelling inside of him as he screamed to the heavens. Terra was gone. The only person he really gave a damn about- dead. All because he couldn't reach her. Every moment he spent with her, every punch, every kiss, everything he said to her. It was all for nothing. With his claws, Red Rum had stolen it all away.

"RED RUUUUUUM!" Taupa had suddenly felt another presence inside of him as he dash forward with a roar, his speed incomprehensible for both Red Rum and Taupa himself. With a bloodied animalistic cry, the brawler had grabbed Star Striker and immediately cracked it over Magnetal's head, the force of the strike splitting open the man's instantly without any problem whatsoever. With blood gushing everywhere, Red Rum would fall to the floor, instantly dying before he could even realize it.

Taupa stood over the body for a moment as he roared once more, his rage firing off with an extremely deadly white and black Aura wrapping around him. Fuck this… Fuck Red Rum, fuck the world, fuck it all! He wanted to destroy it all! To rip and tear and make everyone understand how he felt. The love of his life is fucking gone.

'That's one hell of a fire you have there, boy…' A dark voice had suddenly called out from Taupa's subconscious as the brawler continuously slammed Star Striker down upon Red Rum's body, tears and blood and spit covering his face as he screamed out to the heavens. 'Taupa…? Hellooooooo? Are you even listening to me?' Upon hearing no response, the voice just let out a loud sigh.

'You already lost it, huh? Well then, no point in trying to introduce myself. I'll just take what's mine.' Suddenly, Taupa would suddenly halt as he felt a hunger growing in him, his eyes going wide as he clenched his stomach… What was happening? What was this feeling he was getting? This malicious intent… It was taking over. Taupa could feel it.

And he let it take over. Upon seeing Terra's lifeless body once more, Taupa knew he didn't want to live on anymore. He didn't want feel, or see or hear or breath. He just wanted to be with Terra. He just wanted to die.

'I failed you…' Were Taupa's final thoughts as he felt himself sink into an abyss, his consciousness being dragged away from his body as he felt the darkness of his subconscious stab into him. No, this wasn't his subconscious. Not anymore. Whatever was taking over, it was his body now. Taupa was now just an afterthought. An idea. A concept for the man taking control. Taupa was dead.

Stretching his arms up to the sky, the new entity let out a satisfied sigh, a dark grin growing onto his face. "It's been a while since I had a body… Guess I didn't have to wait too long." Cerbero commented with a laugh, looking over at Terra's corpse. "Guess I gotta thank you for that. I owe you a lot~!" Grabbing Terra's lifeless body, Cerbero would suddenly draw the corpse in for a passion kiss, before immediately biting the dead tongue and ripping it off.

"Well, aren't you a lousy kisser." Cerbero joked as he tossed the body away, chewing on the tongue as he exited the alleyway. Mistral had changed quite a bit, but the ancestor believed he could still be himself, now that Astra and the rest of the group were no longer around. He better go kill all the Inheritors before they gain the chance to be a threat.

Oh, was life going to become a lot more interesting now that he was at the wheel.