The Forces That Control You And I: Cataclysm
The warrior of light.
The vessel of darkness.
Two bitter enemies.
One cataclysmic clash.
Destiny beckons.
"Gamma Ray!"
"Shadow Edge!"
The projectiles struck, reducing themselves into nothingness. The skirmish has started.
"Shadow Lance!" Kageyama charged forward with a larger version of the lance. He slashed horizontally across Ichiro's chest, but he evaded by leaping back. Kageyama did not give up the chase though, as he thrust the sharp end at Ichiro's legs, attempting to trip him up. Ichiro responded by blocking the move by parrying with his staff. With his free hand, Ichiro drew it back and punched his adversary's shoulder. Kageyama staggered for a vital second, and Ichiro broke the parry and raised his staff to strike the robot's metallic head, but Kageyama brought his lance up to block the blow. The Jet-Black robot then kicked the Gate Robot 04, pushing it back.
Stalemate.
Ichiro gripped his short staff in the middle, and the Gate amplifiers appeared and a grey Gate opened at the end of the metallic hand. He powered his shoulder Gate cannons and fired. Kageyama nimbly avoided the blasts.
"Speed Burst!" A gigantic Gate opened in front of the grey robot, and it entered the wormhole to reach the speed of Mach 3. Kageyama, surprised, used his Shadow Edge move in a futile attempt to stop the speeding blur. Ichiro neared his enemy and therefore was poised for a strike. But Kageyama merely spread its wings and took to the skies, leaving Ichiro to screech to a sudden halt. Like an object in a firing range, Ichiro was an easy target.
Kageyama swooped down and plowed itself at Ichiro with full force. The force of the two robots crashing down caused fissures to appear on the ground. Kageyama raised his clawed hand to try and rip through Ichiro's robot's head, but missed as Ichiro avoided the attack at the last possible second. Ichiro punched Kageyama in the head, and wriggled free as he was disorientated. Furious with himself for missing a chance to finish off Ichiro, the dark machine raced forward in rage. Taking advantage of his rage and momentum, the grey robot deftly grabbed his outstretched hand and flipped it over its shoulder.
Ichiro drew out his short staff and swung. Kageyama blocked by crossing his arms in front of his chest. By breaking the parry, he managed to push Ichiro back. He hurled his Shadow Lance at him, which he struck to the ground with his short staff.
Stalemate.
Kaoru watched the tense battle from a safe distance.
"I am going to help Ichiro!" she said as she stood up from her hiding place.
"No, don't." Ruriko said, as she placed the groggy Ukiya Shun against a boulder. "This is Ichiro's fight. He alone has to fight it. You will only serve as a distraction."
Frustrated by the logic of Ruriko's words, Kaoru once again turned her attention to the two adversaries.
"Triumph in all faces of adversity." She said sub-consciously.
Ichiro panted behind the flickering computer dials. I must not lose, he thought, everyone is counting on me. I cannot disappoint them again. I will win, no matter the cost.
Kageyama regarded his former protégé with coldness. He is fighting for a lost cause, a cause he himself does not believe in, he thought grimly.
Or is he himself fighting a lost cause?
A flicker of doubt passed over his face.
Kageyama took the offensive this time, firing a tendril composed of dark energy at Ichiro. Ichiro struck it aside with his staff and grabbed the middle of it. Slowly, the staff started to spin like the helicopter's blades around the mechanical wrist. Using the staff as a spinning shield against Kageyama's attacks, Ichiro retaliated by firing his shoulder cannons once again, all the while approaching the evil vessel.
Kageyama smiled. He had found an opportunity, which he would use to his utmost advantage. Shooting forth another tendril, it cleverly avoided the spinning staff and wrapped itself around it, stopping it from rotating anymore. The machinery squealed in protest, and Ichiro hurriedly shut it down.
More tendrils shot out, wrapping the arms and legs of the robot. Ichiro desperately tried to break free, but the grip was as resolute as Kageyama's will to kill him.
Kageyama stepped in front of the grey robot. Another tendril, sharp-edged this time, shot forth and punctured a large hole in the robot's head. The other tendrils were pulling the robot apart, resulting in loud creaking and rivulets of oil streaking down its titanium body.
Ichiro was petrified with fear. He heard Kageyama's evil voice echo through the intercom. "Checkmate." He then gave a demonic laugh.
Another razor-sharp tendril materialised, this time it was headed for the cockpit.
Ichiro saw the tendril coming closer.
"This where it all ends, it seems." He muttered.
An image of Kaoru flickered through his mind.
"Kaoru...."
Impact.
A blue flash had sped out of nowhere and struck the deadly tendril away.
"I will not allow my loved ones to be killed! I will fight you even though I know it is useless!" Kaoru utilised her Gate power and punched the dark robot in the chest.
Although disorientated at first, Kageyama deftly grabbed Kaoru. She struggled to no avail. Kageyama shook his head.
"How touching." He said. "Now Ichiro, you have the honour of watching the person you love die. First Georgina left you, now she dies on you." He closed his fist, attempting to crush her. Kaoru resisted with her Gate of Close Combat, but she was no match for the robot's immense power.
Ichiro's eyes flashed with rage. "I will get you Kageyama!" He once again resisted his bounds, but his efforts were futile.
Kageyama stared at him with contempt. "You can't even save the people you love, and you want to save the world? How foolish of you."
Kaoru pushed with all her might, but she felt her strength ebbing away every second. The mechanical fist slowly but surely closed over her, blocking the setting sun from her view.
Images of Ichiro flashed through her mind.
I love you, Ichiro, she thought.
Shun has left me already. He loves Ruriko, not me. Please Ichiro, please love me. I don't want to feel unloved. I want the warmth and comfort only another human being can give me.
She felt her tears stream down her face as her grip slipped slowly.
Tears? She wondered.
Emotion?
Love?
As tears from her eyes dripped onto the palm of the robot, Kaoru muttered to herself. "To love someone is a form of happiness, but yet there would be pain involved as well. It is a price that I have to pay."
Enraged, Ichiro pushed the very limits of his robot.
"Open the Gate!" An enormous amount of energy was injected into the robot's systems, and with superhuman strength, Ichiro broke all the bounds at one go.
Kageyama smiled at the sudden turn of events. "Is it true?" he wondered as he pondered Yukino's words.
Ichiro swung his hand and wretched Kageyama's wrist, freeing Kaoru from her prison. He caught her with the other hand and placed her on the ground, where the other Gatekeepers were hiding.
With that done, Ichiro turned his attention back to Kageyama.
"It's time Alpha met Omega."
Summoning all the Gate energy, Ichiro opened his Gate Engine until the red zone. Simultaneously, energy blasts shot out from the hands and the shoulder Gate cannons. The four energy blasts combined to form one large energy ball, and it raced towards its target.
Kageyama, sensing that the battle was lost, activated his emergency escape sequence. He left the robot just in time to see the tremendous blast hit his vessel of darkness, and in a flash of brilliant light, disappear from the face of the Earth forever.
The explosion blinded Ichiro, and the resulting shockwave threw him back.
Dazed, his vision blurred.
"Ichiro?"
Ichiro awoke in Kaoru's hands, and he felt her delicately touch his face.
Is this love? He wondered.
He felt her smooth hands on his cheek, before stopping her by holding her hand. She blushed slightly and looked away.
Is this what I wanted?
Using her other hand, she stroked his hair.
It feels so comfortable, so happy, so pure.
She takes her hand away from him and brings his head to hers.
I feel so happy, so calm, like I am walking on air.
Their faces draw closer.
I want to feel this way forever.
As their lips almost touch, the scene changes to where Georgina leaves him so many years ago. Only this time, the girl was Kaoru.
He had only enough time to scream "NOO!!" as a flash of light caused everything to fade to white.
Kageyama felt angry.
Angry at the fact that once again his perceived weakness of the Gatekeepers was once again strength for them.
"I hate it." He said simply.
Suddenly, he felt a calming presence next to him. Turning around, he saw a girl in a kimono standing in the middle of a blizzard.
Yukino.
Enraged, Kageyama executed his Shadow Edge attack. The dark energy projectiles were merely frozen by Yukino and then reduced to diamond dust.
"Why are you fighting, Kageyama?" She asked in a low voice.
"Because I want revenge on all these humans who trampled on my feelings!"
"Is that your true objective?"
"What?" He said in surprise.
"You just want to be accepted by other people. You don't want to feel lonely. You want to be loved, to know that someone actually cares for you and appreciates you."
"NO! That is not true!"
"We are all human Kageyama. We all feel the same way sometimes. It is how we choose to deal with it that is different. Ichiro chose to accept the world as it is and try again. Whereas you instead decided to destroy the world because of what a small fraction of the population did to you."
"Stop it! Stop it!" He dropped to his knees and covered his ears.
"If you destroy all of us, where would you get your love and acceptance from? Kageyama, you have erred, but it is not too late to turn back. Give the world another chance."
Kageyama just stayed in his position unmoving for a while. Then, he stood up suddenly, eyes burning with intensity.
"Shut up! I have come too far to give up! I will destroy all those who made me feel like I was worth nothing! All of you don't know the first thing about me! How I suffered, how I was humiliated! I will make all of you pay for it!"
Saying that, he once again performed his Shadow Edge move. This time, the dark bolts hit Yukino, and her image shattered like a mirror, starting a chain reaction as the darkness around him shattered as well, until a brilliant flash of light caused everything to fade to white.
The charred body of the Gate Robot 04 laid still, head punctured and holes were visible in its armour. Opposite it was whatever remained of the Jet- Black Robot, most of it was vaporised by the sheer intensity of the blast.
The Gatekeepers came out from their hiding places.
"What happened to Ichiro and Kageyama?" Reiko asked.
"They're nowhere to be found." Feye said.
Kaoru felt a stab of dread entering her heart. She was none the worse after her ordeal.
She was feeling it again.
The hatch to the cockpit blew open, and out staggered Ichiro.
Overjoyed, Kaoru rushed up to him and hugged him.
Instead, Ichiro pushed her away. Kaoru looked on in surprise.
His eyes displayed morbid fear. "No! Stay away from me! I don't want to get hurt again!" He backed a few steps.
Kaoru felt the words slice her heart like a hot knife through butter. She raised her palm and instinctively slapped him.
The sound echoed throughout the silent evening.
Kaoru turned around, tears welling up in her eyes.
She was indeed feeling it again.
The feeling of pain.
How she hated it.
Kageyama now staggered into view. "This is not over, Ichiro."
The other Gatekeepers gasped in surprise, but Ichiro's mind was reeling. What have I done? He thought. All I wanted was to reciprocate her feelings, but somehow I cannot do it.
Why?
Kageyama. He is the cause.
I will destroy him for turning me into this..this...emotionless being.
1.1.1 La raison d'etre
The reason to live
The reason to survive
Do you have it?
Do I have it?
The enemies clash once again just to validate their very existence in this world.
The staff and lance struck each other, sparks flying on contact. But this time, there was no stalemate. Kageyama manoeuvred his lance expertly and hit Ichiro's staff away. It fell to the ground several metres away with a wooden thunk. With a quick leg sweep, Kageyama felled Ichiro. He pointed the sharp end at his throat to prevent him from getting up.
"One shall stand, one shall fall." Kageyama stated simply. "Say goodbye to all those who cared for you, but I doubt they do anymore."
The lance gleamed in the setting sun as Kageyama raised it.
"You were always so useless, Michael."
With that, he plunged the weapon towards his heart.
Flashback.
Outside Madam Lee's house.
"Michael, please return to us. I love you. I appreciate you. That's what matters. There will always be people who don't, but there will be others who will."
Flashback.
At the beach with Kaoru.
"I always wanted to emulate Prometheus. His undying love for Man despite their faults."
Flashback.
In the hospital room.
"I am glad to have a friend like you. Thanks from saving me from that car."
Flashback.
After he rescued Kaoru.
"Please love again, Ichiro. Please accept the fact that people care for you! I do care about you! We all care for you! Let go of the past, and think ahead. Otherwise, you will forever be living in regret and unhappiness!"
His mind flickered.
I do have it.
The reason to live.
The reason to exist.
I existed in the lives of these people.
Ichiro dodged the plunging lance and wriggled away.
However, this time, he did not retreat.
He gripped the Shadow Lance and opened his Gate. Grey energy seeped into the weapon, turning half of it grey.
Kageyama, noticing this, countered by opening his Gate further. Around the two feuding adversaries a temporal storm brewed and strong winds whipped at their clothes and bodies. But neither of them was distracted, and slowly but surely the temporal energy storm grew in strength.
Shun's watch buzzed, and Specs' anxious voice came over the intercom. "They are trying to outdo each other's Gate power! If this continues a massive explosion will occur when they reach critical mass! You have to stop them or get out of there!"
"What will happen if the explosion occurs?"
"Destruction to anything in a hundred kilometre radius. And the deaths of both of them."
Upon hearing that, Kaoru felt her heart leap into her mouth.
"Shirei? Why aren't you stopping him?" An anxious Miss Ochiai asked.
"Why should I? He chose this path himself."
Silence.
Shirei continued. "Or did destiny choose it for him?"
The bitter enemies looked intently at each other, each of them wanting nothing more but for his nemesis to fall at all costs.
Around them, the temporal storm was raging.
"You are going to kill both of us!" Kageyama yelled over the din.
"I swore I would take you down, even at the cost of my own life!"
"Can you afford to give it all up?" Kageyama sneered.
Turning his head, he saw the horrified face of Kaoru Konoe.
"I love you, Kaoru!" He hollered.
He watched her nod in acceptance.
He then turned away sadly, tears in his eyes.
"Forgive...and forget...me."
He opened his Gate further.
"NOO!! Ichiro!!" Kaoru screamed in anguish. She dashed forward to stop him, only for the rest of the Gatekeepers to restrain her.
"Kaoru! Get a grip on yourself! We need to leave now!" Shun said urgently.
"Too late." Ruriko said in a emotionless voice as the first explosion was heard. The energy wave was going to hit them.
Instead, it hit a green energy barrier. They looked up and saw Megumi standing in front of the waveform, Gate open.
Her positive Gate.
"Go now. I will contain the explosion as well as I can."
"No! It's too dangerous!" Ruriko said.
Megumi stared into her eyes. "Please. Let me, for once, be unselfish and do some good."
Awkward silence ensured, before Ruriko nodded in understanding. They left Megumi to redeem herself.
"Last chance, Ichiro. Are you giving up?"
"Never! I will destroy you together with myself!"
"Correction. This is just the beginning."
"What?"
"Welcome Ichiro. Welcome to the dark side."
Ichiro felt an evil spirit rip through his body, its touch was as cold as death.
A heartbeat later, blinding white light covered his eyes and he felt his whole body burning up.
A massive explosion occurred, and a single searing instant, everything, was just simply reduced to a charred mess.
Essentially nothing survived.
Above, the sun set on the carnage, and the light rays of the moon added an eerie feeling to the now silent battleground.
1.1.2 La raison d'etre
The reason to live
The reason to survive
Do you have it?
Do I have it?
The warrior of light.
The vessel of darkness.
Two bitter enemies.
One cataclysmic clash.
Destiny beckons.
"Gamma Ray!"
"Shadow Edge!"
The projectiles struck, reducing themselves into nothingness. The skirmish has started.
"Shadow Lance!" Kageyama charged forward with a larger version of the lance. He slashed horizontally across Ichiro's chest, but he evaded by leaping back. Kageyama did not give up the chase though, as he thrust the sharp end at Ichiro's legs, attempting to trip him up. Ichiro responded by blocking the move by parrying with his staff. With his free hand, Ichiro drew it back and punched his adversary's shoulder. Kageyama staggered for a vital second, and Ichiro broke the parry and raised his staff to strike the robot's metallic head, but Kageyama brought his lance up to block the blow. The Jet-Black robot then kicked the Gate Robot 04, pushing it back.
Stalemate.
Ichiro gripped his short staff in the middle, and the Gate amplifiers appeared and a grey Gate opened at the end of the metallic hand. He powered his shoulder Gate cannons and fired. Kageyama nimbly avoided the blasts.
"Speed Burst!" A gigantic Gate opened in front of the grey robot, and it entered the wormhole to reach the speed of Mach 3. Kageyama, surprised, used his Shadow Edge move in a futile attempt to stop the speeding blur. Ichiro neared his enemy and therefore was poised for a strike. But Kageyama merely spread its wings and took to the skies, leaving Ichiro to screech to a sudden halt. Like an object in a firing range, Ichiro was an easy target.
Kageyama swooped down and plowed itself at Ichiro with full force. The force of the two robots crashing down caused fissures to appear on the ground. Kageyama raised his clawed hand to try and rip through Ichiro's robot's head, but missed as Ichiro avoided the attack at the last possible second. Ichiro punched Kageyama in the head, and wriggled free as he was disorientated. Furious with himself for missing a chance to finish off Ichiro, the dark machine raced forward in rage. Taking advantage of his rage and momentum, the grey robot deftly grabbed his outstretched hand and flipped it over its shoulder.
Ichiro drew out his short staff and swung. Kageyama blocked by crossing his arms in front of his chest. By breaking the parry, he managed to push Ichiro back. He hurled his Shadow Lance at him, which he struck to the ground with his short staff.
Stalemate.
Kaoru watched the tense battle from a safe distance.
"I am going to help Ichiro!" she said as she stood up from her hiding place.
"No, don't." Ruriko said, as she placed the groggy Ukiya Shun against a boulder. "This is Ichiro's fight. He alone has to fight it. You will only serve as a distraction."
Frustrated by the logic of Ruriko's words, Kaoru once again turned her attention to the two adversaries.
"Triumph in all faces of adversity." She said sub-consciously.
Ichiro panted behind the flickering computer dials. I must not lose, he thought, everyone is counting on me. I cannot disappoint them again. I will win, no matter the cost.
Kageyama regarded his former protégé with coldness. He is fighting for a lost cause, a cause he himself does not believe in, he thought grimly.
Or is he himself fighting a lost cause?
A flicker of doubt passed over his face.
Kageyama took the offensive this time, firing a tendril composed of dark energy at Ichiro. Ichiro struck it aside with his staff and grabbed the middle of it. Slowly, the staff started to spin like the helicopter's blades around the mechanical wrist. Using the staff as a spinning shield against Kageyama's attacks, Ichiro retaliated by firing his shoulder cannons once again, all the while approaching the evil vessel.
Kageyama smiled. He had found an opportunity, which he would use to his utmost advantage. Shooting forth another tendril, it cleverly avoided the spinning staff and wrapped itself around it, stopping it from rotating anymore. The machinery squealed in protest, and Ichiro hurriedly shut it down.
More tendrils shot out, wrapping the arms and legs of the robot. Ichiro desperately tried to break free, but the grip was as resolute as Kageyama's will to kill him.
Kageyama stepped in front of the grey robot. Another tendril, sharp-edged this time, shot forth and punctured a large hole in the robot's head. The other tendrils were pulling the robot apart, resulting in loud creaking and rivulets of oil streaking down its titanium body.
Ichiro was petrified with fear. He heard Kageyama's evil voice echo through the intercom. "Checkmate." He then gave a demonic laugh.
Another razor-sharp tendril materialised, this time it was headed for the cockpit.
Ichiro saw the tendril coming closer.
"This where it all ends, it seems." He muttered.
An image of Kaoru flickered through his mind.
"Kaoru...."
Impact.
A blue flash had sped out of nowhere and struck the deadly tendril away.
"I will not allow my loved ones to be killed! I will fight you even though I know it is useless!" Kaoru utilised her Gate power and punched the dark robot in the chest.
Although disorientated at first, Kageyama deftly grabbed Kaoru. She struggled to no avail. Kageyama shook his head.
"How touching." He said. "Now Ichiro, you have the honour of watching the person you love die. First Georgina left you, now she dies on you." He closed his fist, attempting to crush her. Kaoru resisted with her Gate of Close Combat, but she was no match for the robot's immense power.
Ichiro's eyes flashed with rage. "I will get you Kageyama!" He once again resisted his bounds, but his efforts were futile.
Kageyama stared at him with contempt. "You can't even save the people you love, and you want to save the world? How foolish of you."
Kaoru pushed with all her might, but she felt her strength ebbing away every second. The mechanical fist slowly but surely closed over her, blocking the setting sun from her view.
Images of Ichiro flashed through her mind.
I love you, Ichiro, she thought.
Shun has left me already. He loves Ruriko, not me. Please Ichiro, please love me. I don't want to feel unloved. I want the warmth and comfort only another human being can give me.
She felt her tears stream down her face as her grip slipped slowly.
Tears? She wondered.
Emotion?
Love?
As tears from her eyes dripped onto the palm of the robot, Kaoru muttered to herself. "To love someone is a form of happiness, but yet there would be pain involved as well. It is a price that I have to pay."
Enraged, Ichiro pushed the very limits of his robot.
"Open the Gate!" An enormous amount of energy was injected into the robot's systems, and with superhuman strength, Ichiro broke all the bounds at one go.
Kageyama smiled at the sudden turn of events. "Is it true?" he wondered as he pondered Yukino's words.
Ichiro swung his hand and wretched Kageyama's wrist, freeing Kaoru from her prison. He caught her with the other hand and placed her on the ground, where the other Gatekeepers were hiding.
With that done, Ichiro turned his attention back to Kageyama.
"It's time Alpha met Omega."
Summoning all the Gate energy, Ichiro opened his Gate Engine until the red zone. Simultaneously, energy blasts shot out from the hands and the shoulder Gate cannons. The four energy blasts combined to form one large energy ball, and it raced towards its target.
Kageyama, sensing that the battle was lost, activated his emergency escape sequence. He left the robot just in time to see the tremendous blast hit his vessel of darkness, and in a flash of brilliant light, disappear from the face of the Earth forever.
The explosion blinded Ichiro, and the resulting shockwave threw him back.
Dazed, his vision blurred.
"Ichiro?"
Ichiro awoke in Kaoru's hands, and he felt her delicately touch his face.
Is this love? He wondered.
He felt her smooth hands on his cheek, before stopping her by holding her hand. She blushed slightly and looked away.
Is this what I wanted?
Using her other hand, she stroked his hair.
It feels so comfortable, so happy, so pure.
She takes her hand away from him and brings his head to hers.
I feel so happy, so calm, like I am walking on air.
Their faces draw closer.
I want to feel this way forever.
As their lips almost touch, the scene changes to where Georgina leaves him so many years ago. Only this time, the girl was Kaoru.
He had only enough time to scream "NOO!!" as a flash of light caused everything to fade to white.
Kageyama felt angry.
Angry at the fact that once again his perceived weakness of the Gatekeepers was once again strength for them.
"I hate it." He said simply.
Suddenly, he felt a calming presence next to him. Turning around, he saw a girl in a kimono standing in the middle of a blizzard.
Yukino.
Enraged, Kageyama executed his Shadow Edge attack. The dark energy projectiles were merely frozen by Yukino and then reduced to diamond dust.
"Why are you fighting, Kageyama?" She asked in a low voice.
"Because I want revenge on all these humans who trampled on my feelings!"
"Is that your true objective?"
"What?" He said in surprise.
"You just want to be accepted by other people. You don't want to feel lonely. You want to be loved, to know that someone actually cares for you and appreciates you."
"NO! That is not true!"
"We are all human Kageyama. We all feel the same way sometimes. It is how we choose to deal with it that is different. Ichiro chose to accept the world as it is and try again. Whereas you instead decided to destroy the world because of what a small fraction of the population did to you."
"Stop it! Stop it!" He dropped to his knees and covered his ears.
"If you destroy all of us, where would you get your love and acceptance from? Kageyama, you have erred, but it is not too late to turn back. Give the world another chance."
Kageyama just stayed in his position unmoving for a while. Then, he stood up suddenly, eyes burning with intensity.
"Shut up! I have come too far to give up! I will destroy all those who made me feel like I was worth nothing! All of you don't know the first thing about me! How I suffered, how I was humiliated! I will make all of you pay for it!"
Saying that, he once again performed his Shadow Edge move. This time, the dark bolts hit Yukino, and her image shattered like a mirror, starting a chain reaction as the darkness around him shattered as well, until a brilliant flash of light caused everything to fade to white.
The charred body of the Gate Robot 04 laid still, head punctured and holes were visible in its armour. Opposite it was whatever remained of the Jet- Black Robot, most of it was vaporised by the sheer intensity of the blast.
The Gatekeepers came out from their hiding places.
"What happened to Ichiro and Kageyama?" Reiko asked.
"They're nowhere to be found." Feye said.
Kaoru felt a stab of dread entering her heart. She was none the worse after her ordeal.
She was feeling it again.
The hatch to the cockpit blew open, and out staggered Ichiro.
Overjoyed, Kaoru rushed up to him and hugged him.
Instead, Ichiro pushed her away. Kaoru looked on in surprise.
His eyes displayed morbid fear. "No! Stay away from me! I don't want to get hurt again!" He backed a few steps.
Kaoru felt the words slice her heart like a hot knife through butter. She raised her palm and instinctively slapped him.
The sound echoed throughout the silent evening.
Kaoru turned around, tears welling up in her eyes.
She was indeed feeling it again.
The feeling of pain.
How she hated it.
Kageyama now staggered into view. "This is not over, Ichiro."
The other Gatekeepers gasped in surprise, but Ichiro's mind was reeling. What have I done? He thought. All I wanted was to reciprocate her feelings, but somehow I cannot do it.
Why?
Kageyama. He is the cause.
I will destroy him for turning me into this..this...emotionless being.
1.1.1 La raison d'etre
The reason to live
The reason to survive
Do you have it?
Do I have it?
The enemies clash once again just to validate their very existence in this world.
The staff and lance struck each other, sparks flying on contact. But this time, there was no stalemate. Kageyama manoeuvred his lance expertly and hit Ichiro's staff away. It fell to the ground several metres away with a wooden thunk. With a quick leg sweep, Kageyama felled Ichiro. He pointed the sharp end at his throat to prevent him from getting up.
"One shall stand, one shall fall." Kageyama stated simply. "Say goodbye to all those who cared for you, but I doubt they do anymore."
The lance gleamed in the setting sun as Kageyama raised it.
"You were always so useless, Michael."
With that, he plunged the weapon towards his heart.
Flashback.
Outside Madam Lee's house.
"Michael, please return to us. I love you. I appreciate you. That's what matters. There will always be people who don't, but there will be others who will."
Flashback.
At the beach with Kaoru.
"I always wanted to emulate Prometheus. His undying love for Man despite their faults."
Flashback.
In the hospital room.
"I am glad to have a friend like you. Thanks from saving me from that car."
Flashback.
After he rescued Kaoru.
"Please love again, Ichiro. Please accept the fact that people care for you! I do care about you! We all care for you! Let go of the past, and think ahead. Otherwise, you will forever be living in regret and unhappiness!"
His mind flickered.
I do have it.
The reason to live.
The reason to exist.
I existed in the lives of these people.
Ichiro dodged the plunging lance and wriggled away.
However, this time, he did not retreat.
He gripped the Shadow Lance and opened his Gate. Grey energy seeped into the weapon, turning half of it grey.
Kageyama, noticing this, countered by opening his Gate further. Around the two feuding adversaries a temporal storm brewed and strong winds whipped at their clothes and bodies. But neither of them was distracted, and slowly but surely the temporal energy storm grew in strength.
Shun's watch buzzed, and Specs' anxious voice came over the intercom. "They are trying to outdo each other's Gate power! If this continues a massive explosion will occur when they reach critical mass! You have to stop them or get out of there!"
"What will happen if the explosion occurs?"
"Destruction to anything in a hundred kilometre radius. And the deaths of both of them."
Upon hearing that, Kaoru felt her heart leap into her mouth.
"Shirei? Why aren't you stopping him?" An anxious Miss Ochiai asked.
"Why should I? He chose this path himself."
Silence.
Shirei continued. "Or did destiny choose it for him?"
The bitter enemies looked intently at each other, each of them wanting nothing more but for his nemesis to fall at all costs.
Around them, the temporal storm was raging.
"You are going to kill both of us!" Kageyama yelled over the din.
"I swore I would take you down, even at the cost of my own life!"
"Can you afford to give it all up?" Kageyama sneered.
Turning his head, he saw the horrified face of Kaoru Konoe.
"I love you, Kaoru!" He hollered.
He watched her nod in acceptance.
He then turned away sadly, tears in his eyes.
"Forgive...and forget...me."
He opened his Gate further.
"NOO!! Ichiro!!" Kaoru screamed in anguish. She dashed forward to stop him, only for the rest of the Gatekeepers to restrain her.
"Kaoru! Get a grip on yourself! We need to leave now!" Shun said urgently.
"Too late." Ruriko said in a emotionless voice as the first explosion was heard. The energy wave was going to hit them.
Instead, it hit a green energy barrier. They looked up and saw Megumi standing in front of the waveform, Gate open.
Her positive Gate.
"Go now. I will contain the explosion as well as I can."
"No! It's too dangerous!" Ruriko said.
Megumi stared into her eyes. "Please. Let me, for once, be unselfish and do some good."
Awkward silence ensured, before Ruriko nodded in understanding. They left Megumi to redeem herself.
"Last chance, Ichiro. Are you giving up?"
"Never! I will destroy you together with myself!"
"Correction. This is just the beginning."
"What?"
"Welcome Ichiro. Welcome to the dark side."
Ichiro felt an evil spirit rip through his body, its touch was as cold as death.
A heartbeat later, blinding white light covered his eyes and he felt his whole body burning up.
A massive explosion occurred, and a single searing instant, everything, was just simply reduced to a charred mess.
Essentially nothing survived.
Above, the sun set on the carnage, and the light rays of the moon added an eerie feeling to the now silent battleground.
1.1.2 La raison d'etre
The reason to live
The reason to survive
Do you have it?
Do I have it?
