Love & Hate
Jack's duel runner ploughs through piles of debris. He watches the ruined skeletons of the building sway with the fierce power of the fires. He veers to the right, avoiding the crumbling debris from a skyscraper. The wind had picked up a while ago and it blows the fires and feeds their rampage. Despair hangs over the disaster struck area, even though there's no one else around. His eyes are full of determination. He isn't scared at all, and not because of his past experiences with the Dark Signers. The only thing on his mind is how he's going to save her.
Suddenly, more debris falls from the crumbling buildings. He veers to the right again to avoid the hail of concrete and steel. Just ahead of him, debris on the ground shifts and falls to the side. It leaves a gaping hole underneath it. He doesn't have the time to swerve it, and he's far too close to break. There doesn't seem to be a bottom to the hole, or even an outcropping ledge Jack could cling to.
"I can't see Jack anywhere," Crow grumbles. "He shouldn't have rushed off like that."
"Do we go back then?" Akiza asks. "We can't really follow him in."
"You mean, 'go back and look for Selene'?" Crow frowns. "Why're you so determined to find her? What if Jack's right and all this chaos has been for her?"
"She can't control her psychic powers, and she's gone to Sayer for help because she can't see an alternative. Do you really think we should leave her with him?" Akiza asks, curious. "There's no telling what he'll do. He could use her to rebuild Arcadia…"
"None of us like that alternative Akiza," Yusei frowns, sighing. "We can't let Jack go off by himself though."
Frustration shows clearly in her eyes, but she doesn't say anything. They all know she's desperate to help Selene, there's just nothing any of them can do. Crow sighs loudly.
"Alright then," he shrugs. "I guess I'll go look for Jack. You too can search out Selene and what's-his-face."
Akiza stares as he flies off, and disappears through the gathering smoke. She feels guilty for sending him off by himself like that. Her memories of her time with Sayer keep her from saying they should all look for Jack though. Yusei turns to her.
"We should hurry and try to catch up with them as soon as we can," he says.
"Oh… Of course," Akiza nods, distant. "Let's go then."
A loud clatter reverberates around the tiny, cramped room. Carly clings onto a pipe coming off of the wall. She's trembling from the cold, and her breath forms small clouds of condensation. From somewhere outside her tiny prison, is the constant dripping of water. It used to terrify her, and she was sure she would drown eventually, but there was no sign of that happening any time soon. Her only concern was the biting cold that stopped her from falling asleep; not that she wanted to.
She shudders from the cold. Lately, it had become a bit like convulsing every now and then. She didn't mind all that much, it was movement, and that was doing something. In her tiny cell, there was no room for her to stand up. Carly really wanted to move around, and try to get her blood pumping through her veins faster. Everything seems so slow to her.
A bright light glimmers from outside, and then shines in. She cries out and burrows her face into her arms. From the solitary darkness of her cell, the light was absolutely blinding. She couldn't deal with it in any way whatsoever. Mocking laughter reaches her ears, and echoes in her mind. She doesn't like it when people come to see her. All they ever did was taunt her.
"Ugh," Crow groans. "How did Jack get around here?"
He glowers out over a field of debris and ruins. There was a lot less room now than when Jack was flying through, desperately searching for something, anything. Then, from a long distance away, something glints in the slivers of light penetrating the smoke. Crow scrambles off his duel runner and clambers over the debris. He tries to ignore the instincts and thoughts arising in him about being in a warzone. Not that he particularly believes in it, but he doesn't want to tempt fate.
He slides down one last collapsed, but mostly intact, wall and races for the item that caught his eye. Picking it up gingerly, he knows its Jack's helmet. He chokes back a strange sound and lets it fall from his grip. Irritated, he punches the ground.
Then, from behind him, something elicits a hissing noise. He turns to face it, and sees another fully intact wall coming racing towards him from a giant slope. Crow lurches to his feet and stares at it in shock and horror. He stumbles back a step or two. The wall begins picking up its speed more rapidly. He stumbles back further, and the ground crumbles beneath his feet. He desperately tries to grab something, but to no avail.
"Is something wrong Akiza?" Yusei asks, concerned.
"I think it's this way. Don't ask me why, but I think it's this way," Akiza murmurs.
He looks at it, but it's just a flat dirt road. There's no debris in their way, and the buildings haven't been damaged much, if at all. It looks safe enough. Akiza races on without him, surprising him. He follows her, but more warily.
The sun glares down at them from above. It colours everything in a wild, untamed crimson. Suddenly, to the side of the road, a large barrel explodes. They swerve to the left to avoid it, and come to a sudden halt. Akiza looks at him, worried.
Low laughing echoes out around them. Maniacal laughter, pleasant laughter, crazed laughter, dark laughter, and most prominent of all, an evil laughter, laced with kindness. Then, the doors of two houses swing open and people rush out. They grab Yusei and Akiza, and pull them inside. The door to a third house then closes. It leaves the two of them trapped with no way out.
Author's Note: Oh, I'm so sorry if some parts seemed like they were in some war. I was listening to Akatsuki no Kuruma, and Fields of Hope from Gundam. (Both of which have made me cry before) Then I listened to some really sad Chinese songs about break-up and/or something else sad. I'm so sorry!
Ahem, but I'd like to say thanks for reading and taking the time to read this. I really am so happy with this story, and how you all like it!
I'd come and give you all big hugs, but I've been at the dentist and my chin to my eye lids are numb on one side, so my face is drooping a bit. I don't really want to scare you off…
ilikechocolate – My favourite reviewer from all my stories. Thank you for sticking with me, I know I'm really not all that good, so a million times over. Though, I have a nagging feeling you won't be so keen on the soon to come ending for all of this, but thanks for staying with it thus far!