Hey everyone! Glad you liked the last chapter. Here's a new one. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh GX or Jess, she still belongs to ladydream-chan.
Claimer: This entire story is mine. The plot especially. The random OCs also belongs to me. Any and all copiers WILL BE reported to the administrators, so don't take anything.
xXx
Narrative POV
"Do you have the directions?" Akiza asked, looking at Aster.
He nodded and began to fiddle with the built-in GPS unit. "Yes, it looks like we're almost there."
"Good, the sooner this is over, the easier it will be for us to handle everyone else." She punched the gas, sending the car speeding down the vacant streets. "Why would this Sartorius person be working in such a decrepit part of town?"
Aster shook his head. "I don't know. He was very vain about his powers."
She nodded. "I got that from the 'White King' bit, but this part of town just doesn't seem right for someone like him."
"I know what you mean," Aster said. "Maybe he's over here for a good reason."
Akiza looked at him, slowly slowing the car down as a light turned red. "You mean, like he knows that he might want someplace quiet and off the beaten path?"
Aster swallowed, his hand shaking slightly but he clenched it into a fist. "Yes."
"That's what I thought, too," she whispered, speeding back up as the light turned green.
He looked at her, seeing the seriousness in her eyes. She was ready, preparing mentally for the battle she was going to have with Sartorius when they arrived.
'Be careful and don't do anything stupid.'
Aster's hand tightened around the gun in his hand. Jaden allowed him to come with Akiza, but he didn't know why. There really wouldn't be anything Aster could do, but here he was, on his way to meet the very bane of existence.
"He allowed you to come with me so you could fight this ghost," Akiza said, as if she could read his mind.
He looked at her, startled.
She smiled at him. "No worries, Aster, I can't read minds. I'm just very good at reading faces." She sighed and turned back to the road. "It was something Yusei taught me." She leaned forward over the steering wheel, stopping the car outside a shop. "We're here."
Aster looked to his right, seeing a very white building with a sign that read, 'Madame Destiny's Tarot Shop' on the front. There was a sign in the door that said, 'Sorry, we're closed.'
"They're not closed, are they?" he asked, looking at Akiza.
She shook her head, looking at her reflection in the rearview mirror. Her fingers smoothed over the metal device in her hair; the one that suppressed her powers apparently. She looked a little nervous, but only for one brief moment. "Are you ready?" she asked, looking at Aster.
"No," he said, getting out of the car. "But I won't ever be."
"You're brave," she said, walking out to stand next to him. "But I won't patronize you if you turned around and waited in the car."
He just shook his head and walked over to the door, opening it with ease. A bell chimed but nothing else was said.
"They're waiting for us," Akiza said, walking in ahead of him. When he stepped in behind her, she placed her hand on his chest, looking at him. "You stay behind me at all times. This," she grabbed the front of his jacket, where he placed the gun, "is only for emergencies. Don't pull it out unless you think you're going to need it." She took a step back. "Understood?"
He nodded. "He'll be in the back."
"Okay, let's go." She turned and they walked toward the back of the store, jumping over the counter. Akiza placed her hand on a doorknob, pressing her ear to the door. Aster stood behind her, tense.
"Enter," a voice said from the other side.
Aster gasped quickly, holding his breath as he recognized the voice.
Akiza looked at him, mouthing, 'Is that him?'
He nodded, mouthing back, 'Yes, but he sounds different.'
She looked troubled for a moment before she opened the door and stepped inside. He followed after her, shielding his eyes with his arms for a moment. The room was bright white, blinding him. It was surprisingly large and empty with high ceilings. Facing them, smiling, was Sartorius.
But he looked different.
"Aster, I knew you'd come find me one day," he said, sounding very pleased.
Aster glared at him, keeping quiet. Akiza looked at him and then at Sartorius.
"So you're Sartorius?"
Said-man held out his arms. "Yes, that would be me. And you must be the lovely Akiza, fifth member of the Signers."
She didn't looked startled, even though Aster looked surprised. "You're powers seemed to have returned," she said.
Sartorius smiled sickly at her. "But of course! I'm back and better than ever!"
"You're working for the Skulls?" she asked, reaching her hand up toward her bangs.
Aster, seeing this, took a step away from her.
"No, I'm not working for them. I'm working with them." Sartorius smiled and began pacing. "You see, dear Akiza, I and my fellow Skulls have one common enemy." He stopped and turned to look at her. "Jaden Yuki and his fellow Bloods."
"See, that's where I get confused. What do all of you have against Jaden and his friends? I mean, some of you just confuse me." She began to play with the tip of her device, causing Aster to move farther away.
"Jaden Yuki destroyed me back at Duelist Academy, same as Camula (1). His friend and second-in-command Jesse Andersen belonged to Giese."
Akiza's eyes narrowed dangerously and she bared her teeth. "You cannot own another human being!" Something about how Sartorius phrased that struck a nerve with Akiza.
And he figured that out.
"Oh, that's right. The leader of the Arcadia Movement, Sayer, once believed he owned you, am I correct?" He was baiting her, and it almost worked.
"Akiza, he's just trying to get you to leap instead of think," Aster warned her quickly, seeing her tensing at the mention of this Sayer person.
She sighed once and nodded. "Right, thanks." She glared at Sartorius. "Stop trying to distract me."
He just shrugged. "Very well." He smirked and looked at her, crouching lower. "Ladies first."
She scowled at him, knowing for a fact that he isn't the gentlemen type. 'What is he planning?'
"Akiza, look out!" Aster screamed, causing Akiza to look up. Sartorius, taking advantage of her brief moment of hesitation, launched himself into the air.
"Figures," Akiza muttered, tumbling out of the way as Sartorius slammed against the ground. He spun around quickly, using his hands to flip up so he could kick her in the back. She gasped as she flew forward, bouncing against the ground until she slammed into the wall on the far side of the room.
"Akiza!" Aster yelled.
She coughed a little, trying to get breath back into her lungs. She rolled onto her stomach, using her hands to push herself to her feet. Only in the room for three minutes and she'd already made a huge mistake that could have cost her dearly.
"I'd try to watch that pretty back side of yours, Akiza dear," Sartorius said, cracking his neck and bouncing on his feet, looking ready to continue.
Aster stared at him in surprise. Even though he had been as blinded by anyone to Sartorius' true nature, this just wasn't like him. The Skulls had changed him too much. 'He's completely lost his mind!'
"Thanks for the advice!" Akiza spat, standing up and whipping her mouth with the back of her hand. Her eyes were like amber ice, glaring at Sartorius.
He smiled sickly at her. "Shall we continue?"
Akiza just stared at him another moment before lunging.
Aster gasped and took a step back, fearing that she was going to rip her metal device out. But in fact, she didn't. She appeared in front of Sartorius, spinning her leg up and kicking him across the jaw, sending him flying across the room.
He regained his balance, choosing to tumble with the momentum, landing on the balls of his feet. He smirked and whipped some blood away from his lips with the back of his hand. "Very nice, but you're going to have to better than that if you want to beat me," he said, standing up.
She narrowed her eyes at him and ducked lower, running at him. She jumped toward the ground, hands out first, and used them to bounce up, landing both feet square in the center of his chest. He coughed up blood as he slammed against the wall while she somersaulted to slow down.
"Still not good enough," Sartorius said, smirking and whipping the blood away, spitting more at the ground.
Akiza's eyes narrowed. 'How can he still be saying that? I could have sworn I broke three of his ribs with that last kick. Isn't he in pain?'
Aster shook his head slowly, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. Sartorius should be in pain, even he can see that, but he's acting as if everything Akiza is doing isn't affecting him. 'What did they do to him?' he wondered, seeing his old friend with a new horror in his grey eyes.
"Feeble attacks won't win you this battle, Akiza. And there's only so much longer I'm going to let you keep trying," Sartorius said, looking at her.
"We'll see about that," she said, jumping to her feet. She jumped at him again, trying to punch him in the face.
He smirked and caught her fist, surprising her. "I'm afraid the fun must end now," he said, causing her to look up at him with concealed panic in her eyes. He smirked again and placed his hand on her stomach.
Her eyes grew wide as he released her hand and sent her flying without so much as a push. He only used his mind. Her head snapped against the wall, causing her to see black as she slumped against the ground. Blood trailed down her neck and back.
"Akiza!" Aster yelled, trying to get her up. She moaned in pain, but didn't make a move to stand up. He watched in horror as Sartorius walked toward her, stalking steps.
"Time's up, Akiza." He extended his hand, a gloved, white one, and looked ready to finish her off.
Then there was gunfire.
Sartorius blinked in surprise, turning to see Aster behind him, pointing a smoking gun at him. He looked down at himself, seeing blood staining his favorite white shirt. He frowned and looked at Aster. "Aster, that wasn't very nice." He turned to face his old client, only to have him shoot him again. This one went straight through his chest.
"What did they do to you, Sartorius? You should be dead right now," Aster said, gun still pointed at Sartorius, only this time at his head.
Sartorius sighed and looked at him. "They helped me revive my powers that damned Jaden Yuki made me lose!" He ground his teeth together. "I will have my revenge on him for he did to me back at Duel Academy."
"That's not what I asked!" Aster yelled, pulling the trigger again. However, the bullet pierced his stomach, now leaving Sartorius standing there with three, bleeding bullet holes. He didn't even flinch though, as if he didn't feel them.
"Then what do you want to know, Aster?"
"I asked what they did to you! I can see for myself that you're powers are back, Sartorius! I want to know what they did so you don't feel any pain! Why aren't you collapsing to the ground due to blood loss!? Damn it, Sartorius! Tell me why!" He was shaking with anger, the end of the gun quivering too much now to be taken as a serious threat.
Sartorius only sighed and wiped absentmindedly at the blood on his shirt. "They did nothing to help me with that." He smirked at Aster. "I did it all to myself. I'm not…what I was before. These," he pointed at the wounds on his chest, "cannot kill me. My mind, my powers, makes me invincible!"
"You aren't invincible, Sartorius. No one is," Aster said, voice low, quivering no longer.
Sartorius glared at him. "I am, and now I'll end you like I should have years ago." He flicked his wrist back, sending the gun in Aster's hand flying against the wall. It fired off, the bullet grazing Aster's leg.
He hissed in pain and dropped to his knees, clutching his bleeding leg as he tried to keep calm. "Bastard," he spat, eyes glaring at Sartorius.
"I'm through playing these games, time to die, Aster." He walked over to him, hand extended toward his head. "But, just so you know, those brief years with you will always be the fondest memories for me."
"Liar."
Sartorius shrugged, unruffled. "Believe what you want, but I will always treasure them. Goodbye, Aster."
Aster stared at him, face blank, as he waited for him to finish him off. But he didn't. He wasn't given the chance. Suddenly, Sartorius' eyes began to bleed, as well as his nose and ears. Blood trickled out of his mouth as his eyes turned to resemble glass. He fell to the ground, obviously dead.
"He talks too much," Akiza said.
Aster nodded and looked at her, seeing that her bangs were in her face, the metal device in her hands. "What did you do?" he asked as he stood up, flinching slightly in pain.
"He said his mind is what made him invincible, so I got rid of it." She looked at Aster, seeing the confusion on his face. "When I slumped on the ground, I wasn't really unconscious. I was slowly working with my powers, trying to break through his. You bought me the time I needed, the distraction if you will. I was able to remove my clip and break through all of Sartorius' defenses. I entered his mind and it wasn't able to handle both of our powers and exploded."
As she explained what she did, she walked over to Sartorius' body, nudging it with her foot. He rolled onto his stomach, smearing blood on the ground. She looked up at Aster. "He's dead now."
"Was he always like this?" he asked her, staring down at the lifeless face of his once-closest friend.
"I can't answer that for you, Aster. Only you can." She sighed and ran her fingers through her bangs. "He said that he would treasure those memories of the two of you together." She looked at him. "Will you?"
"I don't know." And he didn't. Those years with Sartorius were, then, some of the best times of his life. Now, with his friends, he was seeing just how evil he really was. Still, he couldn't figure it out.
"You will, someday," she said.
He sighed and nodded, looking up at her. She was looking at him. His brows furrowed in confusion. "What's wrong?"
"I need you to drive back to home base." She said that so, if the other Skulls were watching, they wouldn't know where they were.
"Why?"
"Because I don't have the strength to." Just then, her eyes rolled back slightly and she staggered forward.
"Akiza!" he gasped, jumping forward to catch her. Though his leg stung but he managed to catch her before she hit the ground. She sagged against him, groaning slightly. "Akiza!" She remained slumped against him, eyes closed softly. She breathed softly, assuring Aster that she was fine.
He sighed and reached an arm down and swept under her knees, picking her up to carry her in his arms. He hissed slightly in pain but otherwise ignored it. He looked around the room, seeing Sartorius still on the ground, limp with death. Part of himself died today with Sartorius, a part he wouldn't want back.
"Goodbye, Sartorius." He turned his back on the dead Skull and walked out of the room filled with blood and death.
xXx
Done! :)
Review please!!!
-x-Anime-Queen-2011-x-
-o-Mel-o-
1: Okay, I think I was up at three in the morning when I wrote that scene with Camula and Julie 'cause I totally f-ed her up! When she comes back, she'll actually LOOK like she's supposed to. And about the whole name thing, my stupid computer automatically changed it on me and I never noticed. Grr… My bad everyone, sorry.
