Confrontation

[tachyon]

"It's noon, reretasa" Kei opens the door and leans in, "and we can hear you downstairs."
She comes into the room holding a glass of some dark, thick liquid, and sits on the end of the bed.
"Rufis b*tching about not having his room, so do us a favour and get up. Here, drink this." Kei holds the glass out to Ash. It smells like ethanol, looks like a chocolate milkshake, and is bubbling.
"My guaranteed hangover cure, a Latienfa family recipe handed down from parent to child for over 50 generations...incidentally it's also usefull for unblocking drains."

[Machaeus]

"Don't worry, I had some and it worked," Urufu says.
"Probably only because of werewolf stamina and regeneration," Machaeus says from downstairs. "I stuck a straw in it and pulled it out. It vanished. Not dissolved, vanished."

[Ash]

Machaues words let Ash shudder.

Vanished? Vanished. Vanished!

He looks at the substance in the glass, then at Urufu and Kei.

"Hope this wont have any side effects... We are totally different species after all."

He raises the glass to his mouth, but lowers it again.

"If this stuff kills me... Write something cool on my gravestone."

After emptying the glass in one gulp he closes his eyes.

"This wasn't as bad as I expected. I am still alive. Not melting or something like that.", he says as he stands up.

"Well, it is noon you say. So there is still a little time. Before I forget to ask. What does "reretasa" mean? Do I even want to know?"

[tachyon]

"Nearest translation in English would be 'sleepyhead'."
Kei tilts her ears back and leans towards Ash, evil grin showing off her pointed teeth.
"Why? What do you think I meant?"

[Ash]

"Hm. I don't know. Something more evil perhaps?"

Ash stretches again, followed by a loud yawn.

"Haven't slept that good in a long, LONG time."

"What happened anyway? Last thing I can remember is that I fell. Well, I think that I fell."

Hope I haven't done anything stupid. Or embarrassing.

"Whatever. Ummm... Where was I? Ah, yes. I need about two hours to configure and get into the armor. If you need to take any preparations, you should do it now."

He was about to leave the room, but before he does, he turns around again.

"Do you smell that?"

He walks slowly through the room, sniffing the air.

"Is... Is that me? Do I smell that bad?"

Yeah right. I forgot. No water or electricity.

[tachyon]

"Ashy, I can smell your moods never mind your stench. Mind you, your nothing compared to the ambiet scent of Rufi's room to begin with..." she looked at Machaeus, "What are you feeding him?"
Kei pointed out the door.
"Shower is that way. I suggest you use it before you get back into your tin tuxedo."

[Ash]

Tin tuxedo?

"It´s called...", Ash begins, but stops and slaps his forehead. "Ah. Never mind."

He leaves the room. Then, after some time, he shouts through the floor. Loud enough for the others to hear him.

"DO NOT CALL ME "ASHY"! Dammit."

* * *

Ash was under the shower for about twenty minutes. His long wet hair nearly covers his whole face. Actually, he was sitting under the shower, trying to relax a little bit. But he cant. Yesterday he thought that he could do anything. Now he isn't so sure anymore. He is getting nervous. Countless questions float through his mind.

Can I really beat Revil?

What if something goes wrong?

What about the others? I am responsible for everything that might happen to them.

Who is inside the superior armor?

What am I going to do after that? Live a normal life as if nothing ever happened?

Are Helena and Amy really save?

What will I do with the Dragon-Armor once this is over?

Ash sighs and forces himself to stop thinking about all that.

"Ash, you idiot. How could I get myself into such a situation?", he mumbles.

"And why the hell "Ashy"? Do I look like a kid or what?"

* * *

After the shower Ash put the clothes he got from Helena back on, except for the jacket, which he carries over his shoulder. He had tried to bring his hair into form, with minor success. He looks for the others, eventually finds them, but he doesn't say anything. He just stands there and watches them, leaning on the door-frame.

[Machaeus]

Urufu is arguing lightly with Kei on the smell of his room between bites of breakfast. "All I'm saying is that fur plus warm room for a being not used to being roasting equals sweat equals bad smell. I air it out, I change the sheets, I take a shower - warm or cold - it doesn't matter, it ends up stinking in a few days. And no, I haven't tried Febreeze."
"That stuff hasn't been around for 50 years," Machaeus says, reading a book with sketches of demonic figures on the pages. It appears, from casual glance, to be a tome on their anatomy, but upon closer look it is a treatise on combat with them.
Urufu sighs. "d**n freeze-preservation screws up everything," he scowls, then goes back to breakfast.

[tachyon]

"Hey, all I'm saying is if I can keep myself smelling relativly fine despite my fur, so can you." Kei says, stuffing her muzzle with a triple-decker fried egg toasted sandwich with chilli, chutney and cheese -another Latienfa family creation, "And, unlike you, I'm always covered in it...besides it's not what's comming out your fur that smells, it's whats comming out your a-"
"Mornin' Ash," Gordon cuts in over Kei, though completely coincidentally, "lookin' a sight better than the last time I 'ad a butcher's at ya."

[Ash]

"I just take that as a compliment.", Ash answers Gordon shortly.

He takes a peek at the book which Machaeus reads. That reminds him on the book he has at home. The one Helena gave him. Not that it matters much. He then looks at Urufu and Kei and raises an eyebrow.

"Hey, you two. Don't forget to chew properly."

He looks at the stuff they are eating, before he sighs.

"No pancakes? Sad.", he says, shaking his head.

[Machaeus]

Urufu tilts his head. "Chew?" he asks in an obviously fake accent. "What is this 'chew'? I haven't heard such a thing."
"He means to move your jaw up and down with food in your mouth," Machaeus says, "Not to just inhale said food." He stares at the empty plate. "Someone really needs to run a study on your metabolism, just to see where the heck you put it all."

[Ash]

"Yeah. Thats what I meant. The way you eat cant be healthy.", Ash says, rubbing his eyes.

He points at Kei´s creation and shakes his head. "No. Just... no."

"Anyway. You finish your... "breakfast". I go home and get ready. No need to hurry. You can find me...", he says, but stops in the middle of the sentence.

"... you might laugh. But I cant remember the street name."

He seems really deep in thoughts, trying to remember the street name. During that time, he rubs his chin and clicks his fingers.

"I don't know what my problem with names is. I mean... I can remember your names. But not the name of the street I lived in for nearly my entire life?"

Obviously bugged, he gives up.

"Try to pick up my scent. You can do that, right? If you shouldn't find me, we meet at the entrance to the sewer. In any case: Just follow your nose!"

Rudiments of a laugh were hear-able from Ash, but disappeared almost instantly.

"Just a joke. Maybe I will come back here. Depends on who is faster."

Even though it seems as if Ash was already gone, he suddenly appears in the door-frame again.

"Is it my imagination? ...Or was someone else with us yesterday?", he asks no one in particular, scratching the back of his head. Then he disappears again.

* * *

- EDF O.S ver 1.1 -

- DRAGON -

- CPU online -

- HUD online -

- Battery online -

- Movement support system online -

- Thrusters online -

- WoL Overdrive system... online -

- Weapon systems... online -

- Communication system... online -

- Altered system configuration detected -

- Please report this to nearest EDF technician immediately -


"Yeah yeah. I am already on my way.", Ash whispers. As the messages disappear, he is able to see everything around him. With a little force, he was able to push one of the rocket launchers into the holder which was actually designed for his beam sword. Which was still somewhere in Russia.
He put the beam saber into the pocket on his right hip, after he had taken Xacio´s broken blade out and rammed it into a wall in the living room. He looks down at himself.

"Should be ready."

[Machaeus]

Urufu raises an eyebrow, then shrugs and helps himself to another helping of breakfast. "That," Machaeus says, "Was a most interesting exchange."

[tachyon]

Kei, desperatly trying to hold on to the last remnants of her fast dissovling sandwich in her already chutney-soaked hands, looks at the door, then at the others.
"Hey, Ashy's right. Where'd Kaly go?"

[Ash]

Ash is currently piercing through the clouds above Tremorton, leaving a trail of light particles behind him, as he sneezes.

"Bah. "Ashy".", he mutters, before he gets slower. Then he completely stops, hovering in a cloud. An impulse runs through his body. The world around him turns white. So much, it starts to blend him.

[glow=green,2,000]Going to fight?[/glow]

[glow=blue,2,000]Where are you![/glow]

[glow=green,2,000]I am right in front of you.[/glow]

In fact, there was really someone in front of him. A person, wrapped in pure light.

[glow=blue,2,000]What the...![/glow]

The second Ash sights the person, he tries to raise the rocket launcher. But he wasn't in his hand anymore!

[glow=blue,2,000]How have you done this?[/glow]

The he realizes that his whole armor is missing. Like the person, he is wrapped in light.

[glow=blue,2,000]What is happening here? Answer me![/glow]

[glow=green,2,000]The next stage of communication between evolved humans. You really should have read that book.[/glow]

[glow=blue,2,000]Book? You mean...[/glow]

The other person nods.

[glow=blue,2,000]How can you know?!?[/glow]

[glow=green,2,000]Ash. No matter what happens. Don't stop fighting Revil. From the day of your birth you two were destined to fight each other.[/glow]

[glow=blue,2,000]I don't believe in something like "Destiny"! I and only I choose the path my life goes![/glow]

[glow=green,2,000]Are you sure about that? I have seen the future, Ash. I have seen you. And I have seen Revil. I have seen the battles you will fight. And I have seen your death.[/glow]

[glow=blue,2,000]That is impossible.[/glow]

[glow=green,2,000]Not for me. And the same power slumbers inside you.[/glow]

[glow=blue,2,000]I am not like you. I am an ordinary human![/glow]

[glow=green,2,000]You should stop to lie to yourself. Cant you feel that you are different? An evolved human can only speak to another evolved human like we currently do. Our minds and feelings are connected.[/glow]

[glow=blue,2,000]So that is the reason why I suddenly want to puke, huh? And now stop to say crap like that, before I forget my good behavior.[/glow]

Ash tries to reach out for the person. And as he was about to grab her, he is inside the cloud again. The light is gone. He is back in his armor.

[glow=green,2,000]No matter what happens tonight, Ash... Don't stop. It IS your destiny to fight.[/glow]

Ash looks around, but it is like nothing ever happened.

Bull-crap.

He continues to fly, his mind filled with more questions and doubts than ever before. He lands in a small forest area, not far away from the base. He doesn't need much time to find the entrance to the sewers. Then he walks up a relative small hill at the edge of the woods, looking at the base. he uses the camera in his helmet to check the whole area, especially the main entrance. Much to his surprise, there is no one. Not a single soldier, armor or whatever.

This totally smells like a trap.

He sighs and walks back into the woods, as he feels an impulse again.

[glow=green,2,000]There is no need to sneak in. It is safe to take the main entrance. Use your power to locate him. It is not that hard. You can do it.[/glow]

[glow=blue,2,000]What?[/glow]

Even though Ash wants to deny it, he could really feel something. Like a pressure coming out of the base.

"And it still smells like a d**ned trap.", he mumbles, walking back to the sewer entrance. He sits down at a nearby stone and watches the sun go down.

Even though he stopped smoking some time ago, he feels the urge to light up a cigarette again. He sighs and thinks about possibility to enter the base through the main gate. There were really no signs of resistance. At least he couldn't see any. But if there is not only one soldier outside, wouldn't that mean that they knew about the upcoming attack?

"Afraid, hm? Thats right. Just hide and wet yourself in fear.", he mumbles, looking at the various displayed messages on his HUD.