Sympathy... blasphemy to that of cold existence....

... Looking down upon her opponent- her sole target in this mission.... was strangely confusing to her. She needed to represent his demise.... she needed to be able to coldly dispose of him without a moment’s hesitation..... However, as her green eyes gazed down upon his beaten, fatigued form, she could feel the affects of her armor slowly winding down.... The formerly detached feeling was fading away from her- leaving her with her humanity, which whispered to her of guilt... He was only fighting for his superiors- as was she- and put into this situation unfairly.... It was wrong to cause more suffering and pain.... wrong to continue paining and killing this man, whom breathed in and out harshly, her metal-clad foot still pressing upon his chest rather firmly, and she could note the blood on him.... smell it without the visor about her....

It was saddening to her... horrifying, even, that she was once again resulting to such levels of brutality. Even so, she had chosen this path... would stick with it.... and the idea of weakening- the idea of failing now, when success was surely assured, disgusted her.... With no more mechanical control over her emotions, she became overwhelmed by it..... angry at her own doubts and questioning.... and that anger would be what fueled her- that which turned her firm press into a harsh force. Ryu’s eyes opened then from the pain, his breathing even more irregular than before in that his lungs were becoming achingly depressed. Meanwhile, Estrus merely lifted a mecha-covered arm to her face- hurriedly removing her broken head-gear and carelessly tossing it aside before wiping away the smears of blood that remained upon her face....

Thus, gritting her teeth tightly together and forcing her anger at her insecurity into rage for the stranger before her, she bent over swiftly, right hand outstretched like a metal harbinger of death, and forcefully grasped his neck- unnaturally hard fingers indenting his somewhat flushed skin with a piercing ferocity that led him to wince. Continuing with this new hold- stepping off of his tattered form, the bounty hunter methodically lifted her adversary from the dirt and dust that had been his momentary refuge- his place of rest, both past and near future.... And she glared into his heavy-lidded eyes, trying to muster all of her spite... trying to find motivation to finish her task- and it would be so easy to do.... so easy to snap his defenseless form- his vulnerable neck... and end both of their suffering for a while.....

Unable to look into his grief-filled, steadily gazing eyes any longer, though, she looked away, fingers reflexively tightening and relaxing upon his neck in indecisiveness. The view became that of the ground as she wondered over her own abilities... her own pathetic softness.... but her sight soon shifted to a sanguine stain in the ground.... the shattered, artificial parts of her being.... the part of her that was now missing, and she regained conviction- regained resentment.... He had ruined her other half... and he deserved to suffer for that- suffer as she would without such completion.... without such control and release.... without the peace of nothingness. So, Estrus promptly took hold of the man, once more, thrusting him down in a quick, rage driven motion and into her knee, a faint crack emitted from his abdominal area...

.... Gaining some sort of morbid satisfaction from this, she recalled the crackling of her own self... the destruction of her haven.... and she rushed forth again- left elbow slamming into his back roughly whilst removing the support of her right leg, allowing the impact to drive him downward, once more left weak, groaning faintly, upon the very ground that had previously tasted each of their bloods.... failures... successes. And with a snort of further disgust, the assassin struck out once more- finally- with her right leg.... kicking him ruthlessly in his exposed side, only to watch the limp body roll carelessly away from her, blood and dust trailing after him in a display of completely hopelessness and defeat.... He was as good as gone, really.... Though not quite, she reminded herself, planning to end his life very soon now....

Anger.... the over-rated influence of loss.... the loss of self....

Now was the time...

Ryu was battered and bruised, stabbed and skewered. Death seemed to be the only way out. Ryu closed his eyes thinking about it, waiting for the door to come into view that he would slip away into the light; the time he would die. Wonders of his past filled his head. His friends, his family. His losses and gains. Times that things were at it’s best and times were this same incident had happened, so close to death he had been. Gathering up enough energy in his body, he gave one final sigh before his final breath faded away. This was time, for the door was in view and the light was shown. The bright radiant light of death filled and purified his mind. Yet, as there showed a light of death there also showed another door. It was the door of will, the door that gave him a second chance. A door that not many get to walk through. So it was up to Ryu now, no one could make the decision for him. Should he let his soul fade away and be lifted up to the pearly gates of heaven, or should he choose to remain on this world with sacrificing love and happiness. He once thought again of his friends. His mind slowly drifted towards the bountiful blessings of a new wondrous place. Then he thought of his family, but still drifted towards that door. And then, he thought of himself. He thought of his pride and his honor. He thought of the times he had won great battles. His mind started straying off. He thought of the times he had saved countless lives, his mind turned a full direction to the other way, the way back to his flesh. He thought to his mind, “I will not give up, not without a fight! I will fear nothing, I AM RYU! I... WILL... NOT... GIVE UP! NEVER!!!!” And with this said he broke free of his soothing thoughts as he raced past the door of opportunity. And then again, his eyes opened. With all his strength, he got to his knees...

Now was the time... The back of Ryu’s neck began to hurt...

Standing on his knees, he held out his arms. Concentrating with fierce force he gritted his teeth looking up at the cerulean sky. He began to yell violently as loud as he could. He then looked straight at Estrus with anger beyond reason. His powerful yell suddenly turned from a normal man... to a deep, low Neanderthal. The pupil’s on his eyes were dilated and his veins were pumping. Suddenly, on the back of his neck began to emerge a tube like figure. It bulged from the skin and finally busted. His spinal cord had been ripped from his neck and brain and dangled for a few moments. Then it split in half and implanted its self onto his head in an ’X’ formation. Ryu stood to his feet, feeling no pain from his left shoulder. Slowly his teeth began to grow sharp as his low roaring became louder. His face emerged out to that of a ‘reptile’. His skin turned a full black and red; a lava color. It formed in creases that formed layers around his body. His shoulders began to grow bulk and his chest sprouted out from the muscle growth. His shirt busted off and fell in pieces onto the ground as well as his gloves. His legs were taking a form as well. His feet mutated into that of a reptile like figure. His leg muscles bulged as well, causing his shorts rip and tear. A tail emerged from the back of his pelvis and fell to the ground. His hair was gone, and his teeth were all as sharp as razor’s edges. After that, his lower sides began to fidget as two ball-like figures emerged from it as well. Two arms busted out of his lower sides, thus giving him four arms. He then lifted his top set of arms in the air and through them down. Three bones emerged from his wrists which were used as a weapon. Basically he looked like a ’Velosaraptor’ that stood upright with two arms and lava colored skin. His eyes showed a sharp thin pupil.

Ryu... had turned into an Arouscia Reptearian. Not knowing how he was gifted with this talent he still uses it when his death was near. Now with his rage at full and his intimating display of strength and power at it’s peak, he ran at quick speeds towards her and thrusted out his blades. This was the time, the time to feel... REPU’S WRATH!

Transformations of the body.... dangerously skin-deep....

Seeing the strange creature that was once Ryu rush at her, the bounty hunter had little time to react- especially with the loss of most of her diagnostics and scanning abilities. Therefore, she was mostly left with a human instinct she had gone without before.... She had become too dependent upon the machine... to think for her... to plan and kill and.... and she missed it. It was like losing a part of herself- her control.... but, as the remainder of the armor’s logic raced through her mind, she came to understand that she would need that unpredictability... that she would need to go past those cold restrictions in order to truly defeat this unusual foe before her....

Thus, as his horrendous figure of scales, teeth, and claws neared her own mecha-covered body, she could barely move quickly enough, only managing to dodge when he slowed his now larger mass in order to swipe at her with the razor-sharp protrusions on his hands. They closed in swiftly, leaving a slow whistle of air behind, and missed her head by mere distances in time and space. Thus, Estrus kneeled below the arc of his attack, upon the ground- knee indenting the dirt, only to bend her right arm at the elbow, sharply, blade facing his abdomen lengthwise with a vicious gleam that reminded her of how her mind had been.... less free, yes, but... so structured and logical. It had been freedom of complications....

And that was when she decided to complicate things for the lizard-like being- thrusting her forearm forth into his mid-section, she listened carefully as the blade cracked upon and through the scales covering his form, a few scarlet and ebony flakes breaking off and floating to the ground so similarly to the dark-ruby rivulets running down her wielded weapon and onto her arm in a gory display. Tensing her whole form into preparation- wanting to further her advantage as well as Ryu’s suffering, the trained killer grated not only both her foot and knee into the surface beneath her more, but also her blade into his flesh- concentrating on lifting up her right arm and bending down- raising the large beast off of its feet and throwing him backwards....

The reptilian hit hard, crashing and scraping before managing to twist awkwardly upon the ground- before standing up, tall and angry, with slit eyes narrowed in a wicked appearance- no doubt meant to match his open mouth, glistening with ivory-colored canines, to create an intimidating look... Even so, still echoing within Estrus’ mind, was ... unpredictability.... So she grinned, wickedly, her own teeth not near as vicious looking, and beckoned Ryu on, blade flicking through the air with the motions of her hand, a few scarlet drops straying... into the air... onto the ground.... And she realized... she was ready to embrace the emotions of the battle.... or die trying, only to join the fading consciousness of her other half... her sanity.....