Description: Sakura wakes up in a cell, quite heavily drugged. DANGER!
Who knows how long it's been.. Perhaps it's safe to guess it wasn't much more than a day or two, but Sakura Kasugano has been out cold for a very very long time. And what she wakes up to isn't exactly the most comfortable or homely looking places, it's steel. Plenty of dull, gray steel in a dull, steel room, cold metal walls, floors and ceiling with a bed-like structure held to the wall with chains, and above lit very dully by a constantly flickering bulb. There's no windows, and of course there is a door, but with no visable keylock, and of course there's a video camera monitering.
Sakura would wake up feeling terribly dizzy and weak, like she were drugged. She would barely even feel like she were able to sit up, and despite coming too, it'd still feel like a dream somehow. She'd find herself clad in a tangerine orange half-shirt with long sleeves with a metal collar around her neck that's giving off a short beep every two minutes. Her pants are your common prisoner pants of the same color, sneakers replaced with black boots. And said boots are joined at the ankles with the same style anklets, a dark black made of some strange metal. And a little red light beeps at the same time-frame. The gloves on her hands are red vanderbraces, similar to what the dolls wear, and for some reason those are perfectly free and unbound. They just feel very very heavy.
She wakes up to nothingness, accompanied only by the sound of the flickering bulb.
Sakura normally sleeps very fitfully. Thrashes about all over the place, knocking stuff over. Her mom has to make sure her room is clear of glasses and bottles each night, lest Sakura knock them over in her sleep.
That's not a problem now. For one, she's not in her room. For another, she's not slept that soundly, or that motionless, for a long time.
Even still, old habits die hard, and Sakura, upon catching the flickering lightbulb, rolls over onto her side, curling her arm over her head.
And she promptly =yelps= when her head meets a hard metal vambrace as opposed to her own hand. *CLONK*
Startled awake, Kasugano tries to sit up. Her whole body's heavy -- partly from drugs, partly from the uncomfortable changes to her outfit. "What the..." she mumbles half-coherently, managing with some difficulty to push herself upright. And then... *beep*. Kasugano glances down at the collar, raising her gauntleted fingers up to touch it. "... what on earth..." she mumbles again, before looking around at her surroundings. Flickering light, check. Heavy metal walls, check. Tiny door, check. Camera... check.
"Crap."
She looks up into the camera, sticking her tongue out at it. "Not taking any chances, are ya?!" she shouts. From buuuuh to grumpy in just thirty seconds.
That most definatly has to be a new record, thirty seconds? Naturally the camera isn't responding, but the person behind it in theory could be going, '.. Hot.'. But that aside, Sakura isn't alone for much longer, perhaps ten seconds after it, there's the sound of an electric pad beeping outside and the door slides open to the left and in steps a familiar face.
Probably not one that Sakura is all that excited about seeing, it's the maroon-clad Douyoubi, the heavy heels of her boots clanking on the steel as she takes a few steps inside with a tray in hand. It's easy to see it's contents, a cup of cold tea along with a bowl of rice and very small variety of sushi, 5 to be exact, "About time, how long were you planning on sleeping?" the woman asks, voice as always mildly deep and raspy.
"Anyway it's time to eat, and.. Wow, this is a pretty nice place." She walks on over and sets the tray down on the ground next to the recent graduate. What a party, huh?
Sakura watches Douyoubi enter with only a mild frown. She's still sitting atop that bed, the one chained to the wall, even as Douyoubi approaches. She contemplates how long it would take for her to leap off that bed, smash that brand new shiny gauntlet into the back of the maroon-clad woman's head as she stoops over to plant that tray on the floor.
It's tempting. The opportunity is right there =waiting= for her, in fact.
Being impulsive is what got her in this mess in the first place, though. Even if it were a perfect opportunity to smash Douyoubi's head into the floor, what about the collars, that could be triggered to explode from too much sudden motion? Or possibly inject lethal toxins into her system. Or maybe that camera would summon an elite Doll squad, and Sakura,
limbs encumbered by the heavy acoutrements, could be beaten to within an inch of her life without so much as a single punch.
When opportunity knocks, you've got to answer. The still-drowsy Sakura missed her opportunity, she realizes, once Douyoubi rises once again. She considers, glancing down at the plate, that rice and sushi is pretty charitable for a prisoner.
"Yeah," comes her simple, somewhat sullen response. Slipping one leg over the side, her eyes bug out a bit at the increased weight. But, correcting for the weight after a moment, she slides herself the rest of the way down. She reaches for the cup of tea.
"... Was that what you wanted?" she asks, nebulously. If allowed, she'll take a sip of that tea.
"The Shinkuu Hadouken," she adds for clarification, offering a faint smirk.
It's actually Douyoubi's favorite. "I really like sushi," she notes, completely ignoring Sakura's question. The woman then drops down to her knees and helps herself to a seat, letting her hair fall in front of her face, "A lot of stuff tastes great, raw. Whatever you don't finish, I'll have if you want."
And then there's a brief pause. Of course the 7th day knows what Sakura is talking about, but she'd prefer to mull it out for a moment, you know, for tension, ".. It was pretty good. I'm eagerly anticipating what Ryu's is like, that much is for certain.. Of course, you can't do that now.." Settling on her side now, Douyoubi rests her chin in her palm, "You probably still feel drowsy. That's because there's gas constantly flowing in this room to keep you that way. The collar on your neck is injecting a special drug that keeps your chi suppressed and leaves you feeling weak, one does every twenty minutes. The gloves you're wearing?" she smiles in amusement, "They're only ninty pounds total. Pretty crazy, huh?"
"You are being far too friendly with the .. hostage."
Finding the right words to describe what Sakura is to Vega is a difficult thing. And suddenly, he's there in the doorframe, blocking it out with both his body and with that dark purple aura. Normally confined to his hands and occasionally his eyes, it's a thing alive around him, as if he no longer bothers to control it.. or as if he no longer /can/. He folds his arms against his chest, looking at Kasugano and not really addressing Douyoubi - at least, not other than the reproachful words at the start.
A tic near his eye flickers, white shrouded as he watches the pair, then he attempts to become less dark, 'casually' leaning agianst the wall. It's a sham, and easy to see. "You are our 'guest', for now. There will be changes in store, things that will make you more valuable to me and my organization. For now, though - you'll be given time to prepare and wait." Talk about a fun option, huh? Vega is a great host. Great.
So... Douyoubi sure seems friendly enough. Sakura feels a bit sorry for getting into a fight, for a moment. ... Then she remembers that she was only picking up what the maroon-clad one put down -- a fact she notes with a sharply-tensed jaw.
But she =is= rather drowsy. She hadn't taken notice of the gas before -- she couldn't detect it, really. And the gloves... well, yes, Sakura kinda guessed that much weight. All in all, it was a god thing she waited.
At least she wasn't relying on Hadoukening her.
But no, Douyoubi's friendly demeanor totally set her up for the rude awakening (the figurative kind, as she just experienced the literal) presented by Vega's arrival. She'd even started to smile at Douyoubi, briefly. Before her heart skipped a beat, anyway. Sure, she suspected Vega was behind this, but didn't expect to see him so =soon=. With the flow of chi blocked from her, it's hard to really sense someone's approach, after all. Panic flickers across her features for a moment... before she notices the very obvious attempt at 'relaxing'. He's up to something, she knows this much.
Keep the girl from her food, though, and you're liable to get your hand bit off. She reaches for her rice bowl, curling it close to her and snaring a big ol' chunk of the sticky rice. "Mm," she adds, plucking up the five pieces of sushi and placing them on her rice bowl. Greedy? No, just covering her bases. Looking up to Vega, she notes, "Food's great, I mean, but... y'mind telling me what these 'things' are? I'm bound to find out eventually, right? It's just... hard to prepare without knowing what to prepare =for=..." She smiles good-naturedly -- even if she is tired, she's also exceptionally good at being a brat.
Douyoubi? She'd hardly consider herself friendly, but it's all a matter of opinion, isn't it? The woman doesn't flinch when the door opens, however when she's suddenly addressed rather than Sakura, the woman quickly gets to her feet, clacks her heels togeather and gives a salute to the man known as Vega. "Lord Vega! The guest has.. Plenty of energy as you can see, she's recovering mentally faster than anticipated." Meaning, well.. She could be put into 'play' quicker than planned. Though she wasn't exactly certain what it was Sakura was asking.
"Oh, you will, you will. For now, you're simply to draw someone I wish to meet out of his hiding-hole."
There's a pause. How much does he offer her as a sop to knowledge? How much will she remember after he's done with her, and she's been 'changed'? In the end, he can be magnanimous, he can be the glorious and giving leader that some will see in him, when he is not busy doing awful, horrible things. "You'll be useful in that, and after he comes to visit.." There's a laugh, a chuckle that is full of dark and evil promises and portents. It's not a pretty thing, and in the end, it may be something set up just to torment those she loves. Or at least, those she trained with for a few weeks and learned an awesome fighting style. To Douyoubi, he nods - the answer given pleasing. He motions towards Sakura with his head, and then simply says, "If what she's shown with learning styles translates over, I want her given the full regimen. I will be interested to see how quickly she adapts our techniques." This may be a clue, Sakura - but it is sure not to be a happy one!
Sakura's coherent. And a brat down to the core. But rather than nitpick away at the little amounts of information she's been given, she instead focuses her efforts on picking away at the =food= she's been given, nomnomnom.
Bait. Mental recovery. The full regimen of training and techniques. Sakura's a smart girl: she looks down when Vega's talking to Douyoubi. It's not like she needs to understand, and it's not like he needed to even mention it. He did, and she takes that information, filing it away.
She's still got one lingering concern. And in typical Sakura fashion, she blurts it out, mouth partially full of rice. "Have you let my par..." Gulp. She thinks on that for a moment, and shakes her head. Maybe that half-aborted question just put her parents at risk. It's stupid -- if he's going to let her parents know, he'd have done so. Maybe Douyoubi's more likely to do that, anyway, and she won't know with him here.
No, if she's going to ask questions and not get answers, she may as well get the ones she came here for. "Why are you doing this?" she asks, before popping the sushi down the hatch.
Douyoubi gives a small nod of her head, a smug but creepy grin on her lips. It's really great that such a plan seems to be going to well so far, and there was no doubt in his mind that Ryu would be on his way.. Well, then again, that may be expecting a bit much for someone whom hasn't even completed his semi-finals match yet. That thought makes her lips then curl into a frown.
"I understand, Lord Vega." Khamis.. Would not be a very good man for the job, and the other Days, well.. Um.. Yeah so Douyoubi the Masochist might be the best one. Or heck, maybe even Cammy, she'll have to ponder on that one a little later. "What kind of question is that? Tch, I thought you were brighter than that, little girl." she then mutters, going at ease and sets her hands on her hips.
"When he shows up, we will speak." Said with passion, with certainty - Vega /knows/ Ryu will come for Sakura. After all, he's found his way into her life over and over - though admittedly, mostly it was because of her insistence. Changing who and what she is, making her a mockery of her former self should be enough to draw him out. After that, he might keep the girl on as a servant, depending on her skill. Or he may simply discard her, a toy that no longer is needed. It's all up in the air with frightening, wonderful possibility.
He nods his head briefly towards Douyoubi, agreeing. "It deserves an explanation, though - one that she'll most likely never remember. If I /must/ share, it may as well be with her." The answer, simple enough - blank white eyes focusing on the recent graduate with so much to look forwards to. ".. What I want, why I'm doing this.. It's simple. I have always known, just as you have always known, how special we are. I know, with certainty that no-one can shake, that I am stronger than all who live." He paces a little in the small cell, almost ranting to himself as he starts going, the aura around him starting to swell, chokingly thick in the tiny room. ".. I created a means to find the best warriors. The best fighters, to come and fight for me, to show me who is the best. I would step in, and prove /to the world/ that I, Lord Vega was the strongest."
There's a pause. There's a dangerous, crazy psychotic in the room, and he's wearing a cape, shoulderpads, and he has a very, very angry look on his face. "AND THEY LAZE ABOUT, THEY REFUSE TO FIGHT. THEY LACK THE DISCIPLINE TO FINISH WHAT THEY BEGIN!" He pauses, face a rictus of emotion - and then it calms. Forcing himself to recover, to not show this anger in front of his Days - no matter how powerful it makes him feel. "... And so, this. Thailand is mine. I will make it a tribute to my glory, and those who live here will shout praise for what I will do for them. Those fighters, those who see me as a threat, they will come. I will be ready - I will prove myself their master, both in leadership, /and/ in battle."
He turns on his heel - and begins to leave. "Take her to the Psycho Drive when you are done, Douyoubi."
Okay, maybe Douyoubi is still a cruel little tart, Sakura realizes from that smile. She looks down at her rice for a moment, considering whether it's drugged or not. If it is... too late now. Besides, with that gas, and the thingie on her neck, it's not like it could be much worse. "Yeah, and don't =you= watch the movies?" she asks with a smirk. "I get to know the truth before the white knight comes and sets me free." They =all= know which white knight she's talking about, after all.
But they also know he won't be here in the next few minutes, a fact which tempers Sakura's snarkiness. Besides, Vega's already explaining, so she's listening.
And finding it difficult to breathe. Maybe Douyoubi's used to the excessive psycho power content in the air, but the EPA would be having a fit, just like Sakura's lungs. She quite nearly blacks out from the sudden increase in pressure... until it's thankfully dropped to a reasonable level. Propping herself up against the floor, Kasugano looks up at Vega. He's nuts, she knows this. But he's got a goal... and apparently she knows it.
Gulp. Sakura even seems a bit pale, cowed as she is by 'Lord' Vega's performance. No smartaleck remarks here.
After which, she looks up to Vega, and then Douyoubi. After you're =done?= There's more? Sakura looks a bit apprehensive, here!
Douyoubi is definatly used to it, at least breathing-wise. Otherwise it sends a very delightful chill up her spine as she has to fight to keep from hugging herself in delight. She is sure to keep her distance though, as Vega goes on his powerful tirade; she's heard the speech plenty of times before, and sometimes something gets broken toward the end.
She's almost disappointed that something doesn't happen, but considering it's just a big steel room, there's not much option, is there? Either way, though, the final order is given, and the 7th day gives a salute, "Yes, Lord Vega." She's looking forward to it. Sakura gave her a great fight before, and when all is said and done, she'll be giving an even BETTER one. That's reason alone to be on 'good terms' with Sakura, right? Well, at least it is in Douyoubi's mind, but she's a couple advil tablets short of a full medicine cabinet as it stood anyway.
Her attention back to Sakura, the black-haired woman clarifies somewhat, "You'll see. And no your food isn't drugged, we can't afford to mess your body up further. Anyway, it should be interesting, ever wonder what it'd be like to be... Stronger?"
... Okay, yeah, Douyoubi's creeping her out. But, as someone who has similar amounts of, say, free will... well, that's probably a model she should be trying to emulate. Lord knows Juni and Juli were lacking the personality.
Nodding to Vega -- whom she can't quite be calling 'Lord' just yet -- she turns her attention back to Douyoubi.
And finishes up her sushi, wincing only slightly at the weight of her gauntlets. It's food, she'll force herself to lift the 45 pound weights as needed.
"Thanks, for this. I... " She smiles faintly. "You're not what I expected."
And she leaves it at that, as the door gets slammed shut.
Log created on 19:17:47 06/07/2007 by Sakura, and last modified on 10:54:37 06/30/2007.