Description: Alma is searching desperately throughout Paris for Frei, with whom he has long ago lost contact, having heard rumors that Seishirou Ryouhara and his minions may be plotting in the shadows of the City of Lights. In the Jardin des Luxembourg he instead encounters Tran, the last to speak with Frei, in possession of the fully-charged Time Sphere of Memory, won with the chi sage's assistance. Alma realizes that Tran is sure to be Kagero's next target, and attempts to warn him of this. But Tran is a little crazier even than usual, perfectly synchronized with an artifact that conjures up convincing phantoms from his memory at a whim. When the ultimate rival and frenemy appears as though called by the sphere as well, Tran draws upon the strength with which the sphere has endowed him for a final rematch so that he may overcome his past once and for all.
In the pool before the palace within the Jardin du Luxembourg, a solitary toy boat drifts. The children who might have played with it are nowhere to be found; indeed, the once lively Parisian park is bereft of visitors. No one in the City of Lights is of a mind to take a casual stroll. The mass disappearances remain unsolved, and for all anyone knows could have increased, seeing as those who have not fled the city have barred themselves indoors for fear of whatever menace must plague the streets.
Little do they know the culprit is here.
Alma rushes where he once strolled, his scarred face set with grim intensity. Frei will not respond to any of Alma's attempts to get in contact. The psychic's investigations have yielded little except the knowledge that many powerful organizations are seeking the source of these disturbances as well, but his encounters with the strange phantoms that lurk in this city have rendered him more sensitive to the fluctuations of the energies at play. Though less capable than others of sensing their source, recently a power signature has flared up to an undeniable degree, revealing its immediate location.
Alma does not know Frei's fate, but he has no doubt that his friend the chi sage is somehow involved in these matters. As if the situation were not unsettling enough, it was moments before he felt this disturbance that he received the news he dreaded and expected: there are rumors that Kagero is at work in the city. He has no doubt that if the power at work here has exposed itself, Seishirou Ryouhara and his minions will be among the first to pursue it.
No matter what awaits him here, Alma must obstruct whatever Seishirou plans.
Racing through the silent gardens, Alma ignores the flowers in single-minded pursuit of the light which shines in his second sight, all the while struggling to shake off an eerie pall that grows heavier and thicker the closer he gets.
PARIS
FRANCE
A DUMPSTER
TWO DAYS aGO
Dr. Richard Tran, international secret agent and voted #1 most likely to ruin everything in his graduating class at Spy High, the high school for advanced espionage, thrashes around in hot garbage because he thinks he's swimming home from an unnamed island in the Pacific Ocean. His form is surprisingly solid, although some might question his usage of the butterfly stroke in his present circumstances.
AN ABANDONED SHOPPING MALL
ONE DAY AGO
Dr. Tran loots a french Hot Topic for a short time before he is overtaken by ennui.
"I just don't know, Jack." He sits on a small stool, staring calmly into a Nightmare Before Christmas hoodie, expression forlorn. "It used to be I would love a good looting, but by myself it's just not the same. Something's...missing, you know?" Jack Skellington says nothing because he is a shirt and the idea of clothes that can talk is just nonsensical and stupid.
"So what? The Tran I know wouldn't give a shit, he'd just charge through half-cocked and fuck everything up anyway." The doctor whirls to see who's speaking to him, only to realize that nobody is there. A flicker of light, emanating from his pocket unnoticed, dies.
Not saying a word, the doctor stands up, dropping a Sailor Moon that he was thinking of setting on fire later, and calmly walks out of the store. Then he runs, ignoring the phantom laughter he swears he can hear behind him.
THE JARDIN DU LUXEMBOURG
RIGHT THE HELL NOW
Tran, dark rings under his eyes, is enjoying a walk in the park with a beautiful(?) lady. Or she might be beautiful, if she didn't look sort of half-crazed. Sort of like him, if he's being honest. In his hand is an eclair; in hers, a box with half a dozen other varieties which she is busily destroying.
"You know, you're alright. I always thought you were kind of a scatterbrain, but you never really meant any harm." He takes a small bite, chewing thoughtfully, but she seems to be too busy stuffing her face to reply, or even notice he's talking. The doctor doesn't mind; isn't that just how she is, her naeture? He swallows. "I mean, maybe you caused it every once in a while, but who doesn't? Not like I can judge."
And then he see another familiar face, rushing through the unkempt trees, already beginning to grow wild as nobody dares come to trim them. Waving a hand with a genuine smile, Tran calls out.
"Alma! Buddy! I didn't know you were in town, too, come here and let's catch up for a while."
Clearly, something has gone terribly wrong here.
Alma slows to a stop, his expression of heroic conviction faltering and dissolving into one of mild befuddlement.
"Tran?"
It's strange to utter his longtime frenemy's name with so few vowels. Alma would love to believe that Tran has had a dramatic change of heart in the intervening time since they last parted ways. But the atmosphere has only grown more oppressive, and the haunted look in Tran's eyes, belied by the alleged doctor's friendly smile, is unsettling even without the psychic pressure. It doesn't help that he appears to have interrupted Tran in conversation with someone Alma cannot see with either sight.
"It's good to see you safe and sound."
Alma's voice is only slightly hesitant as he adopts a gentle tone, one at something of a disparity with the way his gaze carefully scans the surroundings for interlopers.
"Tran, please listen to me carefully," Alma continues. "You are in very great danger right now." He keeps having the sense that someone or something -- or many someones or somethings -- is watching him from the shadows, but resists the urge to spin around and search everywhere. He can't remember ever experiencing paranoia like this before, even when dealing with Kagero and their insidious methods. "A terrorist organization may be searching for a source of power located close to here." Actually, /right/ here, if his enhanced intuition is any indication. Is it buried beneath them? "I think we should leave this place together while we can."
No, the source of this energy--
"Tran..."
It seems to be radiating from Tran himself.
"Have you... seen Frei recently?"
"Ha ha, you kidder, you. That's something I've always liked, that sense of humor." Tran doesn't seem too put off by how he is 'in danger' or whatever the Rising Phoenix of whatever town's hip is saying. Instead he brings his hand up and takes another small, measured bite of what appears to be exactly nothing. He chews thoroughly and swallows anyway, laughing afterward, as if at a joke only he can hear, though it quickly trails off into nothing. The doctor's expression shifts to a more somber note, and he clears his throat.
"Frei's fine. Well, he was fine. Previously. So he's fine now, too?" Tran's brow furrows as though he doesn't quite understand what he just said, as perplexed as anyone by the nonsense coming out of his mouth.
"No, that's not quite right. I was a little worried on that first day when he died, but since then he's been looking better than I've seen in a long time. Like the years have just melted off, you know?" Tran takes a few steps closer to Alma, offering whatever he thinks is in his hand. "I wish I had something for us to drink, but all I have are donuts, and I don't think she's gonna share any more." And then it's all mirth and smiles again, calming laughter for Alma so that he stops freaking out.
"But stop worrying so much about terrorists or whatever, it's fine, who cares. I mean, we're all in danger, Alma, don't you know?" Tran's expression doesn't change in the slightest, still all easy smiles.
"The world is ending."
5r Alma delicately accepts Tran's invisible donut.
Reaching up to pretend to take a bite out of the nonexistent pastry, Alma's expression returns to its previous seriousness as he considers how much truth there is to Tran's words. It's practically impossible to get a read on anything except for the evident fact that something very bad has happened to Tran. "Thank you," Alma finally says, because it's only polite to express one's gratitude for a gift, even if it isn't strictly speaking real. "How did Frei die, Tran?"
At the very least, he might be able to draw something that sounds intelligible or consistent out of this conversation. The more time he spends here, though, the harder he has to fight mentally to resist a growing state of unease. It is as though there is a vast and shadowy crowd watching them, studying every minute detail of this interaction, constantly whispering faintly and distracting him with their presence. A shadowy crowd that /knows/ him, or perhaps populated by those he knew once long ago but has forgotten.
No--
"Tran...?"
He feels as though something has been following him all this time, growing greater and more terrible, and he's only just now realized it.
"How do you know the world is ending?"
Alma speaks carefully, slowly lowering his half-eaten invisible donut.
"Do you know how the world will end?"
What is most unsettling is not what Tran is saying. It is that for some reason, one that seems disassociated from Alma's normal psychic intuition, he /believes/ Tran.
"Oh, after the bubblegum guy tried to eat him with his magic rock, Frei disintegrated." Tran raises his hand and rubs his fingers together, dust in the wind. "Like I said though, don't worry, he's been around, we went out for drinks..." He cocks his head as he tries to remember; it's easy, and crystal clear in his mind.
ELSEWHERE
A DAY AND A HALF AGO
Dr. Tran rampages through a supermarket, throwing bottles at nothing and punching air and generally making a mess and getting away with it because nobody else is there to care anymore.
HERE AND NOW AGAIN
"It was a good time, we had fun." Tran returns his attention directly to Alma, who seems to be getting worried again. "That's your problem, you know. Worrying about everything, taking the whole world's burdens on your back like nobody else can handle their own shit. Lighten up." Without even seeming to realize he's doing it, Tran removes a faintly glowing orb from his pocket, playing with it in his hand. "Enjoy whatever we've got left, think about the good times, if you can. S'what I'm doing." Staring into the murky depths of the Time Sphere of Memory, the doctor's appearance seems to grow more gaunt, as if the mere act of existing was suddenly too great for him to bear.
"Was doing. Fun's fun, but I have to get moving soon. I don't think it knows what's going to happen, but neither of us wants to miss the biggest finish."
Alma frowns slightly.
"I see."
He doesn't. He's just being polite again. Maybe he was wrong to think he'd be able to make heads or tails of Tran's utterances in this state. Only Alma's extensive mental training is allowing him to maintain perspective on his own unnatural emotions, and he's been here for a few minutes. It's likely that whatever is manipulating him has overwhelmed Tran's mind, or at least exacerbated the Man of Action's typical tendencies. Whatever is causing this has increased in power tremendously not so long ago.
Alma is in the middle of worrying about all this as Tran offers his sage advice and then withdraws--
"Tran!"
The psychic flinches back, eyes widening as his gaze swivels down to the orb in Tran's hand. The source of the energy he's been feeling emanating from Tran is now exceedingly apparent. Displayed before him, it's truly terrible. Even in the midst of reeling from the sudden reveal, however, something that his frenemy has said needles at Alma enough for him to force the words out.
"Is that... the magic rock? The one that disintegrated Frei?"
Alma's never heard of anything as ludicrous as a 'bubblegum guy', but if Frei found this orb, which seems plausible given its apparent nature, and it somehow was passed on to Tran, then it is quite possible that something terrible has happened to Frei. In which case, all of them are in significantly more danger from Kagero -- and other parties, for that matter.
"Tran, that sphere is dangerous. It's hurting you right now, and some ruthless people are in pursuit of it and are likely to attack you when they find you to get it."
Alma doesn't know if he's going to fare any better than Tran with this object. He's not eager to possess it, to be frank. But Tran clearly needs to be relieved of it at least for long enough to regain his senses, such as they are.
"Please..."
Alma half reaches out his hand, pauses, stuffs the rest of the invisible donut into his mouth to free up that hand, chews with intense concentration, swallows, then fully reaches out his hand.
"Will you let me hold onto that for a little while?"
He doesn't know what this big finish is, and he doesn't want to find out.
"The Time Sphere of Memory. That's what he called it, before he got smeared all over Paris." The doctor's eyes flick rapidly from point to point on the sphere, trapped for a time by something only he can see. "He never said his name, but he's the one who told me the world was ending. I didn't believe him. I could barely understand him, I was so drunk. If it weren't for Frei, I'm sure he would have killed me." Tran's gaze snaps abruptly away, returning to Alma, to what passes for the present.
"Do you know exactly how many near misses I've had? Do you know how many were /directly/ my own fault?"
"Because I do." The doctor whirls around, coat billowing, the happy good time feelings gone with a mood swing that should be all too familiar in its lightning quickness. "So what if it's hurting me? All of my time's been borrowed by better people than me. Not stronger, not more powerful, but /better/. It's too late to change that, but at least now..." His grip on the sphere tightens, its light intensifying.
"It won't amount to anything in the end, but I can at least do this much. You're different, Alma. I remember what you used to be, who you used to be; not carefree, but at least your troubles were your own. I remember." When he turns again, his eyes are clear, perhaps unnaturally so, seeming to look not at Alma, but at someone else standing in the exact same place. "I remember what you could have been, if you didn't keep sticking your nose into anything and everything."
"I remember what you never were, and I won't let you sacrifice what little future you have left for someone like me."
Faint licks of steam build off Tran's shoulders, quickly eaten whole by the oppressive atmosphere, a mere fragment of the power at work here. He raises the orb, pointing it at Alma as if in challenge, knowing from personal experience how difficult it is to change a psychic's mind with words alone.
"I will never let you carry this burden."
Alma's gaze is drawn inexorably to the Time Sphere. Its contents seem to swirl hypnotically, whispering of times past, possibilities lost, memories forgotten. Such a small object, it nevertheless looms in his vision. The past is a bottomless pool into which he could drown forever, a spiral staircase descending into what could have been.
His eyes forcibly snap up to Tran's.
"Tran--"
He's right.
Alma's resolve wavers. Tran has witnessed something clearly in the midst of his delusions. The person Alma has become is different from the man he used to be, in some ways worse. He compensated for the loss of Jiro by shouldering more and more responsibility, seeking to redeem as much as possible all with the knowledge that he could not save the one who mattered most. For the sake of the one who chose his own sacrifice, Alma would create a world where no one would have to sacrifice themselves again. To do that, he gave up everything else he could have been.
He didn't have to be this kind of hero.
Tran's right.
"You're wrong!"
But not about everything.
"No one's better than you!"
Alma's arms sweeps to the side, agonized passion flooding into features he has struggled to keep calm. All at once, the shackles of the Time Spheres influence feel thrown aside, not through his composure but through the intensity of his surging emotion.
"You are a resolute warrior, a man of action who won't tolerate hypocrisy! You are the friend and the rival upon whom I've always relied! I cannot imagine this world without you. However you see yourself, I know: you stand among the greats of our time!"
He won't allow this. He can't. Righteously, desperately, he can't.
"I won't let you sacrifice yourself without me!"
Not again!
"Tran!"
Power floods through Alma, his spirit surging, shattering the oppressive atmosphere. Cherry-blossom pink and indigo energy swirls about his arms, glittering with scintillating hues, shining with a pearlescent core. His heart sings in recognition of the will before him. It is a will it has faced countless times. It is a battle that will rage until the end of time. And with the end of time coming, it will rage again, with a fire that no artifice can deny.
"TRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"
COMBATSYS: Alma has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Alma 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Tran has joined the fight here.
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Alma 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Tran
There are few people who can claim to know, really know, even a part of the walking mystery named Richard Tran. A girl, her soul aged beyond her years, but still kind despite it all. A woman, more insane than even he is. A monk, ever cheerful, ever steadfast in their bizarre friendship. He's been seeing them all, in the past few days, and the small part of his mind, way in the back corner that always manages to hold on to some semblance of rationality...it knows they're not real, but he's enjoyed it, anyway. Enjoyed it enough to wonder if maybe he shouldn't have tried quite so hard to keep them all at arm's length. And then there's...well, there's the man who never let him.
"Alma!"
In the doctor's eyes, the glorious man-phoenix is but a glorious boy-phoenix, unburdened by the trials the world has pushed upon him, the trials he has sought time and again. It's captivating, in a way -- for the stark contrast brought into sharp focus, yes, but also the niggling realization that perhaps...
Perhaps Tran is no different, in his own way.
"Then prove it!" Tran shouts back, unwilling to back down, even as he sees their history unfold, the mere thought potent enough to summon crystal clear phantoms of the both of them, flashes of combat with and against each other, moments frozen in time repeating unceasingly as the power of the Time Sphere surges, light glaring coldly now as if in response to Alma.
"Prove I'm who you think I am, show me what you think you know with everything you are!" The steam begins to thicken, pouring down the doctor's arm into the outstretched Time Sphere, feeding into it; and in turn, bizarrely, that cold and subtle light begins to creep back up Tran's arm, mixing and blending with the steam until it almost seems radiant, itself.
"I can already see my past, so show me the present!" He lunges forward, the inevitable clash finall beginning, free hand balled into a fist that's practically dripping with unnatural energy, as straightfoward as it's possible to be.
"ALMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Alma blocks Tran's Strong Punch EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Alma 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Tran
Alma stands, surrounded by phantoms of their shared past.
He can see them now, these delusions of Tran's, as the Time Sphere resonates with the steam-wielder's gathering strength. But the phoenix faces forward unfazed, no longer subject to the artifact's emotional manipulation. All these past moments are subservient to this present. Should the two of them have no future, should this be their final battle, this will be the culmination of all their struggles. It is never too late to transform the meaning of everything that has come before. This world hasn't ended yet.
It won't end without a fight.
"I will!"
Alma's arms raise, the punch exploding like a comet against his guard, defensive rose-hued aura flaring up as the psychic skids back with his stance unbroken. The light that radiates from his fists his echoed in his eyes, flaring up to face Tran's magnified power.
"Right here, right now, we'll forge of our past a new future!"
This clash may be inevitable. But the future remains undecided.
"One in which we stand together!"
What is certain is that this world is precious to them both.
The Time Sphere draws upon the power of has come to pass and might have been. But it holds no sway over those who would create a new reality. The past is always vulnerable to those who would rewrite and redefine it. That is what Alma intends to do. Perhaps Seishirou is right that Alma lacks the will to change history. But Alma possesses the will to change what /this/ history means.
For the sake of a world in which all his and Tran's battles led up to this moment, a world in which Tran is wrenched free of the clutches of the past and the two of them stand to face the common enemies of this reality, Alma leaps forth, responding with a lance of light to mirror Tran's own punch. Alma will conquer the Time Sphere's might. Not through the sheer force of his spirit. Not through the power of his unflinching convictions.
"Accept this as proof!"
But by calling Tran to return of his own will from the brink of the abyss.
COMBATSYS: Tran reflects Self Expression from Alma with Operation - Dr. Tran EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Alma 0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0 Tran
In this world, how could anything end without a fight?
The strong clash again and again, etching their will in large letters across the face of reality. Though he has told his foe to do just this, to do it to him, Dr. Tran /never/ said that he was going to make it easy.
But then, does he ever?
Even as his initial strike is dealt with in an unpredictably simple fashion, Tran isn't retreating a step, unwilling to give even an inch in this, this most important of moments. He is a man of /principle/, though what principles those might be are ever open to debate.
"And if that future's nothing? Mere moments before everything that is, isn't?" Still and silent images of battle continue to flit by, each appearing for a few moments before flickering into the next. A pimp, pimphand raised against the two. A fire truck, suspended in the air, the dalmation inside frozen in terror. An open field, sunny and--
"No, NO!" It distorts, as Alma returns with an attack of his own, the phantom images almost seeming to break up into static, forcefully DENIED by the doctor. Almost as an afterthought, his body responds, chi surging up into a perfectly round disc, the surface matching the pulsating patters of the time sphere. Their energy clashes, twists--
"I won't let you, NOT YET!" And then the doctor pushes forward again, driving the whole confused mass straight back into Alma's chest.
"EARN IT! This isn't enough, this isn't NEARLY enough! MORE! Give me MORE, like you MEAN IT!"
Alma's never faced Tran like this before.
"Kkhhh!"
Grunting from the impact, the psychic is blown off his feet by the impact of Tran's reflective disc, turning Alma's own power against him. He flips once and lands gracefully on his feet, but one arm is clasped against his chest, the pressure helping him to fight off the lingering pain though it's left no physical marks. His teeth grit with determination as he takes a moment to regard his empowered rival, Tran's denunciations raining down upon him.
"As you wish!"
Alma's voice remains clear, his resolve unshaken. But with the power of the Time Sphere behind Tran's fists, the sheer collision of wills won't be enough to ensure that the Scarred Angel does all he can to pull his friend out of the sphere's snare of delusions. Greater subtlety and strategy is called for here. He considers for a moment before his eyes widen in realization. He will exert the fullest limit of his technique, of course. But he can also use the Time Sphere's powers against it.
"Ha!"
Alma reaches behind his back, then whips his hand about and throws-- what an onlooker would see as nothing, as though the psychic were trying to fake out an eager dog. But it is not nothing. It is an /invisible donut/, which Alma has thrown just above and to the left of Tran's head as a distraction. This of course begs the obvious question:
Where did he get another one!?
Should Tran be preoccupied by this and other mysteries, Alma may find the opening he seeks. He is already lunging in as though that swing of his arm were meant to generate his own momentum, exerting his will to reduce the effects of gravity upon him as psychics are wont to do, and shifting into a series of elusive kicks which aim to confound Tran's defenses and break through his guard.
COMBATSYS: Alma successfully hits Tran with Autumn Rain.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
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Alma 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Tran
"Good! Fine!"
From the depths of his soul, Dr. Tran still doesn't really understand how to react when people don't disagree with him. Like with most things, he just channels the confusion into more generic rage. This is only sometimes a good idea.
Here, for example, when Alma recovers sufficiently to engage in his /cunning gambit/, Tran doesn't really think too much of it. It's obviously a cheap distraction, there's not even anything in Alma's hand, and frankly he plans to make Alma pay for underestimating him. Until he sees a flash of chocolately brown in the corner of his vision, sprinkled perfection arcing lazily through the air.
"Wait, you didn't really just--" This, being the perfect time to sucker punch the doctor, is exactly when Alma sucker punches the doctor. Or sucker kicks, whatever, it's all the same to Tran's face and chest and stomach and pretty much everywhere.
In moments, Tran is flat on his back, vision just clear enough to see a man-sized fish monster grab it out of the air, jam the phantom pastry into its gaping maw, and vanish.
But it would take something far weirder than that to disrupt Tran's laser-sharp focus on the one thing that matters right now: the fight. Tran is a long way from out of it, yet. Already steam begins to bend, shaping itself into a wickedly gleaming crescent. The doctor doesn't even bother touching it.
"RRRRRRRRAGH!"
His will alone is enough to send it screaming toward Alma with zero hesitation, already clambering to his feet to follow it up as soon as he's able.
COMBATSYS: Tran successfully hits Alma with American Hero Cutter EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Alma 0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Tran
Alma knows the timing on this move precisely.
"What--"
This turns out to be a problem.
Sensing the accumulation of Tran's steam chi, Alma prepares to evade the crescent slash and close in to press the assault and maintain the rhythm he's established. Dodging when going on the offense depends less on reflexes and more on anticipation. But Alma has underestimated the depth of what the Time Sphere of Memory can achieve. More than empowering Tran's attacks, it has negated the need for gestures and another signals of his effort. Alma is a half-second too late in his movements, and that is all it takes.
"Gaaahh!"
He has a brief and confusing vision of what appears to be a very large fish swimming through the air above him as he goes sailing back, eventually crashing against the side of the Jardin du Luxembourg's central pool, sending the surface of the water behind to trembling and the lone toy boat upon it to bobbing up and down. Steam rises from his body as he grimaces, slumped forward for a moment. That one hurt, and it's slowed him down.
But he can't give up now.
"Good!"
Alma echoes Tran, though his exhortation is in earnest as his head snaps up, eyes aglow. If Tran can awaken his fighting spirit in this moment, even drawing upon the Time Sphere itself, he may be able to master and overcome its hold upon him. All Alma can do is his best, and that's what he intends to do. It is only a moment before Alma's body flickers and vanishes.
"Once more!"
He descends, having teleported to the sky above, as though emerging from the maw of the now-disconcerted illusory fish, lashing out with a swift kick to Tran's head and twisting in mid-air into an elbow drop, unleashing a blur of jabs even before he touches down, assuming a poised stance again, recovering through sheer resolve.
COMBATSYS: Alma successfully hits Tran with Spring Shower.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Alma 1/-------/=======|=======\-------\1 Tran
On his feet already, /refusing/ to let himself be slowed down, Dr. Tran advances toward Alma, his pace slow but increasing steadily. Does it matter that the scarred psychic is momentarily laid low, resting against the pool after being struck down? Not to Tran, it doesn't. This is a fight now, and there's only one way through it, one brutal and bloody pathway that leads to...
"What?" What indeed - the Time Sphere doesn't, cannot tell Tran whatever comes next, as Alma just vanishes in front of his eyes. Instantly, the doctor scans from right to left, passing over a blonde, sharp-dressed man, himself surrounded in a crackling aura, a disdainful sneer writ plain across his face.
The doctor feels another twinge of emotion, one he's not even sure of, and then it's back to angry business -- especially once Alma descends from on high, an avenging angel. Tran doesn't have time to even think of how to react, only aware of the overpowering need to fight, to put everything he has on the line one more time. He tries to stand firm, not wanting to lose even a single millimeter.
But he's learned, time and again, that intent isn't everything. Each blow strikes true, seeming to multiply in Tran's eyes, as Alma overlaps himself, a multitude of phantoms that nonetheless move in almost perfect sync. He cannot help himself.
Tran takes a step back.
It's /infuriating/. As Alma comes gently to rest, Tran takes that step back, moving forward, chi building, arms blurring as he unleashes a standing barrage of punches to answer Alma's own, a rolling wave of explosions that he /definitely/ did not rip off from /anybody/ he ever saw on TV.
COMBATSYS: Alma interrupts Dr. Tran - Man of Action EX from Tran with Divine Intervention EX.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Alma 1/---====/=======|=======\===----\1 Tran
It is the will to unify the past in the present.
Alma is not a revolutionary. He does not have the power to produce a break in history. But he possesses the passion and the purity of heart to seize all the possibilities that have come before him and bring them together under one banner, grant them a single shining significance. When countless phantoms appear before Tran, it is Alma who unifies them, calling them to attack as one and summon forth an overwhelming assault.
But violence alone cannot resolve this conflict.
His fights with Tran before were always a clash of distinct and unyielding spirits, combat for which Alma had an insatiable appetite, precisely because no matter how often they collided, Tran would remain the man he was. But to fight until one will crumbles is not now the goal. Alma is not here to cherish the communication born of battle or delight in whatever aesthetic pleasures are specific to his psychic sight. He aims to pierce through the veil with which the Time Sphere of Memory shrouds Tran's senses.
"Haaaaaah!"
Tran must choose whether to dwell in the past or the present.
The yearning of his heart erupting forth in the form of flame, Alma's hand thrusts out, his poised stance preparing him for the coming onslaught. A plume of psychic power envelops his fingertips and trails back, pressing aside Tran's flurry of strikes even as some of them hammer home, partially deflecting the damage and pushing through. And as soon as the light gathered in his palm impacts against Tran's torso, right near the shoulder of the arm which holds the sphere still--
"Tran!"
It bursts forth as a mighty beam of light, seen so many times before.
"Awaken!"
Made real in this moment, once again made new.
Dr. Tran has never been good at remembering things.
Call it the result of indifference or insanity, say it's the result of a lifetime of concussions, call it all an elaborate act, maybe they're all a little bit true. The fact is undeniable; few memories are strong enough to survive in the depths of his brain.
He doesn't need a magical artifact of untold power to remind him of this one.
A lance of pure psychic energy pierces through his attack, through him, delivering a nuclear payload of emotion directly into his vulnerable soulmeats. For a moment, everything is perfectly still - not even phantoms remain to torment him, to remind him in perfect detail of every mistake he's ever made.
"Ah." Tran voices his surprise, flat in stark contrast to the rage that is his constant companion. He remembers this, again and again in perfect clarity, this moment where Alma's very essence forces its way into the core of his being.
But this time it's...different, somehow. The motions are the same, but the /feeling/...It takes a moment, but he realizes it's not the influence of the time sphere, or something that's changed within Alma.
This time, for the first time, Tran doesn't fight it. He accepts it into himself, taking in every thing Alma has to give. He drinks it in without thought or remorse, and he sees.
"So this is..."
He sees the pain, the joy, the sorrow and the laughter, sparing himself from none of it. Countless faces, some familiar, others foreign, race through his brain. Tran sees himself, not as himself, but as someone else, glimpsing for the first time what it's like to be on the other side. And with two simple words...
"I see."
Tran accepts it. The Time Sphere of Memory shudders in his hand, its cold radiance seeming to swell and surge before bursting out in blinding light. The Jardin du Luxembourg vanishes, leaving only the two men, alone in nothingness, just for long enough for Tran to speak one word.
"Fuck."
And then everything is normal, the Jardin is right where it should be, and Dr. Tran stands, body completely free of his previous aura. He understands, now, that there is only one path open to him; perhaps it is the only path he has ever been able to follow.
"Fine, but I'm still gonna do this to you."
And suddenly Tran has another sphere, this one far smaller, barely a marble, pure white chi. It floats above his open hand, which quickly closes into a fist in front of it. And then he tries to punch it directly into Alma's stupid face.
It explodes harder than anything Tran has ever exploded. Ever.
COMBATSYS: Alma endures Tran's Here Comes Dr. Tran! EX.
[ \ < > ///////// ]
Alma 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|-------\-------\0 Tran
Alma smiles.
A small upturn of the corners of his lips, dampened by pain and fatigue, but mirrored in the warmth of his eyes. When his surroundings return, he can feel the difference. All that was necessary was a moment, a single moment in which the hold of the Time Sphere on Tran could be relinquished. In that moment, Tran accepted his path. This fight is over.
They've won.
With that victory assured, Alma knows what he must do. It is what he has always done, what he will always love and do no matter how he changes or how many burdens he comes to bear. He must bring forth a clash of souls, and face Tran's will directly, one more time.
"Tra--"
With that, he is silenced.
Alma's face explodes, almost literally. The stones beneath him crumble moments before his stance does, his limp body flung backward and against the pool again, this time tearing through the rock and sending the water pouring out to flood the courtyard, streaming about Alma's already unconscious form. With that final impact, the Time Sphere pulses faintly as it fades into dormancy, its previous world-banishing burst of energy having signaled the end of its peak power and synchronization with -- and hold over -- Tran. As it pulses, the last of the phantoms fade--
Leaving one, emerging from the dust and steam, leaping from where Alma had stood only a second ago, its form dissolving even as it moves. It evaporates from all sides and corners, all that endures the focal point of its light, a shining spark upon its ethereal fingertips with which it attempts to touch Tran one last time before it fades.
It wasn't intentional. Alma didn't have time to plan to strike back.
It is simply the last vestige of his will, reaching out to Tran.
COMBATSYS: Alma can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\ <
Tran 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Tran endures Alma's Absolution EX!
[ <
Tran 0/-------/-======|
Dr. Richard Tran is now standing in a steaming crater. His coat gradually begins to cease billowing as the violent air currents finally settle down in the aftermath of his punch. Arm still outstretched, he is perfectly still. The Time Sphere, though still clutched tightly in his hand, is silent. The only sounds are of a faint sizzling, matched with the low burble of water pouring out over everything.
The last phantom is completely silent in its approach, as well, though later Dr. Tran will recall hearing a dull, steadily increasing roar. He sees it, with its single, potent point of light approaching, and then gently closes his eyes.
"Gotta have the last word, huh?"
To the casual observer, if such a thing could exist in this place, it might appear that the light vanishes just as it reaches the doctor; certainly, it doesn't seem as if he reacts in any way as it touches lightly against his forehead. Water pools into the crater, slowly filling with the ruined fountain's previous contents. Time seems to stretch.
And then Dr. Tran faceplants into the water.
He comes up sputtering and coughing, flopping onto the edge, timesphere bobbing up and down next to him. (It floats???) His eyes are surprisingly focused, even now.
"This isn't...overrrrrrrgh."
And then he collapses, completely exhausted.
COMBATSYS: Tran takes no action.
COMBATSYS: Tran can no longer fight.
Log created on 01:54:07 09/18/2014 by Alma, and last modified on 22:30:52 09/19/2014.