Sparks of Emotion (Razor, PM~)

[xthelonelypuppetx]

"Charisma. Noun. Definition: A personal magic of leadership arousing special popular loyalty or enthusiasm for a public figure..." That's what the Foreman had. Charisma.

A blonde-headed girl looked out onto a fountain. At her side hung a bright red raygun. On her back was a plain estoc. She held a beige bag at her side full of parcels. Stray eyes would stop and stare, mostly belonging to males, but she didn't pay attention to them. Their eyes weren't soft blues that she'd known since childhood. Flare... He'd died years ago, shot with a raygun right in front of her, and she could do nothing about it. Ever since that day, that girl had a feeling that maybe he'd changed forever. He'd broken the law because he had been told to. The Flare that she knew had been completely destroyed through Thought Reform. The one that she had a love affair with was the same one that held a gun to her head.

In reality, it was a lie, too, just like everything the Foreman had managed to feed her.

Before the girl was a fountain that was built upon a crystal-like substance. It reflected the spectrum of light off of it... beautiful, indeed. Beauty was only naturally occurring in the Black Divide. Everything man-made was sharp and calculated, too sharp, really. The buildings pierced the blue skies and hateful eyes would follow everyone around, the same eyes that belonged to the Foreman.

Was he dead? Or was he in the background noise, biding his time?

Sparx, the rebel leader, the head Fox, the ex-Exceptional, the favorite of the Foreman, with emerald green eyes and a scar shaped like an X on her right cheek underneath blonde hair, was not hard to spot in a crowd of people. She wore the brightest clothes among them, forever outcast from the majority.

[falsetto]

It was a bright and sunny day in Radiant Garden. The birds were chirping, the kids were running around and playing games, the warm breeze swept through the place. And Subject 47 hated these kind of days. It was so dreadful to be in this heat and would be so much better if it were cooler outside. He hated this place so much and waited for the day to get out the hell out.

He was in a courtyard and right in the middle of it, was a gigantic, beautiful fountain. Subject 47 wasn't very interested in it. It was just too.... fancy and there were so many fancy things in Metetris. Before his world was destroyed though, all of buildings, statues, and streets were all crumbling and in ruins.

He walked around the fountain and cleared his thoughts about his world. He was starting to remember the horrible things Cranon did to him and he just couldn't take it anymore. He thought about something else... something that he liked. It took him a minute to think of something that he liked and he thought of his favorite food... pasta. He could go for some right now and took off to the nearest Italian restaurant he could find.

Before he could get to one, he ran into someone. He had hit the person hard and fell to the ground with a loud thud. The back of his head hit the pavement and he rubbed it very gently. "Hey watch where you're going ok," Subject 47 said while wincing in pain. This will be the start of something new.

[xthelonelypuppetx]

"Hey, watch it, mister, you're about to--" Before Sparx could finish warning him, they both ended up on the pavement. Emerald greens stared at the man in front of her in surprise. He had short brown hair, baby blue eyes. Those eyes seemed familiar. The man even had the same shade of hair as her lost love. On his hand was tattooed the number "47", and the rebel wondered what it could possibly mean. He wore a plain t-shirt, a pair of shorts that looked a little rough around the edges. They did look alike, indeed, but this man wore a dull expression. His eyes, of all things, showed pain that he probably wouldn't have mentioned to her.

Man, if I didn't know better, I'd think that you were an amnesiac Flare.

"Hey, sorry. Here, I'll help you up." Before he could argue, a pair of hands was wrapped around one of his muscular arms. She pulled him upward, as she was already standing. His skin was cold.

What could you be hiding underneath all that muscle, mister? I'd like to know your story. I'll even tell you mine.

[falsetto]

The person he bumped into was a gorgeous girl with emerald green eyes. Razor at first just gazed at first, but snapped out of it when she came and helped him up. She had apologized to him, but he didn't care for it.

"Just watch where you're going next time, ok?" Razor said drearily to the girl. When he was up on his feet, he brushed off the dirt on him and kept on rubbing the back of his head. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to lunch."

She seemed like a good person to talk though. Somehow she seems a little different than the other she met here in Radiant Garden. He stopped his pace and turned around and faced her. "Want to join me for lunch?" Razor said dully at the girl.

((Short post is short))

[xthelonelypuppetx]

His voice was lifeless, gray in a world full of color. His invitation was dull and rather boring. Sparx was a vivacious and bright kind of girl. If only she could condense a rainbow into a serum and shoot it through his veins. That'd solve anyone's problems. Maybe she could do the next best thing: color his world. Become the paint that would brighten up things, if only a little bit. She didn't know this man, and it wasn't like her to trust strangers, but she wanted to help him, too.

"All right, cool." Nifty, I'd say. Perhaps I could get some 411 out of him. Thing is, where is restaurant X? "Say, mister, what's your name? Mine is Sparx. I'm under the employ of this old man named Mr. N. You might know him, he has a bald spot right here." The girl pointed to the top of her head. "He's fixing up my ship and I guess he's gonna teach me how to drive it, too. Gonna be awfully lonely, though, just delivering packages. I think he's extended my contract to the end of my life. Anyway... Where are we going, exactly?"

[falsetto]

He learned that the girl's name is Sparx. It had a little ring to it and Razor knew that that couldn't be her real name. Just who would name their kid Sparx? Razor's parents never named him becuase they were killed when he was born, so maybe she didn't really have parents either and she just adopted a nickname. She had also mentioned a Gummi Ship, whatever that is, but it sounded like it could get him out of this dreadful place. Maybe it's a good idea if he just gets to know her more.

"The name's Razor and no, I don't know Mr. N, but what is this "Gummi Ship" you just mentioned? Can it travel in space?" Razor said lifelessly to Sparx. Once they walked together for a few minutes, Razor found a good looking Cajun restaurant and entered it.

[xthelonelypuppetx]

"Gummi Ship? Oh, it's like this vessel that can fly through space, yeah. They use it to travel from world to world. Pretty nifty, actually. Wish we'd come up with it earlier, haha." Sparx grinned up at the lifeless man, Razor, hoping that maybe he'd grin back, too. She wondered if Razor's smile looked the same as Flare's smile. They looked a lot alike, either way. They both had the rebel-esque nicknames that characterized the Insurgents. Perhaps the rebels were in more places than one.

The duo approached a Cajun restaurant. Sparx had never actually eaten in a restaurant before, truth be told. She had no idea what Cajun was, but the air smelled distinctive. Trying food didn't kill anyone, she thought, so perhaps she should be polite and not say a thing.

"Say, Mr. Razor, where do you come from? Or if you want, I can tell you some about my home, but it's a long story."

By now, that girl had long forgotten about those packages she had to deliver. Mr. N could wait. She wanted to know more about this Flare look-alike.

[falsetto]

Razor led Sparx to an empty booth and slid in it. She had told him that Gummi Ships do travel in space and Razor wanted to get her more and more. In a way he was kinda using her, but he really did want to know what she's like.

"Umm, my life is very complicated and it's a long story, but you can tell me about yourself first. I'm guessing that you don't live in this dreadful world. I would really like to get out of here soon."

He looked through the menu, but only found one thing he would like. Grilled cheese... and it only cost 15 munny, s it wasn't that expensive. He put down the menu and stared into Sparx's emerald eyes. They seem so familiar, yet mysterious.

What was this girl's story?

[xthelonelypuppetx]

"Well, it's your lucky day, Mr. Razor, because Mr. N says that my ship will be fixed up soon. He'll teach me how to drive it, too. He has a map of some of the major worlds that shows places like Traverse Town and Twilight Town and Destiny Islands... But anyway, I'll be playing delivery girl, so our travels won't exactly be all fun and games." The peppy woman skimmed over the contents of the menu. She would have gone for mozarella sticks, but then something else caught her eye. Chocolate ice cream with fudge drizzled on top. Yuuuuum! Emerald eyes gazed at Razor politely. "So you wanna hear my story? All right. I'll buy you a drink, yeah?

"Soooo, my world's called The Black Divide. I was part of the rebellion against this government ran by this guy called the Foreman. We were his greatest threat. I had a friend by the name of Flare who helped me pretty much make sure the place was run smoothly. We both got captured by the Foreman one day and were threatened into joining his ranks once we were both eighteen, in fact, on my eighteenth birthday. He used this torture technique to get us to convert over to his ways. The Foreman, or the Sandman as we called him, programmed both of our minds to follow his orders. About three years later, I finally realized who I was. Flare followed in my footsteps. We had a love affair even though love was illegal in my world. And then we started planning to assassinate the Sandman--" Something caught in Sparx's throat suddenly. Oxygen was difficult to come by. Not another episode. Not now... Her fists clenched to the point where her knuckles went white. She was trying not to show her distress, but the wince on her face said it all.

The words spilled out in a whisper,

"Master... Foreman..."

A sudden relaxation loosened Sparx's stiff muscles. The girl's head lowered, her eyes out of view. A few pairs of eyes settled on the rebel's sudden display. Besides a few twitches here and there, she was completely still.

"Where... is... he?!"

The shout echoed across the walls of that small room.

[falsetto]

Razor skimmed through the menu again to see if there was anything better than a grilled cheese. While looking through the menu, he listened to Sparx's story. Her world sounded just like Razor's world. A war between two powerful forces and they were both leaders of their own rebellion. She mentioned something a guy called The Foreman, but then she stopped in the middle of her story. Razor dropped the menu on the table and looked at her dully. "Is something the matter?"

She said something very softly and Razor didn't quite catch what she said. "Come again?" Razor said curiously.

Sparx, all of sudden, screamed out in the restaurant. All of the customers widened eyes laid upon her. Razor was rather...surprised as to what she did. "Are you ok? You're not PMSing are you!? I can really go get you some tampons or something? I'm serious..." Razor said with an edge of concern.

"...And who are you looking for anyway? Are you looking for that Flare dude?" What did he get himself into now?

[xthelonelypuppetx]

You're not taking over again. You're just another part of a mind that's mine.

The girl froze again. Her emerald eyes were rolling into the back of her head. A moment later, all was still. Everyone in the restaurant had their eyes on the rebel. In the next second, Sparx had reinstated control of her body, and loosened her muscles. The emerald eyes readjusted themselves and Sparx looked softly at Razor. Flare... Thoughts of her old love had always managed to save her from the personality she called Aceline. That was her name while she was working with the Foreman. Aceline Seale.

Thought Reform. It was a horrible conversion. It was a long conversion. One had to memorize propaganda. They gave one a name different from the one they had prior. The subject had to respond to it or pay the price. These were the first steps of the process. They would snap the will of the subject before initiating any deeper reforms. Personalities were rewritten. Outside appearances were revamped. Histories pre-planned by the scientists were given to the subject to recite, over and over, until it became fact. Sparx could still remember Aceline's history. Born August 22nd to Robert and Jennifer Seale. Lived in the upper part of Metro. Made good grades in school. Mentored by Mason Forrest, head of the Metro Police Department at the time, to use weapons due to overwhelming intelligence. Continued onto the Foreman's personal university at age eighteen. Quickly graduated and was swiftly initiated into the Foreman's special operatives ranks. Personal favorite of the Foreman... Further programming was needed to bring it all together for a realistic facade that others and the subject himself or herself would believe. And Sparx believed it for three years, until she woke up one day from a nightmare and realized that her memory three years prior and beyond had disappeared completely.

Sparx had fought hard against Aceline, but she still lingered, waiting to take over again. The scientists were especially aggressive with a girl like Sparx. The Foreman wanted a perfect weapon.

Aceline had always been that weapon.

"R-Razor... Umm... let's.. take this outside..." Before he could argue, Sparx was up out of her seat, had taken his hand, and had dragged him outside.

In the safety in the evening air, the girl dropped down to her knees in front of him and pleaded, "I'm so sorry, Razor... I know you must think I'm some kind of freak now... But I promise, it was all part of the Foreman's programming... He programmed me to... to..." She could barely even finish. But in her mind, the words came easy: He programmed me to be a monster.

[falsetto]

Razor was dragged outside by Sparx... literally. He couldn't believe that this silly girl grabbed his hand and pulled him outside. He had personal space issues and didn't like it when people hold on to him. It made him feel... uncomfortable.

When they were outside the restaurant, Sparx got down on her knees and looked up to the man. Her emerald eyes were so mesmerizing. He couldn't keep his eyes off them. He thought they were gorgeous, but then he just realized what he had thought. He thought this girl was cute. Razor never had this feeling before. It was so strange for the Assassin; the butterflies in his stomach, the strange feeling it was.

He kept his face blank, though, so Sparx couldn't tell he was thinking of these things. She was apologizing to Razor, but there was nothing to apologize for. "If anyone is a freak it's me..." He raised his fist and sprouted a long, thin blade. "I can grow blades out of my body. It's nothing special, but people were very scared of me." He then told Sparx everything about his world and what he did. He told her about the war between Reida and Cranon, how he was the "Assassin" and fought for Cranon, and then he told her about the rebellion he created to stop the silly war.

"And that's my story... And what did this Foreman dude, programmed you for anyways?" Razor was indeed interested in this, which is surprising because he's never interested in anything.

[xthelonelypuppetx]

The blonde-haired woman looked up at Razor once again. No, he couldn't have been Flare. She'd seen Flare die right in front of her by the Foreman's hand. He had fallen down and did not move again. Flare was dead. No matter how much she wanted it, she couldn't bring him back to life. This man might have looked like her lost love, but he just wasn't the same person. Razor had a past, feelings about that past, wasn't in the slightest anything like Flare. He didn't smile, not even once.

She wanted to see that smile, even if the smile was meaningless. Sparx wanted Razor to be her friend. Loneliness was a cold, trembling, and definitely a tangible emotion. This universe was large and vast, and alone this world seemed huge to her. The woman didn't want to walk it alone.

And truthfully, they weren't completely opposite as one may have initially thought. Their pasts were both rather traumatic... Each had horrible things done to them, death practically tormenting them with its hunger.

But regardless of this, Sparx kept smiling.

"The Foreman programmed me to seek him out if we were ever separated. I was also programmed to kill any who get in my way... I never killed anyone while I was under his control, but I'm afraid that I might... That personality he programmed into me is called Aceline Seale... She's a cold killer, unafraid to kill somebody as long as she can get back to the Foreman..." The woman came to her feet, still trembling from the fact that she had slipped back under the Foreman's control.

"I'm really sorry to hear about what happened to you, Razor... Is there anything I can do for you?"

[falsetto]

Razor, just looked down at the girl with his cold eyes. Something about that smile on her face, disturbed Razor. How can someone with a past like that, keep smiling? It was so foreign to Razor and after meeting this girl, he decided that a change must be made. He would try to lighten up more and just be happy as Sparx is. It would take time to get used to, but he knows that can do it.

He retracted the blade back into his skin. She didn't react or asked about the blade that he sprouted from his fist. "Aceline Seale, huh? Sounds like a problem to me. Maybe I'll watch you for a while, just to make sure you don't go berserk again, okay?"

"And no, there's nothing you can do right now... I will carry the weight of my sins until I die and I don't think anyone can possibly help with that." He sounded rather coldly to Sparx and regretted using that tone of voice to her.

"Uh, sorry if I sounded rather rude to you..." Razor's tone wasn't cold, but rather dreary this time. He looked down and stared at her emerald eyes. Those eyes were seriously hypnotizing The Assassin. It was like she fell from heaven and was a gift from the gods themselves.

He extended his hand towards Sparx. "Well? Are you going to sit on the ground all day?" Razor, then, did something that he never done before in his life...smiling. He was smiling at the girl, but it was rather fake and it seemed too awkward to be any ordinary smile.

He had a slight feeling that Sparx will slowly change hid life for the better.

[xthelonelypuppetx]

He had been saying things to her, but it was like there was nothing being said at all. Somehow, Sparx already knew what he was going to say: that he was beyond help. She knew that couldn't possibly be true. As the woman was getting help for the second personality that was Aceline, she had thought the very same thing. Here I am today, not entirely fixed up, but definitely in control of myself.

Razor promptly apologized for his cold tone, but Sparx didn't think much of that in the first place. She knew people all kinds of people back home--those who were enthusiastic, those who were pessismistic, those who couldn't care less. He extended her hand out to her and asked her if she was just going to sit there all day... and then he smiled.

Though awkward and almost forced, she couldn't help but smile back.

Sparx took his hand.

[[muse is dead... *headdesk*]]