Blazblue: Ashes to Ashes

Mad Dog

Jacky finally finished explaining everything that had happened during his absence and Rachel politely remained quiet throughout the entire story. "You witnessed Terumi's defeat then?" Jacky nodded. "Well then, I suppose I should tell you that after he was defeated in combat by Ragna, he used the opportunity to incapacitate the Takamagahara. A man made system that can change the events and cause disruptions in order to put everything in order. For example, I have observed Jin Kisaragi as well as Ragna the Bloodedge and during a visit to Ronin-gai, Tsubaki Yayoi engaged him in combat and killed him. Jin wields the Power of Order, and so the Takamagahara turned back the clock and caused a disruption in order for Jin to avoid this."
Jacky could feel Nago's tail brush against his leg and he kicked it away. Nago hissed and Jacky shot him a malicious look, shutting the fat cat up. "I must say, you have grown more reserved than ever before in these past few months. After what Nago did that day, normally you would have punched him for even touching you."
"I've been taught that I should be reserved by a certain Vampire, Rachel," Jacky replied with a smile. They heard a noise and turned to find Valkenhayn with a tray of food. "Here is your meal, Madame Rachel." Rachel thanked Valkenhayn before dismissing him. "So then, what of Kokonoe and your new friend, are they well?" Jacky laughed and nodded his head. "Kokonoe's probably still pissed that Ragna didn't finish off Terumi. Though, I wouldn't blame her if she wanted to kill the bastard herself. Anyways, that's enough talking about the past. Why did you bring me here, Rachel?"
"I have more to tell you about your dragon curse. There is only one way for the memory of your existence to remain. It is just the same as how an endangered species were to survive. The only way they can preserve their race." Jacky understood immediately what she was referring to. "A child of your bloodline must be born. Otherwise, no record or memory of you will survive." Jacky groaned and thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I don't see that happening anytime soon." Rachel chuckled and took a bite out of her food and drinking her tea. "Are you sure about that? There is absolutely no one in mind that such a thing could be accomplished with?"
The first person that came to mind was Tsubaki, of course, but she was trying to kill Ragna with Izanami reigning over her. The second person that came to mind was Violet. But why would he ever think about her? He hardly knew her. Finally, there was Makoto, who was absolutely not his type, despite the two of them being childhood friends. "No one really comes to mind at all, Rachel." Rachel took a while to respond. "Imagine someone you hold dear. Visualize them." This time, the first person that came to mind was Violet rather than Tsubaki, who was roaming the city of Shinatsu. Violet jumped back in surprise as Jacky and Rachel appeared next to her. Jacky fell to the ground, dizzy. "I'll never get used to that," he groaned. "What are you doing here, Jacky?"
Jacky got his bearings before deciding to answer her question. "Forget that, Violet. Why are you in Shinatsu? Do you have another assignment from Kokonoe?"
"No, I came here on my own. I heard there was a really nice bookstore in this city, so I thought I'd pay them a visit. Speaking of which, you haven't returned those books I lent you." Jacky reached into his bag and handed her the books. "I finished them all. They were all right, but nothing too exciting."
"I see you are perfectly content without my presence, so I shall take my leave," Rachel said before vanishing.
"Who was that?" Violet asked. "Her name is Rachel Alucard and she's a vampire, just so you know." Violet didn't question him one bit and just continued on her path to the bookstore. Jacky groaned exhaustedly. "Home, sweet home," he muttered. "This is where you grew up? You don't sound very excited."
"Well, Shinatsu wasn't exactly the best place to grow up in at the time, but I had a few friends there, so it wasn't all bad." When they reached the bookstore, there were two men at the checkout counter talking quietly to each other. "Excuse me, sirs, we'd like to purchase a few books," Jacky said. Violet browsed through the shelves, finding a number of books. The price of every single book she wanted was out of her price range, but Jacky lent her the extra money she needed. "Thanks, Jacky, you didn't have to."
"Why not? I don't exactly buy very many things other than food and hotel rooms, so its' fine."
Jacky turned a corner and ran into someone. When Jacky looked at him, he was shocked by how big he was.
Given the man's large body, Jacky was surprised he didn't fall over. He was extremely muscular-looking and had long blue hair. He had this look in his eyes that suggested bloodlust. His gaze was so fierce that it made Jacky flinch. "S-sorry for bumping into you, sir, I should've watched where I was going."
The man didn't respond, but his arms were shaking. Why though?
"Hey kid, care for a sparring match with me?"
His question caught him off guard. "Why are you asking me?"
"You've obviously seen the battlefield before. You've got a look in your eye that's unmistakable. I've been real bored lately, so come on, I haven't got all day. Your girlfriend can join in too, if she wants."
Jacky thought it over for a moment before hesitantly accepting his offer. Why was he so reluctant to fight this man? He's never met him before. But still, he looked familiar in some way, not to mention the vibe he gave off was dark. Jacky found a good place to spar at the edge of town and summoned Drakos. "Are you ready, sir?"
The man raised his fists. No weapon? Was it really okay to use Drakos against him?
Jacky charged him, swinging Drakos down on him, but his attack was dodged with ease. The man swung the back of his fist into the side of Jacky's face, sending him flying quite the distance. His Armagus seal which disguised him as a human was released and his scales and lizard tail returned.
"So I'm fighting a Beastkin, eh?"

Restraint Levels One through Three, Release
Dragon Scales, deploying
Ethereal Wings, deploying
Wings and scales that cut through the earth and sky,
Rip through the air and destroy my obstacles as they obstruct my path to the future.

Jacky's body shifted once more, granting his scales an armor-like hardness, bright red ethereal wings materialized and his shoulders bore spikes. He flapped his wings and stopped his involuntary flight.
"Not a bad trick for a kid," the man said, "I guess I should introduce myself, then. Name's Azrael. I'm sure you've heard of me."
So that's who he was fighting against. The Mad Dog of Sector Seven, who, supposedly, is so powerful, they had to keep him locked up in cryostasis. Why did they let him out if he was so dangerous, then?
"Y-you're the man that's hunting Professor Kokonoe," Violet shouted. She was shaking all over. "Do you know her?" He shot her a mean glare that made her stiff. She couldn't speak; she couldn't do anything but stare straight back at him.
The look in her eyes reminded him of how he felt when Terumi cut him open back when the church was burned down. Fighting Azrael was beyond her abilities and she knew it. Jacky flew down at Azrael and swung the Drakos at him again, but he stepped back out of the way, grabbed Jacky's arm and pull at it until his arm became dislocated from his shoulder. Azrael threw him to the ground and Violet willed herself to move. She cast a spell and they were transported away.

Kokonoe sat at her desk looking over a few files when suddenly she heard someone screaming in agony. Turned around, finding Jacky on the floor with Violet kneeled down next to him. "What the hell is going on, Violet? What are you doing, bringing him back here?"
"Azrael would have killed him if I did nothing!" She exclaimed before looking back down at Jacky's arm. "It might take a while to pop it back into place," she muttered. Kokonoe twirled her fingers and suddenly the pain Jacky felt almost completely disappeared. He stopped screaming and looked down at his dislocated arm. He grabbed it with his other hand and forced it back into place with a strong jerk. He let out a sigh of relief before getting up. "Thanks for the help, Kokonoe," he let out. Kokonoe scoffed and growled, "Save your thanks, kid! I stayed up all night yesterday looking over data and the last thing I need is someone screaming in my ears!"
It was easy to tell she was up all night. There were dark circles under her eyes, she had multiple coffee cups on her desk, and she was giving off a maximum grumpiness vibe.
"Just get over to the infirmary already and leave me the hell alone already. I've got some work to do."
They got up and headed down the halls. "So that's Azrael. That fight was hardly a fight at all. If I see him, I'm going to steer clear," Jacky let out. "Yeah, you'd best. I heard they put a limiter on him that would keep him from fighting and hurting anyone who wasn't willing to fight. Yet, when he was let out of Cryostasis, he was able to shatter a soldier's arm. You're lucky that your arm was only dislocated."
A chill ran up his spine and he shuddered at the thought. "Yeah, that's lucky."
After they arrived at the infirmary, she got Jacky to lay down on one of the beds and told him that it would take a few days before he could use his right arm again. She sat down in a chair on the other side of the room and waited, as if his injury would recover within the hour. "So, why were you with that girl? Rachel was it?"
"I was paying her a visit and she transported me to Shinatsu, that's all. Why are you asking about that?"
"No reason, I was just curious," she lied. Jacky paused for a moment, not believing her, but decided to drop it. "Anyways, are you going to just sit there and watch me, Violet? Don't you have things to do?"
Violet shook her head, saying, "I don't have any assignments at the moment, so I can do what I want."
Jacky recalled Makoto's teasing back at Military Academy and he decided to take that for a spin. He smiled mischievously and asked, "So the only thing you want to do is watch over me?" Violet's face turned red and she looked down before Jacky bust out laughing. "I'm just kidding, Vi, don't take that seriously."
Violet growled and energy crackled through her body. "You want me to dislocate your other arm?"
Jacky shuddered and apologized immediately, calming the magic-user down. "Don't tease people about that, alright? It's not funny."
Jacky let his head drop back down on the pillow and groaned. "I'm not even in here for ten minutes and I'm already bored out of my mind!" Violet dropped a book on his torso. "Then read," she said simply. Jacky picked up the book and recognized it as one of the books that Violet just bought about an hour ago. "Don't you want to be the first to read this?"
She shrugged her shoulders and held up another book. "I'm already reading something. And don't worry about your right arm. It can still perform small tasks that don't require much physical movement, so turning pages should be okay."
He sighed and opened up the book, flipping through the pages while Violet stood on the side, doing the same.