"Arrggh, shit sucks. Activate .. activate emergency protocol. Ondo.. that is not right. Alpha protocol. No that is wrong!" He had to push Tifa away as he started to take in her feelings. They were all over the place. Something about Riku and Shun. "Can't be."
"You ok?" A Flight Enginneer asked.
"Activate Emergency Protocol anti Indoctrination!" Azul grumbled as he turned to go back into the hanger bay. His mind already shifting to his darker thoughts.
Azul needed off the ship. Away from everyone. He shifted to his Nether World. He was in the area that was building starships. Until the actual ship was purchased or till it arrives, this is where the fighters were made and maintained.
"Where are you going?" Tifa asked. She didnt hear what he said fully.
"To Omega to get some prostitutes," Azul said not looking at her. "I am dangerously horny, and the women in my life are not interested in sex right now. I am. Hookers, booze, just like Life needs to be." He shook his head fighting against the influence. "I want that right now. No! Need it right now." His body shook violently as power radiated off him. "Ugh, that is not right. I want to kill right now. Just for the sake of killing it will be fun. Fresh blood for.. ugh.. what the hell is going on?"
Visions of bathing blood played in his mind. Running through a field of corpses. A wave of never-ending battle.
"What is wrong with you?" Tifa asked.
"I want to do things. I need to do all the things I have been suppressing." Azul tapped against his head. The blows so strung he broke flesh and cracked his ckull. But the power he displayed healed it in nanoseconds. "Bad thoughts! Bad bad bad. I need to suppress them. Lock it all back up." He hit against his head and the helmet actually broke off from the force. "No need to suppress. I have money. Money lets me do things.. yes.. yes." His eyes hazed over pink and red.
"So you are just gonna pay for it?" Ruma asked. "Makes sense for it. But then again, you never did before. Which is weird. Maybe just go to the consort on the ship. I am pretty sure she can help you with that problem."
"Yup pay for it. Easier, no hang-ups. No attachments. Fuck and kill maybe. Torbin wanna come with me to use some women as things and shoot our baby batter everywhere?" Then catching on to what Ruma said he stopped and struggled. Azul thought about that, then dismissed it. "Nah I dont want to have to deal with any crap on the ship after if she regrets it."
"Are you serious?" Torbin looked on with his eyebrow raised. "It sounds like a trap. Is this a trick question?"
"No." Azul started walking away. "Nope, you have been doing fine. Just time to let loose already." Stopping, his voice changed. He pointed at Torbin. "Just no drugs for you. Bad things drugs yes.. yes. Really bad. Kills people. Killed my brother. He's dead now. Dead for centuries. So are my parents dead for centuries? All of them dead. They are the lucky ones." Azul's eyes turned green and blue as he spoke in a language none of them understood.
"Wow, he's serious..." Torbin looked around and saw everyone's displeased face. "So what happened? Did he get hit with some Red Sand or something?"
"Complicated... Yeah, that's the right word for it." Tifa said. "I think he is experiencing something odd. I tried using the Esuna spell on him. It did nothing. My powers are not even working on him either."
Azul walked and finally made it to a fighter after some effort. He started toggling switches on the fighter. His thoughts were getting worse as he did so. He was frustrated, dangerously frustrated. Rambling about incoherent things.
"Get down from there!" Tifa yelled. He ignored her. "Can we talk this out?"
"Go ahead and speak." Azul didnt look at her as his Pather power pulled several thoughts she kept from him. They were very confusing. His eyes flashed in malice looking her over. "You are hiding things from me. Bad bad bad apprentice. Why you treat me this way?"
Tifa instinctively backed away. She immediately tried to brace and push the thoughts away.
"It cant be that bad right?" Chari asked him. She was trying to get his interest from Tifa who started moving back a little more. "You are acting strange."
"Let's see. Both Mileuda and Tietra just wanted to stay in there World. They dont want to have sex till we are married. They won't marry me till they get a lot accomplish there. So yeah.. no, its bad. Oh and Tietra is really mad at me. Agria is not there. Not here in this life. Not fair. Not fair at all." Azul's Pather Power swelled. It pulled in the psychic echoes from the area. "Miranda is doing god knows what. Not answering personal emails. So I dont even know if she is safe. Kind of sucks not knowing if a friend is dead or alive. Oh yeah and Riku is fucking Shun! I am not that kool headed that I can just get over she is not my Riku that easy."
"They will come around Azul," Chari said in huff. "As for Riku and Shun.. shit I have nothing to say about that."
"Come around come around. Always come around. Never here now when I need them. Bad bad bad. I should just kill them. It would be so easy to. Kill them before they hurt me. Before they hurt me again. Everyone always hurts me. No one likes little Azul. I need my own little sandbox to play in. Away from all the bad people. That way I can stab them when they get close. Have to be Cunning and Sneaky." Shaking his head, Azul corrected himself. "No no no, it is Sneaky and Cunning. Be the one before the other yes yes?"
His confusion was getting worse. His speech turning in reverse as he fought back. Sweat poured down his face mixing with blood.
"Holyshit! Is he having a breakdown?" Candace asked looking up. She had a wrench in her hand. "Keep him talking. That way, at least he isn't to angry. "
"Azul it is gonna be ok." Kasumi/Alita said appearing. "He has been drugged by a User. He has to burn it out or else. Keep him talking."
"Azul stop being a ninny and get down here!" Torbin yelled. He looked at the others and felt he said the wrong thing. "Did I mess up?"
"Maybe..." Tifa said. "Come on Azul, listen to Torbin. He can be your Vergil."
"Eat a bag of Chocobo dicks Tifa! He is not Vergil. Vergil is Vergil. He is not here. Neither is Auron. We were supposed have a blade competition. Test of swordsmanship." Telling her off, he felt something shift in him. He grabbed at his skin and started scratching. A few pox marks appeared before vanishing. "Ahh no Proto Man either. Not in the shop. Cant buy them. All gone. Dead dead dead. Not here, so it is right. Same as dead. Cant Pull them again. The System is picking on me. Take away my good things. Take away my bros. Take away the trust I earned with people. But leaves me with treacherous things. The Administration wants me to be a good boy. I dont know how to be a good boy. Know how to be neutral. Be a chaotic neutral. Do what I want when I feel like yes yes? Do what I want for Chaos!"
"Just get down and calm down till the shot wears off." Chari said. "What the hell is this Chaos shit!?"
"No! Stop telling me what to do!" Azul felt his pulse quicken. His Dragon did not like being bossed around. "I dont have Agria to talk to, I dont have Adon, I dont have any of the Eldar to talk with. Hell, Kasumi is busy somewhere and I cant talk to her. To top it off I cant even spend time with Lluvia after almost losing her. And Galtea is hiding something from me. Sneaky little thing. Reminds me off Hobbits. I hate Hobbits. Hate Gnomes to. They steal and are so tiny!"
"I am right here Azul," Kasumi said trying to get his attention. He looked around but didnt see her. "His eyes are completely white. Is he blind or what?"
'He is not blind. Something is feeding off the drug and messing with his mind. It is hiding you from his sight.' Alita told her.
"So you are just gonna go bang some hoes?" Dark Samus questioned. "I think I like this side of him. Seems... not uptight."
"Yup. Hopefully, I can get in a fight as well. I mean its Omega after all. I might pick a fight with Aria T'Loak to test my luck. Might even run into Mordins assistant. Kidnap him and take all his research material. He has good research. Kill the Batarians while there. Filthy Batarians. There name is stupid. I should make a virus bomb and wipe them out. I dont like them. Kill what I dont like makes it easier. The jellyfishes got to go. Stupid talk about Enkindlers. There are no Enklinders. Dumb race. Cut up and make sushi." Azul paused as he turned to throw up. Nothing but his own blood came out. It burned and disintegrated into ash. "I hate sushi! Smells bad. No sushi." He started clawing at his tongue.
"Splat!" His strength was to trong. Azul ripped it out but it healed instantly.
"This isn't you. Just calm down." Riku said arriving with Shun.
"I am calm. My Dragon wants to fuck, my Devil wants to fuck and kill, I want to fuck and kill. Sounds like a plan to me." Azul's eyes started to return to normal. "Ugh.. what the hell?!"
"How about we spar?" Shun asked after getting told the situation.
"Cant to cray-cray for that right now. Might kill you by mistake." Azul turned to look at them. The images reappearing in his head as his Pather power latched onto him. He felt Riku's touch on Shun. Cutting the connection his power started to climb up again. "No, kill you on purpose. It will feel good to do so. I have thought about killing you. I want to kill you! It sounds fun!"
"Azul get down!" Shun said. "It doesn't have to be like this. You can not take off like this. You will kill people."
"Its Omega.. they are not really people. Fith and trash." Smacking his head brought back a little clarity. "No .. a few good people there.. A few .. good ones.. right?"
"I really think he should go there." Ruma said in a murmur. "Or take him to Tuchanka."
"Besides I will bring some Order there. That should help. You keep talking to me I might consider you not to be people and cut your head off and mount it on my ship." Azul tapped the panel again. It was not responding to him. "Bass, unlock the controls now."
Bass: Can't do that. Under orders not to let you leave the ship.
"Yeah, you follow my orders. Disregard who told you not to let me leave."
Bass: Galtea's orders. Hands are tied.
"Who the hell is the person in charge here? I paid for this ship. Now unlock the controls!"
Bass: No.
"That's it. Get out of my damn Node then. Now Bass!" Azul grabbed at the back of his neck. His Flame Fist started to manifest before fizzling out. "I am gonna rip your disobedient ass out of there!"
"You know he cant. Stop. Dont rip it out!" Tifa yelled. "You will seriously hurt both of you at this rate!"
"Rahh!" Azul smashed the console and jumped out the craft. "Damn disobedient piece of crap!" He started walking to a shuttle next. Tifa jumped in front of him. He stared at her dangerously. She would be a really good fight. Shaking his head to push the thoughts away. "Seriously move out the way.."
"Cant do that. You will rip Omega apart in your current condition. You are angry. To angry to spare people. Isn't that what this about? Just relax and..."
"I am relaxed!" Azul said coldly. "I am trying to go unwind and you are in my way. What are you hiding from me Tifa!?" He started to get angry at her now. The more she tried to hide, the angrier he became. His paranoia was still under the influence and feeding off it. With so many people hiding things, it was getting worse.
"You are not a party person. This is not you." Chari said.
"Yeah well, people change. That is what I noticed from all of you." Azul said shrugging. Tifa was still in front of him. "Tch, I will use force if necessary. You know this."
"I rather you didnt," Tifa said calmly. She was ready to fight him if she had to. Her Pather power started growing because of their proximity. He was lashing out. Then she realized she helped power it up when she touched him.
"Andromeda Chains!" Shun had used his chains and wrapped Azul up in the air. "I can use force if necessary to."
"Bad move welp!" Azul said gritting his teeth. His Devil power already fighting against the chains. "I will give you a single chance Shun. Let me go, or face the dangers when this is over. I swear to that false goddess you follow, I will kill you when the first chance arises."
"Let him go Shun!" Alita said running over to them. She seperated from Kasumi. She looked tired. "He is not joking." Sniffing the air let her know he was getting ready to turn into a dragon.
"We cannot let him go and.." Riku started to say. Then she felt the magic leave from Azul. "Oh no.."
"Raaaahhh!" Azul roared sending all of them flying away. Oddly enough, Candace, Torbin, and Chari remained fine. Everyone else was sent back. Changing into his Dragon form he towered over them. He didnt need to flap his wings, as the abundant magic in his Nether World fed into him. Moving his snout over, he breathed onto the three giving them some magic.
"Woosh!" Azul swiped his claw out sending Shun flying into the sky.
"Thump!" Riku had run over and caught him in the air falling flat on the ground on her butt.
"Fwap!" Flapping his wings sent a gust at the two. They rolled on the ground.
"Hmph!" Azul snorted clear fire from his nose. Seeing the two hold each other, caused his scales to rattle. The magic started to gather inside his spine from the surroundings. He was absorbing the biotic strands from everyone present. "Traitors all of you! The Keeper of secrets sees all yes!" Reeling back, he fired a torrent of flame into the air. The sky lit up absorbing the magic.
"Holy shit its a dragon!" Torbin stared dumbfounded. "I didnt believe till now. Oh shit! Its a dragon. Oh, shit its an angry dragon!" Looking around he saw Alita just breathing heavily. "You ok?"
"Oh yes. More than ok. Thanks for asking." Alita smiled never taking her eyes away from Azul. "I want to see him kill someone. Just ripped them apart with his claws. Or better yet, his teeth. Look at those scales. So pretty and dangerous. I wanna fight him!"
"You can not fight him like that," Lluvia said when she appeared. "He can actually kill you easily. Something inside is giving him a major power boost."
"Even more reason to fight him then." Alita took a step forward. She then felt Galtea appear and pick her up. "Hey! Let me go! I am just gonna go a few rounds with him." Looking at the other's face, she started sulking. "Bunch of spoilsports."
"Ha..ha.. that was a lot of power," Tifa said coming over. "Why didnt they fall or get hit?"
"They are not hiding anything from him. Something you want to share Tifa?" Galtea questioned.
"Nope." Tifa immediately turned away. "He's got Shun. His tail is going for Riku."
Reaching her hand out she used Mental Cleasning to give him a little clarity. "Drop him!" Lluvia said. She was already walking over to Azul as he obeyed. "Take this. It will fix the issue." He turned back into his normal state quite quickly. The Biotic Strands she as sending out showed him nothing but peaceful scenes.
"Alright." Azul popped the orb in his mouth without any issue. His hands went around her. He felt a jolt of pain come from her biotic strands next. It was from Lluvia it wouldn't be anything bad. "Gulp, taste weird. What was that?"
"A nerve agent to put you to sleep. Best way to do the surgery you will need to consolidate your power more."
"What!?" He got the chance to say with clarity. Before he was out cold. "No night night."
"Bring him to medical. Make sure he gets the treatment he needs. And keep him sedated!" Lluvia yelled at the end. "She looked to Riku and Shun. "Look, I dont know what you two were trying to pull but stop. If you are togethor that's fine. But dont flaunt it."
"We are not togethor. He just.. I dont know. Trying to get him to realize I am not his Riku. We did not flaunt it!"
"Right, have you tried telling him that first." Lluvia walked away.
"Shun, are you ok?" Chari asked. "He really wanted to kill you."
"Yeah. I will be fine. But that hate is eating him up inside. He will lose it soon. Like really soon."
"Do not worry about it," Quistis said walking over to them. "I am taking him to my World while he recovers here. If he comes back still like this.. well. You all should leave. I know who he will kill first."
"Oh and that would be who?" Riku asked.
"You. Before all this happen Riku, you were the one who pushed him the most. From what I remember, you never had the chance to get togethor before Indigo messed it all up. In fact, you were supposed to get married."
"Right but..."
"You dont have the feelings he does. But not enough time for him to get over that part. Remember he thought about you for a few centuries. Along with Mileena and Hotshot. Mileena is not here period. Hotshot is here but they are just getting to know each other that way." Quistis walked away a little before stopping in front of a Rift. "Do not worry on that part Riku. I will make sure he forgets all about you in that way. I promise."
"Woom!" The Rift closed.
"Well.. that was intense." Shun said. "Does she have feelings for him?" He asked Tifa.
"Well... I think so. But she never got the chance to really explore that avenue last time. In fact, they just talked and had fun togethor. Pretty platonic actually. Same as with me." Tifa rocked on her feet.
"Same as you.. right." Kasumi teased. "I bet."
"Same as you miss best friend. Why did you get knocked back? What are you keeping from him?" Tifa questioned.
"The same thing you are hiding," Kasumi smirked. She then looked to Riku and Shun. "So.. you two. Here is the thing. I will kill you both if you do some shit like that again. Shun you have strength but you dont use it. It will be very easy for me to sneak up and kill you. I can even get Alita to help. As for you Riku.. just be happy he will help save your World still."
"How do you figure that?"
"Because he promised. And the idiot always keeps his promise. Even if it will get him killed or hurt." Kasumi responded deadpanned.
"Wait why are you not upset with her that much?" Shun asked with a lopsided smile.
"Because I can forgive her a little bit. I know her behavior for the most part. But you, dont you know that guy code thing?" Seeing Shun shake his head no, Kasumi laughed. "Hah, you really are a girl more than a boy. Well, you two have fun. Bye-bye. I am going to inform Hotshot. That way she does not try to kill all of you later."
"Shun come with me," Torbin said. "I think you need to learn a little bit of regular life. Heard you were trained like a monk or some shit. Explain that to me." They walked off in a different direction.
"So Galtea, did the plan work correctly?" Tifa asked.
"Hmm yes, it did. The Rift opened to allow the Rachni to escape to Feros with Benezia. The fakes used in her place with John Shepard worked fine. I rather not try that again. Using so many resources to trick the World that souls were in different places is exhausting work."
"At least we know it can work. Might come in handy when we are fighting against the will of the World." Tifa smiled at the woman before pausing. She reached her hand out touching Galtea in shock. "You are in pain. What is the matter?"
"The link we share allowed me to feel what he was going through. It is good the others are not high enough level to have gone through that." Galtea smiled sadly. "But then again, it will get better for a while."
"Why did you two wait so long to help us?" Tifa stepped in front of her. "You each had something you were hiding as well didnt you?" Galtea nodded in response. "Tell me?"
"Very well. Oh, the ship is leaving the Citadel for a bit. We will return around the time he wakes up. No one really left the ship but him and his ground team. So make a shopping list for when we get back."
For the next few hours, they talked in a corner of the Nether World. They all thought Azul would be out for a few days. They could not be more wrong. When he took the nerve agent here. His mind tapped onto his other in Tactics. Instead of wasting time there, he went to visit Quistis. Something called him there. It was something pleasant and he defintely wanted that right now.