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Who: Asch, Luke, and their Shadows.
What: FINAL SHOWDOWN
When: November 28th
Where: Streets of Prospero, Dark Hour.
Rating: Let's call it safe and say PG-13.
Warning: Violence, and Asch being grumpy.

As midnight approached, Asch was in his room, on his bed, taking inventory of himself. His only weapon, the good old trusty pipe, was polished almost like he would a sword. He almost wished his sword had followed him to this world, but it seemed only the dreck had luck enough for that; yet another thing that had him irritated, but he forced the rage down for now. There would be time enough for him to be pissed off, like when he set out to finally decapitate that fake that was parading around as him!

...well, maybe not decapitate, but he'd certainly give the fake a hell of a headache.

Three minutes to midnight. Asch grasped his pipe firmly in his hand, letting out a breath before standing up, walking out of the apartment. He glanced at the door across the hall, before turning around to lock up.

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Asch let out a faint sound as he saw his replica free himself. As much as he hated to admit it, it seemed like the idiot had grown a spine some time in the months between them. He flicked his eyes back over to his Shadow, who was returning his counterpart's smile with a faint smirk. He let out an irritable noise, forgetting the faint voice in the back of his head as he pointed his pipe at his other self.

"Do I really need to say it?" he demanded, drawing the Shadow's attention back to him. "I'd never work with that pathetic idiot; not willingly!"

Luke's shadow merely got up once Asch started to speak. Retrieving the Key to Lorelei and advancing toward his original. Eyes glowing brightly, but stopping at the halfway mark.

""

That drew the other shadow's attention away. "Will you be patient, you stupid dreck? Yours hasn't even--"

The shadow cut himself off as Asch suddenly charged at him, letting out a battle cry as he took a cheap shot at his shadow's head. The other Asch stumbled away, holding onto his head as a trickle of blood appeared, worming its way down his face. He smirked, before slamming against the real Asch, forgetting about the Lukes and instead focusing on him.

Luke took that as a perfect opportunity to catch his shadow off-guard. Just enough to where it could be caught off it's feet again, and unable to defend itself. First thing was first, though. He had to take the Key of Lorelei from him, so that he'd be rendered useless, and unable to use his artes. ... Or something. Nothing could stop the shadow from using Radiant Howl.

Oh well. It was worth a shot, when Luke rushed into his own shadow and pinned it against one of the convenient coffins within the vicinity of the two. The shadow; attempting to free itself from the grip of his original whilst grabbing the Key to help him stab whatever the hell was trying to stop it from advancing.

"You aren't me! There's no way that you can be me!"

Then it heard those words. Stopping in it's tracks, and staring at the original Luke with a flat and dry stare. ... That it. Well. Until it's eyes reflected off the moonlight, and the yellow pupils glowed even more golden.

"" The flat stare turned into an outright beam. First at Luke, then at Asch's shadow. Waiting for the signal that they could finally kill them.

The shadow Asch relented their weapon lock, making the real one come within grabbing range. He grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, tossing him toward the real Luke in order to get him off his shadow counterpart. Poor Asch toppled headfirst into said dreck, landing with him in a nice pile a few feet away.

Shadow Asch stepped toward them, that demented grin on his face as he nodded to Shadow Luke, indicating that he should get on the other side of them.

"Such a shame you can't accept who you are~" he sneered at the two originals. "We're going to have to kill you now..."

The shadow takes that indication with a smile and trots over to the other side so that neither of them have a chance at escaping. If anything, he has the key readied for a nice Lost Fon Drive to their faces once orders were given.

Luke on the other hand, seems to still be recovering from that sudden Asch missle that was thrown at him out of no where. Even so, he tried to be a cushion, rather than push the original off.

"Damn it.." Meaning Ow. That really fucking hurt more than that radiant howl to his ass. "Asch, can you move?" He wants to know so that they can do something about this and not be sitting ducks.

"Of course I can move," Asch grunted irritably, shifting so he wasn't sitting on the idiot's lap. Still, he couldn't see any way out of this; the other Asch was already raising his sword, fonons gathering somehow as he began his Mystic Arte, and he had no doubt that the other Luke wouldn't be too far behind. Sitting ducks was an understatement; they were going to be roasted ducks.

Asch flinched painfully, holding onto his head. It had started hurting when he heard that voice, whispering faintly in the back of his mind. Now it was just throbbing in pain, and he had a feeling it didn't have anything to do with his shadow...

DAMN YOU, STUPID BOY! Let me free already!

Asch let out a confused grunt at that, blinking in mild shock. What the hell...?

This is the part where Luke really wished Messiah had an attack spell, or something that would be a distraction for them, so that they could attack, or perhaps run away. Either way, they were roasted ducks, or so Luke thought until his shadow lowered his weapon and tilted his had at the Asch who seemed to be, or looked to be having a bad migraine of some sort.

""

The Shadow Asch frowned down at the real thing, as if he couldn't understand why he was already in pain. Asch returned the frown with a smirk, reaching out his hand... and then it finally dawned on the shadow what was going on.

"No, you idiot!" he shouted at Luke's shadow as he lowered his sword. "Kill them n--"

He didn't get to finish. The air seemed to charge around them as Asch stumbled to his feet, wincing in pain. It felt like something was trying to rip out of his skull... was this what it was like for Luke? Whatever, it didn't matter; if this thing in his head would help them, then to hell with the pain that came with it.

"Thanatos!"

Darkness loomed up behind Luke's shadow... and he had about a minute to move before something tall, dark, and creepy cleaved him in two.

Before the shadow could even register Asch's words, he saw a shadow hovering over him. One that was clearly not human, and one that intended to kill him on the spot. He couldn't allow that! Not until he killed Luke, or Luke accepted him! Despite that, he takes the hit, and blood from the shadow trickles down to the crimson floor beneath them.

For some odd reason, this Luke seems much more surprised to see it's own blood dripping off it's body. Almost like a trigger had set off in the back of his head that screamed to murder the two red-heads standing in front of them.

That is, until emerald meets emerald, and his original catches him off-guard and rams him to the floor so that he's on top and pinning him down with the Key of Lorelei. NO WAY MAN. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO FREAKING LOST FON DRIVE ME INTO A ROASTED DUCK. I AM NOT TURNING INTO CHRISTMAS DINNER --

"What are you both looking for?! Acceptance?! Is that what you want?!" CAUSE HE IS ABOUT TO FREAKING LOSE HIS DAMN MIND AND TURN YOU TWO INTO CURED HAM. Hurr get it. Dia + roasting = cured ham :D???

Thanatos settled behind the real Asch as he glanced at his replica practically tackling his shadow. Well, he really did have a spine! And it didn't just come out at random, inconvenient times. He'd have to compliment him on that... well, without making it look like a compliment. Anyway.

Asch turned his focus away from the replicas, smirking at his shadow. He hated to have something do the fighting for him, but given his current state, there wasn't much he could do.

"Don't get used to this," he muttered back to Thanatos. The Persona seemed to let out a faint, mocking grunt, the coffins of its cloak clanking together as he moved.

"" The shadow was trying to reach for the key so he could roast his original to a crisp. But Luke already knew that he was trying to do, so he kicked it away so he could get a word in. It was hard to, since the shadow was squirming so much, but he stood his ground. Easing into what he was going to say, because looking beyond the shadow's eyes...? It was sad, with a pinch of crazy.

"Shut up. I have something to say to you." Wow, he was starting to become Asch all of a sudden, but he had to say this. At least... He agreed with a few points that the shadow brought up when he overheard him talking.

"You're nothing like me. ... But that's because you're a part of me that I tried to hide away from everyone else.

From Tear. From Guy. From... everyone." Luke stood, and removed the The Key where it was being used as a stake of some sort to keep his shadow down. "You're right. What you say... You're right. That is how I feel sometimes. About Asch, about Akzieriuth, about my place in Auldrant.

You're the part of me that I still hide so no one has to deal with that kind of burden on their shoulder.

You're sad, aren't you? You're the sad part of me that doesn't want to exist..."

With a smile, Luke leaned down to his shadow and offered a hand to him. "I get it now. I'm sorry I've locked you away for so long. Can you forgive me?"

When the hand was offered, all the shadow did was stare at the hand like a foreign object. Unsure what to do, because he never had to make a decision by himself. He was always waiting for Asch's orders, or his approval... Which was a problem that the original Luke had before he'd grown a backbone.

"We're both... here. For a reason. So let's be friends... Okay? We have a reason for existing."

Again, it stared. Hesitating, hesitating... Until he took his original's hand with a smile of his own. One that was purely genuine and no longer had a crazed hint behind his eyes, nor the smile he had given both before. He felt that he was accepted, but he felt that he couldn't leave just yet because he wanted to leave with Asch. Not by himself.

He stepped back. Having no intention of causing the original anymore harm.

Edited 2011-12-10 21:16 (UTC)

Asch... yes, Asch...

If the swearing, clanging, and just all around bitching was any indication, Asch's battle with his inner self was just not going well at all. Both Shadow and Original were sporting their own host of cuts and bruises, though obviously the Shadow was suffering from more bruises as he was being piped at every opportunity.

Clearly, Asch wasn't going to be accepting himself any time soon, the way things were going.

"Can't spit it out, can you?!" the shadow demanded, barely heard over Asch slamming his pipe against his sword. "No wonder we're the one that ends up dead! You can't even admit that what's standing in front of you is a part of you!"

"SHUT UP!" Asch bellowed, shoving against the Shadow as hard as he could, sending him tumbling over.

Oh man. You know that thing where you don't want to interfere and all? That was happening to Luke right now. Unsure of what to do, or what to even say. One thing was clear --

"Asch! You have to accept him! He's a part of you!" Those were the only words that he seemed to have thought of. Seeing that he was merely on the side lines now that him and his shadow were watching as the two clashed.

Both Asch's managed to pause their fight, turning to Luke at the same time, and...

"SHUT UP, DRECK!"

Of course, that had to be about the only thing the two of them agreed on. Still, it seemed to spawn another argument between the two of them, as the original Asch struck out against his shadow, piping him rather hard in the side.

"Shut up! He's my replica! Only I'll call him dreck!"

"... See if I try to help next time." JERKS. Only Luke really doesn't mean that. If anything, he's pouting at the two for yelling at him. Of course, it drops a few moments later after Asch's proclamation. Which seemed to strike a reaction from both replicas.

"Asch..."

The shadow Asch stumbled from the blow, glaring at the original and returning the strike with the flat of his blade. Asch swore as he also stumbled, soon finding the point of the shadow's blade in his face.

"You damn hypocrite!" the shadow bellowed. "You can call him 'your' replica, but you can't even admit to the fact that the reason I exist is because of him?!"

"That's not--!"

"Like hell it isn't!" the shadow raged, cutting Asch off. "Tell him! Tell him what Van said to you before you arrived at Yulia City!"

Asch froze, his face paling for a moment, before the rage came back. He narrowed his eyes at his shadow, tightening his grip on the pipe.

"No! It's none of his business, and none of yours either!"

Luke wouldn't miss that. He wouldn't miss those important words that Asch's shadow just said. After all, he wasn't aware of what Van said to Asch exactly... He never knew, either.

"What's he talking about, Asch?" Luke knows that he just said it was none of his damn business. However, quite frankly, it did become his business ever since they ran into their shadows.

Asch opened his mouth to snap at him, but his Shadow cut him off before he could.

"Don't you tell him off," he snapped. "Tell him about everything you went through. How Van was there to manipulate you when you were at your most vulnerable! How you kept wanting to believe in him even though it was obvious what was happening!"

Asch hesitated, fighting with himself. It wasn't fair; he didn't want all of his baggage out in the open for everyone to see. It was no one's business but his own. And yet...

And yet...

The Shadow lowered his sword finally, calmer now.

"Tell him," he said softly. "He deserves to hear it from you and you know it."

With a breath in, Luke trails over to the original with a soft expression on his face. He knows -- He knows it might not be the easiest thing. Revealing skeletons in the closet and what not, right in front of someone who was the cause of it all.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Asch." Reaching up, he squeezed Asch's shoulder with a nod, and a smile of comfort. He'd understand why, of course. Seeing that when his secrets were leaked, he didn't like it either.

Asch shot the replica a miserable glare, before turning away, keeping his focus on his Shadow.

"...that time on the Tartarus wasn't the first time I saw you," he began, speaking softly. "I saw you when I was ten, not long after you were created." He refused to say that Luke was "born". A birth was supposed to be a happy thing, and there was nothing happy about the way the replica had been brought into existence. "You were at the manor playing with everyone... I didn't know what to think, but Van was there. He told me I had been replaced, and..."

He trailed off a moment, clenching his fist. "...I was ten years old. What the hell else was I supposed to think?!" he demanded, but it seemed more like he was asking himself than Luke. It was a moment before he continued, "Van was always there, he always had the answers. Considering he saved me from being just another victim of the Score, I wasn't going to object."

Asch paused again, shaking slightly. "It was always, if I followed him, I'd be a hero. A hero that changed the fate of the world. He said that to me again... when Akzeriuth fell."

He stopped then, giving the shadow an irate glare, as if to say, "Happy now?"

Luke listened thoughtfully at his original. Not saying a word. Nothing at all until the very end, when he still couldn't think about anything to say. I mean, what could you say when you're the very reason he's feeling this way? Nothing seemed right at the moment, and his eyes trailed back to Asch's shadow, then back at Asch. Serious, but ever so caring, because, even if Asch didn't like him, he cared for Asch.

He was responsible for a lot of things wrong in Asch's life, but he wasn't going to run away from everything either.

"I'm sorry, Asch." All he could do was apologize. This was Asch's battle now. It wasn't his, so it all came up to Asch's decisions whether or not he could accept his shadow. "I know you must be hurting inside. It's my fault after all."

Turning his head toward the shadow. "But that's no reason to reject what you're hiding, Asch. We all have things we want to hide from everyone, but we don't have to be ashamed of it."

This is probably gonna sound silly. Since, even Luke finds himself chuckling with a bit of a sad expressing lingering.

"You're a hero to us." Seeing that you died a heroic death and what not. You saved him, saved everyone if it weren't for his power and everything.

Asch let out a faint scoff at Luke's words, though he didn't interrupt him. He remained silent for a long moment, until his replica said that. He glared at him, wanting to be pissed, but it sounded so innocent when he said it that he couldn't be too mad at him. Still, considering how far in Luke's past Asch was from, he couldn't understand why he would say that.

"How the hell am I a hero, especially to you?" he asked. "I beat the hell out of you and insult you at every opportunity."

Having Asch know the future-- It was probably better for him. It was going to happen, whether Luke liked it or not. Besides -- There were times even before Asch's dead and post-death that Asch saved them numerous times. Luke didn't care about the insults, or regular beat downs now. All that he knew was...

"You saved us. More than once, Asch." Chuckling again, he scratched the back of his head. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have made it to the end.

You're always going to be a hero to me, Asch. I know that much is sure."

Another soft sound escaped from Asch, though it wasn't a scoff that time. Dammit, how the hell did something so... sweet come from him? He wasn't sure if he should snap at him for making his teeth rot, or... actually... thank him for saying that...

Unfortunately, his shadow was there, a sneer on his face as he pointed to him mockingly.

"I think you defrosted the ice queen with that, dreck."

Asch let out an awkward noise, red creeping up onto his face. "S-shut up, idiot!"

"You don't have to say anything to me, Asch." Luke wanted to let him know, and that was that.

So, that being said, Luke takes a step back and smile at his original. Waiting for his decision.

Asch glanced back at Luke, the expression on his face as mixed as his emotions at the moment. Finally, he let out a tired sigh, turning back to his Shadow.

"Fine," he began. "I... I hate myself. I hate the fact that I was too blinded by my childhood vision of Van to see what he was doing earlier. I hate that I bought into his lies for so long, and I hate that it makes me look like my replica."

He fell quiet for a long moment, eyes flicking reluctantly back to Luke, before muttering reluctantly, "...though I guess that doesn't turn out to be a bad thing."

His shadow let out a faint snort, his expression calming as he stepped forward, resting a hand on the real Asch's shoulder.

"You don't need to hate so much," he said softly. "It just hurts too much to hate like that."

Asch didn't respond, though he nodded slightly in agreement.

Luke half smiled, because of thought that Asch was insulting him with that first bit. Then the second bit rolled in, and that half smiled turned into a much more genuine; comforting smile. Very happy that his original agreed with his shadow, and that the two, if anything, have a possible chance of rebuilding and fixing what they couldn't before. It was a nice feeling, really.

Such a nice feeling, that, whatever Luke was feeling was rubbing off on his shadow. Seeing that his twisted smile, also dropped to something that was accepting of the two of them. Of course, he turned to Luke and stopped right in front of him, now that their time was finished.

"Asch is Asch. Luke is Luke.

You two exist for a reason. You have a meaning to your births, so you're not a replacement. You two are separate people. ... Try to remember that, Luke." Then turning to Asch. "Asch."

The shadow, for once, smiled from pure innocence and backed away to be closer to Asch's shadow.

The Asch Shadow clapped a hand on his Luke's shoulder when he got close enough, giving it a squeeze.

"Take care of each other," he added. "You need each other more than you realize."

He gave the shadow replica a grin, as if to say, "Shall we?" before quietly fading away, returning to the place he belonged.

A nod, and the shadow fades along with Asch. Happily, might I add.

... Luke on the other hand felt like he just had a million heart-attacks at how close they both were to becoming roasted dinner for Christmas.

"... That was a close one." Not that he didn't mean every word that he said, but seriously. That was a freaking close one.

Asch didn't respond, looking surprisingly somber, something that wasn't exactly common for him. After a moment, he turned away from where his Shadow had been, sparing Luke a glance.

"...let's go home."

Nodding, he walked over to Asch and smiled. Half surprised at his lack of yelling, and half happy that things were finally over, and maybe they could just start over again and be friends. Or something of that tier.

"Yeah. It's getting late." Reaching over to his original and squeezing his shoulder for good measure.

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PFFTT SO TELL ME IF I SHOULD EDIT THIS BECAUSE HHHH

You're fine! HAVE MORE CONFIDENCE, DRECK!

askjdsajd OKAY OKAY

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I was gonna quote karma-- Okay I'm doing it screw this

LMAO!

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