Experiments [PG-13]

Eric didn't need to set up anything. He had everything planned. THis guy wasn't going to have some friendly sparring.

This kid's thristy for my blood...He wants to see me dead...

He smiled and laughed.

Everything is coming along nicely. I won't be killing anyone today. Not any superpowered kid, at least.

He took his megaphone again and turned it back on.

"Hey guys, aren't you coming? I can't believe I got stood up...It's...heartbreaking..." he said over the megaphone. His sarcastic tone could be noticed in his faux accent.

Aura headed in the direction of where Eric was. They were fairly close. As they reached the destination, or as close as they could get without climbing, she stopped, gripping her head.

"I swear Eric, if you don't turn that damn megaphone off, I will get up there and kick your face in." she screamed, her heard throbbing from how loud the voice had been.

Then she turned to Drake. "He's up there." she mumbled, pointing to the top of the building.

Drake nodded at Aura. "You don't have to come up if you don't want to. I'd prefer you not see this. You won't like it."

Drake didn't wait for her reply. He began heading up the stairs. He thought he heard rain begin to pour. Perfect setting. Almost ironic. Drake began heading up the stairs to the top.

Aura stood there for a second, but then followed after Drake. There was no way she was not going. She said she was staying for a reason, and she wasn't sticking around by herself for very long, she'd get bored.

"You can't get rid of me that easily!" she said, laughing as she went up the stairs. "I am so witnessing this, got it?" it was a rhetorical question.

Eric saw it started to rain. "Now that's fitting. Reminds me of 'The Cable Guy'" he said and smiled.

He got up and stood with his back facing the rooftop access door. Hope the two of them come up here. I'd like to have a word with both of them.

"I won't be needing this..." he said and threw his mask with his psychic powers shooting it into his bedroom. Nice shot, heheh.

Drake came over to the top. He was ready for what he was going to do. He saw Eric up there. He looked over at him, then at Aura.

"Eric, I'm here." He looked over at him. It was beginning to rain somewhat.

He looked up the sky. He then looked at his tattoo. He was ready.

Aura just crossed her arms when she reached the top. She didn't have anything to say, not that she needed to say anything to begin with, this wasn't her battle, she was just a bystander.

She realized the rain was starting, something she should have noticed earlier, with her sensitive ears. His stupid noise maker must have wacked me up a bit. she thought to herself, still keeping quiet.

"Finally..." Eric said, still staring into the city. "You know, Sparks, staring at the city from high heights really helps you with thinking."

He turned and walked around the rooftop.

"I was looking forward to our friendly match. You could see it as training, the way I see it. You could throw thunderbolts and I would dodge them...It could benefit us both." he said and paused "After doing some thinking, I decided that I won't try to kill you anymore. In fact, to prove it, I'm throwing the pipe I brought away."

He threw the pipe into the horizon with his powers and smiled. "See? I am a man of his word. Anyway, I decided having more enemies doesn't help me at all. So, what do you say we spar and let rid of some tensions?"

He turned to Aura.

"Ah, Aura, old friend. You have done as promised so far. Only one thing left to see if I can still trust you. But that's about to be seen."

Drake saw as he threw away the pipe. Drake smiled, and then sighed.

Drake almost felt bad for him. Almost. He began to speak.

"Eric...we're not going to spar. We're going to fight, and you're going to die."

With that, Drake had two electric pulses in his hands, but instead of sending them at Eric, he sent them straight for the sky. The result caused the normal rain clouds to go darker, and shoot out bolts of lightning at an incredible fast pace.

This is it, he thought. He had never tried this before, but decided to give it a shot. The lightning storm sprayed over the town, and Drake out his hands and began to harness the lightning. He had, in his hands, no longer electricity, but now lightning from a thunderstorm, which can travel at speeds of 20,000 kilometers per hour, and are hot enough to burn through rock. His hands burned a little as he harnessed this new energy. He would have one shot at them. With that, he stuck out his hands and launched the lightning right at Eric.

Eric sighed. "I knew I couldn't trust you, Sparky-boy. That lightning bolt you sent up as proof turned out to be a lie."

He paused and walked towards the edge of the building. "And Aura...I told you to tell him it was a friendly match." he said as Drake shot lightning at him. He dodged it but fell down near the edge and got up. "I see...The only way out is death. I made a mistake in trusting you. And now I have to pay the price. But I won't be giving you the joy of taking down Eric J. Jones. Goodbye fellas." he said and opened his arms. "Hope my demise haunts you forever..." he said and let himself fall off the edge of the building.

Drake sighed as Eric fell off the building. That's one down. He tried to take out his paper and mark him off, but his hands burned and were shaking. He had harnessed actual lightning from a thunderstorm in his hands, after all. He knew there would be consequences. Still, no matter how it was done, he was just glad it was done. He sat down and let the rain pour on him. The once dark rainclouds were back to just normal rainclouds. He sat there and looked at his hands. He had such immense power, and although the drawbacks were intense, he could annihilated anyone with them.

Aura blinked, unsure of exactly what just happened. So she just stood there, not moving, not even listening. After a minute, she stepped forward, dropping beside Drake.

"What just happened?" she asked, half whispering, half shaking.

After a minute of silence, she opened her bag, retrieving her hat, and putting it on her head. She pulled it down, covering her eyes, as she had done many times. She decided to block the scene out, she stopped listening.

Drake was silent. He simply got up and proceeded to walk away. They had taken care of one of them, but this was just the beginning. The three Materials in this town were left. Next was the Experiment who he saw in the forest, where he was, he didn't know. Afterward would be Luphen. And then, he would be done. At least that's all the ones he knew about. There may very well be more. Drake tensed up and headed for the house. He needed to relax his hands a bit, or they would fall apart on them. He headed down the stairs in silence.

Aura heard Drake walking, but she didn't move. She was too shocked to really do much of anything. Even after Drake's footsteps began fading, she didn't move. Finally, after a few minutes, she found herself back in reality. As soon as she did, she did the only logical think her mind could make up. She screamed. Then she started crying, wiping her eyes every few seconds, but found herself unable to stop.

After a few minutes of this, she stood to her feet and descended the stairs, knowing it would take her a few minutes or so to catch up to Drake. She ran down them, until she reached the bottom, then wiped her eyes again, but the tears weren't stopping, and neither was the rain.

When she finally reached Drake, she grabbed onto his arm, and started walking beside him, her head down. She didn't make any noises, only wiping her eyes every couple of seconds, and sniffling.

(OOC: Sorry I took so long, had to give the dog a bath.)

Drake looked down at her. "I told you you shouldn't have been there. You should have listened to me. Me? I'm used to this, but I doubted you were."

Drake was silent after the remark. He didn't want to say anything else to remind her. He walked an finally spoke again. "We're heading back to the house right now. I need rest my arms."

Drake walked silently afterwards towards the house.

Aura wiped her eyes and laughed lightly. "Yeah, well I'm notorious for not listening to others." she sniffled again. "I'll be just fine. I just, can't be alone for a little while. I'll break down if I am," she gripped his arm tighter. "You don't want to know what I do when I'm alone, and upset." she whispered.

She continued walking, her legs feeling numb. Her eyes began to dry slightly, and she swallowed a lump in her throat. "So when we get back to the house, is it okay if I stick around you, and not sit by myself?" she asked.

Drake walked silently for a while, thinking about the events that unfolded. He was shocked by the amount of energy the lightning he held in his hands possessed, and understood the dangers of it as well. His hands felt partially paralyzed, and he knew if he held on to them much longer, he would have killed himself in the process. He had to remember to write this town for future notice, seeing as his hands wouldn't operate correctly right now.

Drake heard her question and nodded in response. "Fine." He didn't mind her company. Having someone Drake didn't hate around wasn't an entirely bad thing. It beated being completely alone in some occasions.

They walked through the streets of town. The rain was soothing to him. He had always liked the rain. It felt like a cleansing to him. They reached the house.

When they reached the house, Aura let go of Drake's arm, and crossed her arms across her chest. She entered the house and dropped her bag on the floor. She contemplated tossing her hat down too, but figured for the time being, it would be better to keep it on, just in case she started crying again.

She laughed a little, wiping her eyes until she had, momentarily, stopped crying. "You know Drake, despite what just happened, I'm glad I decided to stay." she said, doing her best at smiling.

Drake watched her as he went inside. His mind was preoccupied. He then silently walked inside and observed the dark room. His eyes moved from feature to feature before observing her again. He let out a sigh and looked at his shaking, burning hands. The pain was pretty bad, so he decided to ignore it for now something he often did. He heard her speak, and turned to her again.

"Glad? How can you be glad? You were never supposed to be here when you first broke out of the Corp. You came here with me on a deal we made. You're not supposed to be friendly with me or smile or laugh. You were supposed to be more of a prisoner, not a..." He stopped himself. He just sat down on the old couch and watched the rain in silence for a moment. "How can you be glad? You're so..." He paused for a second to find the right word, "...interesting."

Aura wiped her eyes again, and walked over to Drake, sitting beside him. "I've been called worse." she laughed dryly, and sniffled. "I have to be glad, I have to look on the bright side, to keep myself from falling into a dark hole. I did that right after the incident last year. I think, I think I've just dug myself out of the hole, I don't want to go back. So I'm just being glad that I'm here, with you. That I'm okay. That you're okay. " she stopped to wipe her eyes, starting to cry again.

"Why am I still crying?" she pulled her hat down again, hiding her eyes and tears, still trying to push them back.