Celly pounded against the mental wall that bound her in the scrambled and torn place she called her mind. So close... so close... she was so close but Terra had slapped her away. Celly was just about screaming in frustration. From her vantage point, Celly could see what was happening beyond the fight with Susanne. She could see how everything had erupted into mayhem and general chaos. She could see beyond her counterpart's tunnel vision and take in the other events. Mercy and Meredith--no, Rapath, were fighting it out just down the street. Mercy was on the losing end when Nyx came out of no where and faced off against Rapath instead. The Otaku whose name she didn't know had woken up from her forced unconsciousness, and willingly leaped into the fray, trying to attack Nyx, but was cut off by Mercy. Anaera had reappeared as well, throwing herself into the fight. Nyx was on some sort of warpath, fighting on two fronts, and holding her own though starting to fare badly. Celly couldn't stand to see her allies... her friends... in such dire circumstances. Then Remy wandered into the midst of the chaos. Celly wanted to scream out for her friend to leave, but the energy blasts flew thick. Remy didn't even have any offensive powers! She was an empath! How was she supposed to protect herself?!? Celly burned against the injustice. She pounded and pushed against the mental barrier. A bout of energy and resolve flowed through her. She slammed her whole conscience into the mental wall.

And she fell through.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The battle against Hotohori no Otaku was hard going. They were evenly matched, yet now their positions had changed. Celly's stomach wound had healed enough to not be a nuisance, but the other Otaku was bleeding and wounded enough to make her slip. But the fighting between the two was relentless. They pounded attacks into each other, headless of the carnage that was going around them. Blade, punch, kick, energy, all were used against one another. And it didn't help at all that Celly was trying to keep her other persona from breaking free again.

Celly pressed her advantage, sweat dripping from her brow. She pushed Hotohori no Otaku from their position with blades locked and they seperated slightly, catching their breaths and sizing each other up. They circled, their weapons still at the ready.

"Give up, Hotohori no Otaku. You will never prevail against me."

"We'll just see about that. You're not looking too springtime fresh yourself."

Celly contemplates Susanne for a long time, and a measure of respect enters her wild eyes. She holds her sword up in a salute position. Susanne, confused, mimics the pose.

Celly smirks as she says, "You have been a worthy opponent, but I tire of these games. It ends now."

Celly rushes Susanne and brings the fight to her. Susanne barely raises her glaive in defense as the Otaku's charge forces her back. As Susanne fiercely defends herself, she realizes, Oh my god... she was playing with me this whole time! She's going all out now! As she's forced back against the wall, she notices the other battles going on around her. She barely turns back in time to defend herself from Celly's onslaught.

"You will die," Celly grits out as she presses Susanne.

"No, you will," Susanne replies with a savage grin as she forces Celly back and on the defense. The call of the fight fills her, as well as the fuel of her own emotions. Susanne forces Celly back with a complex attack. Celly slowly moves back, checking each step, making sure she doesn't trip over anything. As Susanne's attack redoubles, Celly feels a pain in her side. Susanne coos, "First blood to me, Celly. Ain't that a bitch?"

Celly's reply is to attack her with a sweeping attack that forces Susanne back a step. Susanne does her best to block every attack, but Celly makes it through and cuts a shallow line across her stomach. As she draws back, Celly remarks, "Guess you're not as good as you thought you were. I'll never lose to you, whelp. I have a thousand years of experience on you!"

Susanne quickly loses her temper and renews her attack. Celly holds her ground, trading blow for blow, blocking stabs and slashes with her sword and striking back with either physical blows or energy ones.

This is about the time that Celly falls through the mental wall.

TBC...