'Well... that's that, I guess' Aya thought, as she was surrounded in white. The nightmare was over. God, she couldn't wait to get up and put these damn memories behind her. Having to relive the most horrific night of her life at least once a week was starting to get to her. It was getting harder and harder to hide it from her teammates and classmates. It just kept grinding on her mind, like sandpaper, slowly shaving away her sanity. Honestly, Aya didn't know how much longer she could last like this. And she couldn't go to the professor. What would he think, seeing everything she had done, and to be perfectly honest, [i]enjoyed[/i] before she came here. God it was... wait... why wasn't she awake, yet? She always woke up right here. "What is..." but before Aya could finish, the white vanished, replaced with the smoking crater that was once the facility. "My God. Did I do all this? Why don't I remember?"

Before she could take a step, a crackling filled the air. Looking towards the sound, she found it came from the epicenter. Where she blew up. Electricity had begun to pool together, creating a vaguely human-like shape. In no time at all, Dream Aya was standing there, naked as a babe, and looking utterly confused and dejected. Something was clenched in her hands. Staining her memory, Real Aya finally remembered. It was Ariel's dog tags. They had been warped, charred, and cracked, until they resembled a black heart with a break in the middle. (R) Aya couldn't believe she had forgotten about something so important to her. Struggling to walk, (D) Aya slowly made her way out the crater, slipping over the blackened walls and various debris.

Finally making it to the top, she looked around, clearly not recognizing where she was. (R) Aya was similarly confused. She couldn't figure out why she didn't remember anything of this. 'Maybe it's not real?' No, that can't be it. She'd seen the wreckage from aerial photographs and this was exactly like it. It was almost like... there was a block. Like something had happened she didn't [i]WANT[/i] to remember. (R) Aya was suddenly filled with a sense of utter dread as she tried to will herself awake, but of course, nothing happened. (D) Aya just kept walking. Cocking her head slightly to the right, she started walking toward an upturned van, vanishing from sight behind it. Suddenly, (R) Aya heard an anguished scream. Despite not wanting to, she had to know what was behind there. Each step felt weighed down. Like her shoes were full of lead, and after an eternity, she was there. Taking a look, she immediately regretted it.

Sitting there on the ground was (D) Aya, cradling a young girl of maybe fifteen in her arms. Or at least... the girl's top half. (R) Aya recognized her instantly. She had named her Mika. And Aya had taken care of her ever since she could remember. The girl had even taken to calling her sister. Wet, hot tears began to pour down her face, along with the burning from her power. But she didn't care. For all this time, Aya avoided responsibility for Ariel's death by saying that it was the Director's fault. [i]He[/i] pushed her to fight and kill her love. But Mika? Mika died because of Aya. Aya wasn't forced to destroy the facility. She chose to selfishly absorb to much power to try and die. And because of it... because of her, her little sister was dead. She couldn't take it anymore. Dropping to her knees, Aya grabbed her head in agony. "I'm a monster. I'm a monster. I'm a monster. I'm a monster!". Lifting her head to the skies, she released a primal, soul-ripping scream of agony and defeat...

... which continued as she rose ramrod straight in her bed, drenched in sweat. Her powers were going haywire and destroyed the bulbs in her room. Looking around in terror, she quickly stumbled out of bed, her legs refusing to work and causing her to crash into her desk, knocking everything to floor. Ignoring that she gasped for breath and tried again, this time tumbling into her dresser and dragging the whole damn thing down. Running her back to the wall, she curled up, hyper-ventilating and trying to stop shooting of sparks. A wave of nausea ran over her and she crawled to the bathroom, puking twice on the way. She emptied her stomach once more in the toilet, before she shakily stood up. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she saw she was a wreck. But most striking. Where previously there were thin, hardly noticeable burn tracks, were now large, angry, inch thick burns down her cheek. She looked like some kind of demon. There was no way in hell those were healing. It was almost laughable

"The flesh reflects the monster within..." Aya mumbled, her eyes falling on the tub. As flashbacks of those two corpses, along with all the others she had accumulated over the years, ran through her mind, Ayame made her decision. And she filled that tub. It didn't take more than a minute. Taking a deep breath, she plunged her hands in, and was immediately electrocuted. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!!!!" She cried, as her brain forced her flesh out. Dropping to her knees, she was shaking like crazy, her hands almost as ugly as her face, but it wasn't enough. She was too drained for something simple. So she picked herself up, and prepared to dunk her whole body in, when the door burst open and she was yanked away from the tub "STOP IT!! LET ME GO!! I WANT TO DIE!!!" she screamed, trying to fight her restrainer, but she wouldn't let go...

(Yup. I'm ending it here. So... who saved Aya's life? That's up to you guys. I don't care, so long as it's a girl. Oh, and it's up to you whether or not her powers were causing any other lights and electronics to malfunction. I look forward to seeing who gets to save the day! ^_^)