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Post by CJ on Jun 2, 2014 0:34:57 GMT -5
"Nice to meet you, Devastis. Now it's time to say good night."
Beth immediately acted upon seeing who she believed to be Devastis. She reached her arm out and pulled it back, shifting her torso with it. In the simple motion, she aimed to suck out as much energy as she could from the man, hopefully making him pass out and break the control he had on the crowd around him. Her chest felt light as a bit of hope came through for once in the fight.
But then she heard Connor yell out as he was stabbed in the back by the booth owner. The chef twisted around in pain and anger, swiping at the man with flaming fists. He didn't have his gloves on, but he was still attacking with fire. Any strike that landed wouldn't be pretty.
"Connor, stop it!" Beth shouted. Her plea fell on deaf ears as the chef sank further into rage. Hikaru's words kept coming back to her. He claimed her husband wasn't the same person on the battlefield. In his opinion, if they were to win the Grand Path, she would have to let him be fueled by his anger. She prayed he wasn't right.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 4, 2014 14:51:10 GMT -5
The fellow in the crowd hit the ground like a rock once his energy was taken. As well, the booth owner was struck with the flaming fists of fury and sent tumbling to the ground, fairly burned.
"Well that wasn't very nice. But it's nice to meet you as well."
An older lady said, as she stepped forward, the crowd giving her some room. The crowd itself meanwhile, clearly didn't approve of Connor's actions and started shouting and booing, and now most of them were throwing trash with the occasional person throwing a rock or similar solid object.
"You don't seem to be very popular with these folks, whatever could have caused that change?"
As well, some people tended to the burned booth owner, but his booth neighbors seeing their friend hurt like that decided to take action. As he had, about two others managed to climb up and went to stab and chop at the couple with kitchen knives. More still, were busy climbing up.
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Post by CJ on Jun 4, 2014 16:39:20 GMT -5
Beth sucked the man's energy in, hoping to feel some sort of unusual effect. To her horror, he wasn't Devastis and neither was this new person speaking for him.
"I've heard of crowd mentality but this is crazy!" she said, peering down at the crowd as she knelt down. She held her head as Connor yelled out and continued to fight against the people clamboring on top of the booth. He attacked them without mercy, aiming to punch and kick the kitchen knife wielders off the roof and into the crowd. Any cuts and scraps only made him angrier. Fortunately, he didn't think to put on his gloves, so the punches were only fueled by his wild strength and fire magic. The boots on his leg lit up for a few seconds with every kick to add extra force to his attack. It wasn't likely that he would have acted so fiercely if it wasn't for the crowd aiming to hurt Beth as well.
She shook her hand after blocking a rock from hitting her face. Things were getting bad. She had to end this fight before Connor went too far against these people or Devastis played some awful trick against them.
"Stop the games, already!" she shouted at the old woman. "This is between you and us, Devastis. These people have nothing to do with the Grand Path!"
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 5, 2014 11:15:21 GMT -5
"Hmm, and why should I stop?"
One of the kids from before spoke up, before hurling a rock. It seemed that was the way the confrontation was headed, just an increasingly angry mob to stone the couple to death. And to think it could have all been avoided with a simple autograph signing.
"You want me to play on your level, let you use all of your strengths while I get none of mine? Well you came onto my playing field, and this is my game."
One of the battered booth owners continued, rubbing his scorched face. Reaching for another knife he went to make the climb once again, and by now more were joining him and intent on not only attacking Connor but Beth as well. Devastis was interested at least, to see how much angrier he could get when his wife had a blade sticking out of her back.
"These people are as much a part of the game as you are, now."
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Post by CJ on Jun 5, 2014 21:52:58 GMT -5
Beth stopped speaking as soon as the kid answered. She could see her own son in the child. How easy would it be for Devastis to capture him years later and use him in a fight like this? Unfortunately, she knew of many people who could be so cruel.
What was the point of fighting for her family's freedom if these people, many undoubtedly with families of their own, were to be hurt or killed in the process? She could make an excuse and say that Devastis was only using them against her and Connor, but it was still their decision to follow through with the fight. How could they trade the lives of these people for their own happiness?
She knew there was only thing she could do to guarantee the crowd's safety and win the fight. It was a gamble, but perhaps she could save these people from Devastis forever.
She turned to tell Connor her plan, but was interrupted by another attacker. She gritted her teeth and went to push him away, but only found her hand being stabbed in the progress. She gasped and lost herself for a moment.
The booth owner was quickly taken out by Connor, who came in with a quick left hook. She was shocked to see he had put one of his gloves back on. When had he put on one of his gloves? She knew that look he had on his face. It wasn't like the Connor she knew. It was as though he was back in the machine.
He faced some of the attacking booth owners and the crowd behind them. The metal armored glove broke apart in several segments as fire danced about it and was pulled toward his palm.
She had never seen him do something like that. She recalled Hikaru's warning, that due to Connor's nature as a witch, he'd constantly invent new methods to fight against unfamiliar situations. That was all good for Grand Path opponents, but not innocent people.
A surge of energy gathered toward the middle of his palm. Before he could fire the blast at the crowd, Beth tackled him to the ground. She didn't even realize what she was doing until she had already done it. A beam erupted from Connor's hand and shot above her shoulder.
A good chunk of her hair was burnt off. Her hair was singed short at the ends on the left side of her head. She fell still, feeling the heat of the blast, which came so close to killing her.
"Beth," Connor said with shaking hands. His rage subsided, turning into despair.
Acting quickly, she stood up and starting to suck the energy out of the people around them. Thinking of what Connor did before with his magic, she pulled the energy of the crowd in, grabbing as much as she could. Unfortunately, she was only able to sap maybe half of the people gathered. She had wanted to take out the whole of them to avoid a stampede, but she failed.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 5, 2014 22:42:29 GMT -5
When the couple hit the ground, it looked like they might be done for, as the crowd surged around them now arming themselves for the final blows. When Beth acted to steal their energy though, and several tens of rows around them collapsed to the ground, there was a falter amongst the remaining others. Almost like they had seen or felt something that shook them up, many of them stopped dead in their tracks or stumbled to a stop. Many dropped what they were holding, blinking and looking around as if awoken from a deep slumber. Some people started crying, while others acted to try and figure out what had happened and to help those that needed it. After all, they had just regained their senses in the middle of town, and a mass of people were lying around on the ground unconscious. Needless to say their attack upon the couple ended.
Amidst all the confusion, a few of the remaining people, maybe every tenth or twentieth seemed to act independent of the remaining people. Control over them was not shaken, and about ten remained, dropping any pretense of a mob killing and instead gathering away from the remaining crowd and looking for the best way to get away from the scene.
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Post by CJ on Jun 7, 2014 1:20:50 GMT -5
"Your hair," Connor said mournfully. "Beth, your hair. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. What was I thinking?"
Despite the turn of events, Beth was all he could focus on. Had she not been affected by his would be attack, maybe he would have delighted in seeing the majority of the crowd freed from Devastis's grasp. All he could do was look at the absent space where part of her hair once was, now framed by singed locks.
Beth, however, didn't forget why they had come. Most of the people were free, but there were still some left, fleeing the scene. It wasn't over yet.
"Hey! You guys!" she shouted. "Get back here!"
Shouting wouldn't likely stop them. They had to do something.
"Connor," she said. "Follow them and see where they're going, but don't hurt any of them."
Standing idly nearby, the chef nodded solemnly and put on his other metal glove. For a moment, Beth wondered if she was making a mistake, sending him out on his own. After all, he almost killed innocents in his fury over her safety. Even if they were being controlled, they didn't deserve it. She had to admit, she wasn't proud of him that day. She trusted the guilt in nearly killing her in his rage would prevent future mistakes.
"Got me?" she asked. "Don't hurt them."
"Yeah," Connor responded with a frown. "Please, stay safe, OK?"
Beth gave a thumbs up and watched Connor run off the booth and jump into the air. His boots let out a quick burst of fire, propelling him through the air. Eventually, the flames steadied, propelling him in flight. With an equal amount of fire magic following through his gloves to support him, he could stay in the air and control where he was going.
He hoped to catch where the ten individuals were running to.
Meanwhile, Beth sat on the edge of the booth and began to release the energy she had gathered into small jars that she had pulled from her backpack. Some of the jars had cracked in the conflict, but there were still some for her to use. The energy was rainbow colored, a mix of many different people's energies. She had to get it out of her system. She liked having enough energy to avoid eating or sleeping, but too much made her feel extremely uncomfortable. She wasn't sure if her body could handle it. The stab wound on the side of her hand was incredibly painful, but it was nothing compared to Pet Shop's stingers. In the end, she figured she would chose to go through even worse pain, or perhaps even die, if it meant the safety of the crowd.
"Hey, everyone!" she said. She waved to the people with a sad smile. "Could any one of you tell me what's going on here? Do you guys remember what happened just a few minutes ago?"
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 8, 2014 4:48:49 GMT -5
The group of individuals moved fairly well in unison through the streets, but when they noticed Connor pursuing them, a group of five stood their ground ready to face him while the rest split off into completely different directions.
"Come on down here, I'll give you an autograph, how about that?" one of them shouted to the chef.
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"Shut up!" was about the best response Beth got, from some random person in the remaining crowd. After having gone what they had just gone through, the people there had suffered too much trauma to care about or want to hear some stranger asking them what happened. Most were quite upset or disoriented, and Beth's sad smile was an unwanted comfort.
Eventually one of the persons closer to her, a young man, sat down and took the chance to respond after he'd helped a mother with her children.
"I don't think anyone remembers, I don't. Do you? What do you know about this?"
There was at least some hint of suspicion in his voice. Beth seemed oddly curious and also not really suffering from the effect. Could it be, she had something to do with it?
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Post by CJ on Jun 8, 2014 20:39:48 GMT -5
Connor came to a halt and hovered in the air, looking quite awkward as he balanced himself with the fire magic blasting from his hands and feet.
"You'll give me an autograph?" he shouted back. "Could you get me Devastis's personal autograph?"
It was a shot in the dark, but he could barely see where the others were going. There wasn't much hope to save these supposedly innocent people too.
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"Someone's been manipulating us," Beth explained to the young man. "Do you remember coming to this festival? Or when you blacked out?"
She tried to stay vague to avoid upseting the people. Sure, she wasn't under the same spell as the others, but she was manipulated by Devastis none the less. With these people's help, she might be able to locate them.
Having already put the extra energy away, she began to bandage her hand. The cut was nasty and would probably take a long time to heal. She was fortunate to have gotten away with her life though, especially in the second rank of the Grand Path. Though she had to wonder, how was Devastis higher ranked than Achtung Baby? Or for that matter, how was Pet Shop ranked higher? The band destroyed cities. The only rank holder that made sense against them was Tomohawk.
For a moment, she wondered if Connor was flying into a trap. How could she be sure she wasn't sitting in one already.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 8, 2014 22:43:11 GMT -5
"You mean can I give you my autograph, I'm right here."
Four of the remaining five temporarily split, to search the immediate area for anything to serve as weapons and soon returned. One of them handed the speaker an axe nabbed from a woodcutters, though the speaker held out his arms as he spoke.
"Who do you think you've been speaking to? Look around you, I am all of this."
The others with him didn't nod or give any sort of affirmation, but seemed to go along with what was being said, waiting for Connor to make a move.
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"Who's been manipulating us?"
Well it seemed at least that this stranger had suffered at least to some extent as well. Her hand was obviously bleeding, and she looked pretty confused as well. The fellow still didn't trust her, and temporarily stepped away to help with one of the booth owners whom had been burned as was being carted off. Someone else whom had been nearby, took to listening as well moved closer, a girl whom had been offering taste tests.
"Of course we remember coming to the festival, it's about the biggest thing on this island twice a year, we've been preparing for months! All I remember, was being busy doing work, when I started hearing something about people shouting for autographs. Next thing I know, I'm standing with rocks in my hand ready to throw."
"Same here. Why are you here though, I don't recognize you." said an older fellow whom didn't look to be at all related to the festival, and possibly was just caught while passing by.
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Post by CJ on Jun 9, 2014 0:56:41 GMT -5
"This?" Connor shouted in confusion as he stabilized himself in the air. "Are you trying to imply you're not human? What are you even saying?"
He was suspicious. He couldn't be so sure that there weren't others out there like him. Glancing this way and that, he tried to figure out what he was talking about. He was confident he could take out the group, even with their weapons, but they were still likely innocents under Devastis's control. He couldn't lose himself again.
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Beth frowned, seeing the girl step forward to voice her own experience. She felt extremely uncomfortable, sitting above them the way she was. It felt like at any moment, the group could be taken hold of again and attack her. What would she do then? Even if she survived, she couldn't do much without hurting them.
She was bad enough trying to empathize with people normally. With these folks in distress, she was even more awkward.
"Well, my husband cooks," she said. "I mean, he cooks a lot. It's his job. We had a restaurant and I sold it, but he still works there. We came here for some networking."
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 9, 2014 3:56:20 GMT -5
"No you idiot..."
One of the others spoke up, and went to shove another, whom took over speaking.
"...this. Not human, what's wrong with you?"
Connor seemed to have taken it too literally, which seemed to annoy the controller. Either way, the remaining persons watched and waited. If need be, they could wait indefinitely. They didn't care if they fell dead from thirst or whatever else, Connor couldn't beat five of them at that.
"It's really not hard to understand."
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"Oh. Well still, it's not normal, none of it is!"
Any suspicions the girl may have had were more or less quieted, and she walked off in a huff, to help people who needed it. Only the older fellow remained, still a stern look.
"So where is your husband now?"
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Post by CJ on Jun 9, 2014 14:50:15 GMT -5
"It is hard to understand!" he shouted back. "Because you're not explaining anything! You say you're all of this? Are you trying to say you're the whole island or something?"
He was starting to get angry again, but not nearly angry enough to start fighting with fire again. He glared down at them, wondering what exactly he should do.
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Beth sighed as the girl walked away. She wondered if she would have been fine if she and Connor didn't show up that day. She kept thinking she was to blame for all this. Though if she knew innocents were going to be involved, she would have never challenged the second rank to begin with.
"He's looking to help other people who've been manipulated," Beth explained to the older fellow. "I'm sure you saw him fly out before."
She cocked her head and looked at him funny.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jun 12, 2014 11:36:17 GMT -5
"Really? Well maybe..."
It seemed Connor's was too literal of a mind to see beyond what was in front of him. No matter, there was more than one way to teach a dog tricks, and this one had been here long enough.
"...this will help you understand."
The latter part of the speaking would sound awfully close to to chef, and what more, the person who had been speaking actually physically stopped despite the words continuing to be heard. The voice was all wrong though, if anything it was that of someone who was very close to Connor, and he would immediately recognize.
"Come on back Connor, I need your help!"
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"Oh, that one. Thought he looked suspicious. Everyone else here is going to think he was responsible I bet."
The older fellow wasn't sure why Beth was looking at him like that. She was the outsider with a husband who flew around in the air and whose hands set on fire. What more, she didn't seem nearly as disturbed by everything that had happened, as most everyone else was. It seemed this kind of thing was not that strange for her, which was itself quite strange.
"After all, he did just take off after it all happened, makes him look pretty guilty."
Feeling like he had lingered long enough, and not wanting to be caught talking to the possible cause of all this trouble, he continued on his way. After that though, contrary to what he had said, the remaining people still either helping out or cleaning up the mess didn't really seem to care about her. Not as though they were actively ignoring her, there were just more pressing matters at hand obviously.
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Post by CJ on Jun 15, 2014 0:07:15 GMT -5
Connor was getting pissed. He was about to yell even more at the man below when he heard an all too familiar voice.
"Beth?" he asked, turning around. There was no one there. How was he hearing her, balancing in the air like he was?
His heart raced when he heard her call him back. He didn't even think of how she was able to shout within hearing range. He spun in the air and sped away, streaming through the air in a fiery trail. He prayed he wasn't too late to save her.
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Beth's face scrunched up when the older fellow started suggesting Connor could be blamed for the incident.
"I get that people are upset," she said with a sigh. "You and everyone else here have every right to be angry, but all he knows how to do is make fire, fly and cook. Mind control isn't his thing. Trust me. We'll be able to figure this all out when my husband comes back."
Looking up, she pointed at the person in question, who was flying toward them in a fiery
"See? There he is now."
But something was off. Beth had seen him fly in that rapid, inconsistent pattern before only a few times. He was panicking. Beth stood up and glanced around, attempting to see if anything was off in the crowd. Did he figure something out? Was he running or trying to get to them? Was there something she needed to know?
She stood and waited.
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