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Post by Shark a' Pult on Aug 23, 2014 2:04:32 GMT -5
"I don't think I've actually counted how many people live in this town, but at least that many."
A middle-aged woman spoke out, as she rounded a corner and made for Beth with a very long pole, probably previously holding up a tent. Straight ahead, a man in his mid twenties moved ahead to stop her path, himself wielding an actual sword. It might have been apparent that he had not come from the festival, so probably had already grabbed some arms before heading this aways before getting snared by Devastis.
"I can't do this all day, but I think at least I can do it longer than you actually can."
With that he took towards her hefting the sword. By nature this puppet was physically more competent than most to begin with, so even if Beth disabled him, he'd aim to hurl the sword at her before going down.
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Post by CJ on Aug 26, 2014 16:42:45 GMT -5
Seeing the middle aged woman and man approach her with various weapons, Beth frowned again. There really wasn't a foreseeable end to this.
"You're cute," she said with a sneering grin. "But you're right. This is getting tedious."
She started to run forward as sparks and flames erupted from the bottom of her borrowed boots. Spiraling and twisting through the air, she didn't fly as gracefully as Connor did. She could only control it long enough to roll on top of the roof of a small building. She rolled and immediately laid down to avoid any thrown objects.
Originally, she didn't want to talk to this Devastis at all, but now she was starting to think it was her only option. She had to learn more about him to better understand him so she could take him out without hurting more people.
"So, is this some Devil Fruit power of yours or what?" she shouted, hoping a beacon below would hear her. "What do you use these people for when you're not fighting freaks like me?"
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Aug 28, 2014 1:20:33 GMT -5
"Why does everyone always just assume something strange is the work of the devil?"
Some of the influenced people began to gather around the building and try to throw things up. Since she was laying down they didn't have a clear line of sight, but they could certainly try to chuck stuff up and hope it hit her on the way down. Others tried to enter the building and possibly find a way to the roof.
One fellow, the same one from before and middle-aged wearing a hat, spoke up over all the other puppets getting angry at Beth's escape.
"I don't use them. At most I only ever need one person, to help with all the physical requirements of a body."
He was just talking plainly, not realizing what he was saying or might be giving away, since he was more focused on watching the others puppets attempt to reach Beth. Some of which had given up just throwing things, and aimed instead to burn the building down altogether. They gathered some fire-making equipment and materials, but it would be a little while yet before they had a blaze going.
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Post by CJ on Aug 29, 2014 0:04:05 GMT -5
"Got a good point there, freak," she commented as she dodged propelled objects "I've known plenty like you to be weirdos without Devil Fruit abilities."
The words left her mouth before she thought about it. Her husband and son were amongst those "weirdos." Yes, the Warlord had Devil Fruit powers, but the toddler back in Water 7 was nothing like him. She wanted him desperately to be nothing like him if she could help it. She'd love him no matter what, but she wanted a life for him outside of this craziness.
Something Devastis said peaked her interest.
"'The physical requirements of a body?' What? You can't pick your own nose? Got to have someone else do it for you?"
She wasn't sure what the people down before were doing just yet, but she began to allocate energy into what remained of her bottle collection in case they started to climb again.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Sept 6, 2014 18:31:13 GMT -5
"'The physical requirements of a body?' What? You can't pick your own nose? Got to have someone else do it for you?"
"Is that what you do with your body?"
The fellow expressed some disdain, but otherwise seemed content to watch as the other people crowded around the small building. By now Beth would be able to hear some of them banging on the door to get to the roof, but more importantly she would probably start to smell smoke and see slivers of fire peeling up the building. Those who were still on the ground took some steps back in unison and watched, occasionally opting to throw some more objects up top in the hopes of hitting Beth.
"That looks quite good. Only a couple minutes now."
At least one other, was coming back and forth from the small building to somewhere in the market, bringing accelerant with them each time and dousing the building with it.
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Post by CJ on Sept 10, 2014 13:49:29 GMT -5
"No, I fart and poop a lot," Beth responded. She was really getting tired of Devastis's passiveness.
Dodging more silverware and miscellaneous items, she actually went to stand up. She backed away from the edge of the burning building.
"Look, since I'm going to go up in flames in this place anyway. Tell me something. How can you control all these people, but not me?"
Beth ran to the door. If there were people in the building, she would have to at least try to get them out. Fortunately she had heat resistance from absorbing Connor's energy, but they didn't. She went to swing open the door to reach the other side, hoping she would have enough time to counter whatever waited.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Sept 17, 2014 20:19:22 GMT -5
"Oh I can control you."
When Beth went to the door, she could open it easily, but no hostility emerged. Only Connor, holding their son. In truth, this was not actually the case, but it was what Beth would probably see, unless she took the time to actually stop everything and actualize her mind and surroundings. That is, if she knew to do such a thing. Otherwise, Connor and Meek simply existed, happy to see her but unaware of the burning building.
Of course the prime irony here was that Devastis was not aware of the fire situation towards them, so assumed this to be a distressing situation. Either way he had pulled back his puppets to the outside again, to watch the building, including those whom had been inside trying to reach the roof. Those ones in particular looked a little burned or hurt, but otherwise not terribly injured.
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Post by CJ on Sept 17, 2014 23:23:27 GMT -5
Beth expected a surprise, but not like this. She easily take a violent attack or outburst over this.
"Not you too," she said as she felt like her heart was sinking into her stomach.
Her mind went wild. What were they doing here? Wasn't Connor supposed to be watching over Kaede? And wasn't Meek back at Water 7?
Meek was back at Water 7.
She finally remembered what Connor had told her. He had supposedly heard her voice calling out to him when he chased Devastis's beacons. Was this a manifestation of what he experienced? Were the beacons themselves going through something similar? What triggered it? Why was she going through it now?
"That's freaking creepy," she said as she peered forward at the image. "Are there real people behind this image or is it just air? What the fuck, man. That's so messed up."
With a flick of her wrist, her one gloved hand lit up in flames. She reached out toward the image of her husband and son to try and touch them and see if she'd get a response.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Sept 25, 2014 12:23:45 GMT -5
"Language."
Beth would have no trouble reaching out to Connor and Meek, though the response was probably less than desired, as her hand would simply pass through as if they were ghosts or something akin. It was appropriate timing however, since at about that time the flames had taken enough from the building that it was no longer sound and promptly collapsed. Assumedly Beth was not at risk from the fire itself, but she might be injured by the fallen portions of the structure. Not dangerously so of course, it was only a one storey building little more than a shack, but it was made of solid timber and tile roofing.
Either way, the image of Connor and Meek vanished with the collapse, all the while the other citizens crowded around the rubble. It was still too dangerous and too hot for them to just jump in, but they waited till it was feasible to rush in and continue attacking Beth. At least that's what would probably happen. Devastis was not aware of any fire resistance, and so assumed Beth would just be killed in the collapse. The other citizens merely waited for now, and intended to check for a body.
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Post by CJ on Sept 25, 2014 23:29:54 GMT -5
"Hmmm?"
Beth was shocked. Seeing her hand go straight through the image was mind blowing. She knew the two weren't real, but she didn't expect her hand to go right through them. She could barely process the single word Devastis spoke before the building fell in around her. She looked up at the disappearing image as she began to fall.
The next moments felt surreal. She understood that she was standing up from debris, but she didn't know how long she had been in it or how much time had past. Scratches and bruises covered her body. There was gash on her head that bled out onto her face. If it wasn't for the immunity to flames that Connor's energy had provided her, she would certainly be dead. She didn't notice her ankle was twisted painfully.
She held her hands up toward the crowd and began to try and steal more energy. Having been so traumatized by her fall, she nearly forgot about the fight and only focused on obtaining as much energy as possible.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Sept 28, 2014 3:07:17 GMT -5
"Well you're not dead then? Enough time, and you could make a very useful friend to add to- whuuoah!"
The older fellow looked actually impressed to see Beth alive and standing. He started to talk about something interested to his goals as the townsfolk made their approach to continue their attack, but they never made it based on her actions. They dropped like flies and he would have gone down himself, he could feel his energy being drawn, were it not that he quickly grabbed another person and held them in front of him. They promptly collapsed with the others, and only he remained, looking a little worse for the wear.
"Well that was a close one, losing the last puppet would have been bad. Well, just wait here then, I'll be back in a few minutes with more!"
At that, he took off in a jog towards an alleyway leading out of the area. He made no action to capture or harm Beth, he simply wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, it seemed.
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Post by CJ on Sept 29, 2014 21:47:32 GMT -5
"No you won't," Beth heard herself saying, but she didn't recall thinking it. She was likely going through a concussion. She felt strange, like the world around her was heavy and abstract.
She sprinted forward after the older fellow, nearly tripping in the process as she clambered over the wreckage. She searched for him with her Devil Fruit ability, allowing her to sense him and any other person that might have been in that alley.
Meek, Meek, Meek. She kept thinking of Meek. This wasn't just about the Grand Path. She had to stop this man now. If he could take ahold of her and these people, he could easily control a child or, worse, the people around him. There were too many people interested in her family as it was. She didn't want this freak coming after her for revenge.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Oct 7, 2014 22:58:38 GMT -5
The older fellow ran through the town at about as well a pace he could manage in his physical state, so Beth would probably not have trouble keeping up with him. His path was rather sporadic, down one alley or across a street, up one set of steps and over some line or railing. Even so, he seemed to know almost exactly where he was going, and never stopped to make sure.
Beyond this escape though, Beth would face no further challenge, at least not yet. If she could follow well enough, she would face no hindrance from any other townsfolk along the way. That wasn't to say that she wouldn't run into more, indeed there were people about, but they seemed busy with other things in their lives or even utterly unaware of what had happened in the market earlier. If she could keep up though, or find some other means of tracking the older fellow, she would not face opposition from other citizens. Furthermore, a successful tailing would lead her to him where he stopped, trying to catch his breath in what looked to be a small storage warehouse outside the docks.
Taking a breather, and fiddling with the locks on the big main doors as he was, he wouldn't notice her unless she made it obvious.
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Post by CJ on Oct 10, 2014 1:40:21 GMT -5
Beth trudged along after the older fellow. She tried not to draw too much attention to herself, but it was practically impossible. A few people commented on the bleeding gash on her head and wounds, but she darted right past them. For all she knew, it was another trap. She had to get to the older fellow. She could deal with these people later.
Approaching silently from around a corner, he stepped forward and reached out her hand toward him. Her mind wasn't on the big, locked doors or whatever laid behind him. In her chaotic mind, she could only think of the old man as Devastis himself. If she could put him to sleep now, it'd all be over.
She went to sense how much more energy the man had left. When she did that, she'd inevitably be able to tell if there was anyone inside.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Oct 11, 2014 2:33:26 GMT -5
Beth would have no problem making the older fellow pass out in the usual manner, and he collapsed before the doors, though they remained locked for the most part. After that, things went peaceful and nothing much further happened. Some random people even happened by, though busy as they were didn't seem to care much about Beth or the fellow who looked like a vagrant passed out in front of a warehouse.
If she cared to though, and made the effort to do so, she would be able to sense more life force inside. Distinctly one, that she had sense before but might not remember, and... something else. Like a life, but so very faint, that it could be mistaken for simply an extension of that other spirit.
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