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Post by CJ on Oct 12, 2014 17:11:30 GMT -5
Beth looked down at the older fellow in disbelief. Did she do it? Did she just defeat Devastis before he could return to his stronghold?
Blood dripped from her forehead and onto the ground. She felt at her head and finally realized that she had sustained some damage from the collapse. Her vision went black for a moment as the energy of the many townspeople coursed through her body.
The battle wasn't over yet. There was something inside of the warehouse. It was something she knew, but was likely too delirious to understand it. She could sense the small life, but merely passed it off as a larger person.
Did Devastis trap people inside the warehouse for later use? Should she even bother going inside? How was she supposed to know if she had won.
Going inside was likely the only way she'd get out of this situation. She groaned and knelt down to search the older fellow to see if he had keys to the warehouse. While she did that, she looked about occasionally for a sign or indication of the building's purpose.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Oct 13, 2014 1:56:30 GMT -5
The keys were still in his hands when he dropped, so Beth would have no trouble getting them. Undoing the locks might take a bit, but only because there were so many of them. Apart from that though, the building looked fairly dilapidated. Some faded posters and paint indicated that at one point it had belonged to some fruit company, but that time was probably long past. When she actually undid the locks, it would be a comparatively simple effort after that, to take down the chains and slide the door open.
What she found inside might have been somewhat disappointing, depending what she was looking for. The interior of the place was similarly run down and empty, any broken crates or piles of debris covered in layers of dust, same as the floor. The light of the setting sun trickled in through the grimy glass up high, giving a clear enough view of the place through particles illuminated in the air. At the far end though she would have no trouble seeing the apparatus. It was a rather large, cylindrical machine with lots of wires and fashioned panels. Rubber pumps moved and dynamos hummed, giving the impression of complexity, but not necessarily advancement. Certainly, it wasn't even nearly as advanced as some of the machinery Beth would have seen at a place like Colyne, and it seemed like it could be found in a place perhaps only a little more advanced than even Water 7. Whatever the case it was decidedly medical in nature, and overall it resembled something like an iron lung but much bigger, suspended off the ground on a wheeled frame. The only difference was the person using it was almost exactly in reverse, with their head inside the machine and their body resting outside of it on a gurney.
Who exactly it was inside might have been able to be determined, since even from the far end Beth would be able to make out a viewing window of the interior on the machine (through which a faint blue light glowed), so if she cared to she could go over and take a look inside. Before any such course of action could be pursued however, there was still yet another obstacle. On just the other side of the sliding door, a woman leaped out to attack Beth not moments after the door was opened. She wasn't particularly strong, and she was only wielding a metal IV pole, but she did aim for the head. Whether or not her attack met its mark however, Beth would be able to immediately recognize her; the nurse, from back when she was hospitalized after her fight with Pet Shop.
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Post by CJ on Oct 13, 2014 14:07:26 GMT -5
For a brief moment, Beth took in the wonder of the machine before her. Any sort of advanced mechanism was extremely foreign to her. This thing was just as amazing as her husband's cyborg body was. She couldn't understand it, so it seemed fantastic. Why was the person's head stuck inside a machine?
Before she had time to think, her mind focused on something else.
There it was. That feeling again. It was observation haki, but she couldn't comprehend it. Beth could see the nurse swing down the metal pole before it ever happened. She grasped onto it before it could hit her and attempted to wrestle it out of the nurse's hands, using the strength of the stolen energy that flowed through her. She felt sick from her wounds, but she kept going on the chance that with one final push she could win and save the town.
"You," she said with wide eyes. "Meredith, from the hospital."
Her heart began to race. Just how far was Devastis's reach? Were there people all around the world under his control? Or...?
"What's that machine?" she asked harshly. "Is that how you've been controlling people? Are you Devastis?"
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Oct 18, 2014 12:04:03 GMT -5
"Go away! Get out!"
Meredith didn't respond to Beth's questions, and simply tried to shove her out and shut the warehouse door again. Her plan to just whack her head didn't work, so the next best thing was to remove her from the area altogether. Even as she tried though, she probably wasn't as strong as Beth was at the moment. She also seemed very distressed, anxious to get her out of there, a way in which none of the other people under Devastis' influence had acted thus far.
"I don't want to be alone! Leave!"
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Post by CJ on Oct 19, 2014 22:30:22 GMT -5
That look in the nurse's eyes. She knew it.
She'd never forget that day, when she first found Connor as a child in a Gomorrah alleyway. He was barely coherrent, but he kept looking at her. She recalled saying that she was going to get help. He grabbed onto her arm and wouldn't let her go. She didn't understand the look on his face back then, but it was all too familar now.
Loneliness.
"Calm down, Meredith," Beth tried to say softly as she gripped tighter onto the IV pole. "I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm trying to understand. Why are you so scared of me?"
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Oct 19, 2014 22:54:02 GMT -5
"Who the hell is Meredith?! Get out!"
The nurse did not pause for even an instant, as if Beth had spoke to her in another language. She was still just as angry, still just as desperate. It seemed she couldn't just remove Beth by force, so she had only her final option. Stumbling back, she ran over to the medical machine and drew forth the gun on the belt of the person whom was partially housed inside, or at least their head was. Shakily she pointed it at Beth, the tension getting to her.
"I'll... I'll shoot, I mean it! I don't have any left, you put them all to sleep! If I lose this one, I'll be stuck here!"
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Post by CJ on Oct 20, 2014 0:40:13 GMT -5
Beth's eyes widened when she realized that Meredith didn't know her own name. It was evident to her now that the nurse wasn't the one behind all this. No, she was being manipulated by Devastis, whose location Beth was finally certain of.
Her heart raced when the nurse pulled the pistol from the man's side. She stared down the barrel and thought for a moment that this was the end. No, she could easily take out Meredith right now and kill the man. But that was far too easy. There had to be a more permanent way to solve this without anyone dying. Not even Devasits.
"You won't be stuck here. I'm still here for you. Not as a puppet or tool, but as someone who can help."
She could hardly believe what she was saying. This horrible being had just put her through hell, yet she wanted to settle their encounter peacefully.
"I know someone who was just like you. He was lonely and confused too. I can help you, Devastis. All you have to do is ask."
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Oct 20, 2014 12:54:17 GMT -5
"People are so much easier to work with when you control them."
It was said almost as a reaction, the nurse was so honestly taken aback. Devastis was not familiar with the kind of interaction Beth was making, and so he simply retreated from it and tried to build a wall. Helpless? Lonely? Confused? He might have been all of those things, but he didn't want to admit it, at least not here and now of all places.
"It's nice that you want to help, I appreciate the effort. You're forgetting the situation though, and one of us has to defeat the other. I'm not giving up, or else I'm stuck here."
The nurse pulled the hammer on the pistol, in order to facilitate potential use. Beth seemed nice enough, but a resolution of words unfortunately, would not work in this case. Not for him.
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Post by CJ on Oct 20, 2014 14:02:57 GMT -5
"Defeat doesn't mean kill," Beth said with a gulp. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. Her chest felt like it was ripping apart. Was this ploy actually going to work? Was she putting her life at risk to redeem a man who would just kill her anyway?
She held her arms at her side in an attempt to act nonthreatening. Given her actions before though, it wasn't likely that she'd be trusted so easily.
"Look, I'm not even going to try and knock Meredith out. I want to show you that I'm willing to help by getting you out of here and somewhere you can be safe with real people, not manipulated puppets. You can keep Meredith's gun on me the whole time."
Steadily, she began to walk forward. Every step she took felt like a sharp pain, like she was walking straight to her doom.
"The fight's over, Devastis. Getting you out of here is much more important than Solaine's shitty Grand Path. Come on. Let's find a way to get you out of here."
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Oct 26, 2014 3:18:59 GMT -5
"I'll play your game, but you should know now that there's probably nothing you can do that will stop me from just shooting you now."
The nurse actually backed away now, not to make room for Beth, but to create distance between them. At this range it was still so close that there was almost no way she could miss, but at the same time Beth couldn't just whip around and try to physically assault her. There was the issue of energy stealing, but hopefully the nurse could get off a shot before Beth tried such a thing.
As for the apparatus itself, despite its size, Beth would not find it too hard to move. If anything, it was the dilapidated warehouse that made the trouble, what with the rough and uneven flooring. The machine was wheeled but it would probably bump and get stuck a few times if she intended to push it outside. If she cared to actually look through the observation window from which the faint blue light glowed, she would be able to make out the identity of the occupant within, a young man probably only in his early twenties with blonde hair and soft features. Devastis, asleep or some other manner of unconscious, and the very portrait of peacefulness. Even if she moved the machine, there was no sign of activity within or of him waking up, even though the nurse remained active as ever.
If on the other hand she tried to actually remove him from the machine or just try to turn it off or smash it, then the nurse would immediately open fire without hesitation or speaking up.
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Post by CJ on Oct 26, 2014 17:07:15 GMT -5
"I know, but it's worth the risk to get you out of here."
For a terrifying moment, she thought it was Connor in the machine. Closer inspection revealed it was a totally different man, but it was amazing how Devastis looked completely different from her expectations. She imagined some horrible creature or a bitter old man. He looked as common as she did.
What had gotten him to be like this? Beth gritted her teeth, thinking that there were far too many people in the world that were just like him. His evil wasn't malicious. It was the result of terrible loneliness.
Slowly she worked to move the machine across the old and forgotten floor. At any moment, she could rip the energy right out of him. It wouldn't take much effort and with her hand already gripping the reverse iron lung. She wouldn't even have to move. She knew deep down though that winning this fight now would only be a temporary solution. So long as there was a way to convince Devastis to let his puppets go without killing him, she would try everything she could.
Her mind raced as she tried to focus on getting him out. Biting through the pain of her horribly stinging wounds, she gave Devastis a pained smile. For once, she didn't look at Meredith, but rather peered into the blue light.
"You know, if you were so lonely here, you could have had one of your puppets say something. You didn't have to have Meredith and the others send all those weird letters."
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Nov 2, 2014 17:03:05 GMT -5
"Lonely? I'm not lonely, I've got all the friends than I know what to do with. I only wrote to you because I thought you and your husband were serious players, imagine my surprise to find out the truth."
As they went, Meredith kept the gun trained on Beth. She didn't like to have such important machinery in the hands of a stranger, but Beth was currently in control of the situation and short of shooting her, there wasn't much the nurse could do. All the while she listened calmly, and responded in kind, but she still felt Beth was reaching for something that wasn't there. Like she was grasping onto some thread and thought if she pulled hard enough the whole issue would unravel.
"Well, we're outside. What's the next on your agenda then, eh? I appreciate the help though, at least now there's no risk of being left alone... unnoticed."
It wasn't long before a townsperson wandered into the clearing outside the warehouse and approached Beth and the machine. A middle aged man carrying some buckets of sand on a pole, he stopped nearby about the same distance Meredith was and simply waited.
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Post by CJ on Nov 4, 2014 1:51:37 GMT -5
"Haha," Beth said sarcastically. "Very funny."
She rested for a moment and kicked her foot underneath the contraption. She then leaned on it slightly and looked at her hand again. She barely bandaged it with scraps of her torn clothing. The stab wound felt like it was on fire. She figured she must have looked like a wreck with wounds and butchered, burnt hair from Connor's misguided attack. If she survived this, every look in a mirror would be a constant reminder of this day for a long time.
For a brief moment, she felt anger toward Devastis again. This was the man that had no problem controlling children to fight for him. At least Pet Shop had honor. She could respect him after their battle. This man was horrid.
"Well, I guess my plan was to get you somewhere that wasn't a dingy warehouse. You deserve a little more quality of life than that. Is that guy another one of your puppets? I'm not going to help you if you don't let these people go."
The words slipped out of her mouth before she could think about them. These puppets meant an incredible amount to Devastis. Would he react violently?
Beth focused on man inside the machine, praying that she might react quickly if he were to lash out at her with another puppet.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Nov 8, 2014 17:04:03 GMT -5
"Yes he is, we'll have more new friends soon enough. I need their help more than I need yours though, without them I'd... be alone."
There wasn't any indication of misgivings in the nurse, though there seemed to be some significant hesitation when she spoke about being without them, as though being alone was just some made up reason she said to cover the truth. That much was clear, but Beth's actions and words started to cause worry for Devastis, and the nurse reaffirmed her aim and her grip on the gun. As well the older fellow emptied the sand from the buckets and held the pole at the ready to swing. He was pretty sure if Beth wanted to, he would only be able to get the shot off, but he wouldn't just waste the use of more hands to help.
Which, appropriately enough, marked the arrival of yet another stranger. A young woman pushing a stroller, a sleeping baby within. She too approached, and eventually came to a stop nearby, sort of just lingering without any new commands.
"I appreciate being moved outside though, at least now I have better access to these people." said the middle aged man.
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Post by CJ on Nov 9, 2014 13:49:42 GMT -5
There wasn't any getting to Devastis. It was clear that talking to him was going to keep putting more people in danger. If she had just taken him out back in the warehouse, the older gentlemen wouldn't have been put in any danger.
Then there was the woman and her child. Her heart sank, feeling like it was going sink into her stomach. Meek was that age not too long ago. There were countless children like him in this city. Countless families were subject to this man's control.
Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what to do. If she put him to sleep here, there was a case that the townspeople who woke up would try and defend him if she attempted to kill him. It didn't matter if she was imprisoned or killed. She had to kill Devastis here and now.
"I'm sorry, Devastis. If you can't let these people go, the deal's off."
Beth used her remaining strength to try and throw Devastis's bed onto the ground. She tried to face the bottom of the bed toward Meredith to reduce the chance of being struck by bullets. She screamed and swung furiously at the iron lung contraption surrounding the man's head. She attempted to use the remaining energy coursing through her body to destroy the machine and kill the man within.
In her fury, she didn't even think of how horrible the situation was. It didn't matter that he was a terrible person. She was still trying to murder a sick and defenseless man. It didn't matter if she won this fight. She would lose so much more in the process.
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