Chapter 9
Time slowed to a crawl as it dawned on the Conduit just what this bitch had done. She had broadcast, to god and everybody, that he was Human.
To make matters worse, through the sudden, dead silence, Silas heard a voice. He couldn't bring himself to turn to the Vampire it belonged to, "S... Silas?" The voice quivered as it spoke, most understandably so, a bombshell had just been dropped on her, but Silas couldn't bare to look into her eyes, or the eyes of the redhead no-doubt close by.
Silas had to play this game very carefully. He had reasonable doubt on this woman, and anyone watching - which was, essentially, everyone at this point - could tell with one look that Silas was no Human, no ordinary, Human, at least. But if they asked him to go into Monster form, which would be the only way to prove it outright, then he would be in trouble. He had something up his sleeve that would work, but that was a last resort type deal.
"Human." Silas said calmly, but loud enough so that the slowly transforming spider-woman could hear him over the light murmuring of the rapidly growing crowd. "Hm..." Silas smoke dashed to the nearest lamp-post, he leaned up against it and electricity began flowing into his body. "I think..." Another smoke dash, back to his original spot, but now his arms were enveloped by his powers. "You've got the wrong guy."
"I know what I see, Human!" The spider roared, her Human form vanishing as she became more spider than Human.
Silas slowly reached for his chain, secured inside his sling-bag. "Keito, I don't know what who told you... But I am not a Human..." He lied, cleverly masking the quake of his voice by lowering his tone and increasing his volume. "I do not want to fight you." Slowly he dragged the chain out of his bag, "but if you give me no other choice, I will."
"You have no choice in this matter, Human!" The spider roared, charging the Conduit, "if you will not submit, I will carry out your execution!" The spider was blindly rushing the Conduit, her rage clouding her tactics while Silas' calm, level head giving him the advantage.
When the Spider came within striking distance, Silas whipped the chain around, slamming the electrified weighted end into the Spider-woman's head, and sending her off course. "Do I look like a Human, Keito?" Silas demanded, "can a Human do this -" He slammed his whip into the ground, the lightning sparking outwards from the impact point, another slam and superheated smoke exploded outwards. "- No! Humans can not do the things I can! Think about this, think before you do something you regret!"
The Spider woman was beyond reasoning at this point, she rushed forward again, meeting Silas' chain in a fashion similar to how she had met it earlier. This time Silas followed up the attack with a warning shot, a near-lethal electric bolt launched from his hand to the ground right next to the Spider-woman's head. "Keito, calm down and think about this!" The Conduit cried to the hysterical Spider-woman, "I am not a Human! I'm a leech, damn it!" He called out the first word besides 'Conduit' that could describe what he could do, "don't force me to fight you!"
The heavily breathing Spider-Woman got to her eight feet, and looked pensive for a moment, but Silas realized what she was doing a second before she did it. She launched a veritable volley of spider-silk at the Conduit, who smoke-dashed out of the way. The stream of silk followed him as he dodged, with the Conduit finally managing to avoid her entirely by bouncing onto a roof top and leaping off of it, chain curled up around his hand.
"I warned you!" Silas roared as he arced through the air, fist cocked back and electricity funneling through it. The spider just barely dodged his attack, but he managed to tag one of her legs, stunning it numb. The Conduit wasted not a moment in unfurling his chain and swinging it in circles around him, occasionally snapping it outwards and impacting with the Spider, who was trying to find an opening in the Leech-Conduit's defense. He was swinging his chain in an arc around him, surrounding himself in an electrified smoke screen, effectively giving himself a circular zone of influence that he decreed none enter.
The angered Spider shot silk at the Conduit, who slammed the weighted end of his chain into it. The Spider smiled as she knew the chain would stick to the very next thing it hit, but panicked when she saw the Conduit use the chain's momentum to launch it at the Spider at blinding speeds. It slammed into her face, blinding two of her eyes and stunning her as she screamed, her one most exploitable weakness having just been slammed into by a several dozen pound, electrified, superheated, and adhesive chain. Through the haze of pain she saw the Counduit running for her, she tried shooting him with more silk but he seemed to literally turn his body to smoke, the bullets passing harmlessly through him as he ran forward. His hands grasped the end of the chain, but he kept running. She raised her legs, making ready to impale the Human, who, with a determined scowl, leapt into the air, surprising the half-blind Spider-woman, who didn't know where he was going until he landed on her back.
The Conduit planted his feet firmly in the Spider's hairy back and yanked the chain upwards, forcing her neck to bend towards him, stunning the Spider-woman. Like a horse being broken she started thrashing about violently, trying to buck the Conduit off of her, but the Conduit flicked his chain, wrapping it around her neck. Now each violent struggle only served to tighten the grip the chain had on her throat, making it harder to stop the Conduit from choking the spider. The two thrashed about for an entire sixty seconds, before the Spider lost steam and, eventually, slumped forward.
Silas knew this trick, he had used it before. He let go of the chain and launched himself upward, transforming into a column of smoke as he prepared his Orbital Drop. Reaching the apex of his leap, the Conduit rocketed towards the ground as the Spider-Woman decided it was time to 'wake up', only to receive a super-heated, smoke enveloped fist to her skull, cracking it and knocking her out cold.
Now, as Silas burned the silk off of his chain with smoke, he considered his next action. This school is basically survival of the fittest... I haven't met anyone I couldn't handle, save for ... Maybe Moka, and Kuyou, but the former has her powers locked away by a seal she can't remove, and the latter is more or less on my side... So if I kill her, I'll show all of these people that I'm not one to be trifled with, and I do not take accusations lightly... Thought the Conduit as he retrieved his chain. But in killing her I may inadvertently alienate my only friends... Not to mention that I'd be sacrificing whatever Humanity I may have left... But if I spare her, I'll be seen as a weak - albeit, benevolent - monster, and they may see this weakness as a sign that I'm Human... He stared at the unconscious spider below him.
Life... He extended his left hand and looked at its empty palm, or Death? He looked at his right hand, clenched in it the weighted end of his chain.
Slowly, the Conduit lowered both hands. No... I kill her and I'm no better than Him... Thought the Conduit as the electricity and smoke left his arms.
Suddenly, the Conduit heard a screech of pain, he recognized the voice and whipped around, and there was Kuyou Tanzin, forcing Moka onto her knees and keeping her hair locked tightly in his grip, effectively paralyzing her through the foreign pain. Silas went from cold to brinkmanship in a second, but he kept his cool and raised his hands slowly, subtly scanning the crowds for Chol, hoping she could help.
"Alright, Kuyou... Calm down..." He said slowly, taking slow steps forward.
"I had meant for this to go along a lot quieter." Kuyou had said, tightening his grip in the Vampire's hair. "But now we have no choice." He looked up from the pink haired girl to the Conduit.
"Kuyou, let her go!" Silas said firmly, not yet ready to beg or bargain. "Your fight isn't with her -"
"Oh, but it is." Said Kuyou, confusing the Conduit. "I have it on good authority that not only are you Human, but this girl knew!"
"That's not true, Kuyou, she didn't know!" Though Silas couldn't account for the Vampire half of Moka, she had drank his blood after all. "Send her over here and we can talk this out!" His hands were still raised, palms to the ground, in a placating gesture, though with one movement he could launch a missile bolt.
"I will do no such thing!" Kuyou said, "I am a Yokai Academy Public Safety Commission Enforcer, you are accused of the crime of being of the genus Homo, species Sapiens, how do you plead?!"
"Not guilty!" Silas barked, "listen to me, Kuyou, send Moka over here and we can talk about this!" Silas pleaded.
"Of course, why didn't I think of it sooner?" Kuyou put on a false show of smacking himself in the forehead. "Just show us your monster form and all charges will be dropped!"
Silas felt all eyes go to him, "I can't Kuyou, you have no idea what you're dealing with! No idea at all!" He had two options, neither of them were good.
A flash of anger went through Kuyou's eyes, "refusal is just a different way of admitting guilt, John VaSilas!"
"It is not! Now give me the Vampire and we can talk about this!" Silas knew his mistake just a second after he'd made it.
"You want the Vampire?! Fine!" Kuyou was wrapped in an aura of white hot flames, Kuyou violently brought Moka to her feet and shoved her to Silas, who saw what Kuyou was going to do. Before he could even shout in defiance, Kuyou blasted Moka in the back with a white-hot fireball.
The Conduit caught the stunned Vampire as she fell forward, her face was contorted in pain and the bare skin on her back was pulsing red, bleeding as it blistered and popped. The Conduit slowly brought the Vampire to the ground, trying to get through to her as she rapidly retreated into unconsciousness. "Moka, Moka! Come on!" He said, trying to resuscitate her, but to no avail. The Conduit couldn't use his electricity to heal her, he knew, he would need powers over flame to undo this damage, but he had no such powers.
Scowl stretching over his face as he checked Moka's weak pulse, he knew he could get those powers.
At least, he sincerely hoped.
Silas stood up slowly, smoke radiating off of his form, taking on a deep, dark red hue. He could feel the beast attempting to seduce him, but he wouldn't give in, not yet.
"Alright, Kuyou... You wanted a war." Silas turned around, clenching one gloved hand in the other. "You've got one." One glove slipped off, "the gloves are off, pal." The second slipped off, both dropped to the ground. The air felt cool against the skin of his hands, but he didn't notice. "The word 'Terrorist' suggests the theft of something and the introduction of something else. 'Bio-Terrorist', therefor, suggests the theft of biological safety and the introduction of terror in the same medium... Conduits, since their discovery by Humanity, have been labeled bio-terrorists..." He said, slowly walking forward to the fire-wrapped Kuyou. "I am a special kind of Conduit... The best kind. There is no power -" With an electric zap, Silas vanished, and reappeared behind Kuyou in the blink of an eye. "that cannot be mine!" Silas grabbed Kuyou's hands with his own, black tendrils exploded outwards and wrapped around the struggling monster's arms.
Kuyou felt a pain like nothing before, like the essence of his soul was being dragged out of him, while Silas felt like he was sucking a rather thick milkshake through a thin straw.
The fire-wielder walked through a field of ash and smoke. All around him there was desolation, not a single living soul could be seen for miles. He called out for his mother and father but they couldn't hear him. Desperately the fire-wielder called, hoping beyond hope that there was some vestige of sentient contact to be had, somewhere out there. He heard something, and the fire-wielder turned to it hopefully, but he was greeted with a devastating sight: Humans, dozens - Hundreds - of them, all in silver suits, carrying odd weapons, all seeming to be impervious to the heat of the Fire Lands. The Fire Wielder screamed as he tried to run, the horror stories of the Human Race rushing to the forefront of his mind as the firearms were pointed to him. He heard the explosive cannon blasts and saw the bullets pepper the ground around him, as he heard the sonic-boom of fighter jets zooming by up above, the only realm the Humans rules unchallenged.
He heard the high-pitched whistling of more fire bombs as they dropped again, before his world was enveloped in flames even his skin couldn't protect him from. The fire-demon screamed in pain as the napalm coated his super-human skin and burned it like crispy bacon, but he kept running, the Humans could take his family, his people, but they would not take him.
He would escape, only to collapse in a forest in the middle of nowhere, his skin blistering as it tried to heal itself, his lungs burning as he tried to force oxygen in and out, his eyes heavy with fatigue.
A voice spoke up, "well... What do we have here?" The fire-wielder dragged his gaze upwards, and was met with a peculiar sight. A figure garbed in thick robes with an odd mask adorning his face, it looked at the fire-wielder with an expression that could only be described as curious interest. The fire-wielder couldn't bring himself to move, speak, or do anything other than force air in and out. "A little firefox... A long way from home..." The masked man looked up, past The fire-wielder. "Hm... Was that your village that the Humans bombed? I'll admit, Australia may have been the best and worst place for your people to settle, but to each his own, and to fate the all." The masked man explained, "here... Allow me to heal you..." He extended his arms and the Fire-Wielder was bathed in a golden-white light, his blisters and burns disappearing in minutes.
The Fire-Wielder got to his feet, looking up at the man with suspicion. "Who... Are you?" He asked slowly.
The masked man stayed silent for a moment, "I am merely a fairy tale, child... As are we all... Humanity used to fear Fairy Tales... If you follow me, I can show you why."
The Fire-Wielder didn't hesitate, he accepted the man's offer.
Silas was blasted from Kuyou's back by a bright energy blast, he hit the ground with a grunt, as Kuyou fell to his hands, both of them breathing heavily from the ordeal. However, the Conduit was the one who had experience with these things, and now armed with Kuyo's memories, the Monsterous Conduit wrapped his hands in white hot flames. He was glad beyond words that this worked, but he had no time for words, Kuyou was recovering.
"Where once you were the most powerful... Now your power is mine." Silas said, staring at the Head Enforcer as his chain unfurled. "Now... Step aside." He threatened, heat visibly radiating off of him. This was a fire the fox-demon in front of him couldn't win, with this experience Silas knew the differences between Conduit elements and Monster elements. Conduits absorbed their element and cast it forth from their bodies, essentially turning the element into a fusion of its natural state and the Conduit's own energy, whereas Monsters - like Kuyou - who commanded elements - like Fire - controlled and manipulated the element itself. Silas couldn't absorb Conduit elements, the Hunter had taught him that, but natural elements? He could definitely take that in, and if his hunch was correct, whatever Kuyou threw at him, he could take and throw right back.
Kuyou slowly rose and turned to Silas, watching the Conduit as its arms were now wrapped in flame. "No... This is where things get interesting." Kuyou called forth a fireball and launched it at Silas, the students that gathered around were quickly backing up as the fire-wielder fought the leech-Conduit.
The Conduit whipped his chain, now superheated to the point where it was glowing white with heat, and slammed the weighted end into the fireball, dispersing it entirely. Silas dashed forward and slammed his chain into Kuyou's face, before ramming his knee into the fire-wielder's gut and leaping back, preparing to whip the fire-wielder again.
Physically weak, like a Human... Kuyou looked up and saw the chain coming for him, relies upon weapons... Like a Human. His wrist shot up and the chain wrapped around it. Has abilities... Like a monster... Relies upon them... Like a Human. Kuyou yanked on the chain, his monstrous strength breaking the Conduit's balance and sending him flying for the fire-wielder, who reared his fist.
The Conduit realized what was happening and smoke-dashed through the fire-wielder, appearing behind him with his arms covered in electricity. He let go of the chain and threw it to the sky, before he called down a powerful storm of lightning, which slammed into the chain, it acting as a lightning rod and forcing the lightning to course into the fire-wielder. Kuyou had seen the Conduit call lightning down before, and had thought he was ready, but experiencing raw energy coarsing through him was something else. One bolt of lightning was nearly five times hotter than the surface of the sun, and the Conduit was calling a continuous storm down upon the fire-wielder.
The lightning cleared, the chain fell. The conduit caught the chain and ripped it from Kuyou's arm, as the stunned fire-wielder recovered. The Conduit took the moment to recharge, stealing the smoke off of Kuyou's smoldering clothes. He felt the energy course through him as the fire-wielder recovered.
"My turn!" The fire-wielder moved faster than the Conduit was prepared for, and in a second he was on top of the Conduit, unleashing a brutal flurry of superheated punches. The Conduit took several hits before his body turned to smoke, but Kuyou had a plan for this, and leapt back, before he unleashed a guyser of fire.
The Conduit felt the unbearable heat, even in his smoke form it hurt as if it came from the very fires that made up hell. He fled as fast as he could, rematerializing just in time to find a column of fire heading straight for him. Deciding now was the best time to try and see if his theory held weight, Silas held up his hand and made to absorb the flames. Silas felt the flames hit his palm and enter his body, he felt the energy flow but immediately saw the flaw in his plan: He couldn't take in everything Kuyou could dish out, he would burn himself out and overcharge, neither of which were good things. With a grunt, he smoke-dashed away, many of his injuries healed but his body still sore and tired. He reamaterialized swinging, his chain slamming repeatedly into Kuyou, who dodged some attacks, blocked others, and were hit by the rest.
The two remained at a deadlock, the Fire-Wielder holding experience and brutality over the Conduit, who held flexibility and mobility, plus his varied powers, over the fire-wielder. Silas knew, as he blocked and dodged blows from the fire-wielder, that Moka still needed him, her back was burnt almost black, if he didn't help her the damage would be irreparable. Knowing he needed to stun him, Silas decided now was the time to experiment. Smoke was what came from fire, and smoke could choke out a fire, so with this in mind, Silas collected a large orb of smoke in his hand. He sprinted forward and made one circular revolution, electric energy charging into the smoke before he threw the orb of electrified smoke as hard as he could. The resultant vortex of smoke and electricity did almost what the Conduit wanted, it stunned Kuyou, but it didn't stay in place, it kept going.
Silas decided that this was something to focus upon, another day, he rushed to Moka. The Conduit calmed down the fire on his arms and slowly dragged his palms across Moka's back, feeling and seeing her flinch and clench up as he undid the damage dealt by Silas, and when the burns were finally gone, Silas sent the rejuvenating electricity through her body, healing the rest of her wounds. Silas stood up when all of his senses told him to pick up Moka and run, he didn't disobey, he picked up Moka and leapt as high and as far as his powers would allow him, landing on a rooftop just as a heatwave passed where they had been standing, turning everything in its path into ash.
I need a game changer... Silas thought, eyes wide as he noticed the raw power the fire-wielder possessed. Kuyou had changed forms, Silas suddenly realized, he was taller now, he looked like a bipedal fox, with four bright white tails of pure, contained fire flowing with heat.
"You cannot defeat me, Human!" Kuyou shouted, searching for Silas in the crowds and on the rooftops. "You will need FAR MORE POWER than you have right now!"
Silas sighed. He stood up and laid Moka gently on the ground, before he removed his coat and his sling-bag. He grabbed a sheet of paper from the bag and hurriedly wrote a message, before he stuffed his coat in the bag and pinned the note to the strap, before he leaned down and broke the seal on Moka's rosary. Half hoping she would wake up, she didn't. He nodded and restrained her to the roof, knowing it would wear off in a few hours.
He hoped he would lose steam in that time.
Silas sighed, and with no backwards look, leaped back off of the roof, landing right behind Kuyou, who whipped around. Silas was looking at the ground, his unkempt hair flowing over his face, hiding it from view.
"You want power?" Silas clarified, slowly looking up as energy began collecting around him. "You want a monster?!" His eyes turned blood red as the swirling energy around him intensified, "you want my monster form?! I'LL SHOW YOU A BEAST!" The Conduit roared, the ground shaking as his voice took on a suddenly demonic tone.