Chibiyu: Writing chapters in one go is fun :-)
Nick: Just kill me already.
Chibiyu: ...uhh...not sure if this is the opportune moment for that.
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She looked at him over her shoulder. "So answer this: that look of longing? Where is it now, Necrophere?"
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Nick's clenched fist began to shake in anger as he glared at the one accusing him. "Paragon, I am not him," the tone of warning was very clear in his voice now. "But the more you accuse, the more angry it becomes. I don't want it to hurt you, so please, just be quiet."
Paragon eyed Nick's fist hesitantly but did not back down. "I'm not finished yet."
"I am," Nick cut across her with a scowl. "I made a deal with Necrophere. He wouldn't kill the Normals and in return, he would get my allegiance. But I tricked him. His own naivety killed him. He didn't think that I would have the guts to have him killed. But he obviously did since he isn't dead!"
"And in doing so," Paragon inserted, "You got the Four."
"And how you do know that I don't intend on destroying it?"
At the word 'destroying,' Kevin and Joe watched the Four, expecting the ruby to burn Nick. But it did not - it only lay seemingly dormant.
"Then you would have done so already."
Nick pointed to the people gathered around them. "If I did that, then who knows what would have happened! This isn't just a regular fight, Para! We can't just charge in without a plan!"
"And what is your plan, Nicholas?"
That question made Nick fall silent. He only stared at the shifter for a second more before he shook his head. "Don't ask me that." He turned his back with full intentions to walk over to his family and try to end this quickly, but Paragon's hand closed on his arm.
"Why not?" She taunted, "Afraid you'll give yourself away?"
Paragon flinched back as Nick's clenched fist began to dance with a small flame. She looked at him with pure fear; none of the taunt left in her posture. Everyone just stared at the two and saw how Paragon retreated another step. They watched Nick close his eyes and take a deep breath. They saw him force his fingers back open. They all let out a long breath when the flames died.
"I don't want it to hurt you," Nick repeated once, voice quieter than before. "I can't control it when it's angry. And the Bane can't do anything against it. Not without destroying itself and the Four. That can't happen. Not yet."
Paragon took another step back when Nick hesitantly held out his hand.
"It's still me, Para. I'm in control now, okay? I won't hurt you."
Paragon shook her head. She spun on her heel and ran off, her form just a speck in the sky in a matter of seconds.
'Insolent girl.' Everyone took a sharp intake as the Four's voice stabbed into their minds. 'You should have let me do it.'
Nick didn't speak, but the glare on his face as he crushed the pendant in his hand was enough of an answer.
'Putting such ideas in the heads of the petty,' it scoffed loudly, a few dropping to their knees from the sheer magnitude of the conscience that invaded their own. 'Let this serve as a warning to you all - I have no wish to be used for such petty means. Necrophere used me for such means and I let him be blinded. He could have known that Nicholas would have betrayed him, but I concealed it from him. Just as I did many things.'
"Why?" Nick questioned. "Why would you help me?"
'His will and mind were weak.' That was all the explanation the Four gave. And it was all Nick needed; he couldn't stop the small smile that grew on his lips from the unspoken compliment.
"What does that mean?" A Council elder asked, his rugged hands clasped together as he stared at the Normal. His full suit was dusted with ashes, which told that he was in the back of the crowd when Florice's roots came into the fight.
Coward, the Bane whispered. A disgrace to the Hero name.
Nick looked over to him and fought the urge to frown. "True power is only given when one can not only wield it, but hold it back." His voice was mixed with the Four's, creating an awful effect that had even Nick flinching. "Necrophere couldn't do that."
"And you most certainly cannot do so!" the elder roared with fear in his eyes. "Fellow Council members," he turned to face the others who were hidden behind the masses of those braver. "We must lock up this threat until he destroys himself as well as the Four! You've seen that he cannot control it! He burned Florice as well as nearly hurting his own friend. We cannot have this escalate into more!"
"What?!" Tom and Sandy both shouted out.
"He's not a threat!" Kevin yelled, finally able to sense Nick again as the Four retreated. "He can handle this!"
Joe stared at the old man, as if weighing the consequences of picking him up and throwing him into the crowd of silent Villains. "You're not going to touch him."
Did you plan for this as well, young one?
It's not over yet, Nick thought, unwilling to give away any part of his plan.
He glanced over to the Villains and watched them stare at the ruby.
"It does as it pleases; what is right for it," Cascasdia breathed in amazement.
"The true definition of any Villain," Neuropath added.
"Controlled by no one, not even the one with the mind to resist it," Lilith added, her older form softened by the lines of awe. "Incredible."
"And now they're going to take it away?" Florice pouted, face set in anger. "And put it into Hero territory? I don't think so."
Talis frowned at the Council member. "We need it. Talis likes snakes."
The Normal closed his eyes and shut out the shouts of the Villains as they gave each other the inspiration to fight again. He shut out the Heroes, who bickered over his fate. He only focused on the ancient spirits around his neck.
You can still turn away. Destroy us here and now. There is no shame in retreating.
'The perfect world is nearly in your hands. Stop now and nothing will change.'
A great deal has already changed.
'How? They are still going to lock him up. Not because he holds me, but because he is a Normal. They don't believe in him.'
They are ignorant fools. But Nicholas is not.
'But he still is a Normal. And in their eyes, Normals are considered - '
"Weak, useless, powerless," Nick quietly listed off as he glared at the ones in favor of locking him away. "Nothing more than the blood to lure a shark." HIs fists clenched once again as he stared into the merciless eyes of those who were supposed to protect the ones who couldn't protect themselves.
"Lock him away! Make sure he never sees the light of day!" A woman with the Council badge yelled.
"He's a Normal!" Loraine added, "He can't control any kind of power, so why take the chance with the Four! It will use him and destroy us all!"
Only Nick's family and friends were fighting for him, but they were greatly outnumbered in both power and volume.
"Lock up the Normal! Make him destroy it before he can us!"
"NO!" Sandy Lucas tried to knock down the arms that block her from reaching her son. "He isn't a threat! He can control it!"
"He's weak and powerless to it! Nothing but a puppet. Even Paragon saw it, you blind woman! You raised what will become a monster! Accept it and throw him aside like you've done for years, vixen."
Anger flared in Nick's chest at these words and as his mother was pushed out of his sight. No one spoke to his mother like that. No one.
'Change the world, Nicholas. With us, you can.'
Make it right, child.
Nick took a deep breath to brace himself for what was going to come. "Give me the power to do so."
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Chibiyu: So is this part of Nick's plan or the Four being...well...Villainous? Until Next Update!
