Hey People,
since things are escalating in the final. Beware the triggerwarnings! It concerns what goes on in the bar. So, if you read it all I'd say it's a PG18 chapter. If you leave them out PG16. I decided to put concrete triggerwarnings above each scene. Cause of the urgency of the situation and flow of the story it's important. But I do totally understand if someone doesn't want to read such things.
Scenes are tagged through:
It starts with
-***-Trigerwarning: xyz
And it ends with
-ü-
It is possible to understand the chapter without the bar scenes.
PLEASE, take care of your mental health and only read when you are in the mood for such things. No story is worth triggering something in you. And of course, Blade will stay safe in the big picture but it will get dicey.
All the best to you all!
"Blade's not herself, Iolas. Someone put a psi-spell on her I can't break it from a distance," Zhoron argued. "You have to pull her out."
"NO!" Kitty just had made it and she landed on the same rooftop as Iolas and the rest of the breach team were on, besides the fact that Virion had told her not to run off. "If Clayton's coming, which he is. We have him! They have no clue that we are here, or they wouldn't dare to try whatever this shit is supposed to be! She said you talked to her beforehand, in depth. If you haven't pulled her yet they haven't crossed a line yet, Blade wasn't willing to endure. We NEED CLAYTON to pay for what he did, BLADE needs him to pay, WE ALL DO! We won't get a better chance than this!"
"And what about HER!?" Mercury hissed. He was so scared for her. His heart pounding in his head. "She-"
"She counts on you to have her back, to save her," Amal whispered, but since Iolas had boosted his voice output on their end he was loud enough to interrupt. "I count on you. None of US wishes her any harm. But can you honestly say she'd be happy if we pull her out right now?"
"Quiet," Iolas ordered strongly, "Zhoron, why can't you break the spell?"
"That memory ruby. She still has it in her hands. It must be coated with something. Or it is another magical item in disguise as one. Direct contact psi is too strong to cancel through walls. Not to mention the possibility that as long as she holds it it instantly might recast or it has another blacklash. I don't have enough information. Psi is tricky and complicated to counter you know that," Zhoron updated his leader on the probable scenarios quickly.
Iolas closed his eyes, "Get the kids back here on this roof, backup teams take their positions."
"What?!" Nebula got angry.
"You'll jump the gun and this needs to be much more precise. You can ALL breach with me and Ararel and the rest, don't worry you'll get your fair share of arrests. But the Police are much more prepared for…their plan than we expected. We got a whole bar full of them. Plus, I need your opinions on what is too much for Blade. You all know her better than any of us." Iolas calmed the students down who luckily found the compromise acceptable. 'Guys, important stuff in psi, please. We don't need them on a rampage.'
-***- Triggerwarning: near-nakedness, objectification of a person (violation of human dignity)
Officer Jefferson addressed Lucia, "I bet you don't dare to fuse that memory crystal with your skin."
Blade was wobbling on the spot half surrounded by Officers in monster masks.
"You don't have to do this, Lucia, you know that, right? This is totally up to you. Don't force yourself, okay?" Francis next to her chuckled.
"Yes," Blade answered with a nod.
"Do it! Do it! Do it!" A chant rose from the crowd eyeing her like prey.
"Yeah, go ahead infuse it," Officer Joe stepped towards her reaching out with his hand towards her.
Shirley, in her monster mask, just came down the stairs to the upper floor and bashed his hand down, "She's not yours, hands off." She admonished him harshly. Set the stage up for her speech." She nodded to the seating area.
"Alright, alright…" Joe looked over his shoulder as he stepped away from Lucia and watched the Witch melt the stone into her skin. "I'll get my turn anyway…" He licked his lips in anticipation as that girl's fate was sealed now.
Officer Roger, another party guest, pushed a shopping bag towards Blade, "I dare you to put these on, and get rid of that ugly techno bracelet." He pointed it out.
Blade reached out with her magic and with a quick swish of her hand the bag floated in the air and with another snap of her fingers she stood there basically naked wrapped in one fine-lined layered lingerie short-dress stitched with embroider. Yet beneath one could assume some tasteless leather string outfit that looked more like a dog harness gone wrong than anything else and her bracelet clanked to the floor with her crumpled-up clothes stuffed in the shopping bag.
A roar went through the party. Everyone was whistling and cheering. At last, they had their price-crowned Witch under their control, no doubt about it.
-ü-
"So, how would you have handled this, Headmistress Faragonda? Just leave it at that? It was a 'harmless' joke that easily could have endangered the child," Nerrocean kept pressing the Headmasters for answers as he kept buying time and checked the forwarded videofeed of Blade in the corner of his eyes. 'Those… I'll kill them…' If it hadn't been an opp to gather evidence he would simply swap out right now.
Amal stared shocked at the screen and choked at the water he just was drinking trying to calm his nerves. He squished the water bottle so hard in his hands that some splashed all over him as he coughed as quietly as possible. He trembled so hard and pressed the lid on the bottle to not spill more. He couldn't help himself but bare his teeth as he watched that some dude grabbed Blade by a leather string attached to her neck holder and pulled her in front of another camera and the video feed swapped to that perspective.
Votzaak and Aithlin turned their heads confused to glance over their shoulders. They had heard the suppressed coughs and water splash. 'What is that boy doing?!' Aithlin nodded to one of the Council guards and with a wave of that one's hands the splashed water disappeared. To not make a big fuss about it both Councillors looked forward again.
'That boy clumsy as…aargh, hmmm, he looks like he wants to kill someone…' Votzaak thought to himself. He like Aithlin could see Amal's face from their angle unlike the others in attendance, who only picked up on the use of magic somewhere on the stage if at all, since Nerrocean pulled all of the attention like a magnet towards himself.
Councillor Nerrocean hushed a quick glance on his bracelet feed, 'Laugh all you can, dig your damn graves, all of you,' disgusted by the actions of the Officers Nerrocean continued as if nothing was wrong. "Chief Carter," He addressed one of the thirteen Police Chiefs. "What would you say would be a fitting reprimand for a Witch that bribes gangsters?"
The Elves had trouble keeping the kids on the roof. The Techno-Magic Department had only needed seconds to create a white, slightly glowing, stand-in for Blade in the video, but the students had all seen the outfit for a glimpse.
"I'LL…" Mercury was pulling towards the door ready to jump from the roof as Daeleth held him back with the use of magic, which Mercury gladly matched.
So Daeleth had to use some more and kicked his feet away and pinned him to the ground, "Gesh, stay cool! We're here. She's not alone. She's not the one trapped, THEY ARE. They won't touch a hair on her." He held him down until he would cool off. 'Geesh, why did we bring the wanna-be boyfriend?!'
"But she!" Snow growled. None of the students were happy, they all thirsted for blood and just barely held back and didn't rush in, because of Daeleth's trap comment.
"ENOUGH, let us concentrate," Iolas kept a close eye on the second bracelet feed, 'They got to learn this stuff at some point… keep Mercury pinned. Rest keep the others in check. The last thing she needs is that she is stripping for basically nothing. After all, we could have barged in once the dress-up request was uttered. Damn that Clayton. How in Magix did we miss so many online creeps?' Iolas was a bit baffled, they had spent two months frisking Officers and nothing had pointed to any of this. He focused himself before he addressed the students surrounded by Council guards, while the Division Hunters were already in position and ready for entry. "I talked with her about this. And Blade said she doesn't care as long as they don't -"
"Don't what? Rape her?!" Julius tensed up so much he could feel his shoulder plates hurt, "What's the next lie, let me guess you exactly knew and talked with her about being a braindead puppet and being turned into some sex doll!? My ass you did!" Julius hissed at Iolas as he stomped towards him. "Stopp, bullshitting us!"
"No, of course I didn't guess that," Iolas stayed as calm as ever. Julius was scared like the rest and searched for a fight to vent, which was the last thing that would help anyone now, "The scenario I discussed with Blade was that Shane might force her to wear something or undress her himself after he might block her magic with Green Jade cuffs… which would end in a similar situation," Iolas sighed. "WE prepared for a lot of scenarios. So, please, remember, all of you, we won't let them lay a finger on her. Blade counts on you to keep her safe and yet be able to get as much evidence as possible and catch them ALL. So, take a breath, calm down and be ready for breach. This is an unexpected situation, but we are prepared. You trained for this," He reminded them firmly yet kindly. "Show us, her and most of all yourself what you have learned and are capable of now. If you can't watch and wait, then please, just say so. There is no shame in recognising one's limits. We have more than enough squads in the area I'll order them to take you back to the Council." Of course, none of the students wanted to leave. "This is a delicate operation. We can't afford mistakes because of boiling emotions. You need to focus, I know you can do this. You all just said we need to catch Clayton and Blade would risk it for that exact same reason, did you not? Not to mention over five thousand online viewers. We probably have missed so far. So, be the backup Blade knows you to be." The students still weren't happy, but they knew him to be right. Surprisingly the Sorceresses were the first to calm down. One could see their predatory flare flicker in their eyes.
'Good job, Iolas.' Virion nodded towards the side street, "There, Clayton, our scumbag finally arrived." Their backup team had kept an eye on him, since the students had rushed ahead to the bar, besides his orders. He checked the info from the Techno Department, 'Only twenty-seven per cent are infected with the virus spell…ahhh… will we truly get every one of these…before it escalates?'
'We'll wait as long as possible,' Ararel answered tensely.
Nebula stampeded over to Iolas, "Nerrocean better be ready to swap out…Or I'll gut him, personally. Tell him that!" Nebula hissed before she calmed down and took position next to Kitty on the roof edge inside the barrier, which kept all that screaming from getting out. For today they had used a bit more sophisticated ones so that was possible. The kids all knew Iolas was right, but all they wanted was to puke and smash these Officers' heads in.
Chief Carter finished his lengthy answer he oh so superiorly had rubbed into Griffin's face, "Well, in conclusion, if an Officer takes a bribe or uses his position of power to his own advantage. They get expelled from the force. So, the Witch should have been expelled if you ask me." He grinned super pleased. 'Serves that Black magic Witch right. Finally, someone puts her in her place.'
It was a spectacle, to say the least. Nerrocean pillored Griffin in front of everyone, harshly. And some were more than happy to see this and even enjoyed it with a pleased smirk, whispers and chuckles. Nonetheless NOT one, besides Saladin, Faragonda and occasionally Musa spoke up as the Councillor of Magix had his field day with the Witches of Cloud Tower. The other Professors let the Headmasters speak since they were the most traversed in Court matters and this seemed a very complicated game. Yet still things looked grim to everyone else. Because, for one Nerrocean wasn't wrong with the points and examples he made and worse they were all true stories. Everyone could feel Nerrocean's thirst for blood, he was hunting. Everyone waited in expense for Nerrocean to finally call the vote to remove Griffin as Headmistress of Cloud Tower.
Chief Simon grinned at the answer Chief Carter gave, 'Oh, you are way too late for this Councillor. No one can save them any longer, not even the termination of Headmistress Griffin. Tomorrow the Witches' wrath will hit the city and nothing you do today will save them from the Council's only option. In fact, your actions today will backfire so hard.' He snickered inwardly. 'Once we put the revised video out into the magicWeb. It'll never be forgotten and spread like wildfire. Lucia the shining star, drowned in agony. She won't show her face anywhere ever again. That worthless bitch, no one touches MY Police. And once the students will lash out like never before although they can't prove it's us at all. They'll be forced to close Cloud Tower for good. Griffin's doomed! As is William, working with Witches – truly, that be the day.' Simon gleefully leaned back and listened more closely to his podcast Officer Shirley moderated as he continued to watch Nerrocean mop the floor with Griffin over his mini earplugs.
-***- Triggerwarning: Swearing, humiliation, Police violence
"Uh, uh, that's another one, oh, that is juicy," Officer Hans read out loud, "How about, curse yourself so you'll shit yourself by the sound of thunder. Do that one, you bitch!"
Blade yet again raised her hands and drew some Dark magic runes into the air. They kept ordering her to use her magic to put curses on herself. They had no idea if those even worked or if Blade was powerful enough to cast such things. But the sheer entertainment value was too good to pass up and it drained the Witch's Dark magic like crazy on top of the alcohol and they needed that for the next phase.
"Ohhh, you shouldn't have," Clayton had unlocked the bar door with his key and locked up again once inside. He already wore his monster mask. He spotted Shane in his mask with no problem and then his gaze wandered and holted on Lucia already nicely wrapped up for him. He straight forward walked up to the Witch who with a flare-up ingrained the newly hex curse on herself. Clayton didn't stop until she was within reach and slapped her so hard with the back of his hand that the girl crashed to the ground. "You, worthless bitch!" He spat on her, "Who's grinning now, huh?! One always meets twice in life…" He grabbed for something and snatched the cake knife lying on the table next to him.
-ü-
Iolas instantly raised his hand ready to order the breach.
Sienna went as pale as a ghost there and froze on the spot staring at her bracelet feed. "We…got …we…what are you…waiting for…" She was so scared.
Slowly Iolas lowered his hand again, "Thank, the Great Dragon…" He ordered all to hold positions. "TMD, how long!? We don't have all day, here." He asked the Elf in the open call.
The Elf in the group call answered, "We're at fifty per cent. We're working as fast as possible."
-***- Triggerwarning: Swearing, Police violence, mentions of planned murder and rape, non-consensual touching
"Buddy," Shane roughly massaged Clayton's shoulders, "She has to last the weekend you know that…you got dips but well…" Shane looked to all gathered.
"I know, I know," Clayton growled pissed and clanked the knife on the table, "It's just so hard to contain oneself, nearly three months… I licked those whores' asses just to please Chieftain Connor. Medical fresh up, my ass."
"Ahhh, surely you learned something new," Adam joked around, "After all that anatomy stuff you learned for the test."
"Oh, I learned something, alright. I'll give that worthless slut a deep-dive anal examination IT will never forget. Just today they scratched my car," Clayton balled his fists again, reaching again for the knife, "I should return the favour…"
"Ahhh, but that's so uncreative," Francis complained as he chucked down his beer, "Besides everything will get all bloody from the get-go…"
Officer Hans agreed, "Yeah, she's about ready. There is one more curse left, I'd say. So, which one will it be," He looked eagerly at Clayton.
But Shane stopped Clayton and pulled the redhead up by her chin and ran his thumb harshly over her lips, "Curse yourself, so the next time you see Officer William you stab him with whatever you can find and don't stop stabbing till he is dead."
-ü-
Simon smirked as Shirley commented on everything with her sexy voice in moderation. 'Oh, your downfall is set in stone Griffin. Poor William, such a weak man, relying on something so filthy only right that he dies by their hands.'
"One-point-five MILLION Maggi of damage to the Police in two months," Nerrocean repeated again after he had covered a bunch of examples to which neither Faragonda nor Saladin didn't offer Griffin any protection or backup. Most thought because they couldn't, yet they simply didn't.
'That's the same sentence as before… wait is he going in circles to buy time? Ahhh, why didn't he tell me before?! Ahhh…' Griffin trembled so much in frustration, she wasn't sure what he wanted her to actually do. The end goal was a mystery to her as well. Votzaak kept the tace spell active. She basically had no say, or better said no voice. She couldn't even ask him back right now. 'Is… maybe he is scared I would tipp his hands…' So, she simply pretended to be short of grabbing Nerrocean by his head fins and telling him what's what. Yet she didn't, 'That's what you want right?!' She glared in utter despise at the merman. 'You want them to think I get kicked out!? There're other ways without tarnishing my name that much, you backstabbing…' She clawed deeply into the table and drew grooves with her nails.
Councillor Nerrocean gazed shortly through the rows and ranks, 'Gotcha…' He glanced at the bracelet feed just for a second.
There were a lot who truly enjoyed this; the longer it had gone on the more people had dropped their fake Court-mask facial expressions they always loved to hide behind. They thought Nerrocean was too busy pounding Griffin into dust to notice them.
An even bigger portion on the other hand simply didn't care. They rather were confused, about why now someone would even concern himself with the reputation of Cloud Tower or Witches. Why indeed? And of all people a placeholder like the Councillor of Magix.
Only a small portion actually actively tried to figure out how to resolve this, help. And if only to keep the one Witch in charge of Cloud Tower that enough respected to actually keep Cloud Tower running and Witches grouped. And just a few, like Eaden and Gadiel, knew Nerrocean well enough and eagerly tried to figure out Nerrocean's play here without ruining it.
-***-Triggerwarning: Swearing, non-consensual drugging/touching, violation of human dignity, mentions of planned murder, rape and victim blaming
Pleased Clayton watched as Lucia drew the runes into the air. "She'll burn her fairy tail to the ground she so desperately tried to protect. Ts, Witches and the Police don't make me laugh," He chuckled thrilled just the thought turned him on. "We totally should dump her around his house. That'll make newspapers…"
"How about, raped Witch escapes from Police Officer. Months he invested so he could have her locked up in his secret room. SADLY, the Witch died as she tried to escape and killed Officer William before she succumbed to her injuries," Adam theatrically spun the tale to everyone's amusement as he took another sip of his drink.
Shane watched the redhead intensely as he felt an eerie magic flare up in the moment when Lucia placed the assassin-curse on herself and the hex runes glowed up for a second. Before the spell went passive and nothing was to be seen on her soft skin. "Must be mistaken…" Shane shook his head and pulled out a plastic sachet. "It's time to feed your bitch," he dangled the package with little doughnut-like candies coloured crimson red. "We shouldn't let the people wait after all…"
-ü-
"That was…is she…we need to get in there and -" Marble was sure she had read the bracelet spikes correctly.
"It's a minor flare-up of Black magic yes, we'll cleanse it later," Virion boiled inside, 'THOSE! Can we please just, urgh, they are sooooo lucky it's her doing the curse! IF anyone else…and she wouldn't be drugged or mind controlled or whatever that is, we'd have a rampaging Black magic-' To the outside he stayed unmoved to not scare the students.
Iolas like the rest flinched a tiny bit as the Huntress he had called over decloaked right next to him. He gave her an annoyed stare, "Is Blade fine? How much time do you say we actually have? Under no circumstance, I'll risk…"
The Vampire lady gave him a look in return, he didn't need to explain this to a Black magic Division Huntress, "It will grow, slowly." She watched the girls and boys nearly go into a panic, "Settle down." She sternly ordered once as her Dark magic aura brimmed around her and the kids shut up instantly, that was impressive. "Very slowly, it's not that bad. It's her own magic. That curse will be a bitch to properly get rid of…but its growth is greatly reduced. That is, well, until William shows up in her presence. The curse will activate and it is obviously against Blade's nature and will to kill that man. If the curse forcer her to…"
"All the Shadowlands will break loose, I get it…" Iolas breathed in deeply. His initial assumption of the situation had been correct.
Fane smirked at him, "Did you truly need to hear that from a Marksman of the Hunter Division? Cute," she sobered as she noticed that the Council guards weren't so amused about her attitude. "Fine…gesh, you gotta keep a bit of humour when dealing with abominations, tch, Council guards always so up tide when shit gets real. That was barely a Black magic flicker no need to run screaming in circles…she's a Fairy and she got some tolerance…" The Vampire lady turned around a bit offended, "I'll send a few of mine to keep that Officer William wherever he is and away from her." Her white Jade tattoos glowed up purplish as she vanished from sight.
-***-Triggerwarning: police violence, non-consensual drug-use, violation of human dignity
"Be a good bitch and call me Master," Clayton had tempered himself a little bit and instead of cutting the Witch pushed her over with his boot and pressed her to the ground. "Is that clear you bitch!?"
"Yes," Blade like a robot answered emotionlessly as she had done so all the other times before.
"Are you dense? I said call me Master, you bitch," Clayton pressed down with his boot a bit more on her chest.
"Ahh come on, we needed ages to guess the right size…" Officer Joe complained a bit noisy.
The redhead didn't even struggle as it got harder to breathe. Like a doll, she just lay there on the ground, "Yes, …. Master."
"Finally, useless bitch… You aren't all too bright," Clayton lifted the pressure created through his foot again. He could see the Dark magic rise from her skin, she was low on magic by now. The others were right it was about time. "Open your mouth bitch," and once done as told he ripped the plastic sachet with those little crimson doughnut candies open and straight looked to the camera Shirley was holding, "Hello fellow keepers of peace and justice. We are glad you found the time. For this special YOUNG and FRESH treat. Let's enjoy, this sweet sensation together, second by second. After all," he rose the little bag and like raindrops those tiny things rained down on Blade and into her mouth. A quick handwave with magic and Shane took the sachet from Clayton and gave him another bottle of vodka and poured it into her mouth, "Swallow, you bitch, swallow…"
Francis moaned, "Oh, I can see her groan and twitching already…" He chuckled delighted. "But be careful with the doughnuts. That's at best a puppy, I still want my turn on a warm body on Sunday, my friend."
-ü-
'Iolas!' Virion didn't like it one bit. And whatever bit Fane had managed to calm the kids was straight out fo the window. 'We don't know what drug that is. If she overdoses - We got enough evidence!'
'Arael, kill the kids feeds and take them to the side. I need to fully concentrate. I don't have time for this.' He ordered his second in command. "TMD?" Iolas asked the on-call guard as he stepped away from the kids to have some more quiet, while Ararel rounded up the kids to reign them in.
"Seventy per cent…we are at top speed already…we need more time if you want them all," the guard answered pushed for time he waved hurridly around in the background. "Just remember, if you go in now, I can promise you, at least all that we've seen will end up in the magicWeb. Life over reputation of course, but she IS lying there half-naked we just pixeled her out. That won't be the case if a viewer posts this online…"
"In just two," Nerrocean towered before Griffin after he had finished scanning the crowd. "I'd say, Headmistress Griffin, it is about time for you to…" He made a dramatic pause.
Amal had such a hard time ripping his eyes away from the video feed. He trembled he wanted to shout, scream and smash something. 'Not yet…missions not over yet. All for the mission. Blade counts on me,' He took heart and ignored Blade's video and focused fully on the here and now. "Time for you all to pay," Amal whispered under his breath satisfied.
"Ahahaha, Griffins gonna get booted," Chief Michelle overjoyed whispered to Carter next to her.
Nerrocean actually could see a shimmer of confusion in the Headmistress's eyes, she was second guessing if she had read him incorrectly for just that second there, "…to look at the statistics from around a hundred years ago." Out of nowhere, Nerrocean dropped his aggressive stance towards her. Amal swapped to the next slide, "One point five million that is only three per cent of what it used to be a hundred years ago when Valtor was on his uprise."
Utter confusion went through the rows. Those numbers spoke volumes and it was a very detailed chart which must have taken a lot of hours of research. And again, the factions were as clear as ever. Some who already worked with Witches had no problem with the revelation at all. Some were shocked and baffled they had thought the one and a half million to be massive already, but no. And yet many were upset after all they had believed that finally, someone would close Cloud Tower for good that den of evil and Witches, but with numbers like that, now that seemed like wishful thinking if not a far distant dream.
"What?" Chief Simon had not expected that at all and clawed into the table. 'What is he? Doesn't matter, they are done. Their change won't last. If the students lose it after this conference whatever you pushed for is gone, Councillor Nerrocean. And you traitor with it!' Simon leaned back as he could feel that first warm tingly feeling rush through his body as he heard the aroused moan through his earplug from Shirley's podcast.
-***-Triggerwarning: Swearing, Violence, sexual harassment, non-consensual spanking, ongoing non-consensual drug-use
"Ahhh, hear that," Shirley held that little microphone device closer to the redhead's mouth. "That is the sound of doughnuts in the evening, my dear listeners and viewers. Come on, you can do one louder than that, missy," She was about to touch the little Witch when her hand got seized.
"Ah, ah, ah," Clayton grinned wildly, "That's MY BITCH, wait your turn." He delved into that Witche's every squeak. Her body had not enough Dark magic left after all those drinks to counter those magical aphrodisiacs at all. So, the body had absorbed them nearly instantly after they had been flushed down her throat. The redhead could barely lay still. "Come on, you, bitch, crawl up the stairs. Time to visit the Vet." Clayton joked around and took his foot away from between her legs. Gleefully watched her rob along the floor towards the stairs in that rather short and airy outfit. He could feel that warm and fuzzy feeling after all the wait and asslicking for Chieftain Conner he finally would get his rightful priced moment with her and it would last. For hours.
Adam whistled in applause of the display, "Oh, shit, shouldn't whistle, might confuse the bitch. Dumb as fuck as that poochy is. She might forget who the Master is." He chuckled as he elbowed Clayton into the side.
"Well, they are only good for a fuck, so maximal requirements are achieved already when she can find the bed and strip, what more can you expect," Clayton superiorly stated as he pulled his leather belt lose and snapped with it after the Witches ass, "Hurry it up, are you dense?!"
"Yes," came it from the girl. Everyone snorted sometimes they forgot that they always answered every question with a yes. Even those rhetorical questions they didn't intend to ask to make some fun of their dolls.
-ü-
"How much!? We got to… What are we waiting for!?" Kitty hissed as her Dark magic flared up, "You said, they'll touch no hair on her!" Just as the feed got cut from her bracelet. And Ararel stepped up to her to calm her down again.
"Seventy-six percent," The on-call TMD guard stated. "We already sent the screenshots of the curses to all healers. We need two more minutes… some of those firewalls and VPNs are harder to break," he was as tense as the rest.
Iolas looked over his shoulder. The students got restless. They were ready to go, yet indeed kept ther cool and didn't jump the gun. But that wouldn't last forever. "Hurry it up. We are at her set limits here, she said she was willing to endure. I won't betray her trust," Iolas regretted that he hadn't jumped in before, but now they couldn't turn back, they were forced to wait until the last possible second. They had the evidence for all on sight, more than they needed, yet not all online watchers. They couldn't let them escape, they would spread that video and if they had to wait a year. 'Shit,' Iolas cursed inwardly. They all had been so eager to catch Clayton and now it could backfire on them, everyone knew that. Too late.
'Nerrocean needs to swap out; anything else…' Ararel signed to the other teams to get ready. This would go down fast. "Students get ready. You can do this. Blade counts on you." He tried to cheer them up and keep them in line at the same time.
Mercury's stomache turned upside down, even with the white glowing stand for Blade they had put in, it… 'FUCK! I should have… I… but we needed Clayton…she needs him to pay…But if that video gets posted with her crawling along the floor in some flimsy outfit drunk and drugged…' He gaged up and he wasn't the only student who turned green or white on the roof, shivering in horror as he took his position. This would be over, any second. Any second now, he could storm in, save her, Protect her from harm.
Snow growled deeply, "I kill them…for each time they…"
"That's enough," Ilrune admonished her directly, "We are on the side of law the use of excessive force is forbidden. You could ruin everything. Don't waste her efforts." The students' pain was so understandable, he wanted nothing more than to smash the Officers' faces in as well. Yet that was an impossibility it would be used against them in Court. 'Shit. If that video feed goes online it will set all of Magix in an uproar and most certainly street wars will break out between the Police and Sorceresses. We can't fail, not now, or all will be for nothing!' It was a miracle to him and the other grown-ups that the kids had enough self-restraint to wait. They knew. They knew just as well how important it was to get this right.
"… Your disciplinary methods need to be refined, Headmistress," Nerrocean commented harshly, "but I am pleased, with the progress so far," Nerrocean saw Ararel's warning pop up. "But quite frankly, your Police department is a mess CHIEFTAN CONNER," He turned his back to the assembly and got a good look at the stream and the percentage number crawling to one hundred. 'Swap out it is…'
Conner's heart sat out for a second as his name was called, "What?" He was a diligent worker, took every report seriously and had helped William as best as he could, to smooth the tensions with the Witches. He had greenlit everything immediately once he had seen the potential that change would bring in working with the Witches, integrating them. Connor knew that the crime rate had dropped drastically since the cooperation had started. So, why would he be called out now? He was no enemy of the Witches he supported the progress.
Griffin smirked, 'About time…'
Ediltrude leaned back amused in her chair, "Oh, sweet… can't wait to see their statistics."
"Let's speed this up, shall we, so we can get this over with," Nerrocean proclaimed, more to the task force in the room than anyone else, but no one truly noticed. "Since a few decades, we hadn't one of these," Blade's hearing statement in her criminal trial popped up.
"…They stunned me. Multiple times, Officer Curtis…" The video showed Blade or rather Lucia on the stand as she recalled the incident.
Faragonda got the jumpscare of her life, "Stop that! You have no right to show that without consent!" She had shot up from her chair magic at the ready.
"I have all the rights I need from her, Headmistress," Nerrocean answered calmly and with a stare ordered the Godmother Fairy to sit down again.
'She… gave consent…?' Avalon couldn't believe it. 'But why, without proof… This is a mistake, did she let herself get talked into this!?'
"… He hammered against my throat, faked a struggle verbally even with skitting over the floor…" Blade testified further in the recording.
Conner remembered all too well, 'Is the Councillor saying she wasn't lying? But how is that possible… the whole station would have needed to turn a blind eye. Four people are not enough to… are they?' He looked to his left and right to his Chiefs. Chief Albert got a bit restless which was unlike him and his staff had very mixed reactions like the rest of the room to this. 'What is going on here?'
"…dragged me out and over from the single cell into the group cell…"
Gadiel interlaced his fingers forcefully, "Those…"
Councillor Cahagan couldn't believe it either. He straight searched for Musa, 'Is the Winx Club in on this?"
But the seasoned Fairy was speechless herself. No one, not Griffin nor Faragonda had told any of them about this. Musa shook her head in disbelief, 'So that is what that outburst of Cloud Tower was about? So Techna's assumption was right! Shadion. Blade.'
"…the six gangsters…" Blade stated further.
Aithlin looked to Votzaak but he didn't know any of these details. He hadn't read up on the hearing records, they had been sealed. "I guess we'll see each other in Court hearings for the next few months…" They were far enough away so no one else could hear them, and everyone's attention was all on the screen.
"Hm." Votzaak stared at the projection and ground his teeth. He had been there, he had helped to calm Cloud Tower, yet he hadn't concluded that magnitude of events.
The recording played on. "Officer Curtis, told them and I quote, - Found the Witch that killed your guy. Behave, Council will be here in a couple of minutes…-" The redheaded Sorceress looked to the ground.
Votzaak's blood froze, "They…" He already could guess where this was going. 'HOW DID I MISS THAT!? I should have read that stupid hearing script! Fuck me! They TOUCHED my King's…' Quick as dragonfly his eyes scanned the crowd. Someone had to know and it wasn't Conner. He was way too surprised and guilty, he hadn't believed her it was all written on his face.
Lucia looked up to the judge, "So, I decided on the only option I could live with. I fought, I killed those four inmates in self-defence. But that wasn't enough…"
Amal already helped to send teams off that initially were stationed in the city to defend against the possible Red Crystal threat to the locations of the viewers from the bar stream. 'Blade, hold on, we got your back, I got your back, you… I won't fail… I won't disappoint you…' His mind raced. He already knew her statement from her hearing all too well.
-***- Triggerwarning: ongoing non-consensual drug-use, violation of human dignity
The Witch clawed up the stairs and got stuck on some steps as the rush of endorphins hit her system in waves which made the men behind her chuckle in amusement. Blade was basically squirming up the stairs and gave them such a nice sight. Officer Shirley jumped over her and gave a nice close-up of Lucia's face as she struggled to get up to the second floor. "Smile, trash doll, smile for the camera, yes…"
-ü-
"Eighty-one," Iolas announced. The students were switching between settled down and riled up.
"Why, wait?! What are they doing to her, give us the feed back!" Alyssa hissed at him her eyes glued to his bracelet, but of course, they were still locked out.
Iolas stayed calm, "Focus. You gotta take your positions. We'll breach any second now. If you rather just stand by than make some arrests, I won't stop you. I don't have time to debate this. Pull it together, now, when it counts or you sit this one out." He made it sternly clear to every single student.
"Never," Lion cracked his knuckles and turned to take his position, "Time for them to pay up…Time for them to get denied." Everyone nodded. Their panic subsided to focus, on their reckoning at hand.
The statement of Blade was near its end, "… and then… Clayton, he…he slid up with his hands on my leg, I couldn't move, I was stunned, I was so scared…" She tensed all up on the stand. "But he didn't like the feeling through his Police gloves. He took them off for a better sensation - Ah, the sensation is just not the same…- He said… I, I-, I used my chance as he took them off; I tried to amass magic and he got zapped just like me through the security runes…"
Amal stopped the recording on Nerrocean's order, tensely he watched forth and back from the number and the bracelet feed, 'eighty-four…come on…'
The whole room of officials, Ordermasters and Councillors got tense and upset, wild whispers erupted everywhere: "She's obviously lying…"; "When? Why show it?"; "I heard of that…"; "Yeah, me too"; "Disgusting…"; "She's a child…"; "She's a Witch…"; "Could it be true?…"; "No way that is real…"; "Despicable"; "It's a fake…"; "She looks senscere"; "She's lying, to save her hide"; "Police Officers would never do that"; "What a joke"; "Wasn't that girl more often in the Council building?"; "It got to be a lie"; "Probably tried to secude him to get out, now she blames him"; "What is the Councillor getting at?"; "Those factions always were enemies"; "So what? They curse people on a daily basis…"; "Should have been smarter"; "It was her criminal hearing, then it's her own fault"; "What bullshit, I heard…"
Connor was distraught, this truly wasn't the glory time of his force, but rather an abyssal mistake, his mistake. He already regretted the words he had said that day. "Yes, I am aware, I went to that hearing, after all, it was the first one where a Witch nearly died in our custody…since…," Conner sighed deeply as Amal swapped to the next slide with a slightly blurred-out version, to give Blade some dignity, of the chat picture the boys had made that day in the Owl. Conner took a good look at it and gulped. "I heard her statement, yet the Officers in question are record-clean. That whole station is – I thought she lied. Since in decades this was the first accusation with such dire statements and nothing provided to the judges could prove it." He paused.
A sense of reassurance washed over the attending people. As if now it was clear that the girl must have lied after all. It was fitting, Witches made only problems, lied, stole and did everything to avoid justice.
"Yet nothing disproved it either…I didn't want to believe, that my Officers would… that they are capable of…" Chieftan Conner admitted guilty. but it went somewhat under in the relief of people chuckling and thinking Nerrocean simply was a drama queen like Votzaak, it had to be some joke, a gag to wake everyone up after a long boring day.
"SILENCE!" Votzaak thundered. Everyone shut up. A deadly silence. He knew this stupid sentiment of nobles and officials all too well. He was five thousand years old after all he had seen things, but he had hoped so much that those times finally had been a gone-by. Sure, Witches and Police still beat each other up here and there, but assaults…A thing of the past…No.
Nerrocean growled deeply, "So, like always, you are all biased as fuck. Quite frankly, I ONLY observed the Withes so I wouldn't need to hear your bickering, complaining and excuses NOW. While my Order checked the Witches our dear Council guard with some support from the Magix community frisked EVERY SINGLE ONE of our priced Police Officers." Nerrocean didn't care anymore about etiquette or if someone noticed he kept checking the feed on his invisible bracelet so as not to miss his cue. 'Eighty-nine.' This would be a really close call.
The Chiefs were in an uproar, starting to bicker and squabble with each other. "Shut it!" Conner ordered his men. "How bad? What did you find? Tell me," Chieftain Conner would make no excuses. He wanted the truth. 'So, all I did was worth nothing…I failed. I thought we had made progress…'
Nerrocean was pleased to see that reaction and the guy meant it, "You want to know? Very well then, since we all know that that girl was lying to… what did you say?" He squinted at a Councillor in the front rows he had heard, "… to save her hide?" The guy went utterly pale. "Let us check in with the current taskforce undercover agent disguised as Sorceress Lucia. Let's see how she is faring, shall we?" Nerrocean glanced at the number, 'Ninety-one.'
