Apparition in the Woods
Strange sounds stung the empty air, descending like a hail of tiny, ringing knives, swarming like insects from no fixed point of origin, piercing like needles unto the surface of Polly's consciousness.
Are you, now?
A strange turning occurred.
What about her?
Without warning, the words attacked Mary with diligence and incredible violence.
edited 27th Apr '11 3:31:17 PM by JHM
I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
His tone is what bothered Polly the most about him. The anger warmed her blood, made her feel alive.
She glanced at Kiora, strong and prepared in her battle stance.
I know you don't like telepaths. Why don't you just come on out?
She heard Mary scream. Polly made a move towards her, and then stopped. She needed to let the others help Mary. Evan was all hers.
And leave them alone!
And with that, Polly brought her dark magic into Evan’s head.
edited 27th Apr '11 3:35:24 PM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers
Apparition in the Woods
A wall of hungry shadow seemed encircle him, blocking his view, filling the periphery of his thoughts with an alien light. The darkness twisted and deepened.
I prefer to stay in...
The sharp cloud enveloping Mary became still. Each glassy fragment seemed bloodied, a ruddy haze.
...or just reach out.
The haze contracted, then ran through Mary's mind, tearing it asunder, racing into the dark shape.
I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
Ordinarily, Polly’s mental fighting worked simply. She would first concentrate on a target, and slowly let her power slip in. When she had entered, Polly would poke around into memories, thoughts, phobias, and past humiliations. She would find anything that could be material for her mind rape. And then the fun would start.
But Evan was different. He had no empathy, no fears. He was concentrated evil in its purest form. Polly knew that her power was his weakness. It was only a matter of finding her way in.
Evan. I know you, Evan. I know you’re name. I know where you are. I know what you did.
She was getting to him, but not enough. He still managed to slip around her advances and attack Mary for the second time.
Polly separated her mental concentration from Evan to all of other people temporarily. She couldn’t leave him for too long.
Help Mary! And get out of the way!
edited 27th Apr '11 3:55:55 PM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers
Apparition in the Woods
You do not know my name.
She had rescinded focus. For just that fraction of a second, the wall had wavered, the darkness thinned. He followed the rearing storm to its eye, to its heart.
He opened his eyes.
FOUND YOU.
I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
Runs on Awesomeness
Kiora heard, felt Mary's scream. In frustration, she gripped her kunai tighter, her knuckles white.
She couldn't fight what she couldn't see, but what on earth could attack while remaining hidden from her Byakugan?
"Get Mary out of here!" she barked at the group. No way was she leaving. This was it. The reason she was here. It had to be. A new challenge? Bring it.
No one believes me when I say angels can turn their panties into guns.
No expletive loud enough could properly sum up how Polly felt at the moment. She let presence weaken for too long. She needed to get back to him.
“Get Mary out of here!” Kiora shouted. Polly met her eyes of her ally for a brief moment, yet significant moment. If she wasn’t going to leave, then she was going to help fight. Polly just needed to do a little coaxing. She opened her channel back up, with more force and urgency before. She could feel Evan’s frustrated moan.
Oh. You know I know you. You know I’m not afraid of you. I’m your perfect match, Evan. Come out and get me.
edited 27th Apr '11 4:05:53 PM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers
Apparition in the Woods
He twisted and dodged, formless, an acid in a drain, corroding as he dried on the inner surface.
It would be my pleasure.
Conditionally.
The fumes surrounded Kiora's mind, alight with tension.
One-on-one. No seconds.
The fumes condensed, imploded and sank in.
edited 27th Apr '11 4:15:30 PM by JHM
I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
Runs on Awesomeness
Kiora felt the presence enter her mind. It was odd, almost familiar, in a way. It reminded her of the telepathic link to the patriarch.
What the hell are you, she thought. And then the attack landed.
She saw Polly hit the ground. "Kid!" she shouted, stepping toward her. Nobody was dying on her watch. "Bastard! Show yourself!"
Sorry for the ninja, I'm editing this to match
edited 27th Apr '11 4:33:21 PM by animemetalhead
No one believes me when I say angels can turn their panties into guns.
No! Not this time!
Mind manipulation had to be subtle, gentle, unlike mind control. Polly intercepted Evan’s attack on Kiora. Polly shielded the Kiora in a casing and let Evan redirect his attack to her.
His inherent darkness matched hers. She was knocked to the ground by his strength. Time for a different approach.
A mixture of sweat and rain rolled down Polly’s body. Still on the ground, she let her power surround the area. She detected Evan’s warmth, and entered into him.
Feel my strength. Feel the cuts on your body, just like you cut the others. Taste your blood.
edited 27th Apr '11 5:20:15 PM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers
Apparition in the Woods
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Think of the most painful emotions and memories that you can imagine your character having felt or experienced. Now, think of them all coming at once.
His eye twitches. He can practically feel the warm fluid welling in his mouth and lungs.
I have felt more cuts than you shall ever know, dearest one.
Rising from the floor, he throws out his right fist at the crux of the bathroom window. He closes his eyes to the oncoming debris of glass, wood, water and blood, turning his head slowly, robotically.
"Now a lion am I, of the sun and the drought, or a jackal in an open grave."
He places both torn hands on the edges of the broken frame and, mad eyes wide open, leaps into the storm.
edited 27th Apr '11 4:46:37 PM by JHM
I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
Cyrus blinked at her.
If you say so, but how? Shit like this was more Vince's thing.
Either way... Cyrus began to sneak Mary out, though he did not care for her.
All this time, the only thing on Elise's mind was Molly, her dearest friend. Molly could help them, she felt, wherever she was.
He was right about Molly being dead, but... she hadn't left this world yet. In fact, she was still right in this very carnival.
While Jack and the rest talked about their next plans of action and had mental battles, the disgruntled, emaciated ghost Cyrus met earlier neared the back door to the house of mirrors, simply walking right through the rusted-shut door. He headed down a narrow, cobweb-covered stairwell that led into employee-only areas- storerooms, one of the fuseboxes, utility rooms, his every step perfectly silent.
Through the empty rooms, the echoing, indistinct voices of ghosts could be heard.
A ghost colony.
The man entered a back room, met by twenty-odd pairs of eyes from people of all walks of life; men, women, boys, girls, and even a dog. All of whom had congregated here because they recognized the place, or because they wanted companionship.
One of them spoke. "Wenger, did the exorcist come yet?!"
The emaciated man, aptly called Wenger, nodded solemnly. "That hellspawn Elise got to him first. I saw her leading him around with my own eyes!"
Fearful gasps and collective speculation of their fate rose from the crowd. The last time help came, Elise's "friend" devoured their savior's soul. Now, what was she going to do to him? Summon another "friend" to eat Cyrus, too? At this rate, when would any of them ever be able to depart? Were they going to have to spend the rest of their existences in these musty tunnels?
"Settle down, settle down. We will find a way to win him back to our side..." He glanced at another door that had been barricaded shut.
Behind that door laid a small storeroom that housed a massive, sedan-sized koi with glowing eyes, bound by length upon length of red strings that restricted its power. A gray cloak, much like the one that Cyrus wore, was pinned over the doorway like a curtain, as it had anti-paranormal magics and even silver threads woven right into the fabric. Around the Koi's body laid a circle of small silver objects.
A wristwatch.
A candlestick holder.
Old film rolls.
Silver darts.
Silver bullets.
A silver pistol, identical to Cyrus'.
A small silver earring.
A silver knife, with runes carved into its hilt and scabbard.
All pillaged from the exorcist whose life was taken by this vengeful fish.
The fish swore to destroy them, even after ten long years.
Rage burned within its empty, yellow eyes.
They will pay for their sins.
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
He’s coming for her and she’s ready to meet him.
Polly leaves Kiora and flies towards the back of Mary’s house. Before she can make it there, Polly finds him running towards her—eyes wild—ready to pounce.
I won’t let you!
Still in mid-air, Polly cocks her dominant hand back and hits Evan with one of her patented purple light beams, now packed with more power than from their first encounter. He crumples to the ground like an injured spider.
She won’t allow him to stand back up. Using her other hand, she raises Evan into the air with her telekinesis and attacks him with yet another beam. This time, she wanted him to feel the sensation of being stabbed with ten of his knives.
Evan twitches in a puddle of mud before he attempts to get back up. He and Polly lock eyes. He spits out a mouthful of blood.
edited 27th Apr '11 9:49:45 PM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers
The next thing she knew, she was running back to her house.
Her senses were going haywire. She was seeing through a tunnel. She was hearing through a cavern. She was feeling under a vat of muck. She was smelling through a veil. Her sense of balanced was disranged. She had long dropped her umbrella, and she was tumbling to her house.
Something was chasing her. She couldn't idenify what it was. But it was close. It was going to get her...
edited 27th Apr '11 5:13:18 PM by chihuahua0
Runs on Awesomeness
Kiora jumped as Polly took to the sky. Kid can fly? she wondered.
Driving chakra into her legs, she launched herself along the ground, moving quickly and silently.
Battles in the mind, she mused. That's a new one. How would Kohana handle this?
No one believes me when I say angels can turn their panties into guns.
Apparition in the Woods
He rises, gradually, heaving upwards in ugly angles. Fully upright, Evan rolls his neck, a litany of pops and cracks rising softly from his vertebrae, his skull settling at a slight tilt. In unison, both head and eyes rise, meeting the woman's.
"I know what you call yourself now. Polly, isn't it?"
He slowly unzips his sweatshirt, faintly revealing a soiled green T-shirt and, beneath that, a morass of bandages, some yellowed, some fresh. He reaches beneath the shirt, into the gauze.
"And you know that I call myself Evan."
His left hand drops to his side. A small, cylindrical object lays cradled in it.
"Others sometimes call me other names."
He smiles, blood dripping slowly from his chin.
"They probably call you names, too. But you don't know my true name."
He flicks open the symbol-covered switchblade, lunging at Polly's throat with terrible accuracy.
And you never will.
I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
Runs on Awesomeness
Kiora caught up to the scene as the man lunged with the knife.
Too slow! she cursed herself for not moving fast enough. She wasn't gonna be able to save her!
She flipped through the seals for a teleportation jutsu, hoping, praying, that she could get there before that knife connected.
![[down]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_down.png "[down]"){kind=icon}
You know, maybe I should just stop trying to help :P
edited 27th Apr '11 5:33:45 PM by animemetalhead
No one believes me when I say angels can turn their panties into guns.
These interactions are kind of hard to write with going over the top. She is a little bit stronger in my universe. I'll try not to let her get too overpowered. @animemetalhead: Sorry you were way too fast for me! :D
Evan flipped open his switchblade. She heard that familiar click a thousand times before. The weapon of choice for a lot of gangs in Polemistopolis.
He lunged towards her. She couldn't hold back her smile. The knife would communicated perfectly with her neck if it wasn't for her shield.
The black casing covered her body just as Evan's knife grazed her. The sudden impact threw him onto his back a third time.
"Nice try," she said. "But you will not touch me."
Polly lowered her shield. Telekintetically, she removed the knife from Evan's hand and broke it. She knew he had more on his person. One broken knife won't stop him.
All the more better to get you angry. I love it.
She entered into Evan's mind again. Instead of simply poking around, she tricked his body into believing that she was attacking him with her beams again.
Now matter how good she pretened to be, Polly couldn't help it. She loved the sound of her enemy's screams.
edited 27th Apr '11 7:55:00 PM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers
Cyrus was not in the mood to deal with stuff like this at the moment. He was officially out of his element, and found himself escorting Mary back to her house while an unknown foe that he could not even sense, let alone fight, pursued her through this hellhole.
He... honestly felt like an invalid at the moment. Frustration at his current position shot through him like the lightning in the sky as he began fiddling with the silver dart he had in his hand, running his thumb over the short prayer carved in runes on its surface, over and over again.
Elise did her best to keep up with Mary, trying to comfort her, even though she knew just as little about what was hurting her as Cyrus.
When they neared her house and slowed down, Elise touched Mary's hand, her eyes filled with a mix of fear and compassion.
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Runs on Awesomeness
Kiora watched in awe as Polly manipulated the man. Her teleportation put her right beside the girl.
"H-how'd you do that?" she asked. It had looked so... effortless. Kohana didn't make it look this easy, and she had a millenium of practice!
She suddenly felt very, very vulnerable. Perhaps there was more to this carnival than what it seemed.
Hey, I'm a ninja, it's what I do.
Apparition in the Woods
On the ground, sprawled, his eyes trace his hand, the fragments of the knife, the mask, and rest once more upon Polly's eyes.
"That was... important to me."
His hand falls limp. He makes sure that her gaze remains bound to his.
"Not too important, though."
He grabs her right ankle with the same hand, fingernails sinking into the tendons.
Just enough for this.
edited 27th Apr '11 5:47:06 PM by JHM
I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
Polly jumped when she heard Kiora's voice. How'd she get here so fast.
"H-how'd you do that?"
Polly glanced at her while trying to keep her focus on Evan.
"Remind me to tell you later," Polly said. "But, seriously. I want to you to get out of here. Find shelter." She looked back at Evan. He's was getting ready for his next move. "I don't want you to get caught up in this. Caught up in him."
Almost as soon as the words escpated her lips, Evan was ready for her.
"That was...important to me. Not too important though."
He leaped up, too fast for her to stop this time. He grabbed leg and scratched her. Polly screamed out.
The combination of the mutual pain that Mary, Kiora, and Polly felt from Evan's attack was almost too much.
edited 27th Apr '11 5:50:14 PM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers
A twinge of fear went through Mary as she felt something touch her hand. Her senses flared, sending a wave of information to her mind. She had absorb a trace of physic energy that was interferring with her brain, and the sudden new object caused a disrubtance. She began to feel dizzy.
She turned to who touched her. She could no longer see any color, only shadows. The world started to tilt down, dragging her down, taking her away. It swirled, and her senses overlap. She was smelling black, and seeing the rain drops hitting the top of her hair.
The next thing she knew, she was on the ground, and everything went to black.
Apparition in the Woods
As she screams, his right hand, broken blade clutched therein, lands a blow to an artery in the left thigh.
Enjoy your time.
He smiles, wider and wider...
edited 27th Apr '11 5:49:11 PM by JHM
I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
Mary flinced when Polly put her hand on her shoulder, but she listen to her explain. Her voice sounded warnful and serious, and she was definately not lying.
Mary nodded silently and stepped away a few feet. She was going to keep her distance, just in case it was an even more dangerous spirit. However, she wanted to stay around, because it was her job to look over all of the visitors. Her grandparents entrusted her the duty to make sure no visitor got hurt in the carnival, and after all of the years that she was in college, and in New York, away from where she was now, she had to fufill at least one of those taskes.
She looked down, feeling something stirring in her. A twinge of regret began to develop.
Maybe this was really her own fault.