Punch-up In The Park

Corey had no idea what he was doing. No sooner had he gotten over the fear of people from the facility and the cops pursuing him had he gained another fear of being killed if he did not kill enough people. The whole concept seemed obsurd. He still wasn’t entirely sure if what he believed to be the rules to his newfound abilities were just in his head or not. Corey didn’t want to kill anyone - not again. This time, it wouldn’t be an accident; he was being forced to do it.

This new form of his were to be a seperate person entirely. If he were to go out and kill one person a month, then it would be blood on the hands of another. Besides, the actions he took in his guardian form wouldn’t be who he truly was. That didn’t make it feel any less rel, though.

Corey, now the proclaimed Zartax, decided to try and get the ordeal over with. If it had to be done, it had to be done. The sun had almost set, the brilliant oranges and yellows submerging below the horizon. The park seemed like a good place to scout out some evildoer whilst also offering the cover of shrubbery and the approaching darkness. Would he just sense someone was evil? Would he just have to guess based on their actions? There were still so many questions he had about it.

Wandering along, Zartax spied a young, dark haired girl sat reading. Somehow, he knew she was one of the targets. But she was just a little girl... How evil could she really be? Then again, he was advised that things weren’t always as they seemed on the island. Everything was still so new to him. Now was the issue of how to stop her. Reading a book wasn’t exactly a crime and there was still the possibility that he was wrong. Composing himself, he tried to send a shard of crystal in her direction, though not with much force since he really didn’t want to hurt her. Hopefully, he could just injure her and convince her to stop being evil rather than cull her.

@Schrodinger's Cat

Well that didn’t go exactly as he had hoped. His new powers needed more work than he initially thought. Zartax contemplated whether to just pretend like he was gifting the young girl and get out of there. But that would mean they would come for him if he did not cull someone. Was his own life worth more than the evildoers he was sent to stop? They committed crimes but that would also mean he was evil.

“Erm... You... you need to stop being so evil!” he yelled, trying to sound confident. It was hard to come across as stern when all that she was doing was doing was reading. “I mean, reading isn’t evil but I’m sure you are,” he continued to yell in an attempt to justify what he was doing. “Stop now and I’ll have no reason to enforce action!”

He was really hoping that she would agree so there would not be a fight but surely no one would back down that easily. His hands were ready just in case but his face had an expression of grimace.

It was exactly as he had feared. Perhaps this new evil detector ability wasn’t entirely reliable and this person was just a sweet innocent child. Now, he didn’t know what to do. The best thing was probably to just apologise and leave but even if she was evil, she may not outrightly confirm that she is.

“Erm, sorry. I’ve still not got this whole thing under control,” he admitted, shuffling nervously in a hope that he would just be out of that situation. It was awkward times like these that he wished that he could just fly away like a bird.

Just as he was about the be on his way, his back slightly turned, the girl reached into her pocket. Turning back around suddenly, Zartax reached out his hand, yelling, “Stop!” Thinking that this potentially ‘evil’ girl was about to draw some weapon on him. Unintentionally, two shards shot out of his palm in her direction.

Oh god, oh god, oh god, he thought as he saw that the unintentional shard had burrowed its way into the little girl’s arm. Zartax felt extremely bad for what he was doing to her but the feeling he had was too great - she had to be evil. He had no idea who made him this way or why they were forcing him and others to fulfill such feats.

Noticing something in her hand, he felt nervous that the little girl act may be lifted and something more sinister would be revealed. Despite it killing him inside, he needed to stop her. Surely it would get easier. He hoped it would get easier. But in a way, he kind of hoped it didn’t to remind him that no matter how ritious the cause was supposed to be, killing was still wrong.

“I’m sorry!” He yelled, though he still made himself sound tough. The apology was for more than just what he had already done. His thoughts betrayed his words as he spoke. “Doing evil deeds cannot go unpunished,” Zartax exclaimed, screaming for help on the inside, hoping that this will all be over and he doesn’t have to do this. This time, he formed a slightly larger shard, praying that she would make a move to justify what he was about to do.

Oh great, she's a scary octopus girl. Zartax knew that there was going to be more to her than the innocent little girl but the writhing tendrils creeped him out. Why couldn't she have nice powers and her crimes be making people too happy? He supposed that that would make this whole ordeal harder, despite already being excruciating.

The girl seemed as though she had been through a lot and what he was doing felt as though he was the evildoer. What could he do? It was kill or be killed. "Well... an evil person would deny being evil," he retorted. It was a shame that this sort of thing had happened to her before but he had to stop thinking that way. It was a job. It needed to be done.

Four crystal spikes protruded from his forearms, making rather pathetic tendrils, in comparison. Zartax had been nervous by every motion the girl made, thinking the innocent act would drop and some beast would be unleashed. The girl pushing herself up had seemed like the beginning of her propelling herself towards him. In response, the four shards darted through the air towards her with the jerk of his arms.