"Mr. Hymes, w-why do you have a gun??" asked Egon with cold sweat running down his forehead. His voice was wavering as he was scared of the unknown situation he was in.
The poor driver didn't know what was going on, and gun possession was illegal in the Republic even though the man was a detective. What was more, he was strangely holding a lighter in his left hand for some reason.
"It's for fighting these things. I can guarantee your safety if you stay inside, and get ready to drive away at any time," said Graham assuringly. His calm and confident voice helped Egon relax a little.
"O-okay," he nodded slowly as the man opened the passenger door and went out to the quiet street illuminated by electric lights.
There was silence in the street; even the sounds of wild animals in the distance couldn't be heard. Graham couldn't see what he was fighting against, but judging from its actions, he could guess that the enemy was the beast the locals called Zwarte; a giant tiger-like creature that can go invisible like an Unseen. On top of that, its pitch black fur made it difficult to spot when hiding in the shadow.
"It must be waiting for the carriage to drive by and then the Zwarte will strike it down, Val. We need to clear the coast first before we can escape," muttered Graham quietly as he reloaded his gun with paralysis bullets.
Using his lighter, he lit a fire and then used Fire Manipulation to make it float and get bigger. Now, there was a fireball the size of an exercise ball floating by his side, illuminating the area and dispelling the cold.
Inside the motor carriage, Egon was perplexed by what he saw. He didn't know if he should feel safe or threatened to have a passenger like that. So far, the detective had been nothing but kind to him, but now that Egon saw what power the man possessed, he couldn't help but be scared of Graham. His brain kept telling him to just drive away and leave his passenger behind-- only by sheer will did he manage to hold back.
Vroom!
Suddenly, there was a light approaching rapidly from the distance and the sound of an engine running. It was another motor carriage that was driving towards them at a high speed. Graham suddenly had a bad feeling.
Crash!
As it approached their location and just when it passed Egon's motor carriage, a large, black shadow suddenly jumped at it before Graham could do anything. The metal vehicle toppled as the Zwarte stood on top of it, trying to pry open its door.
"What the hell is this?!! Get away!!" shouted a man with a mix of surprise and fear in his voice.
"Dear, I'm scared!!" said a woman in panic.
There were cries of fear coming from the motor carriage and the clanking sound made by the creature's teeth striking against the metal. There seemed to be a couple who was now trapped inside the metal vehicle. The man was banging on the door to try to scare away the creature, albeit without any success.
"Please help us!! Please...!" shouted the man as his fear began to turn into despair.
Bang!
Using the chance while the Zwarte was distracted by the other motor carriage, Graham fired a shot at it. However, it was fast enough to reach and quickly jumped out of the projectile's way.
"I order you to stand still!"
Before the creature could hide back into the shadows, Graham had issued an Order and freeze the creature in place. The Zwarte, who was mid-jump when Graham used his ability, fell down to the paved road without being able to move.
The creature's appearance was now clear to everyone present. It was a giant tiger the size of an adolescent elephant with a dark grey mane around its neck. The two giant protruding fangs and its sharp, long claws gave the creature a fierce appearance, and the aura of danger coming from its whole being could intimidate both its prey and its predators-- if there were any, to begin with.
"W-what is that Mr. Hymes?" asked Egon with a shock from inside his carriage. He had heard of the rumors about the creature, but seeing it in person struck his heart differently. He was just a normal driver, after all, so something like that was not even in his wildest dream.
"That's the creature from the rumor. Now you know why you shouldn't move recklessly, right?" replied Graham while pointing his gun at the Zwarte. His Order would wear out soon.
Egon nodded slowly. The color had been drained from his face and pearls of cold sweat filled his forehead.
Bang!
He hit it!
The creature couldn't dodge the bullet because of his Order. However, the bullet could only graze it without dealing any significant damage. The spot where the bullet hit it was only grazed without even blood coming out of it.
"Now let's try to use our new trinket, Val," he said with a somewhat excited voice. He was like a child who had just gotten a new toy and couldn't wait to play with it.
Graham stretched his right arm that was wearing Gloom's Redress in front of him and began chanting according to the knowledge that he had got when putting it on for the first time.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Stupidity and Hatred, grant stupidity upon you!"
Just as he finished chanting, the brown bracelet he was wearing glowed faint orange, and at the same time, dark orange 'tendrils' that looked illusory entered the Zwarte's brain. He didn't know if the others could also see the tendrils, but to him, it was as clear as day.
He didn't have any intention of killing the creature since he lacked the means to actually do that. His goal right now was to either scare it off, which would be difficult, or just to create a window for them to escape. Graham quickly ran towards the toppled motor carriage while keeping an eye on the Zwarte.
"I order you to stay still!" he shouted when the effect of the paralysis bullet was about to wear off.
"Please help us..." said the woman from inside the vehicle. Her voice wasn't as panicky as before, maybe because she knew the stranger could somehow hold back the creature.
Looking at the toppled motor carriage, Graham quickly thought of a solution.
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"I order you to stand back up!" he said while concentrating hard on the vehicle.
Screak...
His stamina was suddenly drained and the motor carriage couldn't lift itself up. His Order had failed because the vehicle was too heavy!
He had to move fast because the Zwarte would break free from his control soon.
Standing on top of the black metal carriage, Graham issued another Order.
"I order you to open!"
The front door to the driver's seat was forced open, revealing the frightened man whose head was bleeding slightly. Sitting next to him was a woman who was probably his lover. She looked as scared as him, although she didn't look injured. Both of them were looking at Graham with eyes full of expectation and hope, mixed with the fear that they were feeling.
"Egon! Can you help these people?!" shouted Graham. He had to keep an eye on the creature as not to allow it to suddenly attack them.
Thud!
The sound of a door being opened and slammed shut was heard. Egon the driver had mustered his courage and gone out to offer his help. Although his face was still pale because of fear and he was stumbling in his run, he still did what he was asked.
Meanwhile, Graham had to engage with the creature again.
Bang!
He fired another shot and hit the creature's head, grazing its flesh a little. It was now paralyzed again!
However, using the same control effect in succession would greatly diminish its effectiveness, so he had an even shorter time than before.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" said a voice from behind Graham. It was the man who Egon was currently pulling out from the motor carriage.
Graham saw that the Zwarte's claws began twitching, which meant it was about to break free from the control. He then quickly shouted.
"I order you to stand still!"
The Zwarte once again was unable to move because of Graham's chained control effects. However, he felt that the Order this time would only last mere two seconds.
"She's stuck!" shouted Egon.
The man had been successfully pulled out from the toppled vehicle, but the woman seemed to be stuck there. Graham couldn't afford to withdraw his attention from the dangerous creature, so he could only say, "Do your best! I'll keep this thing busy!"
"Roar!!!!"
The Zwarte had finally broken free and Graham knew his paralysis bullet would do nothing against it now. It looked enraged and was seizing the detective up. It was also looking at the two men struggling behind Graham.
"Darling! Help me please..." begged the woman from inside the motor carriage. The panic and helplessness had struck her again because of the creature's loud roar.
Bang!
Graham shot the Zwarte in the head. Instead of easily dodging it, for some reason, the creature instead tried to eat the bullet with its large mouth.
"Growl!!"
It was the effect of the Stupidity Charge!
The bullet his the creature's inside part of the mouth and seemed to have hurt it. It groaned in pain before quickly retreating. It was now paying attention solely to Graham, the person who was the most dangerous out of the bunch.
"Come quick!" said Egon from behind Graham. It seemed that the two of them had managed to pull the woman out from the motor carriage. Graham couldn't afford to even look at them as he was paying close attention to the creature who was ready to strike at any time.
The uneven sounds of footsteps of people running could be heard in the silent night. It was clear that the couple was injured. Graham could even smell the faint stench of blood in the air, which also seemed to attract the giant black tiger.
"It seems that I can't use Stupidity Charge from this distance, Val," muttered Graham; the Zwarte was too far away from him.
Dash!
The creature suddenly leaped forward and dashed towards the running trio. Graham was fast enough to react, and he quickly controlled the fireball that was still on stand by.
"I ask that you attack my enemy!"
Woosh!
The giant fireball struck the creature and hit it right in the head. Although it seemed uninjured, it looked wary of the floating ball of flame as it retreated even farther back. Hiding in the shadow, its yellow eyes were glowing in the dark, staring right at the people ravenously.
"Quickly, get in! Get in!" shouted Egon hastily.
Suddenly, the Zwarte turned invisible!
Dash!
Graham could hear the sound of the animal leaping forward the silent night. It seemed that its invisibility worked differently from that of an Unseen. It was also still able to attack while being invisible, as he had seen during its fight with the mafia.
"I ask that you protect this perimeter!"
He manipulated the giant fireball and it began moving back and forth in a line at a high speed. To the naked eye, it now looked like there was a firewall that had been erected between them and the creature. Graham's stamina was drained very fast by the fireball and he clenched his fist to hold on.
Boosh!
The Zwarte couldn't stop in time and jumped straight into the wall of fire. Its invisibility was canceled by the crackling flame. Its tiger-like face showed an expression of shock and it quickly decided to retreat. However, Graham was faster since it was the opportunity that he had been waiting for. His right arm had already been stretched in front of him.
"I, in the name of the Deity of Stupidity and Hatred, grant stupidity upon you!"
The same dark orange tendrils drilled themselves into the creature's brain as it was retreating from the fireball that was going back and forth in a straight line. After that, Graham himself quickly retreated and entered the motor carriage through the front passenger's door.
Inside, Egon and the couple were looking at him with frightened faces. He wasn't sure whether they were more scared of the creature or him. After all, to normal people, Graham couldn't really be described as 'normal', and most humans were apprehensive towards the unknown.
"Drive now!" ordered him, which took Egon back to reality.
The driver floored the gas right away and the engine that was left running quickly moved the metal vehicle forward. Once they left the protection of the fireball, there seemed to be something big moving towards them.
Dash!
The Zwarte was trying to pounce at them with its giant claws and large fangs. However, instead of targeting the moving motor carriage, it attacked the heavy pole of a street light instead, as if it had mistaken the pole for its target.
The people inside the motor carriage were curious about why the creature did that, but they were too afraid of the man sitting next to the driver to say anything. Even Egon was wary of Graham despite them having met on several different occasions.
In the street illuminated by the electric lights, the motor carriage was driving as fast as it could, away from the area. The hungry beast could only look at the metal vehicle from the distance once it realized what it was doing, and after a short while, it disappeared from sight.
Graham looked at Egon and then calmly said.
"I order you to forget the supernatural elements of what just happened!"
He then repeated the Order for both the man and the woman. The faces of the three people suddenly became more relaxed, unlike before, where they looked very tense as if they had been taken hostage by Graham.
"I order you to forget that I have a gun!"
He issued another Order and repeated it to each of them. For something that had just happened, using Order to make them forget would still work. However, if too much time had passed, he would have to use Thought Implant, which would become more complicated.
To see if his abilities had worked, Graham asked a question to Egon, whose expression now looked rather proud instead of scared. The fear he felt towards the detective had been erased along with his memory of the supernatural events earlier.
"Can you tell me again what has just happened?"
Egon then turned his attention to Graham and looked at the detective in a strange way.
"Did you forget, Mr. Hymes?" he said with his right eyebrow raised.
"Yes," he replied shortly.
Egon then started laughing joyfully.
"I guess that is the adrenaline hitting, Mr. Hymes," he replied, "So we were attacked by the tiger-like creature from the rumor. Do you remember?" he paused and took a deep breath, "And then this couple's motor carriage was struck by the beast. You bravely chase it away using just the fire from your lighter and after helping them, we ran away," said Egon with an excited tone as if he was telling the story of an action film.
"Yes. Thank you very much, man," said the man from the back while pressing a handkerchief against the wound on his head.
The woman was holding him tightly with her right hand, but their expressions were much more at ease now. "Our belongings were left behind, but our lives are more important. We'll try to retrieve them tomorrow during the day," he added.
"Yes, dear. At least we still have our documents with us inside this purse," said the woman weakly. There was a purse that she was holding tightly in her left hand. The cotton pants that she was wearing were ripped, exposing a wound on her leg.
"At least we're safe now, thanks to you Mr. Hymes," said Egon with gratitude, and then looked at the back passengers through the mirror, "We'll get you guys treated as soon as we reach the city,"