Vera, the fox-kin dominator, screamed as four other psychics dug through her mind, tearing it apart to figure out what that creature had done to her, tears soaking her fur as she sobbed, struggling to understand how her friends, her family could do this to her! She'd come to them for help! To see if they could figure out some way to break the connection! And they'd tried, at first. But when they failed to even discover the connection, let alone break it, their methods had become more forceful. They'd given her up as lost and begun to see her as a specimen to be studied, no longer caring for her safety as they dug through her mind to figure out exactly what Chris had done to her.

Suddenly, barriers bloomed around her, sweeping through the room, sending the psychics gathered around her flying, pinning them to the walls and floor. [You know, I tried to be nice to you people.] A weary voice echoed through the room as Chris stepped out of a portal, rubbing his temple from the headache he'd gotten pulling the fox-kin language out of Vera's mind. [Honestly, I really did. Trying to dominate me was annoying, but I do get how you might think you had to. I'm a terrifying existence. I get it. But torturing your own people just because they have a connection to me? Really?] Chris shook his head, screams accompanied by cracking sounds echoing through the room as his superior-tier equivalent barriers upped the pressure. [I don't really feel like being nice anymore.]

Vera whimpered as the barriers disappeared and the broken bodies of her friends and family fell to the ground around her. She watched as Chris gathered up the bodies, tossing them into his space and absorbing the energy and material from them. Energy wise they were just mid-tiers, plus a single low end high-tier, so it didn't make much of a difference for his space, but it seemed wasteful to just leave them. [They aren't going to forgive you for this.] She gulped as Chris dragged her through the portal, closing it behind them before someone could come by and see it. He also sent some healing her way, though he wasn't sure how much it would do for psychic damage.

Chris paused. “No, I suppose they won't, will they?” He sighed. “And to think, we might have avoided all this if you'd just let me talk. Pity.”

[Wh-what?] Vera stammered.

Chris shrugged. “I tried to keep things peaceful. Then you attacked me. All I wanted to do was talk things over, see if you'd be interested, and if not, I'd have happily left to find someone else who was. See, I don't enjoy forcing people to be my minions. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and being connected to someone who hates it… it's like having a kernel stuck in my teeth. I get annoyed and frustrated because I can't do anything about it except hope it fixes itself at some point. All of which is to say, I'm not very happy with you right now.”

Vera shrunk in on herself. [I'm- sorry.]

Chris snorted. “Of course you are. And yet, here we are. Forcing me to consider whether I should just massacre this entire tribe or not.”

Vera's eyes widened. [You can't!]

Chris cocked his head. “Why not? You said it yourself, they won't forgive me for this. I may not have started it, but I doubt sitting down and discussing things peacefully is going to be an option anymore. Plus, while taking care of psychics in a fight is fairly simple, I think both of us are aware of how risky sitting down and talking to them can be, particularly when they have a reason to hate you. Since I don't want them poisoning the rest of the Kin against me either, my only real option is to put them in a position where they can't tell the rest of the Kin about me. Which means I either have to kill them all or make them my minions, and since forcing four thousand people to be my minions isn't exactly an option… I'm really just left with the massacre.”

[Please- please, there has to be another way!] Vera begged. [Most- most of them don't even know about you! And there's no way you can kill everyone before they escape! Word will get out anyway!]

Chris frowned. “That's true… ugh, I'm too tired for this shit.” He groaned, rubbing his face. “Fuck it, how do you suggest I keep the entire Empire of the Kin from becoming my enemy?”

Vera hesitated, frantically searching for some kind of answer. [You- you can't?] She offered, flinching as Chris leveled a glare at her. [The Empire won't give up its sovereignty to a stranger, no matter how powerful he may be! Your existence is a threat to them, to all of the Empires in the Maze! There- there never was, and there never will be a peaceful resolution to all this!]

Chris cocked his head. “Fair… but I'm still not seeing an argument for why I should spare your people. If anything, I should do everything I can to keep the Empire from finding out about me for as long as possible.”

Vera shook her head. [The Empire will never accept you… but the people are another matter entirely. If you start killing people, then all they will do is fear you. If- If you present yourself peacefully, as an alternative to the Empire… I- I don't know if anyone would join you, but there'd at least be a chance?]

Chris raised an eyebrow. “How is anyone going to join me while the Empire is hunting me down and anyone who is connected to me gets tortured? I can accept that killing people won't help, particularly since I wasn't that excited about it anyway, but I already lost one hunting spot because of people coming after me, and I don't want to lose another. Particularly since I'm sure this Empire has superior and omega-tier equivalents to throw at me, if it's as expansive as you say.”

[They- they do…] Vera agreed helplessly, feeling her idea fall apart. Getting people to join him willingly was a long-shot anyway, and if there was no reasonable way for him to do it without putting himself and others in danger, then it wasn't worth it. She certainly wasn't going to volunteer to get tortured over it again. But she also didn't want to see her people die just so she could stay safe! [Couldn't- couldn't you just disappear?]

“Sure, but then how am I going to get stronger? How am I going to get minions? I've got my own crisis to deal with, you know.” Chris sighed, shaking his head. “Which, I remind you, means most of these people will end up dead anyway. Unless they join me.”

[Then you should at least give them a chance to do so!] Vera exclaimed in frustration.

“I agree, but how?” Chris asked, slightly exasperated. “We tried sending you in to talk to them, and it got you tortured. If they won't even spare you, then who can we send?” He paused. “Actually, that reminds me, what happened to the other three?”

Vera grimaced. [They're- hiding. They didn't think the others would be very accepting of our condition.]

Chris nodded. “Smart. Not all that effective for recruiting, but definitely safer.” He paused. “Maybe if they did some kind of hidden resistance thing? Might solve the recruitment issue, but it doesn't help with the Empire coming after us. Though at this point, it seems like that's almost inevitable…” Even if he massacred the entire tribe, it wasn't like the Empire was just going to ignore it. Anything capable of wiping out a tribe was going to get a significant response. What he needed to do was minimize the perceived threat, so the Empire wouldn't dedicate too many resources to hunting him down. Which meant… he needed to talk to Beth and Nadia. He didn't trust himself to handle something like this on his own. Particularly since he'd probably be in the middle of a rampage right now if he hadn't stopped to talk things through with the fox-kin… His problem solving process tended to be a bit simplistic. Not to mention the fact that he'd probably barely get through a hundred people before he exhausted himself, which itself might be an overestimation. At least no one had checked on the psychics handling Vera yet, so he still had some time.

Chris opened portals to both girls' rooms and knocked on their doors, loudly. “Chris?” Beth muttered blearily, rubbing her eyes as she opened the door. “I just got to sleep.” She groaned.

“I was just about to get to sleep.” Nadia grumbled as she opened her door as well. “This better be important.”

“Some fox-kin were torturing this one, so I killed them, and now I need to figure out how to make us seem less of a threat so the Empire doesn't send omega-tiers after us right away.” Chris explained.

Both women blinked at him. “Why did you kill them?!?” Nadia exclaimed.

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“Because they were torturing my minion?” Chris replied as if it was self explanatory.

Nadia groaned, burying her face in her hands. “Chris- ugh, fine, whatever, fair. This Empire… it's one of the ones you were talking about with your parents?” Chris nodded. “And they're sending omega-tiers after us because?”

“Wouldn't you?” Beth rolled her eyes. “Sending omega-tiers is an entirely appropriate response to the threat Chris represents. What we need to figure out is if we can keep them from realizing that.” She turned to Vera. “How much did you tell them?”

[Just- just that I had been dominated.] Vera replied. [After that, anything I believed would need to be vetted by the manipulators anyway, to confirm whether or not it was a product of mental manipulation. The only ones who would have been aware of his full capabilities would have been the ones in the room… and they're already taken care of.]

Beth nodded. “So all they know is that you were dominated by something, and then while they were vetting you, the team responsible was killed and you disappeared.” She paused, glancing at Chris. “Along with the bodies?” He nodded in confirmation. “Okay… have they discovered it yet?” Chris shook his head. “Alright, then we need to give them an explanation for how this happened. Which means… we need you to escape. Make them think you somehow possessed her, then when the psychics began to get too close, you burst out, killed everyone, ate the bodies, and fled. It'll give them a sense of mixed victory, because on one hand, they lost people, but on the other, they discovered an intruder before it could do any serious harm. Or more serious harm, at least…”

“If that's the story we want to spin, then he can't use any abilities while he's escaping.” Nadia commented. “And… he'll need to get caught trying to get to someone else, or it won't make sense, which means, he won't be able to sneak out. They're going to pursue him, and they need to lose him in the tunnels, not in their tribe, or they're going to keep looking for him, which will compromise the other three.” She glanced at Vera. “They don't know about the other three, right?”

Vera shook her head. [I promised to keep them out of it unless it worked. The only ones who would have known are the ones who died, since I couldn't hide those memories once they started digging deeper.] She grimaced at the memory. They hadn't been gentle.

Nadia sighed. “Right, so if we want to keep them in the tribe, we need Chris to get chased out.” She turned to Chris. “And you can't die, because then you wouldn't leave a body, which would leave us with the same problem. And you need to pick a form and stick with it.”

Chris frowned, turning to Vera. “Do you think I could escape the tribe within an hour?”

Vera blinked. [I- think you would have to? If you give them enough time to gather, then your chance of escape is slim.]

Chris nodded. “Fair. Plus, if necessary, I can find a place to hide and recover for a bit, before being ‘caught’ again.”

“And your combat form would sell the idea of a monster parasite better than any of your other forms.” Beth agreed.

“Right, then, is there anything in particular I need to watch out for?” Chris asked, wincing slightly as he pulled the layout of the tribe from her mind. It wasn't as bad as a language, but having any knowledge suddenly dumped into your head wasn't pleasant.

[Everything?] Vera replied helplessly. He was going to be chased through the clan, without being able to use his ability! The very idea was suicidal!

Chris rolled his eyes. “Is there anyone with a special ability I need to avoid? Like, is there someone that can kill anyone within four meters of them or something?”

Vera blinked. [No? Though… the captain of the guard has some kind of sensory ability that can't be blocked, and his attacks do more damage than they should? But any attack will be bad for you and you aren't trying to hide, so I'm not sure if that matters.]

“What does he look like?” Chris asked.

[He has dark red fur, with streaks of black and white through it.] Vera replied.

Chris nodded. “Alright, I'll keep an eye out. It might be bad if I need to hide while he's around.” He looked towards the other two. “Anything else before I get started?”

Nadia paused, thinking it over. “You can't wear clothes.”

Chris blinked. “Crap.”

*

Chris took a deep breath as he crept towards an unassuming door like he didn't know there were four armed and armored fox-kin sitting around a table inside. He carefully lifted the latch, easing the door open, waiting for the inevitable shout of surprise. Except it didn't come, because the fox-kin were hyper focused on some kind of domino game they were playing, not even looking up from the table. Chris was wondering if he should make a noise or something, when a fox-kin woman in a fancy dress turned the corner down the hall and screamed! The fox-kin in the room immediately bolted to their feet, finally seeing Chris and shouting as he ran in the opposite direction of the woman. The first stage of the plan was a success! Now all he had to do was escape without getting killed.

Chris rushed into a stairwell, swinging over the rail and into a medium sized dining hall, landing on the head of an almost ridiculously fat fox-kin who Chris was almost certain was a psychic and giving their head a good squeeze with his talons as he launched off, grabbing a chandelier and swinging to the next, taking him across the room before anyone could react and diving into the kitchen, bowling through the kitchen staff as he made for the back door. He broke through the brittle stone of the door, landing in an alley, ready to make his escape through the dense backstreets where his agility would help him avoid any ranged abilities being shot his way, only to find the exit blocked by a large, dark red fox-kin with black and white stripes through his fur. *I hate my life sometimes.* Chris sighed internally as the captain of the guard blinked at him, obviously not expecting something like him to appear in the middle of his midnight stroll.

The captain snarled, whipping out a metal club and swinging it at Chris. Not wanting to waste time dodging and counter attacking with him while the others caught up, Chris charged, getting under the swing so the haft hit his shoulder as his palm slammed into the captain's chest, hoping to send him stumbling so he could rush past. Only the moment the haft hit Chris's shoulder, a crushing force hit not him, but his space, sending him reeling like he'd just been whopped in the head, while the captain barely stumbled, simply taking a few steps back before bringing his club back up, ready to strike again.

The two looked at each other for a moment, confused, Chris wondering how the hell this dude had hit his space, and the captain wonder how the fuck he wasn't dead! His nickname on the force was the Death's Touch, since it was like all he needed to do was touch a creature and it was dead! It wasn't entirely accurate, of course, but in general, as long as he landed a blow, even a glancing one, the fight was over. [What are you?] The captain hissed, tightening his grip on the club.

*I could ask you the same question.* Chris huffed internally, eyeing the club warrily. Up to this point, his space had been essentially inviolable. Sure, people could break the barriers and portals, but it hadn't affected the space, and it was something he initiated. He didn't like the idea of someone being able to attack the space like this. Not one bit.

The two stood like that, locked in a stand-off as the captain threatened Chris with his club and Chris flashed his claws and tail, promising that the next exchange wouldn't leave him unscathed. They both carefully maneuvered around each other until Chris was right by the kitchen door, and suddenly a fox-kin burst out, ready to ambush him, only for Chris to spin, grabbing them by the armor and heaving them at the captain, sending them both tumbling as Chris dashed past, slipping into the backstreets! The captain let out a curse, scrambling to his feet and chasing after him, hot on his tail! Chris's superior agility let him pull ahead, but the captain knew the streets far better than Chris did with his second hand knowledge, constantly taking shortcuts to catch up and even get ahead every now and then, forcing Chris to switch routes.

As more and more fox-kin joined the chase, Chris was forced to switch routes more and more often, his spatial sense giving him just enough warning to escape capture again and again, until he made it to the final hurdle: the gate. He'd been hoping to get through the streets fast enough to reach the gate before they even knew he was coming, but the captain had foiled that plan, so instead, he was faced with a fully locked down and protected gate, a full contingent of twenty fox-kin blocking the way, and a horde of who knew how many behind him, led by the asshole with the club. Chris seriously considered unleashing his abilities and just slaughtering his way through, but at that point, he might as well portal out and forget the whole thing. Then again, another part of him really wanted to kill that captain, if only because someone having the ability to affect his space bothered him. But doing that would ruin any chance of escape he had, since it'd allow everyone to catch up, and there was no way he could fight his way through all of them, even with his abilities.

With a frustrated hiss, Chris broke from the back streets, charging towards the guards as they yelled, defensive abilities erecting a shimmering shield between him and them. Chris brandished the spear he'd taken off one of the more unfortunate fox-kin to encounter him that night, planting it in the ground in front of the shield and flipping over it, using his hands to thrust off the butt of the shaft and fly over the shield, with a little help from a hidden barrier. His tail whipped back and forth as he tumbled through the fox-kin, spearing through hands and yanking them around to get in each other's way. One unlucky sod got it wrapped around their neck as they were pulled along behind Chris to protect his back as he rushed the gate, grabbing the bar keeping it shut and struggling to pull it off.

[It's useless, beast!] The captain roared as he arrived, leading a horde of fox-kin. [That bar takes four men to move- shit!] He cursed as Chris used some barriers to lift the bar, dropping it as he pushed the gate open, again with some timely barrier help, rushing into the tunnels of the Maze.

Chris grinned as he sprinted away. He'd done it! He'd escaped! With no reason for anyone to contact the Empire! Now all he had to do was lose these guys and- Chris's line of thought cut off as something blasted into his chest, sending him flying backwards! [Is this yours?] A mocking voice called out, Chris catching a small group of fox-kin entering his spatial sense.

[Shut it, Volo!] The captain growled, rushing forward to bash Chris with his club before he could recover. The creature had proved too wily and resourceful, and he refused to give it a chance to turn things around again. Chris felt a crushing force slam into his space, and then everything went dark.