The Encounter (Madness Combat Part 2)

The Encounter

            With a small gesture, the dark blade that I carried vanished with a small burst of shadowy fire. It was of no use at this moment in time and I doubted that I would be in any true danger in this realm as I slowly made my way toward the sheriff’s office. A humanoid form of dark fire drew quite a noticeable amount of attention, especially when combined with my given attire. People stared, backed away, and kept a noticeable amount of distance between me and them.

            It was of no concern to me… My form was only vaguely similar to their own, being of a similar shape, but not of the same substance. Such crude flesh… but, such a thing did possess its own benefits. It was easier to improve upon something made of multiple parts than a being of a single substance. Specialization was a factor, of course, but that was of little importance. What was important was making it to the sheriff’s office for my appointment, which seemed to be a more arduous task than I first imagined.

            When I stepped around a tall, grey building… everything here was grey or black… sometimes red and white… I was greeted by four, almost featureless men with a mix of pistols, police-issue clubs, shotguns, and little badges on their grey shirts. They accosted me, directing me to step into a nearby alley for a surprise search, stating that such a suspicious individual such as myself warranted such a thing. I couldn’t blame them for thinking such a thing. “Who do you work for?” I asked the leader of the group, which he replied by saying that he worked for the sheriff.
            It was a simple endeavor… I simply held out the note that I had found and politely asked them to lead me to the sheriff’s office so that I may go to my appointment. Instead of doing what I asked, they ripped up the note and told me to go into the alley way. If they were so inclined as to tear apart my little note, I simply took it upon myself to attempt to walk past them without another word.

            Predictably they did not allow me to pass and, instead, attempted to grab my arm… which did nothing. They could hold onto the sleeve of my coat, but as soon as they attempted to pull me along, I simply continued forward. My form shifted and gave to allow my duster to slide off of my body before it reformed into its previous, humanoid shape. They took exception to this and the closest one brought their pistol up. I did not know what the poor mook was attempting to accomplish as I had already brought one of my own hands up into the air in a crescent motion, a trail of fire and the gleam of my dark blade following along.

            The first split in half, the second was impaled through the side as I turned to face the still uninjured two, including the one holding my coat. As they brought up their firearms, I pulled their colleague up in the general path of the bullets. People ran screaming, almost entirely drowned out by the gunshots that filled the air. Blood flew one way and the other, my body ducking down behind the previously living grunt who had a chunk of his head blown off by a blast from the shotgun. In a swift motion, I launched the now decrepit corpse into the man wielding the boomstick, my sword still lodged in his spine, and followed up by summoning forth a copy of his firearm. My knowledge of weapons was limited as far as what existed… but, that wasn’t an issue currently.

            A click and a boom later and their leader fell, his ragdoll form flying back with a splash of blood. I stepped up to the first as he pushed away the body, my foot coming up to slam down onto the wrist of the hand that was still holding the shotgun. “So then… Will you lead me to the sheriff now?” I brought my copied firearm up, the smoking barrel gently nudging up into the spot between his eyes. “Please?”

            No sooner that the words left my mouth that the sound of approaching sirens filled the air. I glanced back over my shoulder, the blue and red of what appeared to be patrol cars driving up. With a small sigh, I simply created a crater in the man’s forehead with a pull of the trigger before reaching down to draw my sword from the still, bleeding corpse nearby and tossed away the shotgun that vanished in a burst of fire. I picked up my coat, slipped it on, and turned to face the approaching people. “I wonder if they will show me to the sheriff…”