Chp 17 - Wayne's World of Pain
Earth/Europe/Bertotia Kingdom/Tavern Town just West of The Capital/07_09_2020:
The pitter-pattering of Andresia’s footsteps is drowned out by the busy musings the people of the Tavern Town. It is now 19:30 and the Town’s nightlife has begun to spring into action. While the sun still sits comfortably in the sky, the people of the Town have marked the end of Bodil’s shift to be night-time. Marketplace merchants close up, heading either directly home or out to indulge in the Town's atmosphere. Restaurants and pubs begin to welcome customers in droves. Taking all of this in, Andresia sprints towards her destination, the Mayor’s house.
(POV Andresia): Jeez, I just hope Ivan hasn’t done anything too stupid.
However, as her footsteps draw nearer to her chosen location, she begins to hear them. No longer drowned out by the coming and going of the people of the Town, her footsteps ring out, clear to her.
(POV Andresia): Wait, where have all the people gone… Oh no, does that mean something has happened?!
Stealing herself, Andresia prepares to fight.
The Mayor’s house/~the same time:
It has been roughly 10 minutes since the fight between Bodil and Wayne started. In that time, Bodil has only landed a few, inconsequential punches on the mountain of a man. So far, she has been subject to many mysterious, powerful attacks, each threatening to wrench her consciousness from her. Watching (while spinning through the air) as the last of the crowd watching her runs from terror, a dauntless grin appears on her face. The fight will now start in earnest.
(Bodil): Fetch
Heeding her command, her familiars swarm Wayne, teleporting behind him and attempting to scoop out his flesh with their honed claws. Realising his predicament, Wayne pivots, attempting to dodge. His dodge only works to worsen his situation, as he pushes himself onto the fangs of an unseen wolf. Gritting his teeth, he bares the pain, turning to punch one of the other wolves vying for his life. Fist shooting through the air, he punches a large rock, one that wasn’t there until recently. Throbbing, his fist screams at him.
(POV Wayne): Is she teleporting those wolves? Is that how she made me punch a rock, too, did she teleport it to where I was punching? Looks like I’ll have to deal with her before the wolves…
Turning to do exactly that, Wayne is greeted by a flying kick to the face: a speciality of Bodil’s, apparently. Falling to the floor, Wayne realises he let the wolves occupy his attention for too long. Deciding to ignore the wolves proves to be a mistake, however. Focusing all of his attention on Bodil, he climbs to his feet, adopting his stance and spreading thin threads of light out around him. Realising he’s going to do something weird again, Bodil jumps towards him, striking a fist in his direction. Unfortunately, her fist hits an empty pocket of air. Before she even realises this, she is floating through the air once again. Gritting her teeth, Bodil attempts to understand his power.
(POV Bodil): Is he teleporting? No, I don’t think that’s it… His fists have such ridiculous force behind them, so it’s likely he’s just moving very quickly… I don’t sense him using any Weaving on himself... Although, it does appear he has a weird web of light stretching out from below his feet, is that the source of his power???
Eyes fixed on the threads of light her enemy’s stood on, Bodil finally lands back on the ground. The moment she does, there’s a faint flash, and she’s sent sailing through the atmosphere, once again.
(POV Bodil): I-I think I see it! Whenever I land on the ground, the line of light that’s closest to me lights up and he suddenly moves to where I am on it… What is this power?!?! Even though I know this much, how is this supposed to help me in any way???
(???): Get out of the range of his shadow!!! The light won’t stretch any further than his shadow!!
Heeding the mysterious woman’s words, Bodil twists her body, changing her trajectory to land just outside her enemy’s shadow. When no attack comes, she sighs in relief. Wayne growls at the newcomer, who uncovered the secret to his Weaving so quickly.
(Bodil): …Who are you anyway?
Nodding in the direction of the mysterious woman, she asks for her identity. Nodding in agreement, the woman complies.
(Andresia): My name’s Andresia, I’m with Ivan, the unconscious guy over there…
Looking over to her partner with a wry smile, Andresia squeezes out a dry laugh. Realising what this means, Bodil apologises.
(Bodil): O-oh, I’m really sorry about your friend… Ivan, was it? He was really good, I kind of got carried awa~
A warm smile across her face, Andresia addresses her.
(Andresia): No no, there’s no need to apologise, he probably deserved it. You also saved me the job of hitting him for making me deal with the aftermath by myself. You know, I think we’ll get along quite nicely!
Now it was Bodil’s turn to show a wry smile. At that moment, she vowed to stay on good terms with Andresia. Furious that he’s now being ignored, Wayne lunges forward, extending the range of his shadow to the spot Bodil’s feet are planted. Noticing this, Bodil attempts to flee, springing to her left, only to amplify the force of the fist being hurtled towards her. This time, Wayne targets her leg, nearly punching clean through it. Through the pain of the blow alone, Bodil hops, attempting to avoid another immediate strike. Grinning, Wayne goes to throw another of his Shadow Punches, he falters when his fist just strikes air. Looking around, he realises he hasn’t even moved. Glancing at his shadow, still connected to the Head of the GATW, a puzzled look forms on his face.
(Andresia): Ah, sorry about that, I’m disrupting your light waves with some of my own…
Looking back at Andresia, Bodil is startled. Out of principle, cancelling a Weaver’s techniques is difficult, you can either use the principle of super-position, to destructively interfere with them1this is a similar idea to the power 2nd Lieutenant Harvey has, or you can overwrite the technique completely with waves ridiculously high in amplitude and frequency, like Andresia has done. Seeing this, Bodil comes up with a plan.
(Bodil): Andresia, I’ve already had my wolves evacuate the Mayor, but they’ll take a while to get back here. Without them, I will definitely lose this fight… Assuming I’m the only one fighting, I mean. You mind disrupting his technique while I beat the shit out of him?
Astonished, Wayne looks back to the house’s interior. Realising he neglected to account for the wolves, a deep rage pours out of him. Seeing this, Andresia clenches her fists.
(Andresia): Yeah, I’ll do what I can. However… It likely means you won’t be able to use any of your Spatial Weaving… Is that okay?
(Bodil): You do know who you’re talking to, don’t you? I’ll be fine, just worry about suppressing that guy… If you do, it’ll bring an end to Wayne’s world of pain, I can tell you that for sure…
