Harry Potter Fan

Rhyme walked down the streets of Hogsmeade looking into the windows at all the things for sale.  He saw some strange things being down one of the shadier streets of the little town.  Not many of the other students came down here unless they had a specific reason.  The sky was overcast, casting long shadows upon the street as he walked.  The air had a slight chill but was still warm. 

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.  He saw a man beating his young daughter and with his hearing he could hear her crying even over the breeze and the distance.  He also heard the man calling her very *friendly* person and other hurtful things which were clearly not true for her young age.  He wanted to look away and leave but he couldn't stop staring.  It brought back so many hurtful memories of his household, of his dad locking him in the basement for long period of time for not being able to do the magic his father could.  His fathers classics words were 'use magic to get out' 

These feelings overwhelmed him and he ended up falling against the wall of a nearby alleyway and falling to his knees as he held his head trying to drive the memories away.  He rocked back and forth in the alleyway until suddenly, he stopped. 

Rhyme got up and dusted himself off.  His face was harder now, losing most of the compassion held within there.  For someone who knew Rhyme they would also notice a few small differences, his eyes were now a dead black instead of their normal purple and his hair, normally the same neutral shade of purple as his eyes, was now a few shades dark and the style was much different, going from his left side over his left eye and also partially covering his right eye. 

Rhyme then, calmly walked over to the man and tapped him on the shoulder. 

"What do you want punk" the man snarled at him as he yanked his girl up by the hair.

Rhyme didn't reply but stared down at the man before giving him a backhand to the face.  This was not a normal slap though, it was empowered with a sonic blast that sent the many flying into an abandoned store shop.  With a lot of curses the man stood and pointed his wand at Rhyme from the shop.  Rhyme just glared at the man and shot his hands out, splayed at the man.  From his hand a shockwave emerged, visible from the dust in the air from the shop that hit the man knocking him out and to the ground, crimson blood leaking from his ears. 

"Leave." Rhyme said to the girl.  His voice was deeper then what it normally was and the girl didn't ask again quickly running off to hopefully find her mother. 

Rhyme's boots made a clicking sound as he walked down the stone sidewalk until he got to a new street.  When he did he threw another shockwave down the street, shattering the glass in at least six store fronts.  The glass tinkled as it hit the cobblestones of the sidewalk.  This wasn't Rhyme. 

The thin walkway of Hogsmead was extremely thined out. Hardly any people were out, and they had no reason to be-- it was the middle of the day and people were either in school or work. Of course Stacey had decided to skip her Divination class again. The subject was useless in her opinion. She didn`t learn anything, and she had enough to do in that time.

She walked from street to street, her eyes grazing over the windows lightly at the things she either already had or had no use for, thanks to her father`s fortune. She stopped outside a small shop, but not becasue she saw something worth buying.

She heard a noise. Well, felt it, really. She closed her eyes and stood there, obviously not caring what anyone thought of her standing there. She felt the pull of different powers, but recognized a certain draw. Each person had their own pull. It was like a flavor you couldn`t taste or a color you couldn`t see, but she could usually recognize a person by their pull. She traveled towards the pull when she felt another noise.

It was loud and she knew exactly what was happening. Instantly she saw through two dozen people`s eyes as glass shattered around them. "Rhyme." She said softly, opening her now purple eyes.

Rhyme grinned as he saw the smart people run in fear out of the town.  They ran down small alleyways hoping to get away from the rogue boy.  These people he didn't care about, what he wanted were the men who were over-egotistical, thinking they were great when they were barely scum on the heel of his shoe.  These were men like his father.  Five years of past pent up pain where coming out as one giant festering mental disorder. 

Rhyme had blackouts all throughout his childhood.  He never really knew why he had them and he didn't tell his parents he did.  His mom never seemed to notice and the lengths of time he was gone was never long, or actually time he wanted to remember.  It always seemed to go black a little bit after going down into the basement with his father.  Oh how he hated that basement. 

Rhyme set out another burst of sonic energy breaking down a run down building that probably would have fell soon on its own anyway.  It came down with a giant crash and littered the street with a thick layer of dust and debris.   A few of the people remained put their arm over their face to protect it but Rhyme just stood there.  Nothing hit him, bouncing instead off of a wall of sonic energy. 

Jessie walked down the street, carrying the little girl on her hip.  The girl was extremely young, probably about four or five.  The girl had cried into Jessie's shoulder, leaving a large wet mark.  She now was looking up, rubbing her eyes. 

Jessie talked gently to her, comforting her.  So far, she hadn't figured out anything about the girl.  Jessie was walking towards Rhyme, keeping up a shield to block the flying glass from hitting them. 

"Rhyme? Stacey?  What's going on?" She asked them, looking around at the destruction.  The girl looked at Rhyme, somewhat fearful and somewhat grateful.  The girl knew he had saved her, but she wasn't sure how, and that scared her.

Stacey flinched as Rhyme let the energy out of himself. It had always amazed her how much energy he had always had-- how much it took for him to fall. She had never seen anyone else do the things he did. Even Ginny seemed only his equal in Stacey`s eyes.

She quickly let her mental shield down and let Rhyme`s powers enter her own system. She felt the sudden burst of energy through her veins and she let it explode out of herself. The debris fell around her now, not coming close to her. She stepped over to Rhyme until she was only about two yards from him.

"Rhyme?" She asked again, louder. His feelings flooded her system, his thoughts filling her head. She saw flashes of scenes. It was amazing what only a little mental wall would let her see.

Stacy could easily pear into their mind since they had no mental block.  Never growing up near people with psychic powers he never learned how to make one.  Rhyme was perfectly sane, twisted, yet sane.  Rhyme was the same way, sane, but much less twisted.  Only together would the shattered mental image be shown. 

Rhyme was starting to calm down now, and if left alone would soon slip away leaving a very confused Rhyme.  This is why he didn't try and attack Stacy right away although it was unlikely he would have anyway.  She was one of the few people who didn't run or try and attack him.  Rhyme had to stare at her a few moments to remember her though.  He had access to all of Rhyme's memories and experiences many of them in person, but the people that wimp met he normally tended for forget easily. 

"Ah, Stacy" he said, his dark eyes meeting her lighter purple ones "come to revel in this destruction called life?"

Rhyme didn't really care if he took down a good part of Hogsmead, it was all fun to him.  And hey, he thought, most of these stuck up people needed a good shake every once and a while, keeps them on their toes.  Since their villain got defeated, they have got way to content in their lives. 

Stacey watched Rhyme with careful eyes. She felt everything he thought, the feeling washing over her like someone tossing a bucket of freezing water over her. "Yes. I`m Stacey." She said slowly and loudly. "Do you know who you are?" She asked. She had experienced both memory charms and people with mental disabilities. To her, both of those two things seemed like her best comparison to what Rhyme was experiencing now.

She put her left foot out to take a step forward, but she didn`t move just yet. It seemed like he could explode at any time. She had been under too much stress lately to be able to trust someone like Rhyme.

"Can you... stop... throwing energy around?" She asked, allowing herself to glance around quickly, making her point. Debris was still falling around her and she could hear the fallen buildings shifting.

"If you wish" was all he said before he blinked, and the power was suddenly switched off.  It actually went more so.  Much of the sound that was in the street, the creaking of boards, the shifting of concrete, the yelling of people, were also silent.  Only the ghostly sound of the wind could be heard. 

"I am Artemis of course.  Who did you think I was?"

He smiled at her with a slightly creepy grin, like that of a person who knew something that the other did not.  On the mental plane though, something spiked at the hearing of Stacy's voice.  Since it was closer he could hear it quite well.  It gave a flash of a much softer looking Rhyme, one with his normal hair and eye color.  And from his suppressed subconscious a burst of yellow energy, the color of the original Rhyme's pulsed shifting the dust slightly. 

"Excuse me," Artemis apologized as he tapped his chest like a person having heart burn.

Stacey raised an eyebrow and looked around. All of the noise had ceased-- she could hear that. The wind, though; the wind whipped around her, blowing her hair into her now electric green eyes. She looked back to Rhyme.

"Can you tell me who Artemis is?" She asked now, questions in her eyes. "Of course." She added as he excused himself. This was not the Rhyme she knew. The Rhyme she knew was much more... friendly? She didn`t exactly know. She didn`t know Rhyme that well, but she could tell that something was off.

"I`m Stacey. Can you tell me my last name?" She asked. She begged in her mind that he would remember. She was getting a littler nervous.

Artemis feigned a look of surprise when she didn't know him.  He knew Rhyme didn't tell anyone about him.  He didn't even know himself though maybe after this he might.  Depends on if the people chose to tell him afterwards.  If they didn't he would most likely end up with just another piece of time randomly missing. 

"Artemis is myself of course.  I am Rhyme's friend who helped deal with his father.  He never really could do that, always shrank away from the abuse his father gave him.  He couldn't even get away, I had to do that for him as well.  Quite pathetic if you ask me, he can basically warp space and time itself, and he can't even take down a half asked mage.  Oh well, what can you do?"

Before he could answer he second question about her last name, several Aurors appeared on the street.  Artemis gave an evil grin when he saw them.  It was obvious they were here to try and take him in, and that wouldn't happen anytime soon. 

"If you would excuse me, it appears I have some company to deal with."

He walked forward a few steps and cracked his fingers.  His eyes flashing evilly at the men and women there.  Most likely the only person who could take him down right now was Ginny.(<--Hint Hint)  His mind was split in two and so was his powers so his good half could not access all of his powers.  Also, knowing how they worked made up for a lot of that as well.  Artemis knew much more about the true nature of their powers.  Together with not being cut off from half of them, Artemis was a force to be reckoned with. 

Jessie still stood far away down the street, watching the exchange between Rhyme and Stacey.  She was too far away to hear them, especially over the roaring wind, but she could easily read their faces.  Stacey seemed to be trying to comfort Rhyme.  She also looked confused, as though that wasn't Rhyme she was speaking to at all.

The little girl whimpered in Jessie's arms, the wind easily biting through her thin sweater.  Jessie wrapped her arms around the girl, and she huddled closer to Jessie.

As the Aurors appeared on the street, Jessie backed up.  She had to find a stable place to hide before Rhyme began to unload his powers. She glanced behind her, then turned and walked briskly up the street.  She saw an alleyway, and quickly ducked into it, setting the girl down on her feet. 

Jessie peered around the corner.  They were safe, for now.  She looked at the little girl, cold again.  She had bruises on her arms and legs.  Jessie knelt down, becoming eye to eye with the girl. She was going to make another attempt to speak with the girl.  She reached up to button the girl's sweater, but the girl jerked away. 

Jessie smiled at her and said, "Shh... it's ok! I won't hurt you!"  She put her hands on the girls shoulders.  "Can you tell me your name sweety?"  She asked gently, looking into her eyes.

Stacey watched Rhyme, or Artemis, whoever he was. He seemed confused. What he said made some sense, but unless Rhyme had an evil twin, she didn`t understand. "What can you do?" She echoed as Aurors appeared. She cursed under her breath quietly before falling into a defensive crouch. She had never really trusted any member of the Ministry, and her pose was instintual.

"Ginny." She mumbled. Ginny. Ginny. Ginny. Ginny. It became like a chant in her mind, repeated over and over again. She knew that her old teacher had extrodinary abilities, but did they extend to being able to hear a lone teenager now? In these destroyed streets, could anyone hear her?

"Rhy--Artemis, can you please tell me something?" She asked, her eyes scanning the croud. Her wand fell into her hand. Although she knew her powers well, she bet that the Aurors could easily control her.

Ginny! She thought forcefully. She had no way out of this situation, she needed help. She could sense Jessie somewhere behind her, but who was she against mebers of the Ministry?

A wave of Stacey's thoughts washed through her mind.  She normally wasn't very good at reading people's minds, but it was as though Stacey wanted to be heard. 

Ginny. Ginny. Ginny. Ginny.

The chant entered her mind.  "Ginny" she said, aloud. "Ginny!"  She knew what she had to do. 

"What?" The little girl asked speaking for the first time. 

Jessie looked down at the girl.  She looked around before saying, "Uhm... get on my back."  She turned around, and let the girl climb on her back.  "Hold on!"  She yelled, apparating to the school grounds.  She ran into the school and down the halls, the girl on her back.  She asked every person she passed if they had seen Ginny.  None had seen her.  Where could she be?

((Ginny isn't a teacher anymore, remember? haha))

"Momma, Grandpa said you used to be a brat." Cody grinned sideways at his mother, enjoying these moments when he could tattle on his grandfather. Arthur held up his hands, grinning at his only daughter as she turned to him.

"She still is, too!" He said, amongst the laughter and clamour of the large family. Most everyone was at the Burrow, something they attempted to do at least once every few weeks. Ginny threw a piece of bread at her father, laughing as it it him on the nose.
Then she froze.

Ginny. Ginny. Ginny. Ginny.

"Mum, dad, watch the kids for me, ok?" And Ginny was gone before they even nodded.

She reappeared instantly on the broken and crumpled street of Hogsmead. She could see the Aurors in the distance, advancing towards a smaller, younger looking figure. She could feel the magic, could taste it practically. And she could hear the intention beyond it.
"Wait! That boy is a student of Hogwarts. If you touch him, all of you will be arrested under violation of the School and Government separation clause!"

Her words rang out across the street as she semi calmly walked up the street. She knew something was wrong with Rhyme, could feel it, but the immediate danger was the Aurors.

((Haha I knew that... of course... ))

Ginny. Ginny. The chanting stopped suddenly, as though it was cut off, it's purpose had been fulfilled.  Jessie apparated back to the alleyway and set the girl down again. 

"Ginny?" The girl asked, pronouncing her name almost perfect, due to the amount of times she had heard it said so recently.   

Jessie looked down at the girl and pointed to Ginny.  "That's Ginny.  She's very strong.  She can make everything better." Jessie promised the girl.  She continued to peer around the corner, the girl standing under her.

((Disturbia--Rihanna))

Artemis didn't notice Ginny's arrival since he tended to tune out during classes, way to boring and he could always access the information later when he was bored.   He cracked his neck but as he did strange and out of tune piano notes could be heard.  He cracked his fingers and stretched to the same creepy sounds. 

Then, he stopped and started to tap his foot.  As he did, each tap brought his power more and more forward.  The area around him even began to waver and falter.  It looked like a very hot day if the town was painted all black.  It wasn't his power though, or the strength of it.  He was warping reality itself in a short range around him.  Each beat got stronger and soon the singers from the song could be heard.  Also with each beat the wavering got closer to the Aurors. 



As the singers sang, Rhyme ran his fingers through his hair as he bent over, appearing as if he had a bad headache or some other pain.  The move was not this though, it just fit with the music, and both Artemis and Rhyme were artists at heart. 


He stayed frozen in a position after the first stanza as the men and women stared oddly at him, not sure how to take it.  They had no idea what was about to happen.  Then, suddenly at the end of the second stanza he vanished.  He couldn't have appearorated since he was much too young.  That and he didn't appear to even have a wand.

Suddenly, on the exact words of the third stanza, Artemis appeared behind a woman and grabbed her around the neck before disappearing again.  She only had a time to utter a small squeak of a gasp before she was gone.  She appeared across the street a few moments later grasping at a stab wound on her side.  It didn't look as bad as it was.  If she weren't taken to a hospital in a few hours she would easily bleed out internally. 

The remaining Ministry personal looked at her amazed and afraid.  They never saw someone who could do that before.  He moved without being seen.  He either cloaked himself or moved too fast to be seen.  This was neither.  He controlled space in this small area.  He could move through it as he wished.  Normal Rhyme would never be able to warp this much, or if he did he would most likely be dead afterwards.  They quickly moved into a circle their eyes aflame with fright wondering where the next attack would come from. 



Artemis appeared at random points all around them as the music played.  Making them jump and fire a stray blast at him.  He was always long gone before it got to him.  The music well described what was going on.  This was a city of wonder right now, Artemis controlled everything in the small bubble of his control.  On the line, "you might go under" the ground beneath the group suddenly turned water making them gasp and sputter as they swam for the edge and pulled themselves out.  He kept appeared as he worked though.  He wondered if he could make one of them go insane without landing a hand on them. 


Suddenly the one remaining woman in the group found herself oddly singing along.  She couldn't control it.  She sang the last two lines of the stanza.  The others stared at her amazed as she collapsed afterward in fright.  It was exactly what they all were thinking though, they had to get out. 


The group went running for the nearest side street to suddenly find Artemis in front of them.  On the first line he kicked a guy in the chest, breaking the sterna and sending him into a wall  On the second mound of earth emerged from the ground, acting much like a liquid.  He covered a man and dragged him into the ground.  He wasn't kill though it looked like he was.  Artemis didn't feel like killing anyone just yet, though the thought that he have would freak the two remaining guys out even more. 

He grinned evil on the third line as the pair looked even more scared.  The third described mind control and the stared at each other waiting for it to happen but it never did.  He already controlled a person slightly, he didn't need to do it again, it was an old trick.  When they looked back though the found Artemis gone but their escape route bricked closed. 



The two remaining men went back to back, their eyes darting around trying to see where the next attack came from.  None came though, Artemis stayed hidden and didn't attack.  He chose to let them stew a bit.  Also the song was starting to sap a bit of his powers. 


Suddenly a new voice came.  One from Artemis himself though he couldn't be seen.  It was the voice Rhyme normally chose to use in Hogwarts.  The warped reality let him come partly out of repression.  He wouldn't be able to last for long though.  Only the lyrics about entrapment let him.  Soon as those lyrics ending Artemis emerged once again.  He wasn't giving up his old now, he never knew how much fun the real world could be. 


Artemis came extremely close to the men even running his thin fingers along on of the guys cheeks which made him jump a few feet into the ground in fright.  They couldn't really see the kid, only with blurs.  The wavering in the area was starting to slow down and reduce.  The song was ending and with it, the warping of reality. 


With the end of the song Artemis appeared clearly once more and throw both hands out at the two remaining men.  From his hand came jet-black ribbons of energy, the total opposite of Rhymes cheerful yellow.  They wrapped themselves around the two remaining guys and cinched tight, breaking a few of their ribs.  They groaned in pain as the ribbons pulled them up and hung them upside down from a piece of a broken building. 

With the end of the song Artemis gave a bow.  He also gave Stacy a flirtatious wink believing she might have liked his strong show of force. 

((Sorry for any misspelling and such, too much was being caught from the lyrics.  Also, might have changed lyrics slightly from the spell check doing two changes at once...mouse is acting up.  Not sure what was 'corrected'  I apologize if it was part of the song. ))

"Sh!t."

Ginny was hardly ever wrong. In fact, she took pride in her ability to read situations and come up with the appropriate next move. But she had indeed been wrong here, and that made her angry.
She began to run as the music started, knowing without really knowing what was going to happen. Unfortunately, she had yet again underestimated Rhyme. Or whomever he was at the moment.
She watched the chaos he cause with grim thoughts of her own, not attempting to stop it until she got a good reading on his abilities.

"That's enough."
Her quiet voice was suddenly only a few feet behind the one who was now called Artemis, her body connected to it. The pretty 21 year old frowned at him, shaking her head slowly.
"You've cause enough damage for one afternoon, I believe."

The authority in her voice was unmistakable. If whomever this was chose not to obey her, she would force him to. She didn't look like it, but she was string. Magically, mentally, and physically.

Jessie flattened herself to the alley wall as the song started.  She grabbed the girl and went farther into the alley, crouching over the girl.   She heard the destruction all around. Her arms were wrapped around the little girl, and they crouched in the corner of the alleyway. The girl whimpered, and Jessie urged her to be quiet.

What had happened to Stacey?  Was she hurt?  She had been right in the middle of all the destruction, so how could she have escaped?  She wanted to go and check on her, make sure she was alright, but she knew that it would be impossible.

Stacey let out a long sigh of a breath. She was aware of everything. Of Rhyme moving around. His thoughts. Ginny running towards them. Her thoughts. Jessie in the alley with the child. Both of their thoughts. All of the Aurors` thoughts. Everything. It swarmed around her like bees. Everything was silent, but yet so loud. Suddenly everything was so slow.

She was only barely aware of Rhyme`s movement, of his attacks, even though she felt the pain as if he had stabbed her instead. She breathed in and out deeply through her mouth, her exhales coming out in long gasps. She heard the song, then Ginny`s voice, and then she was only aware of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.

She saw people moving. Thump. Thump. Thump. They were screaming. Thump. Thump. Thump. She saw Rhyme, and the whole scene played out again in her mind. Thump. Thump. The senses hit her like a sudden burst of wind had decided to blow them all her way and she fell to her knees with her hands over her ears.

Jessie looked back to check on the girl, and then when she looked out again, Stacey was on the ground covering her ears.  She turned to the little girl.  "Stay here!" She said, looking into the girl's eyes.   The girl nodded, and Jessie stood.

She ran out, staying as close to the walls as she could.  She too started to become overwhelmed with feeling, but she knew that she had to get to Stacey and that drove her forward.  She made her way to Stacey and crouched down beside her.

"Come with me!" She urged, touching Stacey's arm.

Artemis grinned evilly though Ginny could not see much of it from her position behind him.  He let both hands fall to his sides but as he did, the one closest to Ginny though, let loose a dagger into his hand.  It was hidden for now but would soon be sent right at Ginny. 

"Ah, nice to finally meet you in person professor.  Though I think you got more things to worry about right now then just me.  That one woman over there will bleed out in..." he paused looking at his watch in the other arm.  "I would say about six hours.  And it looks like your pupil, what was her name...Sandy I think appeared to be on the edge of a mental breakdown.  Though I must agree, I do think I caused enough carnage here.  It was quite fun though, know of any other towns in this area that need a good run around?  Maybe they will have a more challenging police department.

Artemis took the dagger in his hand and while he talked he started to clean the dirt out from under his fingernails.  After he finished the first time through with one hand, he held it out in front of him and looked at them, not deeming them clean enough went back at them with the knife.  He did the same with the other hand, appearing quite bored and unafraid of the fiery haired woman. 

Ginny waved a hand absently in the Ministry woman's direction, almost smiling at the thought of her bleeding out.
"Her future is of no concern of mine." She seemed amused by the idea.

"And as for Stacey, she'll be fine. She's got to toughen up sometime, wouldn't you agree?" The red haired ex-teacher's small smile turned to a frown, and she folded her arms. She looked even younger when seemingly hugging herself, and one could see why Artemis had no fear of her. She looked absolutely harmless.

"You know who I am. Who are you, child?"
She used 'child' for him as a challenge. To show she thought nothing of him or his attempts to throw her off kilter by seemingly being innocent about the dagger in his hand. She watched it out of the corner of her eye, never really looking at it.
She was smarter than he gave her credit for.

Artemis ignored the child comment, letting it glide off his back.  There was really nothing he could say back to it.  He was still a child, he didn't act like it, but he was still young.  Why try and fight and act like an idiot.  He always hated those people who yelled and yelled without saying anything.  Their father did it a lot. 

"I am Artemis and just like I told Sammy there, I am a good friend of Rhyme.  Think of me as his body guard of sorts.  I always end up doing the stuff he can't.  But I must give you more credit now, you are wonderfully ruthless.  In another age I bet we could have created much carnage and mayhem together."

In the hand opposite the one still holding the dagger he closed then opened his hand.  When he did a mass of interweaving strings appeared, looking like a complex piece of half done weaving. 

"Interesting isn't it?  How a single change of a thread of life, can make two people enemies.  If the one thread wasn't knotted, or wasn't cut.  Quite amazing if you think about it, but an utter quagmire if you think too deeply." 

He closed that hand once more and reopened it, the strings now gone.  Even he wouldn't dare trying to mess with the skein of life.  That would be a guarantied death wish.  Whatever was up there, no matter how calm or how ruthless, would not want a simple mortal dealing with something that strong. 

"I know better than others how a single thread can change everything."

Ginny had been involved in Time too many times. She'd been one of the few told to protect it. And she was of the fewer to get away with changing it. She should have been imprisoned for life, or even put to death. But she had been given a free pass, so to speak. Only because the new future had turned out better for the entirety of mankind.

She waved a hand, though, dismissing his other comment about how they could have cause much carnage together. She'd caused her own carnage, and suffered every day for it. She wouldn't let the boy in front of her see that.

"Artemis, I believe it is time for you to leave."

Stacey gasped silently, closing her eyes tightly and opening them again. Everything was so loud. She couldn`t stand it her hands trembled over her ears; she might as well have been doing a Russian tango because having her hands over her ears wasn`t helping anything.

She reached forward to put her hands against the cool, wet surface that made up the ground. She closed ehr eyes again. Close your mind. She thought to herself. Close it. She balled her hands into fists and she pushed with her mind. She slowly built a wall in her mind-- brick by brick. As the wall got higher, it got more quiet. As the wall was finished, she could only hear her own mind. She sighed in relief and opened her eyes.

The scene in front of her had changed slightly. It seemed closer to something big-- something dangerous.

"Stacey, are you alright?"  Jessie asked, still crouching next to Stacey.  She wanted to make sure her friend was alright.  It had looked as though Stacey had been trying very hard to achieve something.  Something very difficult.  She looked like she was trying to shut something out, and it didn't want to be shut out.  It must have been something internal, for she didn't seem to be doing anything other than with her mind.

"I`m fine." Stacey mumbled, pushing herself off of the ground so she was crouching to a ready position. Everything felt tense. When she looked at things, she could practically taste the electricity. From one hand her wand levitated gracefully, looking as if she were barely holding onto it. But her eyes were trained on Rheese.

"Well you don't look fine..."   Jessie muttered, looking up at Rheese.  She didn't really know Rheese, but she had a hard time believing that this was how he normally acted.  If it was, Jessie definitely would have heard of him.

((Just to make this clear for other people.  I trust Ginny enough to give her partial control over my characters in her future posts since I have known her long enough to trust her not to go too far.  Normally you cannot do this.))

"My dear professor, I would like to see you try and make me."

His eyes flashed evilly as did his grin.  He was done just talking with this person.  The knife was warm in his hand and it was ready to bit into the soft flesh of a person, any person really.  He glanced at the pair huddled on the street and wondered if Ginny would try and save them if he tried anything. 


When the music began to play he stared at her.  He knew she knew what was about to happen.  He couldn't warp space again, at least not a large amount of it.  That took a lot of energy and put strain on his mind, he would go crazy...er

On the first part of the second stanza he vanished from normal sight.  He wasn't gone just moving quickly.  On each 'Gives you hell' a dagger was thrown toward Ginny. 

Stacey gasped and lunged forward, her right hand outstretched. The knife closest to her fell to the ground, useless. The act was completely and instinct. She knew Ginny could take care of herself, but she couldn`t stop something that happened without her thinking.

She flicked her fingers and the knife slid towards her slowly until she pciked it up carefully. She pushed it back to Jessie, but kept her eyes on the scene in front of her. "Keep this." She mumbled. You never know when a sharp knife will come in handly. Her eyes flickered from who she knew as Rheese and her ex-teacher and she coughed softly.

"Excuse me, but if that song is supposed to correspong with you, it doesn`t do it`s job very well." She said, making sure if was loud enough for Rheese to hear. She sat back on her heels, her head tilted slightly. All she was doing was trying to keep him talking, nothing more. She had long noted that if you`re involved in a conversation, you`re less likely to respond to somehting outside the conversation as quickly as you normally would.

((Permisson for power-play has been granted. If you want me to change anything I will.))

The remaining knives seemed to stop mid air about a foot away from Ginny, shivering and shimmering in place before each disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Ginny hadn't even flinched, the only thing that moved was her eyes. She was calculating where each knife came from, and at the last 'give you hell' she herself dissappeared from view.

She'd been fast all her life. Coupled with her psychic techniques and her magical powers, she was even faster than expected. She appeared right in front of where she had predicted Artemis to be, grasping his forearms and stopping him from moving. Her grip was like steel, there was no escaping it, and she smiled at him.

"I don't have to try to make you. I just will. Here's the deal, you bring back Rhyme or I shock you into bringing him back."

A quick burst of sheer magical power transferred from her hands onto his arms where she held him tightly, giving him a painful electrical shock. She tightened her grip even more, stopping the electrical burst and raising an eyebrow.

"Which is it, Artie?"

Jessie gripped the knife and stood.  She stayed close to Stacey, even though they could each take care of themselves.  She glanced back to the alley and saw the little girl's head poking around the corner, her eyes wide with wonder.

Bring back Rhyme?  Wasn't Rhyme standing in Ginny's iron grasp?  Jessie started to grasp that someone or something must have taken control of Rhyme's body. She didn't know how that happened, in fact, she hardly knew anything about it.

Artemis yelled out in pain as the electricity went through his body.  When it did his eyes flickered from dark violet to normal and back to dark a few times.  The pain was intense and it went right through his nervous system making it feel like his entire body was in pain. 

"B!tch" he growled between clenched teeth as the music continued to play. 

After the initial shock of the pain went away he scrunched his eyes together as he tried to focus.  He couldn't warp much space, but he could still warp himself.  He stared at his arm where she grabbed hold of it and commanded the molecules to pull apart slightly.  They moved just far enough apart to turn into a thick liquid.  When it did though the pain got much stronger from the increased conductivity.  He fought through the pain and panted from the exertion when he was free. 

Once he did his arm went back to normal as he crouched with his hands on his knees as he tried to regain his breath. 

Stacey didn`t care that her previosu words hadn`t resulted in action. It had merely been a meek distraction. She watched the scene carefully and her arms raised on their own accord. She could sense it in her mind what she was about to do, and stopped herself. Ginny didn`t need her help. She shouldn`t give it unless she needed it. She was positive that Ginny didn`t need her messing things up.

Si instead she stood slowly. "Jessie, I`m fine. Get back to that little girl. She won`t wait there much longer." That was true, too. The girl was comtemplating running towards Jessie or towards home.

Ginny knelt close to Artemis, grabbing his ear and pulling his face close to her's so she could look him in the eyes.

"Well?" She gave him a moment, her dark eyes searching his before she gave him a sweet pretty smile and let go of his ear. She placed a finger on his forehead and pushed, hard, sending him onto his butt.
Next thing, she was kneeling close to his head, one hand gently on his neck.

"Rhyme, it's time to come back now."
There was no doubt she was a mother. Even with her hand resting gently on his throat, about to choke the breath from him, her voice was soft and warm and caring.

((Again, I can change anything you want me to.))

Jessie looked over at the little girl.  She was poised to run, but hadn't yet decided which direction she should run. 

"I guess you're right..."  She said to Stacey, already beginning to walk backwards in the direction of the alley. "You could come too. Things might get ugly again out here." She highly doubted that much more would happen, but there was still the possibility. "You wouldn't want to get in Ginny's way."

She turned, walking back to the alley, letting Stacey decide on her own.  She picked up the little girl, and stood, watching.

Artemis'/Rhyme's eyes began to flash quickly back and forth between the dark shade of purple of Artemis and the lighter purple of Rhyme.  The voice brought back many memories of the foil of the cause of the little issue.  As much as Rhyme's father was horrible, was his mother nice.  She was always nice to everything, from smallest bug to largest creature of the forest.  Her kind influence even helped keep Artemis at bay for much of his life. 

This was enough to pull Rhyme back from the subconscious mind.  With Rhyme though came a huge burst of energy as Artemis tried to repress Rhyme back down. 

"No" he grunted through his teeth "I wasn't done yet"

Then, with a blast of yellow and black energy in the form of ribbons in a spherical shape, the body of Artemis/Rhyme rose into the air letting go strong shockwaves of energy which threw Ginny away though not hard.  As the two minds fought, well more like Artemis fought since Rhyme didn't really notice that he was even there yet, two songs began to play, Hell Song which was still playing from Artemis but Second Chance began to play as well in the background and it started to get stronger and louder, drowning out the other song. 


As the song went it got louder or louder, or maybe it just felt that way since Hell Song was getting more and more subdued.  The person's hair began to also turn back to the somewhat normal shade of purple that was Rhyme's.  The energy that was given off was also starting to become less oppressive, as well as the black and yellow energy began to show much more yellow then black.  That little jog of memory was enough to start the dominos going within this child's poor twisted mind.  And instead of like the man beating the girl, this domino was for the better.

Then, with one final blast of energy that was purely Rhyme's the child fell softly to the ground asleep.  All the sound came back to the correct levels and no music could be heard.  The man that was sent under ground emerged a few yards off knocked out but unharmed.  Sadly, the one women's wound was not fake and the other was most likely insane now or tragically emotionally damaged. 

Rhyme just groaned in his sleep as he tried to recover from all the energy that surged through his system and would wake up with a splitting headache and wondering how the town got trashed and where the 6 hours of his day went. 

Jessie watched the scene unfold before her eyes.  She watched partially in horror, partially in awe.  She held the girl on her hip, and the girl watched the scene as well, not quite sure what to make of it.

Jessie didn't know much about possessing someone else's body, but she was a fast learner.  It appeared to be a fight of some sort between two people.  She could hear the two songs, one becoming louder than the other.  She could also tell that whoever was yellow was winning.

She decided that each person must have their own color.  As her mind wondered what her color was, she leaned one shoulder against the wall of the alley, her eyes slightly glazed over.