--
'How dare he!? '
'Yes, yes! Punch him! More! '
'Break his face! Break his arm! Break his legs! Strangle him! '
'Shatter every bone in his body! Teach him a lesson! '
'Make him understand that going against you is the worst decision he could ever make! '
'Stop hesitating! '
'Kill him!!! '
TJ's jaws were clenched tight as he took deep breaths. His fists were similarly clenched hard; they were even shaking with how tight he was gripping them.
His vision darkened as he stared at William. The longer he looked at him, the more unhinged the voices in his head got.
They screamed, wailed, blamed, and urged him to do all sorts of bad things. TJ could feel his sanity and reason slipping away, yet there's also a piercing clarity that's only focused on the enemy.
TJ knew that his control was slipping away again and that he had to snap out of it, or else things would turn really bad.
"Argh!! You filthy commoner! How dare you lay your hands on me!!!"
William recovered from the punch and, once again, charged forward. He held his spear up front, its sharp edge gleaming dangerously with cold light.
But no matter how fast he thought he was, he moved in slow motion in TJ's eyes.
TJ could even see how William's face warped as he rushed forward. He could see the sweat from his forehead being carried by the breeze. He also saw how tightly William held his spear and how his hands trembled as he held it.
It wasn't just William who was in slow motion in TJ's eyes. The entire world was, and that also includes him. The difference is that TJ, despite enduring the screams and wails of the voices in his head, felt a wave of calm.
He could clearly see and tell what William was about to do, and if he focused hard enough, the screaming voices in his head would turn to static.
His current mental state was so very confusing. TJ doesn't know what it was exactly. He never read or heard anything describing the exact situation he was in.
So, with a slight exhale, TJ then moved.
He spun, narrowly and deftly avoiding the sharp tip of the spear. He, once again, invaded William's personal space.
TJ could clearly see the moment when William thought that he got him. He saw how William somehow knew that he would do this again, and so, he hurriedly pulled back his spear. TJ saw how his eyes changed, how he believed that he had won, and how he was already celebrating inwardly.
That's when TJ decided to shatter his hopes and dreams by punching the spear's handle hard enough to shake whatever illusion William put himself in.
He used enough force to make William drop his spear as if he got zapped by it. TJ then used the momentum of that punch to land the back of his soles on William's jaws, causing him to see stars and making him collapse on the floor again.
That's the point where the voices returned with full force, screaming at him to mount William while he's still on the ground and punch him until his face could no longer be recognized.
It only got worse when TJ saw blood pouring out of William's nose, drenching the lower half of his face.
TJ saw the world narrowing down to a single point, and that is William. He could no longer see or pay attention to anything else. The voices in his head urged him, begged him, cried out, and screamed at him to do something.
To finish William while he's done. To not miss that golden opportunity to kill him.
The voices were so loud that Cedric had to physically anchor himself to the ground to stop himself. He just knew that if he dared to relax, even for just a little bit, he would lose whatever control he had left over his body, and it would start moving on its own.
If that happens, he couldn't promise that William will remain intact by the time somebody who's capable enough comes to stop him.
'Stop dallying! '
'Don't just stand there and do nothing! Go on! End him!! '
'Please, don't get up anymore. Stop this! '
'He needs to die! He can't get away from what he did.'
'He insulted Lily! He called her a wannabewhore! How can you call yourself a friend if you don't teach him a lesson!? '
'Kill him! Now! '
TJ's own thoughts were being buried by the other voices in his head. He's starting to falter. It's coming to the point where he couldn't even tell which ones were his own thoughts and which ones weren't. It's all starting to sound the same to him.
And William...he's clearly not helping.
His madness, hatred, and overwhelming desire to not lose again kept him up. Pure negativity was emanating off of him, and unbeknownst to both of them, this energy was definitely making it harder for TJ to get ahold of himself.
In William's madness, he stopped caring about appearances. Aside from his spear, he took something out of his inventory.
"Oh no, he's got a bomb!"
"Run away! Call the teachers! He must be stopped!"
Somebody from the crowd immediately recognized what William took out. That's right, he had a bomb, and he's fully intent on using it.
The bomb threat sent the crowd running. And despite Lily's struggling, Sieg carried her away, praying to all saints and gods that TJ knows what to do while also feeling the worst inside.
TJ also recognized the bomb. William was, after all, moving in slow motion in his perception.
The madness of William shocked him. He couldn't believe that this guy was willing to go this far. He couldn't believe that a person would be this unreasonable over a few defeats.
This crisis sent him into overdrive. The moment he saw William attempting to ignite the bomb, TJ decided to take action.
He rushed to him, turning into a speed blur. Before William could ignite the bomb, TJ was already upon him.
Crack!!
"Argh!!!"
A sickening crack was created when TJ broke William's arm off, causing the mad guy's face to twist in pain and agony, losing control over his arm.
TJ then stole the bomb from him, tossed it in the air, and then kicked it with every ounce of strength he had, sending it to the sky and as far away from anybody as possible.
The bomb has already been ignited, and there wasn't enough time to extinguish it, so he could only do this and pray that nobody else gets hurt from this.
BOOOOM!!
The explosion could be heard all over the school. If the teachers still didn't know what's happening here, then that bomb certainly alarmed them by now.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt. At least nobody that TJ cared about or could see.
But while this was certainly a relief, William just gave him another reason to be angry again. First, this maniac insulted his friends; now, he's also pulling the innocent bystanders into his madness.
William has gone too far. And at this point, TJ was convinced that only pain can make him understand that he fucked up.
And so, TJ relaxed.
Swoosh!!!
"Arrgh!!"
TJ felt it the very first second when his own madness began. The moment he relaxed his control and relented to his instincts, his body unhesitatingly moved on its own, completely out of his control, and began laying down the pain on William.
Punch after punch landed all over William's face and body. William felt like he was facing a storm with how wild, untamed, and unstoppable TJ was. His senses were immediately flooded with obscene amounts of pain, and he could no longer tell what was going on.
At some point, he found himself up in the air. He had no idea how this happened; he only realized it because the pain let up for a moment. But TJ was far from being done.
He used the trunk of the nearest tree as a platform to jump off and reach the height he threw William to; he kept rising until he was on top of him, then he raised his leg and delivered a full-force axe kick on William's stomach, sending him crashing to the ground, hard and painfully.
William's eye widened from the pain. All of a sudden, he felt as if he was back on the training grounds of his home, facing against his father, who ruthlessly drilled in lessons to him through harsh beatings.
Not a single part of his body wasn't in pain. And when TJ stood over him, peering down and revealing his dark and frigid expression of indifference, William panicked because for a moment, TJ's expression overlapped with that of his father's.
TJ was about to mount William while he was down to beat him down until his parents could no longer recognize him.
However, he was stopped by a firm hold on his waist.
It was Lily who was hugging him from behind, begging him to stop and clear his mind. Sieg also stood in front of him, holding him still by the shoulders.
But TJ's eyes weren't on them.
It was focused on the person who just arrived and was now standing over William's trembling, afraid, and crying figure.
"It's time to stop, young man."