Johan fell to his knees, beads of sweat cascading down his face. He desperately panted, his lungs expelling the air he took in almost immediately. 'When will all this fighting end?' he thought, his hands on his knees and eyes closed. 'shuffle', Johan instantly swung his head backwards and his eyes exploded open, the horde once a ways away was now within earshot. Johan sprung into action, a sprinter exploding off the block. Eventually he saw a small shack a few strides away; it was old and dilapidated, standing out like a sore thumb when compared with the rest of the estate. The area around the shack was overgrown and untouched, although it shared the estate's lack of trees. 'Should I go in there? If I corner myself I'm dead but I can't keep running forever!' "Dammit!" Johan screamed before shoulder tackling the old door which collapsed under his weight.
Rolling as soon as he hit the ground he braced himself and immediately pulled out two knives from his trench coat once his feet were on the ground. He flung his body upwards and spun around, letting his arms swing with his momentum. Contrary to his expectation, his knives swam through the air and he stumbled as a result. He took a deep breath and looked up at the door, not a single servant had entered after him. "The hell?" he exclaimed before falling on his butt taking deep breaths, with his head up and eyes closed, sweat flowing down his face. After a few seconds he opened his eyes and refocused on the broken door, attempting to satiate his curiosity he slowly stood up and approached it. His eyes could've left their sockets with how wide he opened them, the servants had formed a perfect circle around the shack not moving an inch into the overgrown area.
"Come out from there." They all said in unison their mouths moving as a single organism. 'They're just standing outside the circle?' Johan thought, his eyes soon refocusing on the grass. 'It's completely overgrown, but ever other blade of grass is perfectly level, they can't enter here can they.'
"There is something here, isn't there." Johan said exiting the shack and walking towards the servant in line with the door. "Something stopping you from getting closer."
"We will kill you." they said
"Then do it," As he said this he stood face to face with a male servant, "reach out and snap my neck." Johan gripped the knife in his right hand tightly and steadied his breathing.
"Hehehe, you damned-", the servant suddenly lunged forward at Johan with his mouth open, a blackish liquid oozing out. Johan tensed his muscles, keeping his eyes focused on the servant's every move.
"Looks like I was right." The servant had become frozen in place at the edge of the circle, the blackish liquid slowly seeping out his agape mouth. Johan turned his head and noticed the other servants also in the same position, frozen. Johan relaxed and began examining the servant before him in detail. He was unnaturally pale, something that makeup alone couldn't achieve. Eyes empty despite looking directly at him, the liquid itself was the final puzzle piece. "De-oxygenated blood? Are you not breathing?"
"."
"I think your silence answers my question." Johan said, turning and walking towards the shed.
"You're…Going…To…Die." One of the servants said, twitching, as several servants began falling down. Johan stayed focused and kept walking towards the shed, upon entry he stood in the center and closed his eyes. The world was completely black and Johan felt he could see outside his body. He looked left, right, up, gravity was of no concern to him here. Upon looking down he noticed, or more accurately, he sensed the outline of a bluish cuboid about 3 feet below him. 'It's metal, I wonder what type?' he thought, moving closer towards the cuboid, and looking closer at it. He saw millions of outlines of tiny blue balls packed tightly together barely moving, 'Lead huh. That would explain why I can't sense anything below this.' Johan then opened his eyes and knelt down and touched the ground.
"There's probably a secret door but who has time for that!" he said grinning ear to ear, the ground suddenly began to rumble as around Johan a sheet of lead jutted out the ground and began wrapping around him on all sides. The ground where he stood, losing its main support, caved causing the lead sack containing Johan to plummet downwards. "In hindsight maybe this wasn't the best idea!" Johan exclaimed as he was launched in the air and had to enclose the sack to prevent him from being flung out.
'BOOM!' The sled ball crashed into the floor of a well lit, grey brick area where four hallways intersected, dust blasting outwards. The lead suddenly jutted outwards creating an opening that dirt, wood and Johan exited out of.
"Owww." Johan groaned, wiping blood from his nose.
"Hands in the air!" several in black police uniforms said, muskets trained on Johan.
"Police. So my suspicion was correct" Johan replied, putting his hands on his waist and stretching.
"Didn't you hear him bastard! Hands in the air!"
"All black uniforms, so what you're doing is most likely off the books. So what's the point of the uniform?"
"I'm only gonna say it once more, put your hands in the air!"
"Well, guess your aren't going to answer that, also you probably shouldn't-"
Before Johan could finish the men all pulled the triggers on their guns, however loud explosions erupted from the guns, they broke backwards and shrapnel was shot into the officers necks and head causing them all to drop dead.
"shoot your guns." Johan said, taking his hands off his waist and finishing his stretch, "Should've waited till I finished my sentence." While walking away he gathered the metal from the guns and wrapped it around his left arm in a spiral pattern. The corridor was adorned with locked metal doors containing something unknown to Johan, 'The doors are all lead.' He thought, 'They're definitely hiding something, hell the more I look at it the more this looks like a prison.' Suddenly Johan stopped his eyes widening. His eyes filled with the image of a pristine white dress touching the floor, her blond hair making her porcelain white face glow. Despite being several feet shorter than him she appeared massive in his eyes, but he looked miniscule in hers.
"Hello son." She said with a warm smile. Johan's hands shook, and his lips dried, sweat streamed down his stunned face. He then grit his teeth and contort his face.
"MOTHERRR!!" he screamed with every fibre of his being, running towards her, the once spiraled metal, ready to end that woman's life.
"Quite the greeting, I'm glad your voice has grown deeper." Johan swung his blade, slicing through air after she avoided it with a small movement. He swung and swung, until his arms felt heavy but he hadn't as much as grazed her. He threw his sword forward, a simple rotation of her body made it whiz past. Only for Johan to close his right hand, the blade exploding into several sharp, steel shards. "Ohhh very impressive." Before the shards hit her they suddenly swerved and got stuck in the wall, she looked in the corner of her right eye and saw Johan running towards her. He threw a punch that she caught, only for Johan to pivot and attempt to kick her into the wall. She pulled his hand downwards making him stumble, the kick landing in front of her feet instead. A back kick from the grounded Johan suddenly exploded outwards, she avoided once again facing him dead on. He was panting and sweating heavily while her face was dry as ever, her breathing still stable. Johan rushed forward and he began to throw a volley of blows that were either caught, avoided or parried.
"You've gotten much stronger son." She said with joy, "But there are still too many openings." Johan felt a sharp pain in his stomach and fell to his knees coughing and wheezing. Without him noticing his mother had delivered a powerful punch to his liver. When Johan looked up a fist immediately made contact with his face, knocking him down, blood gushing from his nose. 'When did she move!' he thought, his vision blurry and doubled.
"Get up son, surely that isn't all your resolve amounts too." With great effort he stood to his feet, his knees, shaking his vision not yet restored. He put his hands up in a boxing stance and took a breath, 'The moment she moves I'll throw a pun-' without warning a hand covered his face. Before he knew it, he collided back first with the ground. 'How the hell is she so fast!' Johan placed his hands on the ground above his head and used it to flip backwards, standing to his feet.
"Where the hell have you been all this time, did you have enough fun playing a mother!"
A small frown appeared on her face, "is that what you think I was doing, Johan?"
"Take my name out your mouth! Don't treat me like I'm your son, what the hell have you ever done for me!" Johan wiped the blood off his mouth and put his hands together, pointing it at his mother. "The best thing you could ever do for me is die!" Johan screamed and the doors began to shudder and flew off their hinges towards his mother.
"I'm sad you think that way of me." 'Splat' the doors all collided with his mother, a hail of blood erupted outwards and the hallway grew silent.
"Ha" Johan uttered in disbelief, "I-I did it!"
"Do you know the steps of hypnosis Johan?" Johan spun around only to be confronted by his mother.
"B-b-but I killed you?!" He exclaimed, falling on his butt.
"The first stage is induction, where the target's attention is focused on something in an attempt to quiet the mind." She walked towards Johan and caressed his stunned face.
"The second stage is deepening, where you are brought deeper into the trance through various methods making you more suggestible."
"The third stage is-"
"Shut the hell up! I kill-" Johan interjected, trying to move but his body refused to.
"Don't speak when I'm speaking."
Suddenly Johan closed his mouth and was unable to speak, 'Why did I stop talking just now?'
"As I was saying, the third stage is suggestion where the target is given suggestions they carry about. You're currently in this stage." His mother began walking away from Johan towards where she came from.
"You really didn't notice me gone, did you bastard?" Johan looked to his right and saw his younger self stretching. "Don't just sit there gawking, get up, let's finish this." Johan forced himself to his feet taking long breaths. "Since when was I hypnotized?"
His mother stopped and turned to face him, "You went into phase one the moment you screamed at me, phase two when you attacked me and phase three when you got up after I palmed your face. In regards to my death, I suggested you pull off the doors and I suggested that you 'killed' me." "You've been moving how I wanted you to this entire time, none of your actions have been your own, so leave Johan don't continue any further."
"You said you've been controlling me the entire time, well now there are no strings on me!" Johan ran forward and extended his right hand pulling the doors, towards himself.
"Not too hasty, stay focused." His younger self said, Johan simply nodded in response. His mother sighed before raising her right and closing it. Johan suddenly felt a pop in his ears, 'My skin feels cool, wait I Can't breathe!' he panicked before his hair and trench coat blasted into him without warning causing him to stumble and lose focus, the lead doors falling with a thud, before they reached near his mother. She then opened her hand and the air around Johan went still, and the surroundings heated up instantly.
"Johan! You need to get out of here now!" His younger self shouted, causing him to stand up and try moving, the mistake he made however was instinctively taking a breath, 'Where's the air!' his mind screamed as he stumbled forward.
"Release" his mother spoke, putting her hands together. In that instant there was a large blast of air around Johan knocking him back and making his ears ring. 'How is she doing this?! Each person can only use one type of alchemy!"
"Johan take out a knife now!" Listening to his younger self, he took out a knife from his trench coat. This proved immediately useful as his mother sent an upwards slash with a metal sword with her left, which Johan barely blocked. Then a downward slash, followed by a vertical and a forward thrust all of which Johan barely blocked. However he was being consistently pushed backwards and eventually she sent an upwards slash with her left that knocked the knife out of Johan's hand and exposed his chest. The blade then moved on its own to her right hand which was pointing upwards. 'That's my alchemy?!' he thought before his mother sent a diagonal slash across his chest causing blood to gush out and making him fall on his back. She then stepped to the side of him and spoke.
"I am happy to see you again son, I await our next meeting." She held a radiant smile, her face as if she had never been engaged in combat.
"W-Wait." Johan said weakly only to be cut off when his mother thrust the sword into his stomach. The pain was searing and he felt his consciousness slipping away, his final sight being his mother walking away, her dress still a pristine white. Many guards with guns soon surrounded the unconscious Johan.
"Treat him gently, if he dies so do all of you." His mother stopped and said with a chilling voice the guards immediately understood the intent.
"Yes, our lady." They said in unison, quickly bowing their heads. From among them a tall man in a white suit with many medals approached and took a knee before Johan's mother.
"Everything has been prepared my lady." He said bowing his head, Johan's mother smiled.
"Then let us head towards the capitol."