Act 36-Scene 5: Upsetting Talks And Convincing Arguments

--- Joshua ---

A growing pressure began to press in on him, and while there wasn’t much around him, he could tell the world was slowing down as his Toon Time kicked in, giving him time to think.

(Okay, how to handle this…) He asked himself.

(We need to downplay this and spin it our way.) The devil on his shoulder suggested. (We can’t cover up the fact we’re a Deviant, she’s too convinced of that, but right now she thinks we’re just being an asshole to random people, when the people we were messing with were really…)

(Our bullies, mine and hers.) He glanced back to Annette, taking note of the way that despite her -or probably because she was- moving so slowly he could more easily read the panic and desperation coming off of her. (Yeah, yeah, I can work with this. Just need to explain that I’m not the bad guy here.)

Faster than it built up the pressure threw itself off of him and he put on a (completely fake) hurt frown, “First, yeah, I am a Deviant.” He couldn’t really deny that, but he could spin and gaslight. “Kind of a dick move to out me but whatever, it’s not like it’s still illegal for me to exist or that I can just quit being one.”

Annette grimaced at that point but seemed to shake her head and put up a shield of anger.

Before she could open her mouth he continued by saying, “Second, those girls were bullying you when I did what I did. Bullying that’s been going on for way too long.”

(Oh, don’t forget to apologize for that one thing.)

He felt a bit of heat in his cheeks as he remembered the one bit he did regret a little. “Though I am sorry about your shirt getting torn, that was an accident…”

Annette seemed to be too embarrassed by that reminder to actually work up any anger over it, which left him with the perfect opportunity to keep his verbal momentum going.

“Third, those assholes were bullying me. You know mine tend to be a lot more physical than yours, and I didn’t feel like taking a three on one beating that day so I… scared them off.” He admitted, playing up the regret he felt for essentially flashing her bra to half the school since he felt none over what he did to his own bullies.

He ran a hand through his hair, letting a bit of the stress he was actually feeling show through, “And look, no one was actually hurt. Yeah, I scared them but even if I haven’t been a Deviant long, I… I could’ve done a lot worse. Like a lot worse…”

A shiver ran through him as he briefly realized, he really could do a lot worse with his powers if he snapped and went on a rampage. (Which is why you’ve got to keep laughing, kid… Toons tend to get dark when we quit laughing… )

(Yeah… have to keep the show going…) He told himself, before shaking his head and focusing back on Annette.

“That’s…” The other teen put her head in her hands, her face twisting into a grimace as she did so. “Josh, you can’t just… you can’t just use your powers on people like that.”

“And what would you rather I do?” He asked her heatedly. “Just let them keep bullying me, bullying you! Just skulk around, hiding, hoping they don’t see me and decide to beat me up for whatever I might have in my pockets?! Or, or, that they quit destroying your work and ruining your shit! Didn’t you say you were on the verge of failing because of these assholes!”

“That’s not the point!” Annette told him with something between desperation and anger. “You can’t use your powers on people!”

“Why the fuck not? I’m only using them when they go after me!” He growled, tired of her repeating that he can’t use his powers now that he’s finally got them. “And even then I didn’t do anything serious! That shadow thing is a summon, he saw them bullying me and reacted! Just like how I reacted when they went after you! They should consider themselves lucky it’s just mop water and a few bruises rather than me breaking their fucking kneecaps!”

Annette was silent for a moment, less because she had nothing more to say and more because she was clearly waiting for him to calm down. Which after a few angry breaths eventually did, even if he could still feel the Ink boiling just beneath the surface.

“Well?” He asked her, no longer yelling.

“What if they called Sanctuary on you?”

He blinked. “W-what?”

“What if they called Sanctuary on you?” Annette repeated. “Ours… may not be the worst branch, but who do you think they’re going to side with you or a bunch of kids you used your powers on.”

“That’s…” He couldn’t help but grimace, knowing exactly how that would play out. (They’d probably gangpress me into becoming a Hero…)

He’d almost prefer prison, but he knew which way Chris and Maddie would push him.

“We both go to the same classes, and I know you’re a lot… street smarter than me.” Annette admitted. “So I know you know using your powers here… that’s… that’s like bringing a gun to school and pulling the trigger. If it were anywhere else they might go easy on you for being a kid, but here… you’d be lucky if they just pulled guns on you.”

(Fuck… she’s right.) Somehow that made the pill even more bitter to swallow. It was even worse because he just knew that, (Cops are always looking for a reason to pull the trigger on folks like us… or anyone different from them really…)

Outside of school, his whole ‘protect the audience’ mentality would keep people from escalating that hard, but inside of the school they’d escalate as quickly as they could in the hopes of putting him down before he could escalate.

After another moment of silence, one they both knew meant he couldn’t argue against her, Annette let out a sigh as she ran a hand through her hair. “Look, Josh… I know we’re not… exactly real friends, but… you are the closest thing I’ve got in this hell hole… I… I’d rather you not get yourself thrown in prison.”

“Yeah, I…” He forced himself to laugh. “I’m too pretty for prison.”

Annette gave him a wry grin as she understood what he was trying to do. “Yeah, your cellmate would definitely get cancer from all the cigarettes you’d be making him.”

His laugh at that was a little more honest, even if he still didn’t quite feel like it.