"What you possess might be in dispute as of right now," Within his mindscape, Richard looked in her direction. "Up to this point, where the power lies is still in-question."
"After all this time and energy spent changing the deepest parts of you, how could it be in-question now?" Elowyn almost asked incredulously.
Amidst their compelling conversation, Richard acutely noticed the conditions outside his brain were in-motion again. Back to dealing with terms of uncertainty that jeopardized them both, he began to lead the conversation in a more productive direction.
"Can you use the Soombakiya here," Richard asked, stepping up to Elowyn who brought her hands to cover his face. She focused, staring intently at him, but never felt the power come forth like it always had.
Richard attire shifted from sweats to his trademark Vector suit, bringing his hands to cover her face. His small smile noted how she remained in her workout attire, a supplicant to the magnetism radiating from his hands in full force. "Then it might settle things if I have this and you don't at this juncture," his voice lowered to a hypnotic cadence amidst her faltering grasp on everything. The arrogant, cocky Dr. Thorn of old would have added braggadocio to his logic of "home field advantage" or "the house always wins," if this was any other opponent. But Elowyn Parnassus proved herself to be of a higher caliber, worthy of a careful guidance, leading the mastermind of a wild stallion to the water, making them drink. In all the majestic horses he'd broken in, none would be more coveted than his current target.
"But the power is merely a vehicle to salvage the situation we're in, so we finally need to return to meditation that gives us the best chance."
The background projected the virtually-still vision of Richard meditating, legs crossed under him, hands laying in his lap, palms facing upwards to gather the energy; the only way to tell if there was movement was seeing his slow inhaling and exhaling. Elowyn didn't readily clue into how every inhale drew the vision of his hands closer, and every exhale brought it further back. But the more Richard at the temple inhaled the closer the vision showed his diaphragm, and the energy being goatherd. And the more that Elowyn watched it, the more her breaths unconsciously matched it.
"Power rests here," Richard emphasized the feeling of his hands on her, as the background Richard's hands rose with the energy in-tow.
"And should be allowed to manifest," The energy saturated Elowyn's temples from the direct touch. The vision making her yearn for what she was already feeling.
"To save us both." Something about his choice of words convinced the confused Lioness that this was good and necessary, and found little reason to question. Filled with anticipation for what the vision would do next.
"But only if we
let it,
" the last few words echoed as Elowyn saw the vision transform to Dr. Thorn in his Vector suiting, taking woman after woman in his grasp, all bearing the beguiled head tilted back and gasp, including Ella and finally Elowyn herself, dressed in attire fit for a new Subprime, derivative of his outfit, emblematic of her deference to him. Seeing herself fully under his control was the moment Richard's surging magnetism struck forward like a vicious cobra striking unprotected temples, creating an echoing gasp.
***
It was at that moment that one of the converted hotel guards decided to knock at the door Hypatia was hiding behind. And it had to be at that moment that Elowyn's body gasped loudly for what was going on in someone else's mind. Hypatia shot daggers at Richard's oblivious smile before readying herself for whomever began letting themselves into the room. The hypnotized guard carry Richard and Junior carrying his mother scrambled to get out of sight as the door opened, one guard checking around the entrance of the suite. Hypatia stood near the opened door, waiting for security to enter far enough in before she came from behind.
"No sound but my voice, no sight but my face, no thoughts but my words." The guard was stunned, as he turned his head to face an insistent Hypatia, the sound of her voice filling one ear as her pearl bracelet filled the other with her arm wrapped around his neck.
"No sound but my voice, no sight but my face, no thoughts but my words." Dr. Thorn had used this rapid induction many times before, to get out of quick jams, to get into her mind when time was of the essence, or if he was feeling frisky.
"No sound but my voice, no sight but my face, no thoughts but my words." Hypatia banked on the hope that Cameron's men had spread out, each searching rooms individually, and that the security guards had become so suggestible already that another layer of control would only add to the most recent giver of orders.
The desired effect took hold, and the guard was given strict commands to report that his search turned up nothing. Hypatia would've smiled deeply at her efforts, were it not for one of Cameron's conscious goons appearing right behind him, followed by another. With no time to subdue two men in the quiet way, martial arts training kicked in as she struck the closest one at his kneecap, and the second advancing one in his groin. Left momentarily stunned, she grabbed a weapon attached to one of their belts, a retractable baton, and used it on their exposed heads just as Dr. Thorn had taught her. Closing the entrance to the suite, Hypatia allowed her weakened assualters to writhe on the ground before being knocked out cold by well-placed kicks.
"Hello Hypatia. Are you going to come out? Or are you going to make us come in?" Cameron's voice calmly stated from the other side of the door.
Trapped as she was, the young hypnotist weighed her options. No alternate means of escape unless she had parachutes for everyone, and no time to call the cops, she took him up on his challenge.
"As your goons learned, come in and get knocked out."
The door quickly opened, but slammed into one of the unconscious men. Cameron tried to force it open with his arms, a gun slipping into the opening. Hypatia struck the hand holding the gun with the baton, and pushed the door closed to slam his forearm in it; Cameron went crazy with rage as he pushed it open and ran to strangle Hypatia with his bare hands. Using his wild momentum to her advantage, she slipped his grip and made him trip onto the ground, she got up to stomp his groin, replacing rage with agony, and placed her knee down on his neck to either render him unconscious, or take things further if need be.
Fading quickly despite his adrenaline, Hypatia let him up and breathed a sigh of relief, just as a thin pair of arms wrapped around her torso. She would have initiated another takedown if the deep sigh didn't open her up to fresh pheromones from Delphine's grip, dampening Hypatia's adrenaline as her breaths became reflexively deeper. Words starting to come clear as the blood stopped pounding through her veins, and muscles instantly grew limper than they should've been, being talked down by the most successful assault yet. It took focusing on the two mind-melding figures that made Hypatia reach into herself for strength to outdo Delphine; what she got was a alluring tingle that connected quickly with the Doll's forehead, overruling the pheromone user with a sharp "Sleep!" command.
It took moment of surveying the room several times to make sure no threats would be getting up, before she realized she'd finally manifested the energy she was so familiar with from a receiving end. With it still radiating in her, she ran to the comatose bodies, and connected it to Richard's forehead.
***
Hands that held onto Elowyn's face slipped upwards so Richard's index and middle fingers could begin to draw on her temples, at the beginning of the end a battle he'd long thought he would lose.
"A
calm
mind is controlled, is
freed,
is mine."
"A
calm
mind is controlled, is
freed,
is mine."
"A
calm
mind is controlled, is
freed,
