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The birds were fast. Like, really fast. Though admittedly, it was to be expected. No matter how much Chion pumped his legs, weaving in and out of traffic, the avian creatures remained hot on his heels.
The winged nuisances swarmed around him, attempting to drag him down and halt his movements, nipping the wheels of the bike, slashing against the youths exposed flesh, and slamming their bodies against his own. Nevertheless, Chion remained upright, doing his best to avoid toppling into the pavement. This was one of those instances where it was do or die, where if he stopped even for a second, it was over. With how easily the birds were piercing his skin and how bloodthirsty they were acting, the entire swarm could probably leave him as a pile of bones in mere seconds if he gave them the chance.
ARRRG!! ARRRG!!! ARRRG!! ARRRG!!
The sounds of the mutant pidgeons filled the air as Chion swerved to the right, setting his sights on Canarsie Pier. While he could theoretically hide in a nearby building, the bull had already proven that he didn't care as long as he could get to the youth, freely charging inside its confines.
It was reasonable to assume these hovering monsters were the exact same way.
STOMP!! STOMP!!
In regards to the bronze bull, he had also shown up to the party, attracted to the constant cries of the overgrown winged rats. Steamrolling his way through a number of cars, the monstrous hunk of metal made his presence known to Chion, catching up to the youth mere seconds after its appearance. In terms of how fûcked the developing situation was looking, the youth might as well have been the starring lead in a gáy porno because he couldn't see a viable way to escape the birds, let alone the added addition of his bronze friend. To keep it simple, he was about to meet an abrupt end long before he could figure anything out.
(("Think!! THINK!!")) Chions bright blue hues glanced over his surroundings, or at least what he could see through the cloud of black feathers, his mind racing at millions of thoughts per second, trying to formulate a plan. (("I WONT die here!! I REFUSE!! There has to be a way. Any way. If you don't see a solution, then make one!!"))
With a newly steeled determination and adrenaline coursing through his veins, something odd happened.
A strong feeling tugged at the very depths of his core, traveling to every fiber of being, starting from his chest and working its way outwards. His arms, his legs, his torso. This unknown energy spiraled outwards, fueled by his desire to live and his drive to make his own path forward. A cool feeling followed this energy, a sudden drop in temperature that SHOULD have felt unbearable but was oddly comfortable, as if sitting inside next to a roaring fire during a blizzard.
Then, as the growing energy became too much and Chion felt like bursting, the cold expelled in all directions from his body.
The white-haired individual couldn't see what happened, but he could hear it. The painful cries of the birds nearest to him, the sounds of objects hitting the ground, the startled snort of the bronze bull before a loud crash echoed through the area. All of it paired together was enough for Chion to momentarily halt his journey, skidding the bike to a halt on the street. It was a dumb idea for sure but he needed to see what that feeling was and what it had caused. Looking back whilst riding was arguably a dumber choice than stopping since he could potentially wreck.
There was ice everywhere.
On the cars, on the road, on the birds flying through the air, birds that were now keeping a safe distance betwixt Chion and themselves. Thick layers of fresh ice coated the area like a bubble, covering a large portion of the city street. Lumps of frozen water littered the ground around the cars, totaling more than three dozen in total. Upon closer inspection, the boulders of ice were actually black pidgeons, the same ones that were currently flapping around just above the youths head. It now made perfect sense that they had retreated so far out of reach. They simply hadn't wished to join their fallen brethren as intricate ice sculptures.
As for the bronze bull, it had most likely slipped on the icy roadway whilst charging. The mechanical monstrosity was still in the process of shaking itself off, some of the ice having coated its entire head.
(("I did this??")) Chion felt awestruck, almost unwilling to believe it. The facts were right there in front of his face, yet it was just so difficult to truly process. (("But....how?"))
BANG! BANG!
As much as the young ice machine wanted to stay and ponder the miracle he had created, he was forced to get back on the bike. Unsure of how to take off the dome of ice now coating its entire head, the bull began slamming repeatedly into numerous obstacles in order to free itself. In the interest of not getting caught in the crossfire, Chion quickly mounted the bike, readjusted his backpack, and took off towards the pier.
Needless to say, the mountain of questions he already possessed was replaced by one twice its size. Chion had just achieved something that shouldn't have even been possible, something that only served to make his head spin.
Magic.
That's what the youth was dealing with. Bona-fide, actual magic.
How could he use it? How DID he use it? Could he do it again? Was there a limit to how much he could use? A limit to what he could do? Could he control it or learn to control it? Was there multiple kinds of magic? If so, what kinds could he use and were there any drawbacks?
There was so much Chion needed to figure out and expirement with that it was almost overwhelming. His past, his present, his future, and now his own physiology and powers. Before any of that, though, he needed to bring the current chase to a conclusion, eliminating the threats in their entirety. The hell spawns with wings were still hot on his tail and he had no doubt the bovine tank wouldn't be too far behind them. All he could do now was get to the waterside and set up some sort of trap that would rid Chion of all his problems.
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It was dark when the youth finally arrived at his destination, the trek having taken far longer than necessary since, halfway there, one of the bikes tires got a flat, forcing him to walk the rest of the way. The black pidgeons didn't make any further attempts to attack him along the way, but they did stick close by, screeching and hollering the entire way to the pier. Thankfully, unlike the populated streets he had just traversed, the Canarsie Pier and, by extension, the park itself, was relatively empty. There were a few stragglers milling about such as a man walking his dog, a jogger with some headphones in, and a family of four eating a picnic, but nothing that Chion couldn't ignore. The lack of people meant less collateral damage when the Bull was sent careening into Jamaica Bay.
Moving towards the Pier, the white-haired youth surveyed the area as best he could, getting a feel for the land.
Stomping the pier itself to see how it held up as well as glancing over its structure, trying to gauge the depths of the water by taking a few dives, testing the durability of the railings separating the Pier from the Bay. Anything and everything, Chion analyzed it and formulated it, tacking it onto his plans and adapting based on his findings.
"These parameters are acceptable, but just barely." Chion let out a breath as he took off his soaking wet shirt, wringing it out. "Starting depth of the Bay is around 12 feet, deeper the further out traveled, 22 feet at its farthest point. Could be deeper when taken in the navigation channels. Maybe 30 to 40. Structure is enough to hold 20 to 30 tons, enough for what I need. Railings can barely stop 500 pounds of force based on the metal used and its intended purpose. Only problem might be water depth but considering size and density of the bull...."
Chion trailed off as he dropped the backpack and unzipped it, pulling out a fresh shirt and pair of pants as well as the bow and arrow from before.
"Yeah, it'll work. It has to." The individual shook the water out of his hair as best he could before donning a new shirt. "We only have one shot at this."
Changing into his dry outfit, Chion didn't care if anyone could see him, though he knew no one could since it was the dead of night. There were far bigger fish to fry than what people thought of some teen changing at Canarsie Pier. The white-haired individual was about to engage in the biggest fight for his life, one that would determine whether he lived or died. Granted, it was one of the ONLY fights he'd had since waking up, but it was still a fight nevertheless.
There was one more thing that Chion extracted from the bag before hitching it back onto his shoulder.
The jar filled with green liquid and another dry shirt.
Plucking the string on the bow, the young man took a second to inspect his weapon, fiddling with it in all sorts of ways. Drawing it, flicking it, looking over its material, knocking an arrow. He even took the time to shoot a couple of arrows at a nearby tree, testing its farthest reach and its lowest reach. Obviously, Chion didn't remember how to use a bow or even if he ever knew how to, but that was just fine by him. He didn't need to use it properly, only enough for him to shoot in a general direction. Once he had managed to hit the tree more than three times from different distances, Chion ripped up the shirt he had taken out and carefully wrapped a solid piece of it around one of the arrows.
"Everything is set. Everything is on you now, rustbucket. Show me what you got."
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The bull appeared five minutes after Chion had prepared and readied the Pier for the final stand. The lights coming from the various buildings in the distance as well as the parking lot lights close by made it very easy to spot, It's body reflecting every beam that glanced over its surface.
Chion didn't say anything as he made his way forward, neon blue hues locking eyes with the bronze bovines glowing ones. The mechanical menace looked angrier than before, steam erupting from its snout as it shook its enormous horns, stamping the pavement. A small chunk of ice remained on its head, an odd look considering that the bulls skin radiated enough heat to cause first degree burn on contact. The youth paid it little attention, however, as the two closed the distance betwixt each other. It was as if the bull knew this was their last encounter since the mammal didn't immediately charge into the fray.
Either that or it was suspicious as to why Chion was standing his ground instead of running.
"This will be the last time me and you meet, you metallic piece of hamburger meat," the white-haired adolescent declared, lowering the tip of his clothed arrow to a spot behind a trash can. "Your rampage ends here."
The bull stomped its front hoof against the bricked pavement repeatedly in response, shattering it. More steam escaped its nose, the beast lowering its head, horns pointing towards Chion. Pawing the ground, it was ready to charge forth. The line had officially been crossed with no way to back out now, for either of them. Chion was going to make sure of that.
Kicking the jar near his feet, the same one he had hid just out of sight from his mechanical friend, the white-haired youth sent the jar of burning green towards the outer region of the Pier. After that one movement, it was as if everything happened in slow motion. The bulls eyes as it noticed the jar jumping across the concrete, dangerously close to breaking, Chion raising his bow towards the beast which now had its tip soaked with green liquid, and the jar shattering against the pavement mere seconds later.
FWOOM!!
A green flame erupted into being, sparking a blaze similar to a small scale wall, only this wall was spreading rapidly. Down the length of the Pier and around the back of the now surprised behemoth, cutting both Chion and the bull from any sort of retreat. Letting out a sigh, the youth pulled back his arrow, aiming it up into the air, judging the distance and proper angle of the shot. After that, he let it fly.
The bull was shaken up, looking back and forth from the wall of flames to the white-haired youth whom was standing there watching. Unable to retreat, it was left with only one possible route. Forward.
Bang!!
The Flaming arrow slammed down from the sky a few yards behind the bovine, not close enough to hit it but certainly enough to startle it.
With a snort, the bull immediately charged forward in desperation, eyes focusing on the figure just ahead of it. Chion immediately turned around and began to run from it, sprinting as fast as he could in the same direction the bull was headed, dropping his bow and backpack as he went. The beast, taking this as a promising sign and an indication of its victims' fear and basic surrender, sped up in the process, attempting the flatten Chion as best it could.
(("Not yet,")) Chion muttered in his head, listening and feeling the increasing vibrations with his feet.
BOOM!! BOOM!
Every step taken was like an earthquake, the excited and angry monster increasing its speed without any sort of caution, looming over the white-haired youth with its metallic horns.
(("Not yet,")) The youth took a deep breath as the world seemed to come to a standstill. (("A bit further."))
BOOM!!
(("THERE!!"))
Without a word, Chion whipped around, a previously concealed item falling into his hand. Just before jumping over the guard rail to his left, the young amnesiac hurled the Greek Fire jar straight into the head of the charging bull. With the speed the bovine was moving at, it couldn't stop even if it wanted to, the glass canister breaking apart the moment it made contact with the bulls head, exploding. From there, with its line of sight removed and it's nose covered with pure green flames, it didn't even notice when Chion dived off the edge of the Pier, narrowly avoiding the point of its horn. Unable to stop itself in time, and unable to see, the only thing the bronze bull could do was accept its fate, crashing into the cold waters of the Jamaica Bay.
Thrashing wildly, the bull didn't immediately go down without a fight, struggling in the water as it sank rapidly, dragged down by its weight. The fire still burned even when it was doused in the bays water, though admittedly looking more dulled.
As Chion climbed out of the water, he was careful to avoid any interaction with the sinking bull.
In terms of the battle between the amnesiac and the Bronze Bull, Chion Pagos was the one who had emerged victorious.
With a huff of relief, the youth fell onto his ass, heart beating rapidly.
He had been scared to all hell, just on the verge of panicking. In truth, he had wanted nothing more than to keep on running and battle the beast some other day, but it wasn't a choice he could afford. There were also so many things that could have gone wrong during the execution that it wasn't even funny. If even one thing had failed or been missing when everything started, the outcome would have been quite different. Luckily, his gamble had paid off, and his plan had gone off without any hiccups.
"I'm out of clothes, though." Chion laughed softly in relief. "They were put to good use at least."
The initial plan that the youth had come up with, the one he had made up on the fly, had relied mainly on chance, angering the bull into charging and ushering him into the Bay. After some careful thought, though, Chion came up with a better one.
Using the sets of clothing the mysterious jogger had provided in the grey backpack as well as a sharp arrowhead snapped off one of the arrows, the white-haired youth had torn up the cloth into thick strips. Tying them loosely together, Chion had then wrapped them in an extremely long oval along the pier, leaving enough room for the bull to build up speed but also close enough for Chion to properly flee towards the water. After it was all set up, all the youth had to do was light it up, cutting off the Bulls escape with some high flames. The only reason this plan had formulated in Chions head was because of a brief expirement he had tried with a bit of the Greek Fire and a clothed arrow.
He hadn't realized until after the expirement just how abnormally powerful the Greek Fire was, especially an entire jars worth of it. With it, he could stifle any means of the bulls' escape at the admitted cost of his own.
After causing the beast to panick, all the youth had to do was abuse that insecurity and incite an attack of desperation, hence the launching of the arrow. Once the attack was underway, he merely had to reaffirm the bulls judgment by fleeing in "terror" and toss away his only visible weapons. As a second measure, just to make sure there were no outliers, Chion had hid away a second jar of Greek Fire in his hoodie pocket and used it to cut off the navigational senses. On the off chance the bull had managed to stop, it would have eventually launched itself into the Bay due to being unable to see where it was going.
The moment the Bull had charged, the match had already been decided.
ARRRG!! ARRRG!! ARRRG!!!
"Shut up. Give me some quiet." Chion glanced up at the flock of birds. "I'll freeze you solid."
(("Not that I know how,")) The youth muttered internally.
Rising up from his feet, Chion made his way back towards his bag, picking up his bow along the way. Even though he had succeeded in getting rid of the metallic ground beef, he still had other matters to attend to, such as locating a place to sleep. He didn't think it wise to sleep in the open with so many bloodthirsty pidgeons around.
{{"Chi....Chion"}}
Just as the youth was picking up his bag, a voice reached his.....ears? Head? It was difficult to tell as the individual immediately slung his bag over his shoulder, bow at the ready. Blue hues flicking around, the young teen tried to identify who had been speaking to him. But no one was around save for the newly drowned bull.
"Hello?" Chion knocked an arrow. "Anyone there?"
{{"Chion!!! CHIONN!!}}
ARRRG!! ARRRG!!
A bird flew directly past the boys' line of sight for the briefest of moments, blocking his view. When it passed, Chion was no longer at the Pier, but instead, he was in a forest of some kind at the bottom of a hill.
At the very top of the hill was a large pine tree.
Utterly lost and confused, Chion immediately accepted the newest development and waited. In a day filled with crazy impossibility and strange occurrences, he was pretty much numb to whatever else happened to him.
{{"Please!! Help me!!"}}
For a split second, the white-haired youth swore the tree itself was speaking to him, but then the scene changed after another bird flew past his vision.
{{"Hey. Brain freeze, how lazy are you gonna be? You have responsibilities."}}
{{"Go easy on him, Annabeth. He only just got here."}}
A girl only slightly younger than him with curly honey blonde hair stared at Chio with stormy grey eyes, brows furrowed in frustration. Just behind her, carrying some crates, was an older fellow who looked around maybe 17 or 18 with short sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. The two looked to be close, but it was hard to tell based on an initial impression. Regardless, though, it was the scenery that mainly drew Chions attention. He wasn't able to get a good look at it since the scenery changed after a few seconds, but he absorbed enough.
An archery field, some cabins, an enormous lake, and wandering individuals of almost all ages. It was a beautiful sight, to say the least. Chion just didn't get time to enjoy it all.
Before he knew it, he was met with another scene.
An arcade room full of games, sounds and lights everywhere. It was almost blinding as Chion tried to adjust himself to the new environment. Surprisingly, other than one other individual, a young kid with pitch black hair, there wasn't anyone else around. Chion tried to understand what he was looking at in hopes of understanding why he was being shown this but he wasn't quick enough. Within seconds, the vision disappeared entirely, leaving him standing back where he was, in the middle of the Pier with a bow and a backpack.