Log:No More Running

The Tall Man 2015/01/09 Grimm Matt 1

At the Student Quarter...

Matt has been looking for Grimm..since seeing her leave the Workout room, "Grimm!" he shouts at her..

Stalker, much? Gabrielle was just on her way back to campus to meet up with her roommate at the Underground when she hears Matt call out to her. She stops and turns around, resting one hand on her hip. "Hey, Matty boy. What's the haps?"

Matt doesn't look happy, He walks up to her, almost invasive in her space, "I don't like looking like an ass, and I generally don't need help doing so, but thanks for helping me look like a crazy jerk the other night."

Grimm pops up her pierced brow and smiles in amusement. A challenge maybe? She doesn't give an inch of her personal space. She even pushes a little into his. "I don't know exactly what you're talking about, so whatever you did to make yourself look like an ass, look in the mirror to see who to thank," she schools him back.

Matt shakes his head not giving an inch, "You are a fraud, and I hope your god damn boyfriend figures it out before its too late."

Grimm narrows her eyes at Matt's threats. He's found something that matters to her. "Hey, screw YOU, Matt. I don't know what your damn problem is, but get over your self image issues and don't go blaming others or attacking their lives over it." Yes, now she seems angry instead of her usual untouchable, cocky facade. But she also doesn't know what Matt is talking about.

Matt raises an Eyebrow, "Screw me? No Screw YOU. That crazy shick is going on with Sasha the other night, I know you saw it, instead of backing me you act like I'm crazy. Yeah, so I hope your Boyfriend figures out how much you hide from him. You piss me off."

Grimm looks like she's sorting through memories. "Wait...what shick?" She's still not putting two and two together. "And I haven't hidden anything from my...I don't even HAVE a boyfriend!" Both hands are on her hips now. "I'm still trying to figure out what precisely you're talking about. Do you have any idea how much crazy shick I see on an hourly -basis-?" she huffs, then waves a hand about. "Do you have any IDEA how much there is out there? Beyond just normal senses. Beyond what eyes can see?" She stomps her foot on the sidewalk as if trying to wake something below. "I can feel every skittering vermin down in the sewers. Crawling about in the walls of that shabbily remodeled apartment building," she jerks a thumb to the building next to them. "I can feel the couple arguing on the fourth floor. The baby crying on the second. And the maintenance guy in the basement. The cars driving on the other side of the block and all the drivers inside them."

Gabrielle turns and motions all around them, seeming frustrated. "I can see the dead. The magic of the leylines. I see trails everywhere left by people's shadows. So I'm sorry if during all this sensory overload, I missed something. Or didn't notice something because it didn't seem all that important in the grand scheme of things."

Matt's fuming anger seems to simmer, his eyes still flash with emotion, "Look, I have the sight too, maybe not like yours, but just like you, mine is new. VERY new. Now I see all the shick you've been seeing, maybe not everything, but a lot of the magic shick. My father calls it mage sight, whatever...anyway when you were having your fortune told..and that spirit invaded sasha..it was obvious it was hurting him. I'm not sure what exactly happened to me, but when I confronted it, you made me look like I was crazy, instead of backing me." his voice still simmering with anger, "You know, I thought we had an understanding, but maybe not. Maybe we don't have each others back...FECK." he says glowering for a moment, he begins to lift off. "Nevermind, I have an understanding now."

Grimm raises an eyebrow. "That spirit of prophecy? Because it -wasn't- hurting him. And Sasha knows what he's doing. Way more than either of us, anyway. You started talking some crazy language and then Sasha left suddenly, which isn't like him. I've seen him do some crazy stuff. That was nothing for him. So it sure looked like you said something to get him to leave." She folds her arms over her chest. "There's having each other's backs in a fight. Completely agreeing with what you do is a whole other thing. I can have your back and disagree with you. They're not mutually exclusive. And you running off isn't a way to deal with things."

Matt nods, "not running. Flying. and I'm glad you got to look cute in front of your boyfriend. I'm sure its money in the bank."

"What boyfriend!?" Gabrielle growls, her eyes darkening from blue to black. "And real funny. Flying off. What are you, twelve?"

Matt hears her stupid jeering remark, and continues to fly.

With her black irises spreading until the whites of her eyes are pure black as well, Gabrielle intones strictly, "Stop."

Grimm's words aren't that compelling. But her powers can be. Her gaze can be unsettling when she's angry. And even more so when she's calm. Right now? She's just mildly irritated that Matt is running away like a spoiled brat who didn't get his way. So she tries to fix him on the spot. She doesn't want to hurt him. And the best way she knows that is to just paralyze him with fear for a moment.

Matt 's eyes glaze over, and a battle ensues in his mind, he feels terror grip him, the tallman has returned, he can feel it in his bones, the fear that grips him is irrational, he sees the shadows grip him, and as he looks down, the shadowy figure of the tall man just below him. His mind rails at the invasion of his mind, but his fear is too strong, it's cold vise like grip holds him, and his body shivers...he can feel the fear power of the tallman a thing physical, sweat starts to drip off of him, his hands grip so strongly that he begins to bleed, "Stop it!..Stop it!...STOP IT!!!!" he screams, his voice echoes in the night, and the tenor in his voice is one gripped in terror. He wants it to end, he needs it to end...He knows it wont do anything, but he lashes out snakes of light come to his hands, and slither out towards Grimm, and they try to strike her...

The snakes of light strike at the area that Grimm is at, but in Matt's weakened condition he can't even see straight, her form blurs, he only sees her shadow form, and long spindly limbs that make his heart feel as if it will explode.

Gabrielle frowns slightly. More out of concern than disappointment. Not that Matt can probably see that. She's seen many people be afraid. Faced unspeakable horrors in the realms In Between. But Matt's reaction is extreme for someone so young. She flickers out of sight and appears behind him, hovering in the air at a slow bob as she lays a hand on his shoulder. "You need to stop running away," she says in a mentoring tone.

Suddenly, darkness descends. The stars go out. The moon disappears. And all the city lights surrounding them shut off, plunging him into absolute darkness. But he can still feel Gabrielle's hand. And hear awful whispers in the periphery.

And then there was light. Blinding and brilliant. And a forest of green stretching far below them in various platformed heights that scattered the skyline from whatever tall mountain they stand upon.

Only, it's not a forest. It's not a mountain. They stand atop a giant vine-eaten skyscrapper, and the platforms and forests below are the other nature-claimed streets and ruined buildings of another Colonial Bay. Only now it's quiet. No more whispers. No more people. It's peaceful. Gabrielle steps away from Matt and with a snap of her fingers, he is free as she gazes across the landscape.

"You need to stop running away," he hears and the clutch of the tall man's hand on his shoulder clamps down, but he cannot move, he can do nothing, he is helpless again...helpless again. Darkness comes, unnatural darkness, has the Tallman taken him? Is he in oblivion? If this is death, then why is he still in the grips of overwhelming fear? The darkness doesn't recede as much as it is dispelled and suddenly he is at great heights, the realization that he is looking over a city reclaimed by nature has not hit him, just that he is somewhere else, the richness of the view is meaningless, as Matt's eyes are still glazed with terror, and suddenly the fear is gone, as quickly as it was there, so is it gone once again. Tear for Fears, once a music group, now a reality for Matt. His face is wet with tears that he did not know were falling, his pupils wide, still, his heart races, ready to burst from his chest, and he summons the elements, around him a field of lightning blazing, as 2 wicked blades of light grow into his closed fists, still bleeding with their intensity...he drops into a stance in the air his eyes look around his body language feral..

Grimm just keeps walking with her back to Matt. "So finally, a place you can't run away from, and a place where one can really cut loose." She stops by the edge to enjoy the view, and the quiet, and the calm, in one of the many Verses where her senses aren't assailed by hundreds upon thousands of shadow tracks, people, magic, and more. All save for Matt, who she can still watch as if she had eyes in the back of her head. She's quiet for a moment, and as his body language goes feral, she says in disappointment, "Use your words, Matt."

He is not in his right mind, just as he wasn't that night in his quarters, he turns around and see's Grimm, the field of lighting around his body erupts in static electric bursts, the cascading electricity around him crackling as if following Matt's unstable current nature. His breathing is hard, his body in full fight or flight mode, and it seems her quiet suggestion to stop running turns the tide into fight mode. Eyes wild, he throws the swords at Grimm..

The blades lose their cohesiveness as they fly, their shape becoming less bladelike and more arcing bolt of lightning like as they pass harmlessly through Grimm, crashing into the building behind her, the vines and vegetation that covers the building explode and burn as the bolts hit them.

At the last moment, Grimm darkens and turns into a living shadow as the lightning arcs through her. She turns around to face Matt, folding her arms over her chest. "It was losing control like that which caused that guy to get disemboweled by my shadow raging out of control. You really don't want that on your conscience, Matt."

A voice brings him out of fear driven madness. Grimm's voice, as his mind returns, and the wildness in his eyes fades away, he seems to slump midair and begins to fall out of the sky..

Grimm reaches out her hand as she becomes solid, and a giant dark hand forms beneath Matt to catch him in an open palm. "You really need to learn a little more control," says the pot to the kettle.

Matt lands limply in the shadow palm, his breathing labored, the adrenline bleeds out of him as if it were truly running out of his limbs, his body starts to shiver, and he clutches his chest above his heart, curling into a fetal position, in the shadowy palm. He groans, one hand over his heart, the other on the temple of his head..

The shadow hand gently lowers Matt onto the rooftop as Grimm walks towards him. "I've seen a lot of people react to fear in different ways, but that was," her voice trails off. Delicious? Some awful part of her powers feels fatted and sated, which causes her some discomfort of her own. "Unusual." She crouches down near him with her hands resting on her knees. "Are you going to lie there, or are you going to get back up?"

Matt slowly uncurls, the final vestiges of the fear receding..his breathing is still labored, but he tries to prop himself up on shaky arms, "..Tallman....tallman was back.."

"He's not, whoever he is," Gabrielle assures him confidently. "But if he does come back, is that really how you're going to face him?"

Matt glares at her.."..You..you do not understand.." He says, his voice hoarse..."I felt him...he was back." he stands, although he almost stumbles, and while it takes more concentration than normal, he begins to float.

Grimm shakes her head slowly. "Your mind made it real. Your fear of him." She considers him for a moment. "What did he do to make you THAT afraid of him?"

Matt shakes his head, "You could never understand."...his tones show he doesn't want to share..perhaps he doesn't even have the words.

"Then show me," Gabrielle says with some intensity. Even if it's a violation, she realizes Matt needs help and is too stubborn to ask for it. So she tries to sense out his fears.

Matt's mind is no match for the invasion, its too raw, his senses, both mental and emotional burn like the firey planes, the wounds ripped open once more..

It may be an invasion, but at least now, Gabrielle understands. There are even some things she has in common with the Tall Man. But she's not gripped personally with the fear. But she can understand it. "That is a powerful hold he has on you. No wonder you run away..."

Matt isn't sure how to even react to that..its taking all of his willpower to remain in flight, his heart can physically feel how the fear had gripped it, it still pounds, though not threatening to explode from his chest, he remains silent.

Grimm picks through Matt's mind and fears with curious interest. Studying his fears. "What an interesting little demon. I might even be afraid of him if he tried that on me." She roots around a little more. The process is painless, but can be felt. Her presence in her mind. He's not alone. And she is fearless. "And he's gone now. Trapped. But there's still a piece of him. Buried in here deep and dark..." she murmurs.

Matt 's mind is a fragile thing, held together by steel will, and personal fortitude, but there are so many pieces he has molded together, 8 distinct minds that live in his head, all currently dormant, as if there is a lock on the other minds, keeping them under check. The mind of Matthew is raw, it radiates fear, loathing, dread, so much of it, it is no wonder that Matt has a temper, for as agitated as his mind is, his conscious has to deal with this..

Grimm can see at least one problem that she can help with. "He doesn't belong there," she announces with that disapproving frown of hers. But she's not exactly talking to Matt. She reaches up to grasp the sides of Matt's head. "Time to stop running," she says again, and again, everything goes black. She pulls Matt into his own mind as she traverses into it.

And suddenly, Matt and Gabrielle are standing in Matt's old room at the gym, the ceiling gone and full of stars and branches of the forest. Back when Hunter was texting him. Back before the Tall Man comes through that closed door that's right in front of them. But this time, Matt is standing. And Gabrielle is beside him.

Matt grab's Grimm's hands, "let go!" he says but suddenly the world goes black, and can no longer fight.. "..What..whats going on.." Matt says, "The Tallman..hes coming, this is the night.." he looks up, but its different..this is different..." he asks, "Where are we?"

"In your mind. Back where this started," Grimm says quietly as she looks around the room. She nudges a pair of his combat boots resting at the foot of his bed with her own shoes. "Back to where the Tall Man lives." She paces slowly around the room, looking over its details curiously before looking over to Matt and grinning slightly. "Tonight you're going to conquer the Tall Man."

Matt looks around the room, "This is in my mind?" he asks..of course there is stranger that his minds have experienced, but this is unexpected...

"Yep. Well, your memories," Gabrielle sighs slightly at the spartan room. "Is this really where you live?"

Matt nods, "Was..for months, I didn't need more..."

Grimm wrinkles her nose only slightly, then turns away from the door and marches away from it to give herself some room. "Makes me glad I'm not living in the dorms. Alright!" she claps her hands together and rubs them as if getting down to business, then turns around and points towards the door. "Beyond that door lives your deepest, darkest fear. The monster that preyed on you in the darkness. Only this time, you're going to stand up to it."

As she finishes speaking and puts her hands on her hips, there's a familiar knock on the door.

BANGBANGBANG!

Matt's eyes widen, his pupils grow large, and he backs up to the wall. "..N..No..no.." his voice quavers, fear infiltrates his being.

Grimm watches in surprise as Matt retreats from the door. Her hands lift to cross over her chest ass he looks at him. She takes slow, idling steps towards him as she at the floor. "What'd I just say? No more running, Matt. You can't run away from this." Her head lifts so she can gaze into his eyes.

Matt's eyes are unseeing, He is reliving the night, and this time he knows what is coming with the door, its not hunter, its the Tallman.."no..we defeated him..he can't be here."

"Yes, you defeated him physically. But not in here," Grimm says with some impatience as she taps Matt's noggin.

Matt blocks off her hand "L...leave me alone!" his body starts to glow, it is an angry red glow, and palpable heat begins to roll off of him.

Grimm withdraws her hand, frowning slightly and saying with authority, "It's just a memory, Matt. Don't let it have power over you. This moment. This instant. It's still eating at you. Haunting you. And it won't stop until you learn to face it and move past it."

The presence of many minds fill the space, and while Matt doesn't feel it on the mental level, those with the ability to do it will feel it. Minds of various ages, from that of a child, to an ancient mind, powerful and wise. For those that can see it, ghostly images reveal themselves a man, taller and a bit more powerfully built stands behind his right shoulder, another man, taller yet but where the 1st man is broad, the 2nd man is thin, wizened, but a palpable aura surrounds him, his eyes are hard, and dangerous. To the left is a child that glows with an inner golden glow, her features beautiful, her being is happy, and somehow calm. A young man, literally on fire stands beside the girl, almost protective in his stance, a beautiful girl, ethereal in her features, she seems to shimmer like a moonlit sea, and another young man with windswept features and an easy smile, a shadowy figure looms behind the firelad, and then there is a woman, motherly, from her the most powerful of all auras is felt, but she is solid as the earth, powerful as all life, and at peace with all of her emotions. Matt doesn't seem to be able to see or feel them, but they are there, and they Look upon the frightened Young man, watching him.

Grimm's eyes flit to all the various figures crowding Matt's mind in this small, small room. "Well that explains some of the crazy," she murmurs to herself.

The wizened man places a hand on Matt's shoulder and says in authoritative tone, "Fear is something we all have Matthew, It does not have to rule you. It can fuel you, it can drive you, or it can cripple you."

The man, broader of chest and in his late 20's puts his hand on Matt's other shoulder, "Son, you are not alone, you have never been alone. Let us help you, hear us once again."

The others that surround him make sounds of assent, but it is the small child that moves and takes Matt's hand. It is this hand that he feels, and it is as if a veil has been lifted from his eyes, "A..Arania? how are you here?"

"We are always here, with you, to help you, We are you Matt, and you are us. We love you." she smiles, a golden smile, "Even Ariel does, because we are all supposed to be together."

Grimm keeps her snark to herself until all have spoken. "So," she says as she lets out a breath. "Are you ready to face this now? Or do you need a little extra boost of courage to triump over your fear?"

The Elder turns to Grimm "Silence child. He is ready, he does not need your feeble quips" He seems to be drawn into Matt, as does Matt's father, and then, one by one, the rest seem to fade as they are drawn into Matt. As the last to join him, the child, Matt's roiling fiery aura changes to that of light, and he stands, then stands tall, he nods, seemingly full of confidence, "I am ready."

Grimm bristles a little at the elder one. "Right. So I could just pop him back out of his mind and he'll be fiiiine," she responds sarcastically. "Learn to be a little grateful for the favor I'm doing." She steps aside at Matt's announcement, motioning him ahead of her. "Then, answer the door."

Matt begins to flare like the sun, difficult to look up, his eyes become beacons of light, in his hands blaze 2 short blades appear, instead of opening the door, he runs at it, and with a spinning crescent kick, he kicks the door open...

This time, the room is not overwhelmed by the Tall Man's darkness. It's darkness is pushed back by Matt's luminous form. The splintering door catches the Tall Man unawares. It does not flinch or balk or fall back. But Matt does have the advantage of surprise, able to strike while the Tall Man begins to call up its shadowy tendrils; similar but different from Grimm's own dark powers.

Before, there was terrible fear, dread, and helpless. Now it's an echo of what it was before, no longer paralyzing or so dreadful as it one was.

Matt can now see the Tallman for what he is, a construct of fear, bound together from the pettiest of lies, the weakest of truthes, the fragility of broken youth, stolen lives, a hollow man, Matt can see every weakness, and he strikes the Tallman in a blade strike, both hands coming down in a X across the chest of the tall man...

Now Matt can see the feared memory of Tall Man for what is truly is. A trick. A lie. Fueled by power, but it's a lie nonetheless. And when brought to light of truth, the lie can't be sustained.

The light cuts through the Tall Man, shredding it into pieces and burning it with light. It's tendrils dim beneath Matt's brilliance, and the Tall Man's remaining pieces wither away to nothing until there is only light.

Matt looks around still blazing with light, he looks for the Tallman. "Where are you?...is that all you ever were?" there is a part of him that seems let down. "How could I have ever let him get to me?" he seems to be speaking to himself..

"Just a shade. Just a memory. In here, anyway," Gabrielle comments casually. "One that you shouldn't let control you anymore."

Matt looks around.."..How are we here?" he knows now none of this is real..

Gabrielle raises her hand and wiggles her fingers to fess up to the how. Kind of. "I brought us here. To help give you the opportunity to cut out the cancer that was eating away at you. It was something only you could do."

Matt looks around.."Is this real...is this just in my mind?"

"In your head. Which is where the problem was," Gabrielle says as she walks over to the splintered door while sliding her hands into her pockets and kicks at a piece of wood.

Matt seems confused, "How can this be..if you left me here..would I be trapped..my body in a coma?"

"Hm. Possibly. I never left someone in their head before," Gabrielle comments. Then again, she's never quite dived this deep in someone's head and dragged them along with her. It's still new territory for her.

Matt nods, "You've done what you came to do..we've done it, Can we go?"

Grimm pulls her hands out of her pockets. "Yep. Let's vamoose," Gabrielle says as she claps a hand on Matt's shoulder. "This is gonna be a bit of a double jump." Things go dark and Matt feels a momentary dropping sensation.

And then, it feels like he's waking up, only to find himself lying on the ground back in Colonial Bay with Gabrielle crouched nearby.

Matt sits up slowly...he puts a palm to his head.."That...was different." getting to his feet, he looks around, they're back home, "I feel..different."

Grimm remains crouched. Mostly because she's catching her breath after piercing through dimensions. "Hopefully not broken," she huffs.

Matt shakes his head, "No...I feel complete."

Grimm gets a peculiar, surprised look on her face. "Well, that's better than what I was aiming for. Sweet," she grins, her breathing still labored.

Matt nods, "I thought you were just being bitchy again..but that was.." he pauses, "That was needed."

Grimm wasn't the only one being bitchy. Which causes her to smirk slightly. "Gee, thanks. That's what I get for completing you?" she retorts playfully. With a grunt, she finally straightens up and dusts off her hands.

Matt grins, "Yeah...well, thanks. I don't get you..." he says "You need to stop acting so tough."

"Matt, I'm all about illusions and tricks. It's called being a woman. You'll figure it out when you're older," Gabrielle winks.

Matt shakes his head, "You don't have to be that way you know. You should know its just a choice."

"And what would you have me be, kid? Sweet? Vulnerable? Open?" Gabrielle frowns in resentment. "I was all that, once."

Matt sighs, "How about...not.a.bitch."

"Okay, okay. I'll stop being a bitch, if you stop being an A-hole," Gabrielle compromises.

Matt frowns, "I'm not an A-hole..cept to those that deserve it..." he then raises an eyebrow at her, waggling it meaningfully...

Grimm rolls her eyes with a smirk. "Yeah, yeah," she sighs. "You were the one who got angry and threatened my non-existent boyfriend just because I didn't agree with you. I have your back. But it doesn't mean I have to support everything you say. Even friends are still allowed to disagree with each other."

Matt seems to get frustrated again.."You just don't get it!" but even as he says it, he realizes he's being an ahole..."Nevermind..." he says a bit sullenly

Grimm finally pulls her hands out of her pockets and gestures with her palms up in her own frustrated way. "Maybe if you used your words and explained why I don't get, I would understand. You told me I didn't get your fear deal. You showed me, and I got it. So what's the deal now?"

Matt groans, "Ok..I'll say it only once, I know you saw what I saw, when I saw what I saw and reacted to it, you acted as if I was crazy..like I was not seeing anything."

"And I told you, I didn't want to out someone if they didn't want to be outed. There are people out there who hunt people with magical abilities, Matt. It's not always wise to point them out in public," Gabrielle sighs back. "I saw it. I just didn't want to point it out in front of all those strangers. Just like I wouldn't want someone I didn't know waving their finger at me and saying they see darkness inside me. Which HAS happened before, by the way, and it was really uncomfortable. I just wanted to sit quietly and drink my coffee. Not have everyone know what I have bound inside of me."

Matt nods, "I get it. I don't agree with you fully, but I get it." he looks at the time. "I gotta head out."

Grimm nods back. "Sure. Laters. I could use some rest and down time after all that."

You have voted for Matt.

Matt takes off..now not running away from his problems, "Get some rest..and.." he pauses before saying, "Thanks.."

"Yeah. And you're welcome," Gabrielle grins slightly. Not a smirk as usual, but a real smile, if a tired one. She flickers and then vanishes from the spot she was standing in.