Best Days

[Puck]

That had done it. Puck had reached the end of his rope.

"YOU MORTAL FOOL!" Puck exclaimed, his eyes burning a brilliant green glow as he shot forth a burst of magic energy. He hadn't wanted to do it; he'd just attacked blindly. The air around him had turned into a thick, whistling wind that tossed and turned Puck's hair all over the place, but the boy took no notice as he worked his magic.

Jareth audibly gasped, watching with wide eyes as the boy attacked. Could he stopped this? Perhaps with a counter spell? It was too late to try now; a burst of light was headed straight for Taylor's chest, and Jareth wouldn't be able to compete with Puck's unplanned energy that he was expensing with his own conservative magic.

"May Pan save her," the king whispered.

[Vriska Serket]

Clopin fell back with the force of the wind that whipped up. "Puck!" he cried out, knowing that the boy would take no notice. Once more, the gypsy prince could only watch as poor Taylor sustained injury from her friend. He could only imagine that once this was over, Taylor would be mortally wounded, or mostly dead.

"That's more like it, 8oy skytard! Let's see who has more luck!" Vriska shouted, as she controlled Taylor's body into avoiding the airborne attack.

From the computer, Vriska intently concentrated on the viewport in front of her. Taylor wasn't a hard asset to move around on the ground, as Puck attacked from above. Either way, this was her sort of fun. Now, it was up to f8 to determine the outcome.

[Puck]

Puck was oblivious to any outside noise than the sound of Taylor's voice, and it only continued to fuel his rage. A little voice of reason in the back of his mind tried to force himself to stop, but he was far past helping at this point. His temper was too great.

"Thank the gods," Jareth breathed, sighing in relief as Taylor dodged the attack. Now he had time to act. Pulling a clear glass ball from his sleeve, the man threw it in Puck's direction, exploding upon impact with the younger one's back. A thick pink smoke erupted, serving no other purpose than to distract the angry student. As the cloud rose up around him, Puck began to cough slightly, the wind around him dying down slightly as he became distracted from his task. It was enough to stall him, but Jareth knew that it wouldn't be enough to stop their problem.

"Clopin, I may need you," Jareth shouted above the wind. "But we may need to hurt Puck at this point to be able to stop him..."

[Vriska Serket]

Clopin nodded as he looked to Jareth, and then back to Puck. "Alright...I'll go along with it. But it won't be pretty." he said.

"Damn." Vriska hissed, as she watched Jareth intercept her "game". If only these stupid humans had no adults around, then she could have continued. Oh well...there would definitely be time for that l8r.
In one split second, she quit the manipulation of Taylor, leaving the girl prone to Puck's attacks while she was out. The troll leaned back in her chair, as she contentedly watched the fight go on without her on her screen.

Taylor fell upon the ground, completely lifeless and vulnerable. "Oh no..." Clopin whispered to himself, as his scythe appeared in his hand. He rushed forward to attempt to protect Taylor, before Puck could attempt to get to her first.

(OOC: Taylor needs some injury. Attack her plz, but don't kill her! XD)

[Puck]

((ooc: Alright! XD I'll try not to beat her up too bad!))

Puck's attacks had been stalled for the moment, but not stopped completely. He was still issuing magic out blindly, his anger being the fuel for his actions. The voice continued to scream in the back of his mind for him to please stop, but he couldn't force his body to listen. But fortunately for Taylor, Puck only had so much energy stored, and he was eating it up fast.

Jareth knew this, and began to take notice of it in the force of Puck's attacks. He seemed to be slowly down ever so slightly, and the attacks weren't as powerful as they had been before. What could have been a fatal blow before was now something that Taylor could possibly walk away from. As Puck raised his hands above his head once more, Jareth's eyes darted between Clopin, Taylor, and the young fae's line of attack, quickly realizing that if Puck continued to fire, then he was going to wind up hitting one of them, if not both.

Conjuring up a bit of magic himself, Jareth sprung into the air, tacking the boy to the ground just as he fired another blast in Taylor's direction. It just barely missed the gypsy boy, but wound up going straight towards the fallen Taylor's body. The king winced, looking back over his shoulder at the girl a moment before turning angrily on Puck.

The boy was panting heavily, his eyes no longer glowing and shut for the time being. The wind around them was beginning to slow down, as was Puck's magic from exhaustion. The teacher pulled him up by the collar of his shirt, shaking the boy angrily as he struggled to regain his breath.

"What was THAT? And you call her a fool; you're no better than that witch controlling Taylor!" Jareth shouted, glaring at Puck harshly. "You've nearly killed both your friend and your lover, all because of that childish temper of yours! You are descended of Oberon; you are better than that...or at least I thought you were," Jareth continued, still shaking the poor boy by the shoulders.

[Taylor]

Clopin skidded to a stop, and used the scythe to pull himself up from the ground. Taylor, unfortunately, had been hit by Puck's attack, which put her into an unresponsive mode.

"Merde..." Clopin hissed. He didn't want to pick her up quite yet, in fear of hurting her any more than she already was, but by the looks of it, she wouldn't be able to feel anything at all. Angry brown eyes turned upon Puck, as the gypsy prince turned to face him.
"Puck, you insolent fool! You should be hanged for this!" Clopin snapped, in his rage.

Vriska herself was proud of the trouble she'd caused. But this was only the beginning, since she was a master at disguising herself. They'd never find out who she was. Ever. And with that, she smiled, and continued to watch the viewport.

[Puck]

Puck! Puck!

Puck could hear his name being called, but he couldn't rouse himself to see the speaker. For a moment or two, he could almost feel himself blacking out from the exhaustion. But a good slap to the face was enough to wake him at least temporarily.

"Damn, Taylor..." Puck muttered, blinking open his eyes and expecting to see the familiar brunette, but was instead met with the angry face of the goblin king, hand still raised from where he had backhanded him. The boy blinked in confusion, but was met with another slap to the face before he could say anything.

"'Damn Taylor' indeed!" Jareth shouted, growling at the boy. "Look what you've done, you foolish imbecile! She may be dead, for Pan's sake, because of you!"

Puck felt another blow, though Jareth hadn't yet struck him again. The voices came clear to him now, all that had been said in those brief moments of unconsciousness. Each word was like a leaden brick, weighing Puck down with each passing moment. He had hurt Taylor...and it had been on purpose. She could be...no, she had to be...dead. And it was all his fault.

It was his fault.

"I...I..." Puck shook his head furiously, ignoring the fatigue that was still taking over his actions. Slowly, the trickster felt himself curling into a ball, burying his face in shame. "God dammit, I'm so sorry..."

[Clopin]

Clopin turned away from Puck temporarily, as he returned to Taylor's side. She remained unconscious, and the gypsy became a little worried, as her breathing became labored.

"Taylor?" Clopin asked, as he tried rolling her over from her face-down position on the ground. No answer. "Dammit." Clopin whispered to himself. Was she really...dead?
He himself didn't want to say. And whoever it was that decided she'd try and manipulate the poor girl, he would find her, and take no mercy with him.

He turned away from the body, with his scythe resting by his side. "She's gone, Puck." Clopin whispered.

[Puck]

Jareth moved silently over, looking the girl over carefully. Shaking his head slowly, the king said, "No...there's still some life left in her, if I'm right. And I am never wrong." Putting a finger to the side of her temple, Jareth's finger momentarily glowed, then he pulled it away. "Come on, magic...dance," he whispered, hoping that he might have some affect on the girl's state.

Meanwhile, Puck was on the verge of a mental breakdown. He held himself up from the ground, shoulders shaking slightly as he tried to deny the situation. No. This was not the way things were supposed to work. This...this king of thing just didn't happen, not to him, not to Taylor, not anybody.

But how have I caused it now?

"No," Puck whispered, beating his fists into the ground. The action took more energy than he'd imagined it to, and he nearly toppled over, tears streaming down his face. What had he done? He was a fool, an incompetent fool. And not only that, but apparently a dangerous, incompetent fool as well.

"God, just let me die instead of her," he whispered to himself, shaking his head. He was the one who deserved it, not Taylor, who had been just an innocent bystander. Puck was the one who...who had been evil.

[Clopin]

Clopin looked on as Jareth attempted to revive Taylor, but it was no use. Her body was as cold and as lifeless as it had been when she was hit.
He couldn't even bring himself to talk to Puck at the moment. Yeah, the three of them had had their rough times together, but through it all, Taylor had always been a good friend to him. And now she was gone. He couldn't bring himself to believe it.
"How...how are we going to tell the others?" Clopin asked, choking back a tear or two.

[Puck]

Jareth frowned, upset for a moment that he had been wrong in his assumption, but then shook his head, drawing his attention back to the more pressing matter at hand. There was no telling just how this would all work out, and Puck would most likely be brought into serious trouble because of this whole situation.

Turning to look at the boy, Jareth sighed, walking over to lift him by the shoulders. "Puck. Sitting around and crying about what you've done won't do any good. You must learn from your mistakes, and rise up. Not lie around like a wilted flower."

Puck looked back at the fae for an instant, tears still shining in his eyes as his eyes shifted over to Taylor, then Clopin, and then back to Jareth. There was a dullness there, unlike Jareth had ever seen, and for an instant, Puck didn't look like himself.

"Clopin...I-I'll be the one, to tell the others. It was my fault, and I'll have no bear of this burden on you," Puck sighed, rubbing his eyes for a moment. Jareth started to speak again, but Puck pushed him away, a sudden angry look to his eyes as he did. "Dammit, Jareth! I don't want to hear anymore of your riddles! If you want to do something to me, don't use these ridiculous metaphors! Punish me! Kill me! Anything to relieve this horrible feeling of guilt!" Puck shouted, throwing his arms to the side to offer up himself to whatever form of punishment the goblin king could offer. "Take away my powers, bind me in iron! I'm not safe with them!"

Puck weakly pushed the man back, hitting his fists against his shoulders like a child. Even now, he was struggling to fight the urge to sleep, as his energy was completely drained from the magic before. Finally, he just leaned against the man for support, squeezing his eyes shut in hopes that he could shut out the rest of the world.

[Clopin]

Clopin turned to Taylor once more, and without another word, picked her up, so that she was now being carried. "Puck...it wasn't entirely your fault. It was that...thing that manipulated her into angering you..." Clopin said, trailing off. He fell silent for a moment, before speaking again. "I believe that the best thing to do...would be to tell her friends." Clopin said quietly, referring to Bob and the Warden.

[Puck]

Puck refused to listen to reason, shaking his head angrily at Clopin's attempt to shift the blame. It was his own fault for having such a weakness as his temper; it had been far too easy for the one who'd manipulated him to find his weak spots. Leaning against Jareth for support, Puck weakly nodded in response to Clopin's suggestion of telling her friends.

"Well...then, let's go," Puck muttered, taking a small step forward with his head down, only to fall backwards into Jareth's arms again. The goblin king frowned sadly, throwing an arm around the young fae to try and help the poor fellow walk.

"He's completely drained himself...I'll have to come along with you," Jareth explained. Puck tried to shake his head and shrug the man off, but even that proved to be too difficult. Walking a few steps forward with Jareth, Puck at last reached Clopin, regarding the motionless Taylor with dismay. It was now or never. Puck had to tell the truth to Warden and Bob, and he worried greatly for their reactions.

[Clopin]

"Puck, you are too emotionally and physically drained to explain anything to anyone. I will be telling them what happened." Clopin said, as his eyes shifted to the hallway facing them. "Speak of the devil." Clopin hissed, as he spotted the Warden on Bob's back, riding around the colossal columns.

"Hay y'all!" Bob said cheerfully, as he trotted up to them. Unfortunately, the unicorn was too happy to pay any attention to Taylor--that is, until he looked down to Clopin. The Warden himself fell silent, as he stared at the body in Clopin's arms. "I-is she dead?" the Warden asked, as he hopped down from the unicorn. Bob's ears drooped slightly, as he looked to the body of his former friend.

Clopin only nodded in reply, as he shifted his weight to the other foot. "We were talking with Jareth here, like any normal day...until Taylor became manipulated by someone into angering Puck. This was the result." the gypsy said.

[Puck]

Puck shamefully looked away, the sudden dismal attitudes of Taylor's former friends. Not only had he managed to take away Taylor's life from the girl herself, he'd managed to take it away from the ones closest to her.

"I'm so sorry," Puck whispered, leaning closer to Jareth as another sob rose in his throat. He forced it back down, shaking his head in anguish. "I...I would have rather taken the blow myself, had I not been immortal."