Petty Squabble [ROUND 3] [Goldhenge]

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Illusion or not, the battlefield was noisy. And Parsley needed time to gather his thoughts; he'd underestimated the strength of the demon's illusions.

The safest place seemed to be the compound. The Charlatan had called it Fort Ayers. Parsley moved towards it, still wary of his surroundings; it was likely that some of these soldiers were villagers, trapped in illusions of their own. He took cover where he could, trying to avoid drawing their attention; they probably saw him as some sort of monster, and he didn't want to make the demon's torment of them worse if he could help it.

Parsley soon spotted a large box, made of a metal he couldn't identify; it was held in the air by equally strange structures that he could only think of as its "legs". The words "DROP MEDIC" were written on the side of the box. He hid himself under it, and looked towards the base; he was starting to suspect it might be a shelter of some kind. Perhaps even a church.

He soon noticed two soldiers drag off one of his "competitors", who was laughing wildly the whole time; a strange sight. What had he said?

"John Smith... a bit of a nutcase." Seemed sensible enough. Apparently the demon valued consistency, if nothing else.

Why were they taking him to the shelter? Perhaps it was a church after all, and the man in their arms was a comrade they hoped to free from the demon's influence?

Parsley watched as they made their way past the guards at the front gate, and brought John Smith inside. He reflected on what to do next.

Perhaps these guards were still possessed of their senses? In that case, they would guide him to the shelter, and he might be freed from the illusion. In that case, it would be best to approach peacefully.

Parsley walked over to the entrance, holding his hands in the air.

"I'll come peacefully," he said. "Take me to the sanctuary."

***

"No, I have not gone crazy, he turned my gun into a muffin! Then he shoved me to the ground and ran!"

"Lenny, I don't have time for your excuses. Some morons tried to bring in a robot without disabling it up first, and it's loose in the base. On top of that, we've got two escaped prisoners, and one of them is taunting us. Things may be rough out there, but we need to get some men back in here to fix this or we're screwed. I don't care if you're only armed with a bag of pretzels, get in here and help out!"

"*sigh*... yes, sir."

"And if you see any other suspicious characters on the way, just shoot them. Or beat them with your muffin-gun, whatever. Point is, with the luck we've been having, we can't afford to take prisoners. Understood?"

"Yes, sir! ...what am I going to do with a stupid muffin?"

***

"We're not authorized to leave our posts," said one of the guards. "We have to wait for an escort."

"That's fine," Parsley said. "Need to keep an eye out for the demon's victims, I suppose? How do you keep yourselves safe?"

The guard looked at him strangely, as the other one talked to a small box in his hand. Parsley couldn't hear what he was saying, and wondered what the guard was actually doing.

Then he put down the box, and pointed his gun towards Parsley.

"Sorry. Just got new orders: No taking prisoners."