Anger Management [Meloghia]

Chapter 32: Abscission

Sorbet was beginning to sweat. He'd never had his stand active for this long and Tulmine was beginning to fight Sorbet's manipulation. He'd been inside his mind for so long pulling strings that Tulmine seemed to be picking up on patterns. Sorbet had started with the obvious: fear and sadness. Those were easy emotions to manipulate to make a target bend to his will. But Sorbet wasn't looking for a quick manipulation, he was looking to keep him paralyzed until help could arrive which meant digging deeper. He started pulling at emotions he believed would be unexpected, like joy. The hard swing between two drastic emotional states would be enough to make anyone's head spin.

Tulmine was made of different stuff though. Joy led to pride and confidence and he fought back mentally. This user had strong defenses, but not enough that Sorbet couldn't stay in his mind. The strong push from Tulmine caused a sense of alarm in Sorbet. In a moment of panic, he began to pull on random emotions to catch the electric user off guard. Tulmine was learning every step of the way. Whatever emotion he pulled, Tulmine seemed to summon an emotional memory tied to it to inspire him to fight harder.

Come on, Risotto...help better be coming soon...

Not only did he struggle to keep Tulmine under his manipulation but it was also taxing on Sorbet. He was tiring fast. He wasn't sure how much time had passed but he knew that this was much longer than he'd ever done it before.

"Sorbet! Rip his mind apart!!" He heard Gelato's shriek in his ear. His heart sped up at the encouragement from his lover and he pushed harder. He couldn't fail here, Gelato needed him. He was already teetering on the edge and Sorbet's death was certain to incinerate the last shred of reason in Gelato. Gelato was unstable and Sorbet couldn't be sure that he wouldn't snap and try to take as many people with him as possible on his exit from this life. Certainly Risotto.

He turned his attention back to Tulmine. Sorbet grabbed fear and sorrow again but delved even deeper, searching for a way to break him. Something sparked inside Tulmine. Perhaps the combination of feelings dislodged some memory in his head but Tulmine began to lose ground in the cerebral battle.

"Get out of my head you fucker," Tulmine growled and winced.

"Sorbet! Fugo's heading your way now! Just hold on!" Illuso said.

"You'd better come back to me damn it or I'll kill them all!! The skies of Italy will burn and blood will run in the streets!" Gelato's voice cracked as he screamed. His voice growled hoarsely as he continued his shrieking tirade, "Italy will fall to its knees and I will make Giorno watch it all! He will be the last to go, and I swear to god, I will savor his torture and death for weeks before ending it all!" There was silence on the channel as no one in the group knew what to say to that dark statement.

Just as Sorbet predicted. His heart raced, but not in fear, it was pleasure.

God, I love him so much. He says I'm poetic, but when his passion gets the best of him, the words he utters are nothing short of beautiful and utterly romantic.

"I love you, Gelato," Sorbet breathed passionately. "You're absolutely incredible."

Someone ran into the room and Sorbet made the mistake of glancing away to assess the new threat. That was all the time Tulmine needed. He broke free and summoned Shinee but before he could do anything, a yellow bulb shot from the doorway and cracked against Tulmine's outstretched arm. A purple fog began to fill the air. Sorbet looked at Fugo and back at Tulmine. The enemy stand user was distracted, giving Sorbet an opening to run over to Prosciutto. The range of the attack wasn't too large and within a minute, the fog began to dissipate. Tulmine had already bolted towards the back of the room.