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"I don't want to scare it out of town!" Yelled Eric through the thunder as he ran. He was dodging the nightmarish creatures that had began to pop up over town. He sliced through one as he ran around a corner, chasing Charlotte. "Besides, if my plan worked it's going to kill itself if it keeps moving around like that". He jumped back up on a roof, trying to follow it from above.

Eric skidded to a stop, staring at the girl. He was cold, tired and soaking wet. "Yes." He growled. "And your doll-child did something really horrible." He took off his jacket and started wringing it out. "She stole my chocolate."

"Yes. She. Did." Said Eric. "The second piece I gave her. I think she ate it. It was given to her on a conditional basis. See, I told her if she helped me she could have it, but she took it without helping me. I've taken legal classes lady and I know that contracts established verbally are perfectly valid and since she didn't uphold her end of the deal, I can sue her for breach of contract. I can even add punative damages because she ate it." He pointed at the girl. "So you owe me."

"I was just kidding," said Eric as he followed her and stood in the doorway. "She's free to eat it. Is that the same bar of candy she took from me?"

"No thanks, you probably bewitched it or something. Unlike your daughter I know not to accept candy from strangers." He leaned against the doorway, folding his arms. "Speaking of which, lets talk about the candy she ate."

He grinned. But his grin seemed different. Predatory somehow, as if some other being were grinning along with him. "You know it's pretty close to the Fourth of July here." He said. "They're selling candy at the stalls in Death City. Also, they're selling fireworks. Lots of them. Fireworks are full of gunpowder. Gunpowder explodes with very little provocation. And it's not hard to make a few holes in a chocolate bar and fill them with gunpowder. Catch my drift?"

There was a strange glint in his eye. "Now just giving her chocolate for her to hold, wouldn't be enough. It had to be in her system before it would do real damage. Not only was I positive that she would take candy, but I was positive that if she had it, SHE would eat it. She wouldn't let an illusion or a clone or anything like that eat the candy, the real her would ingest the gunpowder willingly."

"This gunpowder isn't normal human gunpowder though, since it's Death City and all. It's activated by resonance force. Anyone's resonance force, also quick, jerky movements can set it off. If, say, someone started raising their resonance force really high around her," He mimicked an explosion with his hands. "That includes yours or her own. Also, quick jerky motions like dodging might cause it to go off as well."

"Let me break this down for you," he said. "Any one of us who uses their powers to try and run, dodge or attack anywhere near her and boom. If you wanted to escape, the only way would be to slowly and carefully walk out of the city with her. You know, the city full of meisters and weapons. Oh, and I'm here too."

"I knew hunting down a witch like this would be a game of hide-and-seek. Chasing her down past all her illusions before I had her would be a huge pain. I had to do it anyway, but even if I hadn't she would have just exploded sooner or later."

He leaned back, looking at her. "Basically, she's a hostage now."

Eric accepted the tea and sat down, but didn't drink it. "So you don't mind if I raise my resonance force a little and cause it to explode?" He asked as he looked at the tea.