Abnormal Norman 8: Arrow to Apple, Dust to Crust
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Be Norman
>Surrounded by 5 people about to beat you up
>Brad's still outside trying to get the door off his foot
>"Looks like we're gonna have to teach this kid about trespassin'"
>Slowly, you take your fighting stance as the gang members look at you, taunting and laughing
>"HEY BRO, I GOT IT OFF!" Brad yells
>The gang quickly looked at the doorway to see Brad and the broken door
>NOW'S MY CHANCE
>You proceeded to charge your fist as you ready yourself to deliver a striking blow
|FALCOOON PU-
>CRAP I SLIPPED
>Your wet boots betray you as you fall to the ground
>The gang redirects its attention to you
>You quickly grab the nearest bottle and threw it to the nearest gang member
>Then you got up from your vulnerable position
>One thug swings his bat right at you
>Easy enough, you dodged it and did an uppercut
>Your abnormal strength managed to have the thug's upper stuck by the ceiling
>Two other thugs reacted to it fast enough and simultaneously swung their bats, both right at your face and legs
>You end up on the ground again, dizzy and bleeding from your nose
>The two proceed to hit you while you're down
>Brad runs inside to hit one of them with the 2x4 he got from breaking the door
>He's successful, but his lack of strength  just made the guy angrier, rather than make him unconscious
>"This looked way too easier on paper" he said
>Everyone's distracted! Time for a dirty move
>You kick the nearest guy's nuts and got up almost immediately
>The thug with the nunchucks looks at you and starts showing off his nunchuck spinning abilities
>He spinned it around his body so much that he hits himself in the forehead
>Stunned, you take the opportunity to do another charged punch right at him
>Brad on the other hand is busy dodging the angry thug's heavy punches
>The guy with the kicked crotch snapped out of his stunned self and proceeded to grab a bat
>You and Brad are back to back, with two goons about to hit you to oblivion
>"DUCK!" Brad yelled
>You both dodged the two attacks in a knick of time. The man got hit with a bat as hard as he got hit by the other guy's fist
>"HOLY SHIT, THAT WAS BRA-"
>"Don't say it, please"
>One guy left, it's the idiot who stunned himself with his own nunchucks
>You charge up again for another great punch
>"PREPARE YOURSELF, CRIMINAL, FOR THE BRO-FIST OF JUSTICE" Brad yells
>Cringing at maximum efficiency
>You run towards the man as your fist lights up
>|PUUUUUNCH-A|
>With uncalculated intensity, the punch knocks the goon back, breaking the wall behind him
>"WHOA" you and Brad said in unison
>Smoke and dust flow before you as Brad walks to investigate
>The smoke clears out to see 6 more guys playing poker, everyone carrying pistols, knives, and one other with a shotgun
>Brad looks in fear, asking you "Run, or fight?"
>You look at the situation, assessing the environment
>"RUN OR FIGHT"
>Calmly, you reply "Both"
>You grab the nunchucks from the ground and threw the baseball bat to Brad
>"What? UUF" Brad said as the baseball bat flew right through his face
>"Brad falls to the ground, unconscious from your throw
>"Goddammit, Brad"
>"WHAT THE HELL?" Yells one of the guys from the poker table
>They all bring out their guns and points it right at your location
>"Crap"
>You quickly pull Brad from the ground up to the flight of stairs
>"You can hear footsteps coming from the wall. They're running to your position
>"Shit, why didn't I just go through the entrance?"
>No use now, you're at the second floor
>As you look, it seems to be an old abandoned apartment
>Crap, they're closing in
>You go inside one of the doors and proceeded to block it with a broken bookshelf and a heavy box of unknown content
>You sat by the corner, with Brad, slowly gaining consciousness
>"Great, now what are we gonna do?"

Be Lyra, five minutes before Brad's downfall
>Riding through the storm like a power hungry maniac
>Have to find Norman before he loses the ring to some goons
>It's the only way for the visions to stop harassing you
>There's only so much rain your hooded jacket can take before it gets soaked
>At last, you arrive at the location of your vision
>You look around to see any sign of the two
>The door's busted, they've arrived
>You take your harp out and convert it into your bow
>You look at your bag, its contents are 40% wet, including your homemade arrows
>You stop for a moment, thinking "Am I really gonna risk killing or getting killed for a ring?
>Arguing with yourself in the middle of the rain. Technically it was and wasn't your fault for wearing a cursed ring. You didn't even know it was magical
>You feel responsible for your newfound powers, and that it's up to you to fix it
>By getting Norman's ring
BANG
>You hear a loud noise, as if something demolished from the inside
>You run by the broken door to take a closer look
>Two guys in it. One standing up and the other unconscious
>The unconscious guy's Brad, since you recognize his blue hair
>He wasn't even that well disguised
>The other must be Norman. He pulls Brad up the flight of stairs as a bunch of gang members run in on the scene
>You think, what to do in this situation. You thought to yourself that you could just pause time and take out the goons
>But they look tough enough to handle dirty kicks. You're not so keen on killing them with your bow either
>I need to plan this right. You go outside and climbed up the outside stairs/apartment balconies

Be Norman
>6 goons, everyone could shoot you before you could even punch them with the ring
>Brad wakes up from his short slumber
>"Norman?"
>Brad, we don't have much time, we're trapped in here
>"Norman, what happened?"
>"Apparently, there's more of them than we thought"
>You check the room for any sign of exits or entrances
>No windows, only a working lightbulb
>"Listen, I can punch a hole here and we could escape
>"WE'RE GONNA GIVE UP NOW? WE'VE GOTTEN THIS FAR!"
>"Look, I'm not gonna risk our lives just for the sake of being a vigilante
>"Hey, you were the one who went through with the idea for Applejack's sake
>"Yeah, and thanks to these bruises and my recent fuck-up, I don't feel as confident"
>"Can't you just punch through the walls and give them a good beating?
>"I'm neither agile, nor bulletproof enough to survive gunfire, Brad"
>"OPEN UP, ASSHOLES"
>Shit, they're breaking through
>"Norman, what's in the box?"
>You and Brad open the box, to reveal an average cache of ammo and magazine
>"Great!, Now all we need is a gun!"
>You break the magazines in half to get all the bullets in it
>"You're getting the gunpowder?
>"It's the only weapon we have, right next to these nunchucks"
>Brad strokes his chin, and then says "I HAVE AN IDEA!"
>He goes by the bookshelf in search of something
>It's a small radio. He whacks it to see if it works
>"This radio's still working!"
>"So What?"
>"We can use the batteries to light your nunchuck up with the gunpowder"
>"How!?"
>"I saw it on youtube once!. All you need the foil from chewing gum and a battery"
>"Great, so where do we get a pack of gum?"
>Brad pulls one out from his underwear
>"Brad..."
>"What? I gotta keep my breath Bradical in case I get lucky!"
>He moves in to cut the foil in two. The door's breaking apart from their shoulder bumping
>A few tinkering here and there, he has created fire and proceeded to light up one stick of the nunchucku
>"I HAVE CREATED FIRE!"
>"Great, Brad. NOW WHAT?"
>"Charge up on your 'Bro-Fist' by the door"
>You follow, charging up on your fist as your nose bleeds up
>Brad readies his position while keeping the fire going on
>The thugs break through the door
>"NOW NORMAN"
>You thrust your fist with all your heart and guts, hitting the guy by the door as well as another behind him
>The force of your punch was so powerful the two poor goons broke through 2 walls
>Brad throws the nunchucks directly at the surprised goon, which in turn, made him misfire his gun to the ceiling
>The extra gunpowder splashed onto the thug as the burning nunchuck spread it's fiery warm plauge
>"MY FACE! MY BEAUTIFUL FACE" yelled the nunchucked thug
>2 thugs held Brad at gunpoint while the other is still pretty shocked at what's happening
>You thought this is his end, until he felt a window crashes from the back of the two thugs
>You felt something weird, as if there was lag
>Same feeling he felt back at the convenience store
>Back to your senses, you see the guy the two guys holding Brad at gunpoint in extreme pain
>Both their legs have been struck by a wooden arrow
>"WHAT THE HELL?!?"
>A hooded figure appears from behind, holding a bow
>You and Brad look in awe as the stranger kicks the kneeling two thugs
>"I'LL KILL YAAAH" yelled the man on fire, about to strangle the stranger
>You act with haste, using your extra speed to deliver a punch
>You hit his stomach, but it wasn't a charged punch. Your arm just got weak from the earlier punch
>Again, you deliver with an uppercut. The other shocked thug was just watching, surprised that someone that small could hurt the big guy
>Delivering a flurry of punches, you gave him one final punch to the head, knocking the big guy out
>You stand with your bloodied gloves, panting and breathing
>The shocked thug tries to make a run for it, but you managed to grab him in time
>"LET ME GO, MAN"
>You're angry. Your heart rate intensifies as the strength in your arm grows
>You hold the man by the throat, choking him with one arm as you interrogate
>"GRA-AK. YOU...YOU'RE NOT NORMAL, MAN!"
>You tell him in a fiery gaze and a growling voice
>[spoiler]"I'M NEITHER NORMAL, NOR-MAN"[/spoiler]
>You're letting the power get over your head. You stop for a moment, shaking left and right
>You drag the man downstairs and shoved a small paper up his face
>"OKAY, WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THIS"
>You show him the paper that had Applejack's name on it
>"T-THAT?" the thug said while whimpering
>"That's j-just our list of people, man!
>"For what?"
>"They're the richest in merchandise, man. They got all kinds of shit from fruits to peanuts"
>"Where's the stolen supplies?"
>"T-There's a freezer, just by the basement of the Cider"
>"The pub's in league with you guys?"
>"Y-yeah man. Just don't hurt me"
>You threw the guy by the closet and locked him inside
>"Wow, Norman that was...that was intense as hell!" Brad said, praising your action packed minute
>The hooded stranger comes down to join in on the conversation
>You look at the stranger, expressing your gratitude
>"Hey, man...thanks for helping us o-"
>Before you could finish, the stranger slaps your face
>"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU RISK LOSING THE RING?"
>You recognize the voice, it's Lyra
>"L-LYRA?"
>"WHOA, YOU WANNA BE A SUPERHERO TOO?" Brad said
>"No, dumbass" She looks back at you pointing her finger at your face"
>"YOU COULD HAVE LOST THE RING, THE ONE THING THAT KEEPS MY VISIONS AT BAY JUST SO YOU COULD PLAY SUPERHERO"
>"Lyra, this wasn't without good cause"
>"OH YEAH, WHAT CAUSE?"
>"Applehat's family has been sacked by this very gang, and I feel like it's my duty to help out"
>"YOU COULD HAVE LET THE POLICE HANDLE IT"
>"I think you know very well how slow the police handles these kinds of things"
>"OH FOR GODS SAKE. YOU JUST RUN AROUND WITH SOMETHING THAT GIVES YOU POWERS. I'M STUCK WITH A CURSE"
>Lyra storms in the middle as Brad just looks about
>"Look, Lyra. I'm cursed too. Without the ring, I'll die within hours"
>"How would you know that"
>"I nearly died yesterday"
>"And you knew about it, and you continued on with this? WHY?
>"It was for a friend. Besides, me and Brad thought this would be as easy
>"OH, SO YOU'RE NOT JUST RECKLESS, BUT STUPID TOO"
>A moment of silence covers 10 seconds of the whole apartment
>Brad breaks it, saying "Now what?"
>You look at Brad, and then at Lyra
>"We've gotten this far, now I say we end this"
To Be Continued, End of Chapter 8