Abnormal Norman 8: Arrow to Apple, Dust to Crust

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