And I hear his voice in my head–
Not an attack–
The slinky, snaky, twisty verzhun of his voice–
The one that’s him taking hold of my choices–
The one that’s him turning them into his–
“You won’t fight any more,” he says–
He takes a step closer–
“You won’t fight any more and that’ll be the end of it–”
I turn away from him–
But I have to turn back–
Have to look into his eyes–
“Listen to me, Todd–”
And his voice is hissing twixt my ears–
And it would be so easy just to–
Just to–
Just to fall back–
Fall back and do what he says–
“No!” I shout–
But my teeth are locked together–
And he’s still in there–
Still trying to get me to–
And I will–
I will–
YER NOTHING–
I’m nothing–
“That’s right, Todd,” the Mayor says, stepping forward, rifle bearing down on me. “You are nothing.”
I’m nothing–
“But,” he says–
And his voice is a whisper scratching across the deepest part of me–
“But,” he says–
“I will make you something.”
And I look right up into his eyes–
Eyes that are an abyss I feel myself falling into–
Up and into the blackness–
And outta the corner of my eye–
{VIOLA}
I throw the stone as hard as I can, praying as it leaves my hand that my aim’s as good as Lee said–
Praying, Please, God–
If you’re there–
Please–
And wham!
It hits the Mayor right in the temple–
[TODD]
There’s a terrible ripping feeling, like a strip is being torn right outta my Noise–
And the abyss is gone–
It’s turned away–
And the Mayor lurches to the side, holding his temple, blood already dripping from it–
“TODD!” Viola shouts–
And I look at her–
Look at her arm outstretched where she threw the rock–
And I see her–
My Viola.
And I get to my feet.
{VIOLA}
He gets to his feet.
He stands up tall–
And I shout his name again–
“TODD!”
Because it does something–
It does something to him–
It does something for him–
The Mayor’s wrong–
He’s wrong for ever and ever–
It’s not that you should never love something so much it can control you.
It’s that you need to love something that much so you can never be controlled.
It’s not a weakness–
It’s your best strength–
“TODD!” I shout again–
And he looks at me–
And I hear my name in his Noise–
And I know it–
I know it in my heart–
Right now–
Todd Hewitt–
There’s nothing we can’t do together–
And we’re gonna win–
[TODD]
The Mayor is looking up now, half crouched, blood seeping from twixt his fingers held against the side of his head–
He turns to look at me, a scowl on his face–
And here comes his Noise–
And–
VIOLA
I beat it back–
He flinches away–
But he tries again–
VIOLA
“You can’t beat us,” I say–
“I can,” he says, clenching his teeth. “I will.”
VIOLA
He flinches again–
He tries to raise the rifle–
I hit him extra hard–
VIOLA
He drops the rifle and staggers back–
I can hear his Noise buzzing at me, trying to twist its way in–
But his head is hurting–
From my own attacks–
From one well-thrown rock–
“What exactly do you think this proves?” he spits. “You’ve got power, but you don’t know what to do with it.”
VIOLA
“Looks like I’m doing fine,” I say.
And he smiles, teeth still clenched. “Are you?”
And I notice my hands are shaking–
I notice my Noise is flying, sizzling like a bright thing–
I can’t feel my feet below me–
“It takes practice,” the Mayor says. “Or you’ll blow your mind apart.” He stands up a little straighter, trying to lock my eyes again. “I could show you.”
And right on cue, Viola yells “TODD!”
And I hit him with everything I got–
Every bit of her behind me–
Every piece of anger and frustrayshun and nothingness–
Every moment I didn’t see her–
Every moment I worried–
Everything–
Every little tiny thing I know about her–
I send it right into the centre of him–
And he falls–
Back and back and back–
His eyes rolling up–
His head twisting round–
His legs buckling–
Falling falling falling–
Right to the ground–
And lying there still.
{VIOLA}
“Todd?” I say.
He’s shaking all over, almost to the point of not being able to stand, and I can hear an unhealthy-sounding whine cutting through his Noise. He wobbles a little as he takes a step.
“Todd?” I try to get to my feet but my ankles–
“Jeez,” he says, crumpling down beside me. “That takes it outta you.”
He’s breathing heavy, his eyes unfocused.
“Are you all right?” I ask, putting a hand on his arm.
He nods. “I think so.”
We look back at the Mayor.
“You did it,” I say.
“We did it,” he says and his Noise is getting a little clearer and he sits up a little straighter.
His hands are still shaking, though.
“Poor bloody Davy,” he says.
I grip his arm. “The ship,” I say quietly. “She’s going to get there first.”