Board Thread:What Would You Do?/@comment-28718853-20180807230519/@comment-36855838-20181008230925

Well, s%#t.

The one man who bellowed out sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him, our crowd parted to let him and a rather large hellhound pass.

Nobody else moved.

The looks from the rest of our group were intense.

Pure rage was carried to the gathered mamono through our glares.

I myself was eying the demon who had spoken.

I stood to my fullest height, parted my hands, and lifted my foot.

As I placed my foot, a thunderous clap resounded through the streets, I had learned just one spell from a wizard friend, sound amplification.

Clap.

A step.

Clap.

Another.

Clap.

The march, at last, had begun.

Many men wore capes, cutting large figures, and while the likes of hellhounds are untamable, and the demons infernally powered, even the most wild and terrible beasts may be made to tuck tail and run.

Clap.

Their leader turned.

Clap.

Her right hand priest.

Clap.

A crowd of hellhounds.

Clap.

We neared the door.

Clap.

We filled the foyer.

Clap.

We had them cornered.

Clap.

We stopped, a final step.

We glared, intently, deep into the eyes of these mamono, who had cheered and supported the leader who had mocked and heckled us.

We stared into the abyss,

and it blinked.

They had begun to cry, quietly at first, then with wails and sobs.

Not an injury suffered, not a blow struck.

They were ready.

. ..

A large crowd had gathered, the mayor herself was present, sitting with an ashamed expression in the rear, alone.

I raised my hand, and the crowd's murmurs were silenced.

A briefly mumbled spell later, I began.

"We are gathered here today, to carry out two important functions, the first is the discussion of the concerns of men in this city, such as why they feel they are underrepresented and why they are unsatisfied with their lot in life as things are now."

The crowd burst into more hushed conversations, many hellhounds, jorougumo, ogres, oni, and dark elves were looking mighty uncomfortable, while the holstaurs, dragon zombies, wererabbits, and the like clung desperately to their husbands, scared that they were unhappy, or worse, suffering in their relationships.

"The second, is the tie of this dissatisfaction and fear to the highly increased suicide attempts among married men in this city."

I raised my arm, pointing directly at the Mayor.

"Would you be so kind as to come to the stage, Ma'am?"

She slunk her way to the podium, and as she walked, a few men cowered in her wake, but the few who sat at the table with me didn't even flinch when she ran her hand along the back of their necks as she passed.

"How are you today, madam Mayor?"

She gave me a sensual, predatory look.

"I'm delightful, sugar, how are you?"

"Most unwell, as I assume your husband is."

She gave me a venomous glare at that.

"What?"

"I have spoken to the paramedic team who treated him for the cuts on his wrists, and the thirteen self-inflicted stab wounds around and into his heart."

She merely spluttered, looking at me in confusion.

I took off my cap.

"I regret to inform you, but while you sat in your comfy Mayor chair and wrote out ordinances making our lives worse, from making getting jobs almost impossible to imposing single man taxes past the age of five, your husband was becoming depressed and suicidal."

She looked pissed.

"And I spoke to him, as he lay on the hospital bed, mamono mana closing his wounds faster than he could struggle to tear them back open, begging me to help him end his life and put a stop to his suffering."

She was crying now, kneeling before me and pounding her fists on my legs.

"He told me what you've done to him. How he can't see his sisters, his cousins, his mother. He told me that you took him from the grave of his first wife, and assaulted him, how you forced him to be yours, no matter how he begged, and pleaded."

She was laying on the floor.

"He told me about how he tried to make it work, to make you happy, to find love in your arms, how you tied him up, and put your feet on him, how you whipped him and edged him, dripped wax on his limbs with haphazardly placed candles."

She had begun to make a small tear puddle on the stage.

"How no matter what he made you, you despised his cooking, that you shoved it down his throat after he had nicely plated it, how you never noticed that he kept the house spotless. How you forced him to wear maid dresses-"

"He liked the dresses!"

I leaned in.

"He liked the ruffles, he told you he liked the ruffles, and that he wanted a suit with ruffles."

I spit on her, and shoved her off the stage onto a trampoline.

"This woman is despicable, and her husband now lives in a hell of eternal fear, trauma, and depression, which no matter how hard he tries, he cannot escape."

The more gentle mamono were shooting dirty looks at the more aggressive types, and several officers were removing their weapons belts and badges, curling up on the ground sucking their thumbs, or holding their heads in their hands.

"How many others here have created a hell such as that?"

I looked around, many usually aggressive mamono were crying.

"How many of you regret those actions and desires?"

"Your answer will show in your vote."

I had secured the election.

Soon, change would come.