Chapter 267: It was me Barry
Kai stepped up before Barry could finish speaking. He thought it was the perfect time to feed in the child’s anger and the anger of those around him who weren’t showing it.
"Kai. Let me handle this." Barry tried to stop him, but Kai wasn’t going for that.
"Why? Let me ask all of you this. How many of you lost someone you loved today? A friend, a family member, or a lover. Raise your hand."
Nearly everyone raised their hand.
"And how many of you are angry because of that?"
Everyone raised their hand
Villages like these were close-knit. They saw everyone as family and took care of each other. They were thankful that Barry stopped the pirates, but at the end of the day, they still had to bury one of their loved ones.
"Tell me, are you not angry? Do you simply want to accept their deaths and move on? What about revenge? The proper justice? Do you not want to avenge them?"
"I do!" The kid yelled.
"So do I."
"Me too."
"Same here."
"I know we don’t feel better, but I know for a fact that I will sleep better knowing that the person who took my wife is gone from this world forever!"
Barry couldn’t understand what he was listening to.
"Do you see this, Barry? Not everyone has the same world views as you. You say that you’re enacting justice, but in truth, you’re taking the easy way out. Forgiveness? Bullshit. Why the fuck should I have to forgive or come to terms with my family’s killer? Fuck that!" Kai expressed
"Yeah! Fuck that!" The crowd shouted.
"You cant just take someone’s life like that! Life is precious!" Barry tried to argue. He could understand their anger, but not the need to kill them.
Kai turned to him, looking Barry directly in his eyes. "Really?" He blasted Iris in the face, killing her instantly.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Barry rushed down to her side, holding her limp body. Tears were pooling down his face, and he was angry.
"Iris! Why, Kai? I thought you were a hero!" Patty tried to heal her friend, but she was long gone.
"Why did you do this?!" He yelled
"’Cause I feel like it." Kai then blasted a hole in Patty’s chest, turning her into a donut.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Barry lunged at Kai with everything he had. He was angry, he was furious, and he wanted to kill Kai. All he saw was red.
"I’LL KILL YOU!! I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU! YOU’RE A HERETIC! A DEMON! A FUCKING BASTARD!"
"Rry-"
"DIE!"
"Arry!"
"YOU DON’T DESERVE TO BE IN THIS WORLD!"
"Barry!"
Patty’s voice finally reached him as he jolted back, his face red, full of sweat, and his body was shaking.
He looked at his sides, seeing both Patty and Iris alive.
"Are you okay?" Iris asked, holding his arm. "You look shaken up."
Barry turned to Kai, who had a smirk on his face. Then, he heard a voice in his head.
’It was me, Barry! An illusion. Don’t worry, your little girlfriends are alive and well.’
Barry dropped to his knees and couldn’t help but cry.
"Barry! What’s going on?"
"Speak to us!"
While Barry was having a breakdown, Kai turned his attention back to the people.
"You all have suffered enough. You do not need to pay the price of others." Kai lifted every pirate in the air with his powers, putting them on display.
"Choose which one dies first, and I’ll also revive the person they killed. Thankfully, their souls have not fully left their bodies yet."
Hearing Kai’s words, all of them started shouting over each other, but Kai stopped all of them and told them to raise their hands, and he would call on them.
"We’ll start with you, little man. Who killed your parents?"
"That ugly man with the purple veins!"
Kai smirked. "And how do you want him to die?"
"Crush his head!"
Kai obliged, squeezing his hand, crushing the man’s head. The moment the pirate died, Kai revived the boy’s parents and any other person who was killed by the pirate captain.
Seeing that Kai was telling the truth, everyone was eager to have their loved one come back, and one pirate at a time, they did.
After 10 minutes, all of the pirates died gruesome deaths, and all of the villagers were reunited with their loved ones.
"That," Kai spoke, walking over to Barry. "Is how you win the favor and trust of the people. Not preaching fallacies."
Barry couldn’t bring himself to speak up or voice his opinion. His mind was too much of a mess right now, and he could barely even think straight.
Iris and Patty stayed with him, looking at Kai with disgust, but kept their mouths shut. They thought he was cool at first, but after seeing Barry in this state, suspecting that Kai was behind it, they started to see him in a more negative light.
"Don’t you think that was too much?" Gwen and the others saw the illusion since Kai allowed them to. While they understood his intentions, they did think it was a bit too much.
"Why? Did you expect me to gradually break his mind over time or something?"
"Honestly, yeah. That’s what I...we assumed."
He shrugged. "Oh well. He can sulk all he wants. He’ll learn sooner or later. Sometimes, you have to teach people the hard way."
"But wasn’t that a bit harsh?" Nadya knew how the death of loved ones could affect someone.
"We can leave if you all are this worried about him. I have no problems doing so." Kai announced.
"Fine, we’ll drop it. Just don’t make the kid go insane." Gwen tapped Kai’s nose.
"No promises."
’Besides, if he doesn’t come to terms with taking out people like that, then I’ll just force him to.’
Barry finally managed to calm himself, telling his friends everything that happened. They were furious with Kai and wanted to give him a piece of their minds, but he stopped them.
Barry knew that Kai only wanted what was best for him, even if he wasn’t showing it with the best actions.
He truly understood, felt what it was like to want to kill someone, one of his own. While this wasn’t enough to change his mind or views, it was enough to at least have him understand how others felt.
"Come on, let’s head to the carriage. We have other places to liberate." Barry, with the help of Iris and Patty, stood up and headed to the carriage to leave.