Overall, Yumiko was a nice and simple girl; thus, although I had gone a bit overboard with my Coersion, realistically, once Riley was out of the equation, I shouldn’t have had much difficulty in merging the pair of her and Deeana.
Still, since I knew how much of a snake my older brother could be, I went ahead and added the extra sprinkles onto the metaphorical ice cream Sunday, ensuring that no matter how aggressive Riley came at Yumiko behind closed doors, she wouldn’t cave and would continue being close friends with my favorite babysitter.
With Brenden’s birthday party winding down, family members said their goodbyes until, eventually, the only ones left in the house were Me, Brenden, my father, Riley, Yumiko, Annie, and of course, that bitch Amanda.
Sitting in my playpen and watching my younger brother get passed around the room, my eyes never left Riley, who was visibly confused and more than a little annoyed at what happened earlier between his ex and wife.
’It’s kind of funny seeing him acting differently from his usual standoffish self with Dad.’ The thought had cropped up in my head a few times that my older brother had come home on leave from the Air Force, but it was still unsettling every time it happened.
Sitting beside my brother was my father, who kept up a casual conversation with his oldest son, and although Riley was giving full answers, it still ticked me off how little he appreciated our Dad.
Sure, don’t get me wrong, the old man definitely had his cons, maybe more than a couple; my father was downright hard to get along with until he mellowed in the 2020s, and although I, too, at one point, was dismissive of the man, just like Riley was being right now, I had come to see my father for who he was, flaws and all.
It was one of the main driving factors behind me wanting to give him the life he deserves because while all of us, Brenden, Riley, and even Annie, were s**ty kids, he still loved us unconditionally.
Did he mess up? All the time. Was he the best father? In some respects, no; in others, yes, he tried the best he could, and for that alone, he deserved better than four selfish children.
Bubbling up from inside of me was anger, a primal hatred for Riley, for all the wrong my father did to us; HE was the only one who never made amends.
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Family get-togethers, which should be viewed as joyish occasions, were turned into unhappy times all because the bastard would say something or be a complete ass to Dad.
’Not this time.’ Standing up in my playpen, I felt myself losing control of my sanity, something that only happened a few times in the past, all of which involved bloodshed and massacres.
I didn’t care about consequences; I didn’t care that I was going to effectively delete the version of Riley that existed in the future. Hell, part of me hoped that I could gain some benefits from my actions, but one thing was certain: come hell or high water, I was going to rewrite Riley’s personality forcefully.
Although I didn’t have many personal rules or guidelines I abide by, there still existed a few things I wouldn’t do, one of which was Harm Family, but as I stood there at the edge of my playpen, glaring like a possessed demon at my older brother, I didn’t care.
The only problem that stood in my way was not having access to the one skill that would allow me to do so. Anything I did right now would inevitably be temporary, like putting bandaids on a wound that required stitches.
’Look at me, Riley,’ With an angry sneer, I used my Telepathy skill, forcefully invading my brother’s mind and causing his head to snap in my direction.
He didn’t understand why or how he knew it was me speaking to him, but instinctually, the young man felt compelled to make eye contact with me.
’Psy-Kinesis’
’You will treat our father with the respect he deserves; I don’t give a flying F**k about any unresolved trauma you have with him; it ends NOW!’
With these twenty-seven words, I burned all of my available PC, enhancing their hold to the full extent of my current ability, to the point where as I finished using the skill, I collapsed onto the ground, breaking eye contact and nearly fainting.
Across the room, Riley wasn’t in any better shape either, and he, too, partially collapsed while experiencing a splitting headache and feeling as if he were about to vomit.
Backlash
It was something I had grown used to in the Origin Timeline, especially when using my Coersion Skill.
As I’ve mentioned before, the skill isn’t mind control; I can’t bend and break the will of my target; no, it was more basic than that.
I had my suspicions that maybe once it reached the highest attainment level, the possibility would exist; however, in the (Major) stage, it was difficult to overcome certain personal traits.
The stronger my target’s aversion to my suggestion, the more PC I would drain, and if I came on too strongly or touched the target’s "reverse scale," I would suffer backlash or a rebounding effect.
While I had found certain workarounds when it came to my target’s will, such as multiple uses of the Coercion skill or infusing larger chunks of Particles into my words, there existed a finite amount of control over them I could exhibit.
The same could be said about making someone who hated me fall in love with me instead. It was no different than hitting myself in the head with a baseball bat.
As I lay there on the carpet, feeling liquid trickling out of my nose, I finally understood just how much my older brother despised my father, and all that did was fuel my anger further.
’F**k…foooo, I should have taken a more manipulative approach; I got too ahead of myself,’ sniffling as I wiped the blood dripping from my face; I sat up and exhaled shakily.
’Even if it cripples me for a short period, I will change you, Riley, you have no say in this matter. If I can’t…well, I will take everything from you.’ Making that vow, I felt the world spinning as my vision faded to darkness.