"There'd have to be some way to stop him, though, right?" Zoe asked, looking to Lucy and then to Jeff and then to the Slug People that they were talking with.
It was a comment that left a feeling of nervousness hang in the air around the Chapman family. Zoe could feel it, and while she could feel some determination from Lucy and Jeff to stop Cupple, she could feel that they were nervous too. Even Melody and her father, Simon, seemed nervous, though possibly for a different reason. But the fact that the two had been helpful in answering questions left some room open for hope that they would get something that would stop Cupple's actions against them, and potentially against others. It wasn't much, but sometimes hope was all one could have.
"I'm afraid it's not something that is simply done... for various reasons," Simon said slowly, and with his lips showing a depressed frown as he answered, "primarily because of legal issues."
"The man is responsible for us becoming Slug People, against our will," Zoe pointed out, "he likely brainwashed one member of your colony when she left here... wouldn't that all count for something?"
"The action would break most laws regarding coercion and things like that," Simon nodded, "but we have no proof of that, and unless you have recordings of your interactions with Megan and Jenny, you can't prove that your transformation was against your will."
"Add in that few people believe in magic these days and that whole thing becomes even more difficult," Melody spoke, "Trust me. We'd all want Cupple caught and punished for pulling things like what he's done. But we're subject to the law just as much as anyone else, and that then hampers things when people don't believe in magic. People that follow only science would only point to your transformations as the result of some mutagenic factor in a Slug Person's slime. You'd be fighting two arguments rather than just one."
"And we weren't entirely believing in magic until mom transformed and then one by one, we began transforming," Grace agreed looking down and sounding both depressed and defeated.
"There's got to be something we can do!" Lucy spoke up firmly, and patting her tail on the dorsal side of Zoe's tail and looking to her mother, Grace, and Jeff, "something that can stop him..."
"In pure theory, sure," Simon answered, trying to sound as understanding as possible, "as together... you may resist his attempts to overpower your minds, and if you know how to fight, maybe you could take him out that way... BUT that would also risk breaking the law and in a way where the colony can't protect you as the law would see it as murder. And there's also no saying on how such a fight may go."
"It might not go well," Jeff said slowly, and rubbed his own stomach.
He remembered the altercation in the backyard where Cupple had hit him with some kind of electric shock, even though he wasn't holding any kind of device. It wasn't enough to kill him, but it did hurt and a part of him wondered if that had only been a warning shot. It was only the arrival of their neighbor, Paul, that had gotten Cupple to decide to back off, and even that required the threat of the police being called. It was something that struck Jeff in a variety of ways in that outright fighting Cupple would risk breaking the law and they also might not succeed in stopping Cupple in addition to that.
"There has to be something," Lucy insisted, "some technicality or counter spell..."
"Our magics are all defensive and more... natural," Melody said to her, "it's not like we can control things with them. Most of it just lets humans stay calm and accepting of our nudity... the inability to wear clothes as our slime would eat through them... and that it can be pretty easy to arouse a Slug Person. There's nothing in that that could be used to stop Cupple, even if it were in a way that either would be legal or would be something that would be hard to prove. It's just not something that Slug People are capable of."
Lucy caught Melody giving an embarrassed and pained wince when she glared back, and that stopped her from giving a retort. Lucy wanted to but seeing Melody frown and look down caught her by surprise. It reminded Lucy that Melody and her father were trying to help and had been polite.
"You would need outside help for anything of that nature," Simon added when none of the Chapmans responded, "and to a degree... the colony does have a friend that has been helpful with these things. He may be able to better help you... both with dealing with Cupple's magic and in working in a way that would expose Cupple's crimes to the law with proof to justify an arrest and trial. Things like that."
"You have a friend that can help?" Whitney asked, wondering if this was some white wizard or something of the like.
"Yes, but it may take a little while to get in contact with him and set up a meeting," Simon answered, "which I'd prefer would be here for your safety as well as his. As I do not trust Cupple to play fair if he knows about such a meeting."
"If you have someone who can help, we can wait," Lucy provided, "it's not much... but it does give us some options."
"I'd say it gives us hope," Grace cut in, "as most of the responses that have been responses have been to wait... the rest have been either not wanting to help or not being able to help..."
"Or no one was there," Zoe added, "Or with the Grenzes... there might have been something that could help, but they don't know what it could be."
"So, you can wait?" Simon asked.
"Yes," Jeff spoke, "if you know someone who can help us prove Cupple's guilt and responsibility, as well as stop him, we can wait."
The rest of the Chapmans nodded in agreement with that, though it also raised a question where they would stay until things could be arranged and that was soon voiced by Lucy.
"And we thank you for the help," Lucy spoke up, "though, there would now be the question on where we are to stay? Cupple likely has control of our family home by now... and Megan and Jenny might have moved on to trying to turn our other neighbors... so it wouldn't be safe to go back there."