<If that's the price to protect my companions, so be it. I wish I could save them all, but if it's either you or everyone else, I'll pick them. No River, I'll take you with me rather than go quietly to my death. Especially if you're right and this isn't some kind of mind control - this is the real you.>
<River, remember when I acted treacherously at the tower? The moment you're using to justify your actions? Riddle me this. You've felt now what it's like when I fight back, when I resist you. Why didn't I resist then? I stood still without dodging and willingly let you into my mind when you chose to stop me that way instead of physically. >
I give him a pause to respond, but I interrupt him as soon as he starts to give a wrong answer to dodge the question.
<It's because I knew I needed to be stopped. My goal was to stop you from hurting yourself. When you focused on me, you avoided causing yourself harm. I knew what I was planning to do was wrong, but trusted my companions to know to stop me, and made sure they could when the time came. I had to make my actions real or they wouldn't have stopped you, but I also needed to fail.>
<It's your turn River. This. Is. Wrong. You needed to stop me from talking publicly about what I saw. You got that. I swear, if you let me go, that I'll keep quiet for a while longer, and seek you out privately in my fox-form to ask my questions.>
<We need to talk River. Just talk. Without all the threats and without you strangling me yet AGAIN because I ask questions to try to learn. But what you're doing now is destroying our last chance to just talk this out. If I'm rescued without you letting me go on your own, then we aren't going to be friends anymore. I'm not sure you ever actually were a friend to me at all, but I've been doing my best to be one to you. But you've assaulted me, choked me, strangled me, and now you're trying to eat me alive. That's not the actions of a friend or companion River. That's the actions of an abusive monster. As much as I've scared you, I've never actually caused you or any of my companions physical harm. I've said some mean words, but that's the extent of the damage I've done.>
<I've told you all my secrets, I've put myself in harms way to protect you. You, in return, have attacked me over and over again. This is your last chance. If you don't stop of your own free will, then I will see to it that you never get close to my friends. Never have the opportunity to do to them what you've been doing repeatedly to me. I will protect Theri from you River, and make sure that you NEVER see her again. Because if I let you get near her, you'll do to her what you've done to me. And friends don't let friends get abused and murdered like that. Right now, the thing most likely to hurt Theri is you. And if I have to die to save her from the monster that you're choosing to become, then SO BE IT!>
If he doesn't let me go then I shift to Hybrid form. without any flames, at all, to support the change from my smallest form to my largest. Lets see how he likes being encased in ice with me.
As he stops me from doing that, I generate all the fire I can directly ON TOP OF us both, and immolate us both alive.
And when he shifts to suppressing THAT, then I go after his mind, assaulting him with images of pure creation. He's shown himself to be a creature of void, but I have within me the memories, the thoughts of a goddess that created a universe. I form an entire universe in his mind, assaulting him that way too.
and as THAT is forced back, I switch back to physically clawing and biting and scratching at him, attempting to free myself or at least cause him as much harm as I can, screaming telepathically to all that can hear and screaming verbally as well in the way that foxes can.
and so on, going on the attack and constantly switching the style and basis of my assault upon River, only showing self-preservation in the mental war and maintaining my own identity, which is still paramount since if that breaks down then his essence will suppress all of me. I remind myself that I am a creature of creation and change, burning eternally, and shove that concept, the reality of reality itself and my presence in it against and through River's power of void, creating from nothing versus nothingness applied to creations.