#a leetle bit. he's just jokin' around

[schleckermaul]

BREAK & MAGIC (it's not magic, it's mad hatter)

been a while since i did one of these, huh? i wanna talk about a scene that shows a very specific part of break's powers, since i'm doing a re-read right now and it's stuck in my brain— when he traps oz and alice in a magic restriction circle after alice threatens sharon. contains him beating up two kids. read right to left.

there's a lot to be said about this, as always, especially considering spoilers down the line. however! i just wanna talk about this dumb circle. the fandom occasionally mistakes it for magic, but that's not what this is— it's the first time we see mad hatter at work.

to quickly rehash, mad hatter's power is to detect and destroy the powers of the abyss, which includes other chains, b-rabbit being one of those. break had already been aware of oz and alice sharing a body after oz was dropped out of the abyss. they saw the seal (oz wakes up with his chest bandaged), they saw b-rabbit's power consuming his body. he knew she was in there, so he prepared in advance. first, by having gilbert seal her powers with raven. second, this thing he calls a restriction field.

and it's a very neat display of mad hatter's powers, actually. break swishes his cane. he slams it into the ground. the circle activates. we know from later chapters that he's able to charge his sword with mad hatter's powers, if he's trying to avoid summoning it entirely. so, he activates the circle with a slam of his sword, mad hatter's powers within. you can also clearly see that in sharon being affected, as well, since she's contracted to eques, indicating this restriction is chain-related, thus abyss-related.

it's so precise and well-done, and it reveals just how good break is at his job if he wants to be. working for pandora, he's fought plenty of chains, but b-rabbit is a special exception— she has a human form, she has a personality. still, break figured out a plan, and executed it flawlessly. it's impressive. it establishes his competency despite his clown-ish act, as well as his ruthlessness.

he doesn't even have to unsheathe his sword, that's how potent mad hatter's power within the cane is, that's how confident he is in his own abilities. he's just playing! this is nothing to him, the challenge more the allyship he's trying to create, rather than the potential combat. we see that a few panels later, too, when a different chain breaks through the barrier between worlds.

and, of course, as always: protecting his lady throughout all of these encounters. sharon was never in danger for a single second of it, and she's aware of that. break's a powerful lil guy.