cowledcrusader | Second Night [Voice, Action]

Second Night [Voice, Action]

[...Too much time had passed. Investigations had run their course. Confident in his ability to discern the accuracy of all the accounts and evidence, it was time. Four murders, all with the same modus operandi. Two suspects, named, and clearly psychotic and careless. Kadaj and Yazoo, the Remnants of Sephiroth… like wild dogs demanding attention, they took their frustrations out upon the villagers, killing four innocents.

The Dark Knight has decided that it’s time to put these dogs down. Carefully drawing up the most powerful filters he can, he prepares to call for several meetings with various individuals of interest. Both in the case of Yazoo and Kadaj, as well as others…]

[Filtered 100% to John Stewart and Clark Kent]

…It’s time we met. House 46, three hours. It’s important. Do not be late.

[Filtered 100% to Winry Rockbell]

Miss Winry, I have a project I’d like you to work on. If you have decided you are willing.

[Filtered 100% to Terra Branford]

Terra, we need to talk. You, and you alone, have vital information needed to protect the village. I have several questions that I would like you to answer.

[Filtered 100% from Kadaj, Yazoo, Kefka, Yuber, Aku, Nu, Dilandau, Sephiroth, Blackbeard, Jin Kisaragi, Mercury, and other known villains.]

To the individual who gave an associate of mine a note concerning a certain individual’s gifting habits? I’d like to speak with you. [That means you, Erim.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Then we've got a plan. I'd say there's no time like the present, but I'm guessing you have a few other things you need to look into, don't you Batman? [He gives Bruce his usual "I don't know what you're up to but I know you're up to something look.]

I've worked with a material that will produce the desired effect you want before. Do you need more than one?

Kefka's threat to the village cannot be understated. Or underestimated. Currently he's playing the innocent game. Poorly.

You come from the same world. If anyone knows anything about the magic he uses, and how it could be stopped, it would be you.

The effect needs to be constant, even after it has come to rest. Think of it like a siren. And the more ear-splitting you can make it, the more effective it will be, so long as it causes no permenant hearing damage.

...A dozen units is adequate for now. Do not inform anyone what you are working on if you accept.

I'll see what I can come up with though I don't have my own workshop, and the smithy has a few other workers around. I won't tell them about what I'll be doing, but they're bound to catch me working. Anything that doesn't need to be done in the smithy I'll keep in the privacy of my room. How does that sound?

If you believe your coworkers can be trusted, it's fine. Your involvement in this will not be revealed. The fewer that know, the better.

[A pause.]

...I appreciate this, Miss Winry. What you're doing may help in stopping more tragedy from befalling the people here.

It'll be my pleasure, sir.

...I know more about him than anyone here, true. Though I think it's fair to say that if I knew how to stop him, I would have done so.

[Can't count that one time, since he came back in a week. Clearly uncomfortable, but not Batman's fault.]

I'll tell you what I know in hopes that something can be done, but...it's a long story. Where do you want to meet?

A place of your choosing. Though someplace private.

...I don't like crowds.

[That's his idea of trying to ease the tension slightly. It's not a very good one.]

Until we have a time and place, Clark and I can begin assembling the components for a prison cell. [It will take some good old fashioned sweat and toil to assemble it in the tunnels, but above ground it will be no difficult task for the two of them.]

I don't, either.

[Hm, can't exactly bring him home....]

There's a clearing just north of the town's center. I often use it to train.

I'll meet you there. Come armed as a precaution.

Contact me utilizing this filter when you've finished the prototype.

[He has a very specific, detailed filter drawn into the book. It should provide unerring security to Batman if Winry can reproduce it correctly.]

I'd like to test it personally when you believe it is ready.

[Suddenly, something comes back to his memory. People had indeed attempted this before. And it had worked. But...]

...That might not take too long. Though the Malnosso didn't set up secure cells in the tunnels, I believe someone else made the attempt. When the Medic vivisected someone named Klonoa.

I have not been down there to examine them yet, but I have my doubts they'll be secure to the degree we desire. First thing is to evaluate them and then strengthen them as needed.

By the time that's done I should have a plan to draw the Remnants into the open.

[Of course, Batman doesn't know Lloyd's skill at craftsmanship. The cells might very well be excellently made..]

Edited 2010-03-31 05:28 (UTC)

I always am.

[Telports there promptly and waits.]

Right. Me and John can look over whatever cells have been made while you get ready to bring them out. If there's nothing else we need to know, I'd like to get that done as soon as possible.

[John nods.] There's something else down there I want to look into anyway.

[And Batman will show up eventually. He'll show up unceremoniously out of the shadows, but come out enough into the open that Terra should be able to see him just fine.]

I'm sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances.

Edited 2010-04-04 08:52 (UTC)

[Terra takes a moment to peer at him, but after a moment, decides that he doesn't seem any more or less intimidating than Shadow. She's used to allies that cover part of their faces.]

So am I, though I understand the need to know about Kefka. He's not my favorite subject, I'll gladly share information if it helps defeat him.

[She tilts her head.]

How much do you know? So I don't have to repeat what you do....

Quite a bit. Subtlety isn't one of his strong points. ...And he's not a very good liar for being someone who likes to manipulate people.

He's a magician with exceptional skill and power. Despite his attempts to appear otherwise, to say he was mentally unstable would be an understatement. He said he was artificially infused with the power of magic, a process which he developed and claimed left him pallor. I think it's a source of his insanity. Not the only one, however. He claims to have known you and taken care of you over the years. I find it unlikely, given his... previous actions, in Luceti.

He's made no attempts to hide his interest in you. I believe you may hold a key to his defeat.

...Otherwise, I know little of his true history back in your dimension. And I do not know how his magic works, its source, or how it can be stopped. You are the only one who can know all of these answers.

Edited 2010-04-05 00:41 (UTC)

[There's obvious discomfort though not surprise as he mentions Kefka's interest in her. She fidgets, though nods.]

Let me clarify a few things. It's a long story, so I'll try to be as brief as I can. Kefka was a high-ranking member of the Gestahlian Empire, a rapidly expanding one that sought to conquer the world. To this end, they sought more sources of power and ended up discovering beings of magic, called Espers. The Espers had sealed themselves away in another realm after a cataclysmic war, but somehow, Emperor Gestahl breached it and stole away some of the Espers.

Thanks to his scientists, he found a way to drain their power and infuse it into a human. Kefka...he was the first experiment; he did not develop the process, that was the deed of Cid Del Norte Marquez. At first, it worked really well, giving him the power they sought, but the process was imperfect and it eroded his mind. He lost his position as General and was demoted to Court Mage--still important to the Emperor, though, and given an outlet for his increasingly inhuman behavior.

[She pauses to let that sink in, tension rising a little as she knows what she would have to explain next. Her previous words had a slight sense of detachment to them, since she hadn't borne witness to the facts told. However, this next part included her memories and it would be harder to speak impartially.]

As for my part in his past, he lied again. I was in his custody, but...I wouldn't call anything he did to be considered 'taking care of me'. The Emperor gave me to him for us as...a guinea pig, and a living weapon. When they wanted greater control over me, he built a device to control my mind. He controlled me completely with it for a time, using me to further his own bloodlost. Its power was such that upon removal, I had no memories at first. Even now, there's a lot I don't remember.

Edited 2010-04-05 20:13 (UTC)

[...Good lord. This was worse than he feared. It's bad enough that he reminded him of the Joker, let alone the Mad Hatter on top of it. Terra might notice Batman's eyes widen at the story. ...And when he saw her turn into that purple creature shortly after his arrival? Was that a side effect of the infusion as well? He's not hiding the disgust in his voice though.]

...So the Gestahlian Empire used living, sentient beings as a method to gain magical power? And that's the source of his actual power?!

[He pauses for a moment, allowing emotion to slowly ebb from his face. Though the stoic facade is not quite back to what it once was.]

And I take it you were given that infusion when Kefka used you as a pawn?

Edited 2010-04-06 00:54 (UTC)

[And then Terra realizes the corner she's painted herself into. It would be easy to lie, to say that was what happened. Then again, perhaps he might sense it or learn otherwise and refrain from trusting her word further. Omitting certain facts seemed to be the best way to protect herself, but if she starts fabricating the truth, then where does it stop? And how would she then get people to believe her over Kefka?

Her shoulders sag and she shakes her head.]

No. I had never been infused.

[And that right there probably says more than she realizes, not having known he had been watching her that one night.]

...I should continue. There's more to his deeds than brushes with magitek. In the more recent past, he destroyed an entire kingdom by poisoning their water supply. The Empire would have 'merely' lain siege to it, but the general in charge was called away, only to be replaced by Kefka and his inhumane tactics.

Somehow, Kefka had learned that the gaining spells from magicite, the crystallized remains of a dead Esper, was a far more efficient path than infusion. He collaborated with the Emperor in a ruse, making supposed overtures of peace to the Espers, only to lure them out of hiding and kill them, absorbing their powers. When General Leo protested, Kefka tricked him through use of his illusions and killed him.

[She tries to force away that pained expression, returning to that calmer demeanor. The memory of Leo's death will probably always hurt, but sharing more than the bare facts is too personal.]

And...that's not even the worst he's done.

[Never been infused. That meant her powers were natural and innate. ...Was she one of those Espers herself? The possibility danced in Batman's head, but that wasn't what was really important right now. And even that were the case, ultimately it meant very little in stopping Kefka.

But these stories... if they were true, they painted a picture as grim as he might've feared. This just kept getting worse. Poisoning a kingdom, then performing a military action like that?]

What was the worst?

[He had a bad feeling about it. But he had to know. To learn what he was capable of absolutely. Countering the magic is the next step.]

Kefka eventually turned against even the Emperor and killed him, during that time also moving the statues preserving the balance of our world out of alignment, destroying that balance and provoking a world-wide catastrophe. Thanks to this, the world's topography drastically changed and many lives were ended. He absorbed the statues' power, becoming akin to a god himself.

[She bites her lip and looks down.]

I don't know much about after that point, because I'm from a point in time when that just happened. My friends said we defeated him, but we must have had far more powerful magic at our disposal for that, magic that I don't personally know or can gain, here.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 2 of 2

Second Night [Voice, Action]

[Action]

Voice | Filter

[Filtered]

Voice | Filter

Voice | Filter

Voice | Filter

Voice | Filter

[Filtered]

[Filtered]

[Action]

[Filtered]

[Filtered]

Voice | Filter

[Action]

[Filtered/Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action, sorry for the fail in tagging. D:]

[Action, and no problem!]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]