[NETWORK] Death of the old world, let the rule of strength begin!

[warped_ken_amada]

[Soon after a dead Falcon appears in the Velvet Room...]

I have observed this dimensional crossroads and I have been disappointed. So many of you have been blessed with great individual power, the ability to change the world, and you all squander it.

Wake up! The world you are living in is based on nothing but lies! The "rules" and "morality" are not necessary things to live in society, but cowardly artifices used by weak men to exploit others despite their lack of strength! The root of everything, what allows you to take action, what arbitrates conflicts, is power. Even the modern societies of lies are based upon it! They rely on the collective power of the masses to uphold their rotten structure! But we are beyond that.

A new age is beginning. The old world is dying, and a newer, fairer world dawns! The collective power of the masses which has allowed such perversion is weaker than our own individual, gifted power! Break the shackles of the old societies! Tear them apart! Rebuild them anew, under the rule of strength, as they were always meant to be! You who are gifted with strength, take your righftul places as rulers!

Or oppose me if you wish, but be aware that I am in a league of my own. Your robotic friend thought himself strong, and look what happened to him. In the end, you are my inferiors. Keep that in mind, and we should get along fine.

Comments

[seekerofjustice]

And so Dove obliges, waving aside his sword, and raising his hand to his mask.

Perhaps he should note Ken's response and its implications... but alas, he's too ticked off for that.

"Megaton Raid!!!"

With possibly the loudest, rawest shout he's released from his lungs, Robin Hood appears, raising his bow with a shining arrow towards Ken... and letting it loose, flying towards him with tremendous speed as Dove just watches with a dark look in his eye, his face in shadow with his mask lowered from his face.

Such a familiar feeling, he finds. Letting loose this foreign, and yet oh so right feeling... This is who he is, isn't it? Or...

...He's not really sure, losing himself in the heat of the moment. He's...

[warped_ken_amada]

The impact of the arrow is just harmlessly absorbed. But even if Ken wasn't immune to it, it looks far weaker than the attacks the robot did.

"Wrong answer."

Suddenly, he teleports right next to Dove and grabs his arm.

"Don't waste my time like this. You had neither strength nor smarts, what did you think you would achieve? Go home and rethink your life."

CRACK

Through enormous strength, he squeezes the forearm until the bone breaks.

"You're lucky that I have some pity for fools. You're getting off lightly."

On this, he disappears. It's like he never was here at all.

[seekerofjustice]

Dove snaps out of his fleeting and contradictory rage and glee when Ken disappears. His eyes widen, but before he can truly react, he feels Ken's grip on his sword arm.

"...?! What are you...?"

Ken's grip tightens as he speaks, growing more and more unbearable. Try as Dove might to wrestle his arm away, he's unable to, and soon enough his arm bends in just the wrong manner in tandem with the loud crack of the bone.

His attempts to remain silent, to avoid crying out, are all but forgotten in the pain as Ken disappears, letting him loose.

Dove falls to his knees, trying to regain himself... but as soon as he looks up again, Ken is gone.

Dove accomplished absolutely nothing except making a fool of himself.

And Dove just stares ahead... until finally he breaks the silence by slamming his good arm's hand, balled into a fist, against the ground.

"FUCK!"

[thedevilinyourdetails]

In times like these, Spades can think of only one word: Goddamn.

Sums up just about everything, really. His hands work at his grappling hook, twirling and whooshing it through the stale, musty air; he drops down from the ceiling like he just realized gravity works the other way around. "Hey."

[seekerofjustice]

It takes a quiet moment for Dove to respond, but he slowly lifts himself back up, trying to return to standing with his broken arm. His sword has fallen to the ground, and he has to hold his shoulder rather than pick it up.

He doesn't quite look at Spades, but it's most likely apparent the fire has faded, leaving him quiet and defeated.

"...Akira. I... presume you saw all of that, then."

He says that in a hushed tone, his head lowered. He begins turn to face Spades, a small frown on his face that betrays his previous rage. It has all but faded, lost to the pain and misery of defeat.

"I apologize. That was very... unbecoming."

He starts to walk towards Spades, but he finds it difficult to meet his eyes. An intense feeling courses through him, one he doesn't really understand. It's... bad.

He wants to hide away. Because he failed. He made a fool of himself. He's... ashamed. Embarrassed. Horrifically so.

He can't help but be just a tad pale as he simply stops before Spades, trying to force his frown into a smile.

"What brings you here? If there's something you need help with, I'd be glad to assist..."

[thedevilinyourdetails]

I apologize. That was very unbecoming...

"No." Akira grabs Dove's face. "Look at me. No."

[seekerofjustice]

Dove doesn't pull away as Spades grabs his face, instead finding his eyes finally looking at his face, and finally into his eyes.

"...? Akira?"

He wasn't expecting it, to say the least, and finds himself trying to snap out of his surprise in order to form a proper response.

"...What do you mean, exactly?"

He tries to keep himself under control. He lost himself in intense a moment just a moment ago, and what did it result in? A broken arm, intense shame, and a hint of exhaustion to go with it... as well as a bruised ego.

He doesn't want to lose himself in that anger, that desire for revenge. In the moment it felt strangely satisfying, but now he just feels so hollow. Was it even worth it?

"..."

The attempt at a smile begins fading, giving way to a more neutral expression on his face.

[thedevilinyourdetails]

"Not unbecoming." Akira stares him dead in the eyes. "Ill-advised? Sure. Impulsive? Probably. But not unbecoming. Normal. Becoming." He leans in, conspiratorially, a hint of humor in his voice. "Kinda hot, even."

He leans back out. "Anger is okay. Feeling it is ok."

[seekerofjustice]

Dove hears Spades' words, and he finds himself still uncertain on what to say. Still reeling on the various emotions he still struggles to entirely process, he actually blushes oh so slightly when Spades says it was kind of hot. He certainly wasn't expecting that part, and he can't help but crack a small smile as he lets out a small, quiet chuckle.

"...You truly are..."

His smile grows a bit larger, and he shifts slightly as he holds his head up a bit more properly.

"You never cease to amaze me, Akira. It's moments like these that lead me to cherish our friendship as much as I do. Truly."

He closes his eyes...

"...When I saw Falcon-san's state, I found myself horrified. I consider him a friend, and to see him like that, I began going through the worst possibilities."

His smile fades.

"...'If he killed one of them, what would he do to the others? I need to intervene. I won't allow them to get away with what they did to Falcon-san. I'll end this before it happens again.' Suddenly, that feeling of rage overcame me, and I found myself unable to think about or able to feel anything else. In that moment, I felt... natural. I think I was myself, even for just a moment."

[thedevilinyourdetails]

"Good," he replies, simply, something soft coming over his features. He lets go of Dove's face and scoops him up. "Now, let's get topside. Think Falcon should be back by now."

[seekerofjustice]

"Akira...?!"

Dove was not expecting to be scooped up like that, and winces slightly as his broken arm shifts just a bit.

"...Yes, of course. We need to see how Falcon-san is doing as soon as we can."

He does linger on his arm for a moment, but... well, it should heal as soon as he leaves Mementos... right?

[thedevilinyourdetails]

That's what Akira's banking on, too. He uses a piece of cloth from his coat to stabilize Dove's arm, then they're off, whipping through Mementos back to the surface courtesy of Spades' grappling hook.

[seekerofjustice]

Soon enough the duo make it back to the surface, and quickly enough return to Tokyo proper. There's a quiet pause as Dove lingers for a second, frowning as he focuses on his arm. He gently tries to move it, and...

"...!"

He bites his tongue, doing his best to keep a look of pain from crossing his face. Moving it is painful, just as it was in Mementos.

"...Something's amiss. Injuries don't linger outside of the Metaverse, but my arm is still unable to move."

Whatever Ken did, the pain remains outside the Metaverse. But how? Dove can't help but linger on it, trying to come to any reasonable conclusion. A cognitive effect, perhaps? Or perhaps some other trait related to his own powers...? He needs more information before he can narrow it down.

[thedevilinyourdetails]

Akira takes a deep breath of fresh air and grins. "See? You're..."

And. Well. That is a broken arm.

"Uh." A pause. He's...strangely vulnerable. "Velvet room. We'll figure this out there. I can splint it, push comes to shove..."

[seekerofjustice]

Dove looks back to Akira, and nods. That's really all they can do, isn't it?

"That sounds like a good course of action. Thank you, Akira."

He actually does offer a smile as he says that, though it's clear the situation still weighs on his mind a bit.

"...Though, are you certain I'm not distracting you from anything? I can only imagine you were in Mementos for a reason."

[thedevilinyourdetails]

"I'm spending my days here running a drag bar for cognitions," Akira deadpans with a glimmer in his eye. "Not much on my schedule."

[seekerofjustice]

Dove actually can't help but let out a small chuckle at that one.

"Ah, that's quite true, isn't it? With that in mind, this may have instead been one of the more exciting things to have happened all day."

Still, the deadpan humor is enough to lift his spirits a bit. Not to mention it's always fun to banter.

[thedevilinyourdetails]

"Exciting is a way to put it, definitely," Akira grins and steps through a door to the Velvet Room. "Looks like we're here."