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Post by gantzgun74 on Nov 13, 2011 2:32:29 GMT -5
It looked like Gantz could care less in all honesty. He understood why he would be in a bad way, but that didn't lessen any sort of frustration in the slightest. Gene and Lilia looked nervous, but said nothing...
Rose in the meanwhile looked horrified. She knew very well that Kavma was more powerful then he may have appeared, and the fact that he was in a bad way more then made it clear how bad things were. Gantz put an arm around her to comfort her.
"Okay Evan, no more distractions." Gantz said resolutely. "Take us to Kavma."
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Post by doctorzero on Nov 13, 2011 22:18:18 GMT -5
"Right, come on."
Kaitlin kept her glare on Evan's back the whole time. He pretended not to notice.
"I heard you got a new Superior," she growled. Evan grunted.
"If you mean that b*tch Nabaat, then yeah. You met her yet?"
"Gantz has. Where the heck did you get her?"
"Ask her yourself. Here we are."
Evan had led them to a door backstage. He knocked on it.
"Kavma? They're here."
They could hear indistinct muttering behind the door. "Sure, one sec." Evan turned to them, saying, "He just wants to see you three first."
He pointed at Gantz, Max, and Kaitlin.
"What?!
"Listen," Max said stubbornly, "We either all go in, or--"
"Or what? This is KAVMA, kids. It's either this or nothing."
"OR we could just kick the crap out of you and go in when we're done using you as a mop," Kaitlin threatened.
Evan leaned forward. "You wanna bet?" There was a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "I could easily throw all six of you across the building with one finger. Go ahead. Try me."
Kaitlin hesitated. As much as she would've loved to smash this guy, she knew that there would be no point in having a fight. She glanced at Gantz. "...Fine."
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Post by gantzgun74 on Nov 13, 2011 22:39:47 GMT -5
Gantz looked to Gene and Lilia with a sigh. Gene responded with a shrug. "Well... I guess if that's how it's going to be... Whatever." He motions to the door. "Go ahead bro."
Gantz let out another sigh before he turned to Rosaline. The woman looked a bit confused as to what was going on, but seemed to accept that there was nothing she could do about it. Gantz smiled to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "No worries Rose. I'll be back before you know it."
She nodded. "Okay then."
Letting out a sigh, he looked to Evan. "I'm only giving you one warning Evan. I don't care how powerful you are. If you do anything to Rose or the others here, I'll blow you to kingdom come, regardless of how many times you break me. Kapeesh?"
Maybe it was just the finality of how he said it, or maybe his dark tone, but the group could honestly see him keeping that promise then and there.
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Post by doctorzero on Nov 13, 2011 22:48:49 GMT -5
Evan smirked. "Won't touch 'em."
"You'd better not," Max muttered. He and Kaitlin looked to A.J., who shrugged.
"I'll be fine, guys. Just be careful."
"When are we NOT careful?" Kaitlin asked.
Kavma's office was just about what they expected. It was rather spacious, with a fireplace on one wall and the others lined with bookcases. A large desk dominated the middle of the room.
Kavma had his back to them, staring at the fireplace. He made no indication of being aware of them as they entered.
Kaitlin gritted her teeth. Here was the man who had caused them so much anguish two years ago, and so much now.
"All right, we're here," she snapped. "You have a lot of explaining to do. You have NO idea how much I want to run over and break your neck, you sick little man. So start talking."
Kavma didn't respond. They were wondering if he was even listening when he turned to face them, expressionless.
They stared at each other for a few seconds. Kavma sighed. "Gantz. If you want, you may go ahead. Misty refrained, but perhaps you'd be more willing."
Kaitlin and Max were confused at first. Then they realized.
Wordlessly they both grabbed Gantz. "Sorry, Alex, but it's not worth it," Max said honestly.
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Post by gantzgun74 on Nov 14, 2011 0:54:12 GMT -5
Gantz looked moderately surprised when he heard Misty had refrained from punching his goddamn face in... If but a moment, before he nearly charged Kavma with an animalistic fury. Kaitlin and Max quickly held him back, Max stated his honest oppinion...
But that didn't sate him in the slightest.
"You know what?!? YOU ARE GODDAMN RIGHT... HE ISN'T..." He ripped himself away from Kaitlin and Max and glared at Kavma with enough raw hate to make magma seem cool by comparison. "But that... DOES NOT GODDAMN MEAN I'M THROUGH WITH THIS."
He stomped over to the man, his teeth gritting with some pretty extreme fervor. "Don't bother starting your stupid goddamn explanations. I was able to figure out enough of the story on my GODDAMN OWN thanks to Kaitlin and Max." He pounded a fist into his hand. "Was this your idea of a TEST?! Nightmare, maybe, what happened to him was well deserved... But WALLY?"
His energy spiked pretty badly at this. "YOU CROSSED A FUCKING LINE WHEN WHATEVER HAPPENED TO NIGHTMARE HAPPENED TO WALLY. EVEN IF HE DOES PHYSICALLY HEAL FROM THIS HE WILL NEVER MENTALLY HEAL FROM IT GODDAMN YOU!!!!!!!"
Before Kavma could speak, he cut him clean off. "That's what I would say if that was planned though wouldn't it? But that's just what makes this entire thing SO MUCH FUCKING WORSE, ISN'T IT? NOT ONLY WAS THIS FUCKING WEAPON OR SICKNESS OR WHATEVER NOT INTENDED TO BE PART OF YOUR PLAN, IT IS OUT THERE WITH SOME SHITSTAIN WHO MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW WHAT THAT THING IS CAPABLE OF DOING, DOING GOD ONLY KNOWS WHAT!!!! BUT PERHAPS THE WORST OF ALL OF THIS? [glow=red,2,300]IT WAS ONE HUNDRED PERCENT PREVENTABLE."[/glow] He growled even more after a moment, [glow=red,2,300]"DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ONCE YOU COULD DESTROY THE UNIVERSE IF YOU WANTED TO?!?! WELL WHAT GODDAMN STOPPED YOU FROM DESTROYING THE VERY THING, THAT CAUSED THIS GODDAMN MESS TO BEGIN WITH!?!?!?!? IT WAS SO OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING FROM YOUR R&D DEPARTMENT YOU FUCK... SO GO AHEAD... HUMOR ME, IF NOT FOR MY SAKE BUT FOR THE SAKE OF EVERYONE ELSE ON THIS GODDAMN FUCKING ISLAND WHO MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE ALREADY LOST THEIR FUCKING HOMES, AND MAY LOSE THEIR LIVES HERE JUST TO TOP IT ALL OFF!!!!!!!!!!"[/glow]
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Post by doctorzero on Nov 14, 2011 1:28:40 GMT -5
Kaitlin and Max took a step back from him, alarmed, though they didn't dare say anything.
Kavma's expression didn't change at all during Gantz's rant, and he never spoke a word until he was done.
"I will not deny that it was preventable."
That got their attention. "Then why didn't--" Max started.
"Because we didn't know."
There was silence for a moment.
"...You know, for someone who says they know a lot, you're kinda slipping," said Kaitlin. Kavma ignored her.
"And Gantz, while I know that I cannot give any excuse, we are not entirely responsible for creating D.E.V.A.--or at the very least the strain that infected Wally."
Kaitlin sucked in a breath. "That doesn't explain why you had it."
Kavma closed his eyes. "After the death of Demetrius, we sent men to his lab to take any notes or experiments he might have had, and terminated them, if required. One of the things we retrieved was several D.E.V.A. samples."
Perhaps it's best if I explain to you what exactly D.E.V.A. is, Gantz. Max, Kaitlin, I hope you will humor me for the next few minutes.
The Deviant Extraneous Viral Antigen (D.E.V.A.) was originally a type of medication designed to fight off certain bacteria--the specifics of that are unimportant now. When we put Dr. Demetrius Black in charge of the project, he discovered after some experimentation that, when D.E.V.A.'s genetic code was tampered with, it could work as a power source for a new type of equipment that was the focus of another project--the Data Gear. I'm sure you're familiar with the Demon models, you two, but I'll get to that soon.
Demetrius had joined us under the condition that as soon as the project had been completed--and not a moment before--we would help him locate the whereabouts of his sister. However, halfway through the project, he began to investigate himself, and managed to find her. He proceeded to leave us, though not before taking a large majority of the D.E.V.A. samples with him.
Now, you may think that we could've easily prevent this. Unfortunately, he chose to make his exit during a time where our attention would be totally occupied.
I am, of course, referring to the Subspace Incident.
He fell completely off the radar for the next two months, having found suitable lodgings in a sub-dimension known as the Tesseracts. There he continued to preform highly dangerous--not to mention immoral--experiments. He had lost his mind, you see, for he had discovered that his sister was dead, and he mistakenly believed that he could revive her.
Max, Kaitlin, you and Mr. Aubade know the rest. Demetrius's attack on that village, his abduction of that poor boy, what he did to him and what followed afterward. I am sure you remember that horrible form that boy had taken...the one with the eight tails.
Demetrius had tampered with D.E.V.A., mutating it into a form we would not dare to seek out. I have a hunch as to what drove him to creating such a bastardization of our original creation, but now what matters is that a highly dangerous virus had been created, and so, after his death, I sent Evan to bring it to me.
It could not be destroyed.
No matter what I did, it refused to yield. No matter what I threw at it, no matter how many laws I bent, that tainted virus could not die. Demetrius had created something that I could not affect.
And that frightened me. Can you imagine a threat that you cannot defeat? Something that will continue to return, regardless of what is done to it?
I was powerless against it. But before I could have it sealed away, it was stolen.
From right under my nose.
Kavma opened his eyes and looked directly at Gantz. "That answers one of your questions, I believe. The reason why I didn't have it destroyed is because I can't. Belittle me and insult me about it however you want, but it doesn't change the fact that the biggest threat on this island is in the hands of a man who has no regards to the life of any of us."
Max had stayed totally silent during Kavma's narrative, but now that he was done, he was reminded of the man in red. "That reminds me...that guy from the mountain. Who was he?"
Kavma raised a hand, silencing him, his gaze still on Gantz. "A moment, please, Max. Gantz? Anything you would like to say?"
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Post by gantzgun74 on Nov 14, 2011 1:50:31 GMT -5
....................................
....................................
....................................
....................................
Had this answered a good amount of Gantz's questions? Yes it did. He took in Kavma's story with morbid fascination, feeling like he learned more about the CRLMT then he would've EVER wanted to know. He was defused... If not for now, now that he knew that Kavma had already taken great lengths to try to destroy it, and had been planning on sealing it away...
But that just left one question that had yet to be answered... Or at least the one question that mattered.
At that second, he pulled out the miniature compartment he had removed from Zero's hat. "My mind is on the same thing. I'm not at all curious about your company's inner workings."
He opened the compartment and showed the scorched paper to Kavma. "Max managed to grab the hat off of this guy, and we found this inside. And with it all, the sighting, this paper, and what he did to Wally... WHO IS HE?"
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Post by doctorzero on Nov 14, 2011 2:06:21 GMT -5
Kavma's eyes widened. He took the paper before any of them could protest and examined it. "...how much of this did you read?"
"Anything that was readable," said Max. "But how is that important?"
Kavma continued to stare at the paper for a moment longer. He finally put the paper onto the desk, sighing.
"His real name I am not at a liberty to discuss. Any personal information is between he and I."
He looked up at them.
"He calls himself Zero."
Silence reigned, then Kaitlin broke it.
"Zero?" she said incredulously. "And what do you mean you aren't at a liberty to discuss it? How do you know him?"
Kavma directed his gaze at Gantz again.
...You once left your reality to enter ours. He--Zero--is the same as you.
Kavma had spoken to him telepathically--Max and Kaitlin couldn't hear him. They DID see Gantz's reaction, though.
"Alex?" Kaitlin asked, concerned. "Are you all right?"
Kavma shook his head. "This next step will be delicate, I see."
"What do you mean?" Max asked.
They don't know. Do you wish for them to know? Or do you want to keep it private? Choose however you wish, Gantz./i]
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Post by gantzgun74 on Nov 14, 2011 21:46:32 GMT -5
........ Gantz's eyes had widened in horror when Kavma let him in on that little detail. When he heard Kaitlin voice her concern, he quickly snapped out of it. "Oh uh, it's..."
He considered this a moment... Should he tell them? Rosaline and the all of Clan Highwind knew the truth... ... ... ... But...
He looked to Kavma.
Tell them where Zero's from... But please, don't tell them about me... I'll... I'll tell them myself sometime...
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Post by doctorzero on Nov 14, 2011 22:09:39 GMT -5
Kavma nodded. I shall respect your decision.
Kaitlin and Max were looking at Gantz with confusion and concern. "Gantz--?"
Kavma coughed, grabbing their attention. "If I may continue?"
"Uh, sure, right." Kaitlin looked a bit disgruntled. "Go ahead and enlighten us. Who's Zero? What does he want? And again--HOW do you know him?"
I'll give you the abridged version, but I hope you'll pardon me if I get a little long-winded again. I don't like being Mr. Exposition, but so be it.
Zero was, at first, simply an ordinary boy living an ordinary life--well, as ordinary as it can get, at least. He was the resident of a universe different from yours, you two. There, there was no such thing as Pokemon or magic or anything of the like. I suppose you can somewhat understand what his life was like, Kaitlin, knowing that yours was quite normal until you left home--but I'm getting off track.
There was an incident almost a decade ago--the specifics would be unimportant to you, but I will say that Zero's two siblings and his father died one day, and he, quite simply, did not wish to remain in his world any longer.
That is where I came in.
I approached the boy, offering him a choice--he could begin a new life in your world, free from that which burdened him, and allowing him to begin anew. There was a price for this, however.
If he wanted a new life in this world, he had to give up all memories of his former life, and receive new ones. In short, he required a prior life to match it.
I gave him two days to consider. When he spoke again, he had agreed. His memories were then replaced and he was situated in Beravel, the City of Diamonds.
"Hey, I think I've heard of that place," Kaitlin interrupted. "I heard somewhere that it had been destroyed or something, but there aren't any details about it."
Kavma simply blinked. "If I may continue, Miss Roslyn?" There was an edge of impatience to his voice.
"Right, go on."
Where was I? Ah, yes.
He was situated in Beravel, where he was the foster son of Rourk, Captain of the city's 21st Military Regiment.
He spent a number of years there, and his life was fairly normal.
One day, though, members of one of the city's patrols had come across a two-tailed fox--
"You mean Tails, right?" Max blurted out. "That paper had his last name on it! This Zero guy actually knew him?"
Kavma's eye twitched. "Do you want me to finish or not?"
Max looked sheepish. "...sorry..."
As I was saying, they came across a two-tailed fox. Yes, his name was Prower. No, it was not the 'Tails' you are all familiar with.
THIS Prower--Professor Prower, to be precise, PhD. in Engineering --was from another universe.
He paused and eyed them critically, daring them to interrupt him again.
MEANWHILE.
Evan leaned against the door of the office, staring at them with a critical eye. "So."
A.J. glared at him. "So what? What do you want?"
Evan shrugged. "Well, for one, I wanted to see you guys again under better circumstances. That would've helped. And I wouldn't mind if Miranda would actually have dinner with me for once. And it would be GREAT of someone would tell off that bitch whenever she--"
"Okay, okay, I get it!" A.J. said hastily.
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Post by gantzgun74 on Nov 14, 2011 22:48:22 GMT -5
Rosaline looked to Evan seeming a bit confused. "What are you talking about?" Really, she was still new to CRLMT and Jaron's friends and enemies, so Evan's little rant might as well have been in a foreign language. She shook off Evan after a second and looked to the door. "What do you think's going on in there? I heard Gantz shouting not too long ago."
Shaking his head, Gene looked to Rose with a touch of concern himself. "No surprise to me, Gantz was pretty damn pissed before we left home for here."
A nod was Rose's response. "Yes..." She let out a sigh. "We have had a difficult time here... But I have rarely ever seen him that angry before..."
"He's just stressed Rosie." Lilia said with a groan. "We all are."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gantz only remained quiet and continued to listen to Kavma. He figured he'd save all questions for afterwards. He made sure to remember the names he deciphered on that paper to ask after the explanation was over.
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Post by doctorzero on Nov 14, 2011 23:20:51 GMT -5
Kaitlin glared right back. "...go on..."
No more interruptions, please.
Professor Prower had been dumped there via interdimensional portal. He was brought back by the patrol, and interrogated by Rourk.
The professor had escaped from a universe that had been ravaged by an echidna known as Dr. Finitevus, a scientist--don't give me that look, Max--who sought to 'cleanse the world with fire', so to speak, via a chaos demigod known as Enerjak.
Enerjak needed a host in order to be summoned, however. And in order to do that, he required the professor.
I don't have the patience to explain in detail on WHY he needed him, so I hope you won't be too disappointed. Sadly, the Doctor and his army had followed the professor into your universe.
And they burned the city to the ground.
The only survivors were Zero, Rourk, the professor, and Ian, a soldier in the 21st Regiment. All of them were captured by the Doctor, but all of them (sans Rourk) succeeded in escaping. Zero swore vengeance against Finitevus, and attempted to hunt him down.
I assisted him in this endeavor.
They all stared at him. "...You helped him," Kaitlin said slowly.
Kavma pinched his nose. "May I PLEASE continue?!"
Zero's struggle was not unlike what you went through four years ago, Gantz. At the end of it, he and his companions succeeded in slaying Dr. Finitevus and Enerjak.
Consider for a moment. Enerjak is a demigod that had the power to singlehandedly destroy a massive city such as Beravel many times over. In fact, you might even compare him to Haze if you wish.
Zero and his companions slayed Enerjak, though barely.
And after that ordeal, I approached him again, offering him another choice. He could either stay, or return home, same as he left it, believing that everything he had endured had simply been a dream.
He paused again and looked at them expectantly.
Both Max and Kaitlin had tensed at the mention of Haze. They never wanted to hear that name again. EVER. "...Which did he pick?" Max asked hesitantly.
...
Neither.
He had been betrayed a great many times during his ordeal. When I made the choice, he believed I was lying also, and that I schemed to make him suffer.
"Smart guy," Kaitlin muttered, eyeing Kavma scathingly.
Kavma closed his eyes. "He was wrong. I had every intention of honoring our deal."
You could've heard a pin drop.
Kavma opened his eyes and looked at them directly. "I am now going to tell you exactly why it is I did what I did all those years ago. Judge me if you wish. Insult me? You are welcome. But I will not lie. And I will not ask for forgiveness--which is something I do not want, much less deserve. I am going to tell you the truth, as to why I antagonized Lucas, and I caused you all so much misery."
Evan rolled his eyes. "Nothing, forget about it. I had a rough week."
"Join the club," muttered A.J.
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Post by gantzgun74 on Nov 14, 2011 23:38:05 GMT -5
Gantz's eyes narrowed; at long last, he was going to get an explanation to the nightmare that had happened all of those years ago. No amount of explanations would ever make Gantz forgive Kavma, but he would at last have clarification as to just WHY it had played out as it had.
"Do share..."
He already knew a good amound of the story, being an intricate part in the conspiracy that made Futuropolis. But knowing Kavma's justification for his part in making the ending all the worse would perhaps make clear just what he hoped to achieve...
In otherwords, he only wanted to learn out of the sake of morbid curiosity.
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Post by doctorzero on Nov 14, 2011 23:56:38 GMT -5
Kaitlin sucked in a breath, while Max tensed. At last they would find out WHY he did those things, and WHY he and his henchmen had made their lives utter hell during that chaos.
"Go ahead," said Kaitlin.
"Yeah, tell us," said Max.
Kavma had no need to worry--they would NEVER forgive him for his actions. No matter what he told them.
"Very well. Allow me to ask you a question. Does the name Thadeus Lucon mean anything to you?"
What on earth did he mean by that? They were sure that--
Wait.
The three of them remembered something that Jaron had told them once...
Mr. Lucon was a quiet person back then. I rarely saw him, and when I did he didn't talk much. I think he spent most of his time in his house, doing whatever. He wasn't like the others, but I didn't mind him. I was always nice to him whenever I talked to him, but I always got this weird feeling about him, as if there was something off.
In retrospect, I think I understand why.
One day, I came home after playing with some friends. I was planning on helping Mom with dinner.
I came home to find Mr. Lucon holding a knife to her throat.
NOW they remembered. Jaron had told them about it near the end of that incident.
They never thought they would've heard that name HERE, of all places.
"How do you know him?" Max demanded. It's not every day that the name of a murderer came up in conversation.
Kavma placed his hands on the table, shifting some papers on it. "What I am about to tell you cannot leave this room. Only a select few know about it, and some of them comprise of Evan, Superior Nabaat, and myself."
Thadeus, quite simply, is hate given flesh.
Even calling him an 'it' would be inappropriate. He is an abomination, something so completely and utterly WRONG that he has no right to exist. He's more like a virus, or a cancer, or even a parasite, if you can even call him that.
I'm sure you're familiar with Haze, and Him, and all other horrible things that you have encountered over the past few years.
Thadeus is all of that and WORSE. He feeds on the hatred and suffering of all things--as mentioned, he is nothing BUT hate. More appropriately, he is what some of us call 'The World of Loathing'.
I once told you all that there were worst places that Hell itself.
The World of Loathing is what I referred to.
I dare not tell you any detail of that place, only that Thadeus is merely a representation of it.
Kaitlin and Max stared at him, wide-eyed. Sure, they had no reason to believe him, but this was not what they were expecting.
"...But...what does he have to do with..." Max began.
Thadeus feeds by assimilation. Then again, that's not really a word most would use for what he does.
When he 'assimilates' someone, that person ceases to exist. Not just that, he makes it so that they never existed to begin with. The result, quite simply, is a gaping hole in reality that must be filled or everything would collapse.
Some time before the events of the Subspace, there was a tyrant by the name of Shardon, who would've become involved in the incident.
Thadeus got to him first. You may believe that with such a threat out of the way, it would be one less thing to worry about.
But it left a void. And someone needed to fill it.
I chose to do just that. I was a much better alternative to either Thadeus or Shardon.
If I hadn't...Thadeus would've done it. And none of you would be standing here now.
He paused and looked at them. The looks on their faces were nothing but sheer horror.
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Post by gantzgun74 on Nov 15, 2011 0:07:01 GMT -5
............................
Gantz looked on at Kavma, his look so completely undiscernable, that it was impossible to tell what he was feeling by looking at him.
"So... Let me see if I got this straight... You made our lives hell, you terrorized millions of innocent people, including Lucas, me, my friends, and everybody else in the entirety of Toon Town... Because... You were protecting us from something far worse from happening?"
......................................
..........................................................
..........................................................................
................................................ And with that in mind... That meant....
They owed their lives to him in some sick fashion...
Now that Gantz thought about it... It always seemed like Kavma tried to push him to better himself... Sure the methods were... Extreme... But... In the end...
Those lessons allowed him to make the right choice
"...................."
Gantz decided to sit down on a nearby chest, this revelation was just too much to take in all at once...
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