[Twi] Twilight VI; Sanity's Requim

[AnimeKid]

Ganon


"Because it is what I am, and what I am meant to be."

[doliest]

Ganon
"Answer....acceptable. Mindset is one of apathy and disregard in favor of personal advancement. Power can be provided."

[Cracklord]

Bakura
The catboy has appeared again. He jumps in, says whatever The Major tells him to, then disappears once more to get more instructions. He sits beside you, swinging his legs. He's holding a chessboard. Games. The entire world can be boiled down to games, every action, no matter how primitive, is at it's most fundamental nothing more then a game. That's why childrens trading cards are so important. "The thing is, any deal you make... well, it's not worth it. Because it's not your power. It's still his, he's just letting you play along. What if he should grow displeased and decide to strip you of it?"
He walks closer. "I have a better idea. Come with me, and we'll show you real power. The sort you can't even dream about, and we won't ask for a thing in return. Not even your obedience."

Avengers
They had forgotten the sniper. Rip's bullet hits the missile midflight, blowing it to pieces harmlessly, well out of range of any of them, and then continues on to Tony. It hits him three times, then finds a weakspot at his shoulder joint, and rattles around against his body in his armor, hitting his chest again and again. Blood begins to ooze out.
Alhambra moves to intervene, clumsier then usual, and the shield hits the dandy man in the face. To a man who can shrug off bullets it should have barely fazed him. Instead, a strange thing happens. It takes his head clean off, killing him instantly, and Red Skull has to throw himself to the ground to avoid the incoming shield.
Faith. Not Faith in God but faith in people. Faith in the world, faith in symbols, freedom, democracy, the American dream. Hope. Hope that will never go out. To Steve Rodgers, Captain America, an American Flag might as well be the shroud of Turin. Alhambra doesn't have a chance at the unexpected attack, turning to ash in an instant. The shield misses it's trajectory and does not return, hitting the roof and skidding over the edge.
The Millenium agents don't seem concerned by the death of one of their own. They simply stare at Rogers, smiling, as though the loss of their team mate was of no consequence. To them, it wasn't.
Red Skull takes two steps forward. "Well then, Captain, it seems you fell for my bait. How tiresomely expected. In exchange for these specimens, I have agreed to inhume you as humanely as possible. That's one promise O shall take a certain pleasure in keeping."
It's chilling, the way he says the words. Any other villain wouldn't believe it, their fortune, and be gloating as much as possible at the defeated symbol of American freedom. Red Skull sounds ready to move on to the next challenge, as if he's already forgotten you.

[doliest]

Avengers
The Captain looks at Skull, and spits at him, "No dictator.....no monster can defeat or conquer the people of this world. There is no greater power in this world than the need for freedom. Against that power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand. Your kind learned this lesson once. We will teach it to you again. Mark my words, at the end of this day, and every day to come, we will be free!" He stands defiant, the greatest hero, maybe not in strength, but in will.

[Cracklord]

Red Skull
He doesn't dignify that with an answer. Instead he waits patiently for him to finish speaking, then removes a serviceable gun, which he patiently loads, examines and the pulls back the action. He points it at Steve, a lazer-sighting dot appearing over his heart.
"What is this mad obsession with freedom? It's the least of the necessities." He says, by way of farewell. "Stability, clear direction, advancement, these things are all more important. It's been a long time coming, but worth the wait I assure you."
Before he can pull the trigger, the unexpected happens. One does not become a hero of Iron Man's caliber without a certain amount of resilience and strength in the face of adversity. Iron Man, for all his faults, is an exceptional hero. Collapsed on the roof, lifts his arm canon and, shaking, barely able to steady his aim, fires, blowing a chunk out of Zorrin's torso. He then collapses. He's lost a lot of blood, and he'll probably never hold a pen again and breathe without help, let alone walk unaided even if he survives.
But he'd done more then enough. She staggers, losing her concentration, and the illusion ends. Thor snaps out of it, and roars in anger, his mighty bellow a challenge, a defiance and fury all at once.
But Red Skull is not caught unprepared either. He activates the Tesla Coil, and the air thrums as blue sparks dance up and down it. With it, he stole the Lightning...

Bakura
"Are you going to be this?" He holds up a pawn. "Or this." He holds up a King. "A pawn can be the most powerful piece on the board. It can become anything, when the situation is right. But it still can't do anything without a king."
The catboy leans close. "Why play by his rules? Why not start your own game?"

La Push
The town is probably destroyed by now. Unless the other werewolves got involved, but as they aren't really cut for this sort of warfare I don't see what effect they could honestly expect to have, as bullets can hurt them so they are well out of their league.
The Zeppelin lands, unloading the remainder of it's weaponry and machines. It has everything, from experimental devices left over from the Reich to every strange, occult device imaginable acquired from a variety of places and periods in human history.
There was also the finest, state of the art rockets from Stark Industries and experimental super weapons and robotic soldiers from Lexcorp, acquired by Red Skull. They proved a strange and terrible contrast.
It has been just under an hour, and Forks and La Push are so much slag and ruins. But Washington is a big state, and they have nine hours to finish the job and deal with the entire state before they fall behind schedule.

Samus
"Good to hear." He closes communication. He didn't give you any orders. It seems you are free to follow your own discretion.

Ganon
"Acceptable. Now return to the Zeppelin. I wish to resume our talk." Those words were all the more menacing as you have no idea if he wants to talk, or be angry and summary execute you on account of you failing to 'show enthusiasm and decorum expected of an officer of your rank.'
Whats worse, you don't know which one you'd rather.

[Colesign]

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins is not in a subtle mood: She snaps her fingers, and with a Psychokinetic tug, the door is yanked out of it's hinges and set aside. She walks into the room and takes a look around.

"Well," she says, "this is quite a mess."

[The Shoveler]

Bakura
(I would assume the conversation with the Horseman is in his mind)
He wasn't going to be a pawn. He was the living manifestation and apostle of Zorc, King of Darkness. His will was his will, and no amount of power could change that (except the chips, of course), not even from a Horseman. He accepts the power the Horseman gives him.

[Draxx]

The Joker
Getting out of the car, The Joker staggers back, smashing into the car behind him as his ears bleed from the intensity of the shout. Two of his henchmen stagger and collapse, their hands desperately clutched to their ears and trying to block out the sound, much good may it do them.
Then she falls silent, and gets back to his feet. He can't hear, there is only a buzzing of white noise, and he's having some trouble balancing. He's bleeding on the forehead, and take my advise, greasepaint and blood are not a pleasant ting to mingle.
Taking a baseball bat, he steps over to her and clubs her. Hitting somebody over the head is not neat. It might even cause serious, permanent harm.
Then he takes the communicator out of her ear, and speaks into it. He can't be sure, because he can't hear the sound of his own voice, but he intends it to go something like this:
"Testing. Is this thing on? Nevermind, it's all the same. I have Canary in hand, which is better than any number in the bush, and U'm getting bored. And when I get bored, who knows what I might do? Are you going to let me turn her inside out, or are you -"
He's cut off.

Freddy Kruegar
As Mary Poppins comes back inside, she happens to glance at a mirror. Her reflection stares back at her, then suddenly it's not her. Renesmee looks out of the glass, her lips cracked, swollen and bleeding, her nose broken and bloody holes where her eyes should be that seem to stare at you condemningly.
'Help me' she mouths, then the mirror cracks into a thousand pieces.

[Cracklord]

La Push
The wolves circled him, growling under their breath, and trying not to let him see how afraid they were. It wasn't working.
The captain's face shifted, becoming wolf-like, and he spread his arms and hands to reveal claws. He was going to have to kill them all.

Back at the Nazi forward base, corpses jerked to life to a 'danse Macabre' as their unholy new lives begun. One by on, they stood up and began roaming around, looking for prey.

[darkblade]

Oracle

"Okay so it seems he has some kind of ability to forsee the future, as well as into our minds." Oracle frowns.

"It looks like we are dealing with some kind of magic, I never seen a science based meta this powerful short of the New Gods."

She then gets Batman's message which she forwards to J'onn.

Following that she gets the Joker's message, amusing before it is finished there it is interupted by the sounds of fists flying. Thats comforting news at least.

Black Canary

"Yeah I don't think so." Canary spins over onto her good shoulder part way through the Joker's speach and sends a foot towards the clown's jaw.

"I've played hostage before. Not anymore."

Kirby

"That confuses me. Eating is like mating, it is a truly intiment experience. You wouldn't mate with cows or pigs."

Atem

Atem surveys the ruins of the city and frowns. There was little for him here and he had no way home. So he starts walking in a random direction, trusting in the heart of the cards destiny to provide him with an option or two.

[Draxx]

The Joker
Not expecting her to wake up so quickly (did he hit her wrong or something?) he is caught unprepared, and doubles over as the kick sinks into his relatively soft midsection, wheezing theatrically, a bit more then was strictly necessary.
The sole remaining, muscular goon steps up and throws a punch at her, hoping to get her before she can get to her feet and knock him around. Being beaten up by an attractive girl wasn't going to look good on his goon resume, even if she was a superhero.
The Joker rights himself, and pulls out a straight edge razor, having dropped his gun and not being willing to spend the time looking around for it.
Besides, he's always been a fan of the personal approach.

[darkblade]

Canary

One of the first lessons she was taught be several of her many sensi were how to roll with a blow, slightly more elaborate were the lessons to fake unconsiousness convincingly.

Unless the goon was significantly smarter than he looked he probably wouldn't be prepared for the superheroine from slidding across the ground and pulling his feet out from underhim. Although this manuver does leave her one the ground and with one wounded shoulder slowing her down she won't be at her fastest when the Clown makes his move.

[Draxx]

Joker
Bob is not smarter then he looks. If he was, he wouldn't be working for The Joker. He's not even a good fighter despite his size, he's just never really learned it's wrong to keep hitting people long after they lose consciousness.
He goes down, smacks his back against the car hard, and groaning.
The Joker snaps the razor open, and lashes at her face. When she catches his wrist, he laughs and something metallic moves beneath his sleeve. A green gas sprays out from inside the sleeves of his coat. Not laughing gas, they've all had there shots. Good old fashioned condensed tear-gas, with a few modifications to account for the smaller dose.
He may not have the same wonderful toys as Batman, but he gets by.

[darkblade]

Black Canary

Tear Gas, that was the usual Joker fare. Not very funny. None the less she is caught by it the gas and starts hacking uncontrollably as her lungs start to temporarily sieze and her vision starts to blur, she more or less defenseless now.

[Draxx]

The Joker
"No, it's not very funny. But then, I've been starved for inspiration lately. Even a genius like myself can only do so much with so little."
He muses, then handcuffs her. There are two schools of thought about how to handcuff somebody. Some say you should handcuff the hands behind them, others infront. You can't see what they're doing if you don't do it infront, but someone with their hands in front of them has a lot of freedom.
That in mind, he handcuffs them behind her, duct tapes her mouth closed and her legs together, then puts her in the back of the trunk where she won't have room to move anyway. He then picks up the transmitter again. "Sorry about that, she got a little carried away. But we sorted it out reasonably, you don't have anything to worry about. She'll be home a little late, I offered to buy her dinner. See you soon."

[Colesign]

Mary Poppins

She stops and stares at the broken mirror. "I warn you a third time: leave Renesmee alone. I can't kill you, but then again, there are so many ways I can deal with you without killing."

She thumbs her nose, beckons the real Renesmee to her side, then turns to face whatever's in the room.

{So what's in the room? Is it deserted, wrecked: does it contain Edward, Bella, the Major, Ganon, or what?}

[Draxx]

Freddy
No answer. Freddy is letting you stew, letting you worry about him closing in, not knowing when he's going to strike.
Half the pleasure is anticipation, afterall.

[darkblade]

Oracle

"Well that figures." Oracle mutters as she catches the tail end of Joker's message.

She returns to Batman and Spider-Man "Where are you Batman?"

Careful not to use his real name, he's with a hero not in their usual circle of friends. Not aware of all the secret identies in play here.

***

Black Canary

"Frmk ummh" Canary says through her makeshift gag. She struggles uselessly against the binds for now. She had Mr. Miracle train and equip her to escape handcuffs but she can't do it with the Joker standing over her so for now she is at his mercy.

[Draxx]

The Joker
"Not going to happen, I'm way out of your league." He replies, bundling her into the trunk. "Now, your friends are probably worrying, but don't worry, I told them not you're OK, and that we agreed to settle this like rational human beings who don't feel the need to use violence as our every option. That sound good to you?"

[Colesign]

La Push is a small town, known mainly for the presence of the local Quilette tribe and some sweet shores. Soon it would go down in history as one of several towns in Washington state to be utterly wrecked and slaughtered by the Vampire armies of Millenium.

La Push is a small town, but it still has alleyways, nooks, and concentrations of buildings where people can hide. At least for a time.

A young girl, who just a few hours ago would have been thinking about her future after graduation, fled down a alley, hoping to outrun the monsters that fell behind her.

No such luck. There was a blur of motion behind her, then a pale, smirking man in SS uniform caught her by the hair and cruelly smacked her against the wall. Her scalp was bleeding as she fought to pick herself up: she wound up crawling, retching and sobbing across a chalk drawing of the classic La Push coastline. The vampire laughed, then blurred again, seizing the girl's head and shoulders, baring her neck, mouth opening to show razor sharp teeth...

Then his head flew back, blood pouring out of it. With a choke and gargle, he looked down to see the tip of a wooden stake poking out of his chest. Then he collapsed limply, releasing the girl. She picked herself up, and looked up to see Burt, holding a mallet with a big steel head.

He was draped in necklaces and bandoliers of garlic, crosses, and saint's medalions, and a cricket bat, and what looked like a chimney sweep's bristles, poked out of the knapsack he wore. A flat cap and what looked like ash on his cheeks completed the picture.

He gave a polite smile, then spoke in a thick Cockney accent. "W'll nhow, Dis is what you Muight call a "fortuitous circumstance". What be yer name, dear, if it please you?"

[darkblade]

Black Canary

"I'm higher leauge than that Quinzel slut." Dinah thinks but doesn't say it outloud. Thats the kind of thing that wouldn't translate well through gag speak.

[The Shoveler]

Mercer
He's gliding over the city, looking for resistance to the Nazi movement, absorbing the smoke from the burning city to increase his mass. He was almost at Critical, and it was only going to go higher. It's then that he spots Burt and the dead soldier. He'd found a suitable target. He lands 10 yards away from Burt, clearly in his line of sight.
"I see you come heavily equipped," is all he says, standing in the same spot and not seeming to move as the smoke in the air seems to swirl around him.

[Draxx]

The Joker
He'd be flattered if he heard you think that. He didn't however, owing to not having the ability to read minds. He just seems like he can sometimes.
"Now, this isn't a date, we're just very, very good friends. I thought I better be clear on that so you don't get the wrong idea. Now, I'm going to take you to a little Bristro I frequent at times. I swear, best kept secret in town, and the Insalata di Riso is to...die for."
He tucks the communicator in Bob's ear, and adjusts his coat. Then he closes the trunk and locks it.
"Alright Bob, get out of my sight, don't want to see you for three months. Forgive me if I don't tell you where I'm going." He inclines his head. "Oh, by the way, here. You've done a good job, you deserve it." He hands Bob a stack of bills from inside his coat. Ten thousand dollars at least.
With that he drives away, laughing. Bob shakes his head. Crazy, but pays well. He looks again, then notices something off about the bills. Everyone of them has The Jokers face where Benjamin Franklin should be. More then that, a dusting of thin, white powder coats his hands.
He laughs. He can't help it, he laughs and laughs and laughs, until his throat closes from lack of oxygen, his neck stops spasaming and contracting, and he dies, an idiot grin fixed on his face.

[darkblade]

Black Canary

"Seriously, she cheated on you with Poison Ivy and now she's dating Hush who she thinks is Bruce Wayne." Dinah's train of thought continues as she does her best to ignore Joker. If she lets him get bored he'll probably leave her to die somewhere she can escape.

[Draxx]

The Joker
The Car comes to a stop, and an eternity later the Joker unlocks the trunk. He winks at you. He's changed into a fresh suit, custom labels for sure. Even his coat looks fresh. Reaching down, he removes a combat shotgun from under your head, that you hadn't noticed until this moment, and drops a bag in with you. It's a slinky black dress, and jewelry. The sort of jewelry that should be in a vault or museum somewhere.
"Harley used to wear it. She's about your size, though the hips might be an issue." He says. "I'll just close the trunk and give you a little privacy to get changed."
In the second he did open the trunk, you saw enough to recognize the Iceberg Lounge, before he shuts it and you're in the dark again.

[Colesign]

Burt

"Quoite rouight, Guv." Burt replies, helping the girl up to her feet. "You do-nae look much loike one of th' Vamps, Mr..."

[darkblade]

Black Canary

What happens next greatly depends on how long Joker leaves the trunk shut.

It takes her five seconds to remove her left glove, twenty to remove the lockpick set from the index finger of said glove, sixty to adjust her position so that she could use said lock pick without breaking every bone in her hands, two minutes to pick the lock, and finally three to remove the tape on her legs and the gag around her mouth.

Should the door be opened sooner than the three minutes she'll still be vulnerable.

[The Shoveler]

Mercer
"Funny, because I'm the First Lieutenant," he says, grinning that same insane smile as the smoke continues coming into him. You can see the smoke swirling around start to take on a more solid shape as it continues it's pattern.

[Draxx]

The Joker
You tense, every nerve ready for the trunk to open and The Joker to look down at you, already preparing your responses and how to best incapacitate him.
So you are startled when nothing happens. Five minutes later, nothing continues to happen. Ten, and you're begining to suspect he did as you suspected and got bored, twenty and you're about ready to start banging on the trunk when the car starts up again. More then that, you smell gasoline, and something else.

[darkblade]

Black Canary

"Son of a bitch." He's trying to suffocate her, it wouldn't be the Joker if her were predictable.

Unfortunately the trunk is far to confined for a cry, even a short focused one would backlash against her. She is forced to resort to try kicking the trunk's lock out.