Termination

[doctor_despot]

Who: Dist and the Doctor
Where: On the way to 726 Anderson Lane
When: March 10, evening
What: A traitor has been discovered and he's on the run! The Doctor is on his way to deal with him.
Warnings: Violence, mostly.

The town directory can be so useful sometimes. Perhaps without it, the Doctor would have taken much longer to track down his former friend, Dist. He made his way towards Dist's house only to find that the man had already left. Well, considering previous conversations with both him and the Major, there was only one place that he could be headed towards. Dist, in the end, no matter his words, has remained loyal to just one man. No doubt he would try to seek solace with that same man. It's evident that his life is in danger.

The Doctor took his time. He walked rather than ran, teleporting every now and then a few feet forward. With knowledge of where the traitor was headed towards in hand, there was no doubt that he would soon catch up in time. As a former friend, the least the Doctor could do was give Dist a false sense of security.

Comments

[buildstherobots]

Luckily all of his work was safe. Death meant nothing to him so long as he had his machines. For now he simply had to warn Edward that the Doctor was back, and that Kingdom might very well come with him.

And he wasn't being followed... right? Dist gave a glance over his shoulder, just to be safe.

[doctor_despot]

In the distance, Dist might be able to make out the shape of a man wearing a lab coat. For a split second, the man disappears and reappears. The distance between the two seems to have closed a little. But perhaps that's just his imagination? He disappears again and reappears, continuing his steady progress. The Doctor doesn't run. Instead, he walks, again teleporting every now and then.

[buildstherobots]

Dist wasn't quite sure what was happening, but he quickened his pace, infinitely grateful for Klaus's healing machine. In fact, eventually he went off-course, trying to throw off his pursuer. The last thing he wanted to do was lead him straight to Edward's house.

[doctor_despot]

Even the Doctor can't predict all of Dist's moves. That's why whenever Dist makes an unpredictable turn, the Doctor speeds up, teleporting at least in front of the corner that Dist ran into. He kept his narrow eyes behind those thick spectacles of his focused on the traitor. Every time Dist looks behind him, he would see the Doctor, who seems to be consistently closing the initial distance gap between the two men. Try as you might, Dist. It won't work.

[buildstherobots]

Every time Dist spun to face a new direction, the Doctor was there. Everywhere. He backed up into the side of a building, looking panicked. He even drew his gun.

"You weren't supposed to come back!"

[doctor_despot]

And even then, he continues his approach. The Doctor knows that Dist might do something, but at the same time, he's also confident that anything he does will be useless. A mere human harming a demon king, after all, was unthinkable. And certainly, a respectable human like Dist probably didn't have the force necessary to drive his aggressor back.

"That's right. I was supposed to have been droned. Dead, in other words. It's hurts to see how little you truly thought of my memory, Dist. But you're so good at crying for yourself."

[buildstherobots]

"I don't cry!" This was said with far more force than necessary, and he lifted the gun up. Aimed it. "Don't you dare get any closer to me! I won't let you manipulate me any more!"

[doctor_despot]

The Doctor stops. He raises his arms up into the air at the gun pointed at him and gives a chuckle.

"Just what are you talking about? I gave all of you your own independence. Allowed you to make your own choices. I hardly manipulated you.

Everything you've made up until now has been your choice, Dist. Everything that's going to happen is the consequence of your choice."

[buildstherobots]

"No. What you're doing to me - whatever it is - is your choice! You, and the Major, and... and Edward... you only want my talents. None of you want me!"

Okay, he could have worded that better, but the point stood. Dist didn't fire, but he didn't lower the gun, either.

[doctor_despot]

"Then why are you still running off to him?"

His arms are still raised. Let's amuse the man a little longer.

[buildstherobots]

Dist... as he thought about it, he couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer. Because Edward had treated him as a friend? The Doctor had done that. So why did go back?

"Just... stay away from me!"

In the back of his head, he did know: he made a promise, and he had something to prove. He had to prove he was trustworthy before he could begin the path towards respect. None of that was in his conscious mind, though.

[doctor_despot]

"Ever the traitor, Dist. No matter which side you're on, in the end, you seem to always turn against it, only to crawl back from where you came. You yearn for others' respect, but can they give it to you when you're always making an enemy out of yourself? If anything, the only respectable part about you is how you've consistently managed to get away with this.

Don't worry, though. I don't give fools a second chance. No. You're better off as my puppet, a soulless husk that moves to my every whim. This is how I manipulate people, my former friend."

And the Doctor approaches now, still carrying that unchanging smile. In this scenario, though, that smile looked exceptionally cruel. As he walks towards Dist, he raises an arm in his direction. Red energy circled around his arm like flames.

[buildstherobots]

Dist's stomach sank. The Doctor... wasn't joking. At all. This was something he could actually do; he could rip out what was once Dist, what was once Saphir...

He had no choice but to begin firing, sliding away from the building and stumbling backwards as fast as he could. His heart was pounding in his ears. He had to get away.

[doctor_despot]

Few shots might have missed, but another few hit the Doctor square in the chest. Regardless, the man was still standing. The protection that the Demon Crown offered him was more than enough to make what should have been fatal blows feel barely more like a punch. The Doctor still kept his arm out, however.

Gathering energy in his arm through the form of crackling, electricity, he finished charging finally and released at Dist several red energy blasts. They pursued him while the Doctor felt no need to.

"Maybe this will be better for you in the end. You won't have to worry about not being treated with respect or being used by anyone. Why, you won't even have anything else to worry about after this!

No, no, don't thank me. I'm just too sentimental for my own good."

[buildstherobots]

The energy pulses hit Dist like a punch to the gut and he screamed, stumbling backwards and eventually falling onto the pavement. The gun only clicked in his hand; he'd used up all of his bullets, like an idiot. Naturally.

The last of them didn't stop just because he fell over, either, even as he reflexively curled himself up. "Stop it, please! You're killing me!" That was what it felt like, anyway.

[doctor_despot]

"I enjoyed your presence, Dist, really. You brought a lot of life to our club and that's saying something. Shame that things had to turn out this way.

... Do you have any regrets, my former friend?"

The Doctor asked as he casually walked towards Dist's fallen body. He stands above him now, bleeding a little from the wounds that the other man made.

[buildstherobots]

As the attacks subsided, Dist was able to relax a bit, though at the Doctor's approach he flipped over and scrambled backwards. Regrets? Why was he even bothering to ask...?

"Not saving a bullet for myself."

Not that that would stop someone sufficiently determined, but it would have given him time. Time to hide, time to plan. Time to come up with... with something.

[doctor_despot]

"... Hm."

The Doctor's form vanishes. There, Dist. You have your few moments to find a place to hide. Not that it would do you any good, but you can certainly find ways to come to grips that you can't escape this. And so, the Doctor allows Dist this one last chance... to savor being alive.

[buildstherobots]

Oh, for the love of-- He could disappear, too? Dist did take the opportunity to stand, still shaky, and look around frantically to see if the Doctor was still around. When he didn't find him, Dist stumbled off the street, possibly aiming to get into a house. Why that would work he couldn't say, but it felt like the thing to do.

Pointless, but he could hope. A person that could disappear was likely also a person that could reappear whenever he wanted, but Dist wasn't just going to sit there in the street and wait.

[doctor_despot]

That's right, run. Run as much as you'd like. Try finding a hiding place to sit out for just a little while to lose his track. The Doctor is still watching from afar, but he knows what you're doing quite well. Enjoy this little respite before he decides that you really aren't worth the fun anymore.

[buildstherobots]

Maybe... maybe it wasn't a trick. Maybe the Doctor had only been meaning to scare him back into compliance. Either way, Dist made his way back home(when had he started thinking of his assigned house as "home?"), slumping down to sit against the door once he was inside.

He only gave himself a few moments to rest and breathe, though. He was soon up again, off to reload his gun. It was hard not to be jumpy.

[doctor_despot]

"You had other places, other friends to help protect you, and the place you chose was your own home? Haha!"

The disembodied voice of the Doctor echoes throughout the house. He reappears just behind Dist and sends a pair of red energy blasts swirling towards Dist. He used up every bit of his chances. Shame that he couldn't prepare a bigger challenge for the Doctor.

[buildstherobots]

Dist only barely had the time to whirl around before the blasts slammed into him, again knocking him to the floor with a pained yelp. When he lifted the gun again, though, he directed it to his own temple.

"You think I'd lead you to them?! Get away from me; you can't enslave the dead!"

[doctor_despot]

Ah. He's planning to commit suicide, is he? The Doctor just chuckles at that.

"... Ah. Before you do that, could you help me remember something? What is my occupation?"

[buildstherobots]

Dist's hand was shakinb. It was betraying the facade of resolve he was trying to display.

"No doctor can fix a bullet to the brain and you know it!"

[doctor_despot]

"Except me."

The Doctor places his hands inside his coat pockets. He reminisces on his past a little, giving an almost nostalgic look on his face.

"My expertise lies with general surgery, but I've dabbled in neurosurgery as well. I'd like to think I know enough to... yes, reanimate a human body. With each failure came success.

That time I served as a young medic in the first war for the crown on top of my head exposed me to much of the pains and damages that a human body can suffer. A bullet to the head... I admit, is tricky. Repairing the brain always tends to be.

But I'm telling you right here that you have nothing to be worried about. Even if you should shoot yourself, I will bring you back to life. There is no escape today no matter what you do.

I am a tyrant, yes. But I am also a doctor. I destroy. And I heal. Both very effectively. Quaint, eh?"

[buildstherobots]

Dist really only latched onto one part of that explanation. He'd seen some very odd things in Mayfield; immediate resurrection may well be possible, may even leave him worse off. No, what caught his attention was the crown. Wars were fought for it? Dist was no stranger to artifacts of power.

Instead of testing those healing powers, Dist realigned his aim at said crown and fired. Better make it count.

[doctor_despot]

Countries all across the world sent operatives and robots to retrieve the crown. They were ordered not to spare a life if any should come in their path. The crown's bloody history continued on for hundreds of years until currently, it fell into the position of its fifth king, and the second human to ever wield it: the Doctor.

The Doctor vanished again and this time, reappeared just in front of Dist. Raising his arm, he swung its side at Dist's face.

"You just saved me the effort of cutting you open. Smart man."

[buildstherobots]

Dist stumbled back, taking the momentum to swing his arm around and continue firing at that damned crown. "So you'll hit me until I submit to you! Lucky me!"

[doctor_despot]

The Doctor is pushed back at Dist's strike, but disappears before the shot ever hits him. Dist, instead, manages to hit quite a bit of furniture. Then again, he may not have been too fond of that vase anyway. The Doctor reappears from behind Dist.

"How about we end this?"

Should Dist turn around to face the Doctor, he'll find that the man isn't standing there at all. Instead, he'll find floating behind him a large, floating crystal, shining with a malevolent, red light.

[buildstherobots]

The sight of the crystal takes him completely by surprise. It's almost like a giant, evil fonstone, and Dist steps back and away from it, keeping his gun level. He can shoot at a rock as easy as a person if he needs to.

"What the hell is that?!"

[doctor_despot]

"A product of my own design. I've taken the Red Flowers found in the Floating Island of my world and amplified their effects to crush the faculties of reason within Mimigas to affect humans. In time, your ability to think, reason, and rationalize will be completely destroyed.

It's a wonderful creation, don't you think? This Red Crystal. Even you, a fellow researcher, should be able to see the splendor in this remarkable development.

It's normally a quick process, but I'm controlling it to affect you gradually. This is your punishment for betrayal."

[buildstherobots]

The thing about that facade of friendliness was that it took Dist a moment to actually recognize the threat. Even when he did fully internalize it, he rolled his eyes a little. "So, what, I'll go crazy? What else is new in Mayfield? What if i just shatter your pretty rock?"

[doctor_despot]

"Then you're free to go, I suppose."

If Dist should shoot at it, he would find that his bullet only ricochets off of the stone. The material it was crafted out of can only be found on the Floating Island. As it is now, Dist has no way of destroying the crystal. But the Doctor will leave him to figure that out. After all, he wants the other man to fully understand the sheer hopelessness of the situation.

[buildstherobots]

Of course Dist will shoot it, predictable thing that he is, though he doesn't waste his clip again. Not even a scratch on the crystal, naturally, so he steps closer to inspect it. He presses his hands to it experimentally; he knows it's not a fonstone but maybe it would react similarly.

Of course, he's still not taking the giant magic rock seriously, really. Not yet.

[doctor_despot]

Perhaps you shouldn't have done that, Dist. As he touches it, the effects of the Red Crystal become more apparent. He might notice that his thoughts are dampening and it's becoming more difficult to think. It's as if an impenetrable fog has filled his mind. Even if he should let go, the effects only slow down rather than vanish. The crystal, as the Doctor says, is gradually taking effect. Soon, the act of thinking will hurt altogether. The torture will then come from the efforts to escape the fog.

[buildstherobots]

Dist recoiled, almost as though he'd been burned, and when the sensation didn't stop, he started to visibly panic. For all his stupid decisions and seemingly clueless actions, it was very hard to shut Dist's brain up, and it was suddenly like walking through molasses just to get from one thought to the next. This was not okay.

"No! I didn't even do anything to you!"

[doctor_despot]

"Ah. But you were in my way. I think that's sufficient reason."

The Doctor approached Dist.

"Well, this is alright. As a group, we have been quite lax. Maybe all we needed was to make an example to speed things up a little. What would you say to one last trip to KINGDOM before I send you off?"

[buildstherobots]

It was easier to stay sane by focusing on one thing at a time, Dist very rapidly realized. Mostly it was starting to come in the form of staring at one thing or other and holding its image in his mind, but he did find himself attuning to the sound of the Doctor's voice alarmingly quickly. It worried him for about a second before the effort clouded his mind over again. The gun in his hand clattered to the floor.

"...Eh?"

[doctor_despot]

"... That's a good man."

The Red Crystal took its effect and the Demon Crown complemented it by subjugating Dist. While he didn't get quite as far as he would have liked to in the Floating Island, this is something that the Doctor dreamed of doing to the world. It was pleasant for him to finally be able to realize one of his plans. Dist happened to be an adequate test subject as well. Actually, maybe things really were better now that he turned against KINGDOM. The Doctor was one to focus on the bright side.

He extends an arm out to the man's shoulder and places a hand on it. In an instant, they vanish.