compnetwork | Action/Video

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Action/Video

[Action; 13th Hour; any night through the 21st]

[For once, DeDeDe isn't spending every night sitting in the Penguin's Nest drinking and carousing. He's got more important things to do. There's a city in danger of being torn apart by demons and god knows what else, and a Galactic Federation officer has a duty to protect the people from the nasty creatures that swarm out during the 13th Hour. And he's got a special Velvet Room Persona he's never used before, so he's got Bobby out tonight, encasing demons and other creatures in bubbles before smashing them apart with his hammer. His fighting style is strong and fast, with no effort wasted in each swing - truly the mark of a seasoned combatant with an impressive amount of military training. To anyone who knows him, the fact that he's out at all will register as odd enough, but he's also uncharacteristically standing up straight, moving with energy and purpose, and being incredibly polite to anyone he sees while he's fighting. He also definitely won't turn down any help, but if you look weak or helpless, he'll probably try to step in to defend you instead.]

[Video; filtered to Samus]

[By this point, though, the really traumatic memories of the bounty hunter have started to flood DeDeDe's mind. He immediately knows something is up with this, and doesn't have a very hard time putting together just whose memories these are. There's a Samus where he comes from too, after all. So he's on the phone as soon as he pulls himself together, taking a long pull from a bottle of whiskey and wiping his beak before speaking in a very practiced even tone into the camera.]

Samus. You and I need to talk. Come to the club. I'll be in my office.

[No southern drawl, very professional. But it's definitely the Penguin King under there, and he's definitely looking more than a little shaken.]

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[Samus is not faring much better. She's been getting horrible flashbacks about an insane cannibal creature tearing apart her home, and it's been scaring the hell out of her.

Before heading over, she sends back a confirmation, just as a polite formality, giving a nod to her companion over her COMP.]

I read ya loud an' clear, sugar. Somethin's not right. I'll be right over. You gonna be okay?

[She's having memories of talking to herself and it's been extraordinarily disorienting. The fact that DeDeDe is contacting her means he must have figured it out. Were the foreign and even haunting memories she was having originally his?]

I'll be fine.

[DeDeDe nods somewhat curtly.]

...I've had my share of monsters.

[Which she should well know at this point.]

It's not my usual protocol, but I'll have a drink ready for you.

... I hear ya. And thanks, I could probably use one. Be there in a bit, D.

[She cuts the video feed.

Despite having been across town, Samus arrives in a matter of minutes. The way she arrived is pretty clear, too, her ship loudly landing on the street in front of DeDeDe's club before letting her out through the bottom hatch. As soon as she's out, the ship takes off again. One or two car alarms might've gone off in the process, too. Oops.

The hunter pushes in through the front door and heads over to DeDeDe's office, giving a small knock. For the time being she's still wearing her PED suit.]

[DeDeDe is waiting for Samus by the time she gets back to the office, sitting on the couch with two glasses of whiskey sitting on the table in front of him. Picking one up, he raises it toward Samus and waits for her to sit down. He's sitting up straight rather than his usual slumped posture - another unconscious side effect of her memories.]

Please, sit down.

[Samus gives a two fingered casual salute as she moves into his office and flops down on the couch beside him, slumping back in the chair to make up for DeDeDe's more proper looking posture. She presses her fingers to her neck where the helmet meets her suit, causing it to shimmer and disappear in a flash of light. Her hair's pulled back into a messy ponytail.

She leans forward to grab the remaining glass of whiskey before sitting back and taking a hefty swig.]

I gotta tell ya, sugar, I had a major headache comin' on earlier when I started rememberin' havin' a conversation with myself back in my... club... [She makes a bit of a face. It was still disorienting just thinking about it.] The drink really hits the spot.

[Once Samus has availed herself of her drink, DeDeDe picks his glass up, taking a small, measured sip before setting it back down in front of him.]

That must have been strange, especially considering how much you sound like her right now.

[What with all the 'sugar' and teasing colloquialisms. Were DeDeDe entirely in his own right mind at the moment, he'd be getting such a kick out of it.]

This isn't the way I'd planned for you to find out what you did for a living in my world. I apologize for that.

[Samus is kind of amused by it herself, though she's sure that if she were in her right mind she'd be more than irritated with her mannerisms right now.

The hunter inspects her glass with a bit of a look, biting her lower lip. She swirls the whiskey a bit as she talks.]

... Doesn't really surprise me, can't really say it bothers me either... Then again, can't say it won't take some time to sink in 'cause of whatever's goin' on with our heads. [She makes a bit of a sweeping gesture towards her own head with the glass of whiskey in her hand, before taking another swig of it.] Not like I ever really gave much thought to my body anyway, kinda easy to detach yourself in that kind of business after a while. Y'do what you can. [Though she's having some trouble discerning if those really were her own feelings on the matter, or her speaking from DeDeDe's perspective about the situation...

Samus pauses for a moment, trying to focus on what she's sure are really her own memories, before giving DeDeDe an equally apologetic look.]

... You saw some pretty awful stuff, didn't ya?

If it helps, even though you were driven to that sort of profession to make a living, the one thing you never lost was your dignity. Everything you did, you did on your own terms.

[Well, hopefully that will soften the blow a little. DeDeDe's expression darkens at that last question, though.]

...Yes. It was terrible. No one was ready for what happened, least of all me.

... I've got a couple questions of my own... Mind if I go first? Not entirely sure how long it'll take to explain the stuff you saw. [Samus tilts her head back a little and closes her eyes, drawing up the more than vivid images of the monster from what she could only assume was DeDeDe's past.]

...I wanna know more about the cannibal, Kirby... if you know where the hell he came from? No memories I got explain it. Only that he showed up, drove everything to ruin, an' got captured before I-- before you could take the bastard down.

I thought you'd probably start there. It makes sense - everything bad that happened in my world did start with Kirby's attack.

[Heaving a mighty sigh, DeDeDe avails himself of another drink of whiskey before continuing.]

All I know is that he was a citizen of Dream Land before he went on his killing spree. I have no idea what set him off, or how, or why. It happened almost overnight.

... Sometimes there ain't a reason for the awful shit that happens to us. Not one we could understand. I'm sorry you had to go through what you did... I'm especially sorry you lost your home. I can sympathize.

[Samus gives a sigh of her own, downing the rest of the whiskey in her glass in one huge gulp before setting the glass down. She presses her armored hand to her forehead, brushing some of her bangs out of her face.]

I wish you coulda made things better... Whatever sonofabitch hit you oughta pay for what he did to that city, condemning it like that. [She considers something for a moment...]

So you can't go home? After what they did you wouldn't even be breathin', would you?

Yes, it seems you went through something rather similar yourself. It's... refreshing, if not somewhat depressing, that we at least have that much in common. Despite our obvious differences.

[Yeah, more whiskey sounds good. DeDeDe finally finishes his off.]

For all I know, he got exactly what was coming to him and more. Unfortunately, as you've guessed, I won't be around to see it. I still don't know who attacked me, but I'm confident there's nothing left for me in that world.

[When Samus hears that DeDeDe had experienced the loss of her world, she freezes, slowly looking towards him with a kind of sad and distant look. Now that she's certain the memories of losing Dreamland weren't her own, she can at least be sure that the memory of the attack on K-2L was. And he had to experience that.]

... God, sugar, I'm sorry you had to go through that. It ain't easy to deal with.

[She was having some trouble dredging up her feelings about the whole incident. Every time she tried to remember how she felt about it, all she could do was recall this seething sadness, fear, and utter rage for what happened to Dreamland. DeDeDe's memories were taking precedence over her own, even if they felt of place.]

Meta Knight shoulda cut the bastard down when he had the chance. Wish you and I both could get some peace of mind on the matter... Lust for vengeance ain't a pretty feeling.

I should apologize, too. Watching Dream Land's fall had to be just as bad. I know it's something I won't soon forget.

[He still has nightmares about it sometimes. Less of them since coming here, but you don't live through something like that without taking away some mental and emotional scars.]

Meta Knight lived by his own code. He was always mysterious like that. But the laws of the Mushroom Kingdom demanded he be imprisoned rather than executed, so instead he took up sentinel duty.

[Grimacing, he clenches his right hand into a fist, setting it down atop his hammer.]

I still wish I could have ended things myself, before it came to any of that.

... It ain't fun, feelin' helpless to the destruction of your home, bein' left in the wreckage of the world, relyin' on others to fix the wrongs that have been done.

You an' I both know that we can get more done on our own terms.

[She lets out a bit of a shuddery breath.]

You know what I mean, right? Kirby to you, that's what Ridley is to me. The one that just won't die... the one who just ain't paid for his sins yet, no matter how many times I try to bring 'im down.

It just ain't satisfying knowing he's still around, after all he did.

Yes... it felt the same. It's strange and depressing, but it seems that you and I are kindred spirits of a sort. We both know what it feels like to experience an unimaginable loss, and also to thirst for vengeance that we may never be able to achieve.

[He sighs, shaking his head before a ghost of a smile appears on his beak.]

In a way, it's comforting to know someone else has gone through something similar.

In a way... it's also sad to know someone else has gone through all that, too.

[The armor around her left hand retracts to reveal part of the zero suit underneath, enough so that she can rub her face in exasperation with a bit of a sigh. As her hand falls back down by her side, the armor sets itself back into place.]

As nice as it is to feel this close to you, D, I'm wondering what on earth is causin' this mess in the first place. And how're we gonna fix it? It's startin' to get to be a bit of a headache, an' uncomfortable to know I ain't really myself right now...

I don't have the faintest idea. The demons or the Anoli are at the top of the list of usual suspects, but it would be hard to trace it to just one source.

[He frowns in frustration.]

Might go deeper than that... Might be his fuckin' doing. You heard much about Nyarlathotep, D? He gave me an' the whole group a' visitors that went hunting him down a while back a run for our money. S'why I needed a drink so bad back when yer club first opened up...

Without a doubt he's got the power to do this shit. Probably messin' with our heads. An' it's pissin' me off.

Nyarlathotep.

[He repeats the name slowly to make sure he's pronouncing it correctly.]

No, I can't say that I have. What do you know about him?

[Also out and about is one courier, though dressed rather differently than the first time she and DeDeDe crossed paths. There's a rather large rifle slung across her back, and a pistol in her hand.

Once she spots DeDeDe, she wanders over and waves - when she speaks, her voice is a bit distorted by the helmet, but it's definitely Gina in there.]

Doing a little hands-on work tonight?

[DeDeDe nods to Gina as she approaches.]

Yes. Someone has to patrol the streets at night.

[There's a curious head-tilt after he says that. Gina holsters her pistol, then folds her arms.]

I can't say I really imagined you to be that kind of guy after our prior discussion, to tell the truth.

[He shakes his head.]

I must have made a poor first impression, then. We have a duty to protect those who can't fight for themselves.

[Okay, now that gets a raised eyebrow, not that it can be seen under the helmet.]

...you been nipping some of the club's stock, birdman?

Never while I'm on patrol.

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