Night 69: M31-M40 Hallway

[freewill]

With the St. John's wort officially passed off to Kobayashi, Castiel realized that he could finally move past all of the problems created by that illness. He still needed to heal up, true, but he was at a point where he could work on something more productive without constantly being distracted by the possibility that he or someone he knew might end up turning into some bloodthirsty creature.

The intercom came on as Castiel slipped on his trenchcoat and gathered his items for the night, and while he was expecting to hear the usual taunting, something that was actually of interest came out of the tinny speaker.

The third floor -- had a patient truly found a way to get there? From what Castiel understood, no one had ever made it past the second floor, regardless of any unorthodox ways that they tried to get there. When he'd temporarily been granted the ability to use his wings again, he still hadn't been able to reach it. It was clearly warded off and well-guarded, and Landel seemed to intend on keeping it that way.

But whoever had made it far enough to earn a specific comment on it from the Head Doctor clearly had to be getting somewhere with it. Castiel would need to look into that when he had the chance, but for now he was set to meet up with Soushi.

Working with a demon -- even if it was a very different kind of demon, it still rubbed him the wrong way. But that didn't stop Castiel for setting out with his flashlight and angel sword in hand.

[To here.]

Comments

Whoops forgot to tag this whole thread with SPOILER warning

[oyaji]

"Y-Yeah," Kotetsu admitted, trying to keep a way from the name until he could try and gradually feed his partner enough information to fill in the mystery. "A real nasty one. He had his hands in everything--Ouroboros, Hero TV Live--Hell, most of the crimes he staged for ratings--Apollon... He even had connections with your parents, Barnaby. They were good friends." He hoped that would be enough to let the light bulb go off in Barnaby's head.

"After your parents were murdered, he helped fund all of that bastard Rotwang's androids from your parents' research, trying to make other Cis that'd take our place as Heroes. Apparently, they required less upkeep." The older man couldn't help but snort at that last comment. They certainly showed them who were the ones in sore need of "upkeep". He could still feel the satisfying tingle on his knuckles from that right hook he'd thrown to Maverick's fat face.

[baniichan]

That was all Kotetsu needed to say for him to draw the inevitable conclusion. Mr. Maverick.

Barnaby had half-expected that bomb to drop all night, but that didn't stop his blood from running cold.

Even entertaining the idea felt like a huge betrayal. While he wouldn't say Mr. Maverick was exactly like a father to him, he was still the closet thing to one Barnaby had ever had. The man had raised him and paid for his education. It was through his influence that he'd made it to Hero TV, and with his council that he'd made such a splash during his debut. Maverick had never given Barnaby any reason to suspect he had nothing but his best interests in mind.

Suddenly, he couldn't stand all this beating around the bush.

"Just say it straight already," Barnaby snapped. "Mr. Maverick was a NEXT with the ability to tamper with memories, is that what you're saying? He killed my parents, he killed Aunt Samantha to cover that up, and then tried to use her death against you because...what, you knew too much, and he couldn't physically get to you? That still doesn't explain why he murdered my parents in the first place. They were friends!"

[oyaji]

Frankly, Kotetsu had no idea why Maverick went through such an elaborate trap for him. The older man had known nothing of his plans and remained blissfully ignorant almost until it was too late. With as many connections as the bastard had, he could have easily killed him and blamed it on one of his orchestrated crimes.

He really didn't think he was important enough to warrant such "special" attention, but maybe Maverick knew that he would go to any length to reach Barnaby and his partner would have done the same. Or maybe he completely underestimated Kotetsu like everyone else did. There were reasons he never went out of his way to destroy that well-placed assumption.

Ultimately, he didn't know, but he could answer Barnaby's other questions. "They were friends, you're right," Kotetsu amended, trying to calm him down enough so he wouldn't bolt for the door. "You told me that your parents helped him fund Hero TV Live. When it wasn't getting the ratings he wanted, he started working with Ouroboros to create fake crimes, and he'd been selling some of your parents' research and inventions on the side. They confronted him on Christmas Eve and... he killed them to keep them quiet.

"And then he... He kept you under his control ever since. He erased your memories and gave you new ones." The words tasted in bitter in his mouth. "You told me it all came back to you after Samantha sent you that picture after you left the ice rink. You went to Maverick for help, and he erased your memory. Eventually, I snapped you out of it, but damn, you almost got me..."