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The Punchline
(2013-02-17 - 2013-02-20)
Will's journey for self-knowledge ends with revelations, lemon pie, and the hokey pokey.
Coyote Welcome to Shinra! We haz stuff.

The grid coordinates that were on that little flash drive that was in the cookie jar (long story) lead to here. Precisely here means the reception desk of the headquarters. The main lobby is quiet, large and spacious with staircases along the walls. The reception desk is the only occupied part of the entire structure it seems. There is a hum of unreleased tensions here.

A nondescript looking man sits at the desk with his feet up on the desk, hands on his chest as he watches looney tunes from a small TV monitor nearby. The thrum of air conditioning fills the room.
Will Sherman Will has every dress in a redicilous outfit.

They are all litterally in pizza delivery uniforms, holding a giant pizza box, which houses Cirra. One of the other members of the party. YOu can chose amongst yourseleves who it is, for maximum hilarity. Will himself, walks to the man at the front Desk, and looks at the instructions he has given to him by Emi.

"We're looking for..." he hands the guard the paper, "This room. Can you help us find it? They delivered this massive pizza." he says, rubbing the back of his head. "It's very important that we get it too them."
Mercade Alexander Mercade is also dressed up as a pizza deliveryman, and he is going to work on keeping the very heavy pizza box stable. He seems to be struggling a little due to the addition of weights on his arms and legs... But even so, he hasn't removed them. It wouldn't do for it to clank or anything. The Detective smiles pleasantly, waiting for the interaction between Will and the guard to complete. There's no reason for the guard to get confused by talking to more than one person at a time.
Emi Dennou Emi apparently already had a pizza delivery uniform available and was able to use her own. One of Emi's secret skills is, in fact, basically having PART TIME JOB CHANGE. Not Job Change, of course, but PART TIME JOB CHANGE. It's different. Look it up. She has lent it to Umi because she insisted on being with Will for this operation.

"...This box is incredibly heavy, The Network notes." Umi says. "...The Network further notes that they believe this pizza needs to go on a diet."

Emi however was promptly missing a pizza uniform and as such needed a method of dropping in as well. Of course this meant...

Maximilien Maximilien Amadeus Renaud-Sylvianne is here to be a better person than he is. He's here to help someone that he knows needs help, someone who isn't really keen on his existence but is grudgingly coming to accept it. He's pretty sure Will has no idea that he knows about this, too. It's not like Will was the sort of person to confide in Max at all, especially about intensely private personal stuff. It's not like Max was exactly one of his close friends.

No, Max checked the flash drive without permission, because that's the kind of thing Max does; then he went, found the coordinates, and insinuated himself in disguise as one of the tons of businessmen that wandered the halls. It's a hell of a disguise, too; his hair's pure black, he's got sunglasses, a suit, a's tremendously convincing.

As he makes his way to the lobby at the sight of the appointed time, flashing his keycard to get through the checkpoint, he's prepared for pretty much anything - but absolutely not Will and the others standing around in pizza boxes. He pauses for all of a fraction of an instant, mentally saving the image for late. Then he puts on a big smile, looking over at the guy at the front desk.

"Somebody ordered that for the office, huh? Maybe I won't take my daughter home just yet after all. What do you say, sweetheart - pizza, then I'll get you back home?"
Avira What on -earth- was Mercade doing, wobbling like that, Avira had wondered for the longest time. After a bit of quiet inspection, she realized it was weights putting him off balance. The conversation she heard with Max over the radio is used as an explanation for this oddness.

"Max knows too much." Avira hisses to Mercade. "I fear he plans to take advantage of us to further his goal with Morrighan."

For her disguise, Avira went through the trouble of seeking out some stage-grade foundation, which she spread all over her skin to hide her rather distinctive scars. It actually works quite well!
Emi Dennou Emi also apparently suddenly has black hair judging by the way she's standing at Max's side, a lollypop in her hands which she shyly is licking on. She seems to troublingly have faith in Max. She smiles up at him, clearly a 'daddy's girl', but rather than just say 'yes daddy'--frankly she's unsure they might recognize her by her voice. Umi obviously knows it's Emi just by their nature, though she's not saying anything. Instead she sticks the lollypop in her mouth and nods shyly, rapidly. Course Max over the radio just revealed himself as is, but she's still going to act her role for the time being.

Umi groans. "Pizza...heavy..."
Coyote The nondescript man sort of fiddles with his hat, taking it off his head and ruffling his sandy-blonde hair as he puts it back on. The guard looks up at Will with something that is akin to the boredom of the great ages. Rocks would boil and turn to sand in the face of this expression of jaded boredom. However, after looking at the scrawl on the slip of paper, his face starts to crack into a confused grimace. He leans out of his chair just enough to see the rest of the party of Obviously Pizza Delivery People with the massive pizza between all of them.

The man leans back into his comfy office chair (made by ShinCo. ShinRa: We're Smarter Than the Average Evil) with a look of slightly sneering arrogance and is reaching over to turn off his looney tunes when another guy speaks up. "Oh. I dunno." the guard says to Not-Max, "-- It /is/ very suspicious looking pizza. It's too small, for a start." The guard turns off his looney tunes with a pang of regret, face cracking into an amused smile. "There might be hope for you yet, Sherman."

The man takes the hat off again, pulling it inside out and pulling a pizza box out of the hat. He sets it on the counter, pushing it forwards with two fingers. The delicious smell of pizza starts to waft from the box. "But I'm guessing you didn't come this far with any /actual/ pizza, so why don't your friends indulge while we settle a few things. It shouldn't take very long."

The man interlaces his fingers as he puts them behind his head. "I drew the short straw, as you may imagine." he grins mischieviously at Will. "Tell me the punchline, and this'll be over."
Cirra Constantine It is a very large box.

It's also a very /angry/ box. As Cirra Constantine, Judge of Wrath stands within, waiting, impaitiently.

God she is going to hurt someone.

Possibly Umi, who is trying to move the box she's in.
Will Sherman Will pauses...typically his special sight SEE'S the truth of things...but Coyote is a master of disguise and a god to boot. He blinks...before finally getting it. There is a slicing missing from the box a second later, and Will's cheeks buldge out.


Swallow. "'re Coyote." he tries to peice this together, "If I am guessing right, Puck got you into this." Will reasons out. And then...

"Someone let Cirra out before she kills Umi." he sighs. Will pauses as he is asked for the punch-line. Will, frowns, thinking for a moment as he crosses his arms, before throwing off the uniform and revealing NORMAL HOBO attire.

"I...don't get what you're asking."
Cirra Constantine The punchline is that Cirra hears that ruse was unneeded and her she tears off the top of the box, grabbing Will's coat and shaking him. "Did you know about this?!"
Will Sherman Will is being shaken by the powerful judge, he goes like a limp noodle in her arms. His face litterally spirals as he cries helplessly, "HEYSTOPDOINGTHATANDHAVESOMEPIZZA.."
Maximilien Max chuckles. "I suppose it is a bit small, oui," he replies calmly. He reaches down, grabbing his tuxedo; in a moment, it's gone, and so is the beard, the sunglasses, the black hair, and everything else about the disguise! It's replaced with...the white tuxedo, the flowing cape, the red hair, the handsome smirk. He isn't one to waste time if someone already knows it's him. He does, however, pocket the keycard carefully during the motion; the great thing about being able to rip your disguise off as a free action was that it became a perfect sleight-of-hand distraction, and Max was fast enough to do stupid card tricks even *without* distractions, even to trained warriors!

His hand slides onto his hip as the costume lands perfectly in the trash. He shakes his head; he's here to help, and-

-and so is Cirra, and the look on his face of sheer hurt for all of a few seconds is probably funny enough to the sociopath that is Coyote to be a punchline all itself. Max looks away from the situation, a frown on his face as he struggles to put his mask back on. He was here to help. He was here to help. He was here to help.

Funny enough, repeating that wasn't making things any easier!
Emi Dennou "I mean, very light and petite and sexy pizza!!" Umi says. "Very pretty! And sexy! Especially when mad!" Umi drops her side of the pizza and runs over to Wi--no he seems out of his element--Emi, and hides behind her.

"...Tada, The Network adds." Emi doesn't remove her wig but does do a kind of 'jazz hands' gesture.

Was this part of their attempt to do matchmaking or something? OR COINCIDENCE? OR WORSE?? It's a mystery. Emi does take a slice of pizza, however, and offers Umi one as well. Hey, free food. It's something The Network approves of.
Mercade Alexander "His goals for what?" Mercade asks Avira quietly. "Are you sure we should be having this conversation here?" Especially with Max RIGHT THERE.

When the ruse goes to hell, Mercade just puts down his side of the pizza.

There's a small commotion, and Mercade murmurs to the others. "Need I remind you all we're still standing in the lobby of Shinra HQ?" Mercade comments. "This might be bad for our health."

Mercade, lacking SPEED CHANGE powers, is still in pizzaboy mode.
Avira "For..." she doesn't say anything else to Mercade, actually, because she realizes that Max really IS there. She hadn't realized that it was actually him before thanks to his very effective disguise. "We'll talk later." she murmurs, sounding slightly bitter.

Their disguise doesn't last long and Avira's hardly surprised. They looked super supicious like this-Avira wasn't blinded enough by the sneaking shenanigans to believe that their disguise was actually effective.

She too will not remove the uniform, even though she doesn't like it the least bit. Their mysterious "caller" is identified as Coyote.

Avira's eyes widen a little and she seems to shrink away, eager to not attract the attention of this trickster spirit.
Coyote Coyote chuckles, putting his hands behind his head again and stretching languidly. He watches Cirra explode from the pizza box and begin to shake Will back and forth, laughing as he watches the spectacle.

C oyote teases with an offhand comment of "I can see why you like her." to the phantom thief, although his lips do not move so it is most likely not transmitted to the rest of the reception room--- possibly. (Yes) There is also light and sexy pizza to account for, and Coyote makes a counter jazzhands movement to Emi after they remove their wig. He then takes a slice for himself from the box (which always seems to have just enough slices) and munches on it sedately.

"And The Coyote approves, although you are sort of handwaving desperately." he shakes his head. "Oh well. Let us both cut across to the chase, shall we?" his eyes scan the room, and he smiles sweetly at Avira without saying a blessed thing and moving on.

"What has this all been about, Will Sherman? Just tell me. Despite the distractions, you are the only one who can answer this."
Cirra Constantine Cirra frowns at Will in the middle of shaking him. Either she does notice Max or is trying to ignore his pressence.

After a moment she releases the Hobo King and gets herself out of the box. "I knew this was a terrible idea."
Maximilien Max would be surprised at Coyote if he wasn't *telegraphing his feelings all over his face* as he put his mask back on. Once he's got his smile back, though, he's determined to keep it on, come hell or high water. He steps outside himself, as he is so wont to do, and in an instant he has that smile back on and he's absolutely back in control. That was inconvenient, really; showing that kind of emotion was really getting in his way, and he hated things like that, things that he should be perfectly able to control but was having trouble with because of some stupid little problem. His smile widens as he forces his distaste for his own emotions down a little further, a little deeper, and slides his hand into his pocket.
Will Sherman "It was the best idea! If it was so terrible, how did I talk you into it?"

Earlier, Will points Umi at Cirra...Umi was doing the doe eyes.

Will is awesome. He looks back to Coyote, now that he isn't being shooken and frowns at him. Seriously, looks ath im and tries to figure out what he's getting at. He actually THINKS about this.

"...We got visited by Puck...who spoke in riddles and circles...we went to a whale named Monstro and got eaten, and found a book...the Book belonged to a hag, who thought it was funny to.." he pauses... not wanting to speak this out loud... "...masqurade as my dead wife, and then you lead me here to one of the most dangerous places I could know.."

"...The fae are kinda jerks?" he asks, not getting the point.
Emi Dennou Emi seems very interested in that pizza box and promptly enters INVESTIGATION MODE. She opsns the box again, notices there's still pizza left in it, and then closes the box and then turns the box around looking at its backside and then lets out a long sigh before setting the box back down. "Is this actual pizza or illusory pizza, The Network inquires."

She looks on over to Coyote hopefully, it's only a slight shift from her typical blank expression, but this is about as close as she gets to doe-eyes. Umi puts her doe-eyes to shame, naturally. Okay she's a bit distracted from Will's situation but it's not every day you find an infinite pizza box.
Avira Avira's plan backfires upon her completely, not that it is entirely obvious to the others here. She murmurs something softly and lifts her gaze to meet Coyote for a few seconds.

Her track record with trickster gods (Loki) had been awful. In a way, this reaction was understandable.

She would say something here, but this is Will's place to talk, so instead, she tries swiping a piece of pizza.
Mercade Alexander Mercade looks distracted for a moment. Maybe it's because he's using that subvocal wire to says something on his phone to a mysterious third party.

Maybe he's just thinking about pizza. YOU DECIDE.

On second thought, don't. That's a terrible idea. Mercade instead looks to Avira, and arches a eyebrow. "You okay?" He asks her, while Will desperately tries to explain the situation.
Coyote Coyote starts to frown, raising his eyebrows. "Well, yes. We are." he laughs easily, getting up from the desk and moving around it to lean against the desk with crossed arms. "And some seriously more than others." The fae grins. "Come on kid. Look. The games no fun if we keep giving you hints." Coyote looks at Will for a long time, consideringly.

He then laughs, shaking his head. "You still haven't got it. You really don't know." The fae slaps a hand on the desk, laughing in a vaguely irritated way that makes him grit his teeth slightly. "Oh, I'm going to be here all night. Tch." he snorts.

"Oh. It's-- real enough for the purposes of his meeting. Except maybe the pinapple. That might be an illusion." he grins. "Your friends have the right idea, and their hearts in the right place-- one way or another. Or even despite themselves. --but that's the game. YOU have to say it. Ultimately, this is a game only you play. We're just the background trimmings."
Will Sherman Will looks at Coyote like he's speaking french.

"Look, if you got it, tell me so I can say it and we all can go home?" Will pauses. "I guess that won't solve anything though...but seriously, a straight answer?" he says, crossing his arms. Was he getting smart? Maybe a little, but right now Will was at the end of his rope with all of this...he needed an answer NOW...and not after he perminately destroyed Manhattan because of Loki.

"You guys say this is so important, but you all treat it like a big joke..." he pauses, "Goddamn it trickster gods.."
Emi Dennou Emi says, "Could we buy it?" OF course she's not especially a bargainer so maybe reaching for super pizza is a bit above her Speech Score, but well--it's infinite pizza. Emi considers the pineapple, apparently not neccessarily thinking that might be a joke. Even without the pineapple, infinite pizza is a good deal.

"Well, if you're a trickster god, jokes are probably important." Umi says reasonably. "After all, that's their job description."

The two are thinking, privately, that there really isn't a joke if you explain the punchline but they don't say this because of Will Loyalty. But they do think it.
Mercade Alexander "Will. Stop worrying so much on if you're going to be wrong or right. Feel it in your heart and say what needs to be said." Mercade says, folding his arms. "Everything up until now has been the setup to the joke, Will. You know more than anyone else what you've been through to get this far. What's the punchline?"
Coyote Coyote shakes his head. "Straight answer. Hmm." He chintaps as if he had never even thought of such a thing before. He swipes a card off the table which doesn't do reality the favor of pointing out it's existance before Coyote is already holding it.

He manipulates the card with his fingers. "Let's borrow a tab from your friend the detective. I'm only hearing /one/ side of this story." There is a picture of a castle in the middle of an endless green field. The castle.. strangely looks very generic, as if it could look like anything.

"Old Man Oberon started this mess, so let's pull a card from a well dealt deck and skip to the end of this heroes journey, yes?"

The walls shimmer as if they had turned to water, then begin to run like paint as Coyote hands over the card.
Emi Dennou Umi tries touching the wall with one hand, and with the other hand, she takes a slice of pizza

Avira "It's nothing." Avira mutters to Mercade, "Don't worry about it." Her eyes seem to flick over to Coyote every few seconds. After about a minute or so, Avira does seem to relax considerably.

It's funny, watching Will being put on the spot like this reminded her of something that happened to her about a month ago. "It's going to get bumpy." she remarks, sticking close to Mercade.
Will Sherman The walls melt even before the card was given to Will. Umi's finger touches the wall...and it react's just like water, and a slight warning chill...even she would know better than to do that for too long.

The room spins for just a moment, it's disorienting to everyone...even Will has problems trying to keep his barrings until the spell completes. They find themselves in a room, a room of all white. The floor, the walls...everything is a bright marble-esc white color. The floor as a inscription of a very ridgid sun, and the walls, while also white, can sometimes see the flashing of patters inside it...almost like chains.

Around them were pillars, also white and made of the same marble like substance, and several pots with marble plants sit on each of them. Infront of them was a door, it was closed, and apparently locked for the moment, and behind them was a door...also locked, but by the way the stairs went down, instead of the direction they needed to go.

Will remembers this room...the scorch marks in the floor were still there...the darkness was still in this room, from where they fought the Drake...

Mickey had found them here, and freed them...but apparently, this wasn't where the journy was to stop.

"Oh god...not here again.." he whispers, He looks at the strange card in his hand. And then at the locked door...

"...don't tell me this is the key?"
Mercade Alexander Mercade Alexander nods, staying close to Avira. Not that he has a problem ever being close to Avira. But right now is going to be the thing. The world shifts around them, and Mercade just watches with a mixture of wonder and horror. "Wow. That's... really something." He says.
Avira All the suddenly, Avira is clinging to Mercade's arm. "Oh no, not /here/." While Avira couldn't remember this room specifically, the very feeling this particular place gave off was more than familiar. The memories it had created for her the previous times she'd been here were still quite vivid. Unforgettable, even.

"I don't know how to stop it from taking us." she mutters to Mercade.
Emi Dennou Umi pulls her finger back quickly. "You have been here before?" She asks. She looks at the card, then over to Will again, then to Coyote. Many questions linger in The Network's mind but the chief among them is 'where are we?'. She heads to a potted 'plant' and lifts it into the air like link. Maybe there's rupee in here? She's so uncertain now.

Emi meanwhile is thinking, were they wrong? Is this really something that's just meant for Will to do with? They want to him like he helped them. These questions and more torment her, and she looks towards Mercade and Avira.

"You have been here before? What place is this? The Network inquires."

Umi whistles
Coyote Coyote looks at Will as if he were studying a very complex knot which he didn't have the right pair of scissors for.

He takes out a large pair of scissors, looks at the Hobo King, shakes his head. He looks over at Mercade, then at Avira, then around at the ground. "Hmm. No-- not quite right." he talks as he takes things out of the Jerkass bag of holding (which is something all fae get on creation) until he gets a small piece of white string. He gives one end to Will Sherman and then steps back several feet.

"Hmm. Maybe you should hold onto this so it doesn't take you. Pull very hard. He's going to resist." He also offers a string to everyone else who will take one (even though it still /looks/ like one string) Coyote makes a gesture like looping a string around his hand although there are none (at least to anybody who isn't Will) and he steps back to look over at Mercade. "She's right you know. It is going to get briefly unpleasant."
Coyote A thread runs through Castle Oblivion, but it's not immediately evident until Coyote pulls it that there are in fact many threads and they are all pulling in opposite directions. A number of doors open and then slam, the threads pulling each of the various members of VALKYRI and the TDA and Archades their separate ways.

There /may/ be Lemon pie at the end of these strings. Or possibly pudding. Unfortunately, there is also going to be a splat of some sort at the end-- that sort of thing left up to the imagination of the viewing public. Oddly enough Emi and Umi are still there.

Coyote raises an eyebrow slightly and then shrugs, pocketing the string. He gestures for them to also have a seat in the appropriate lawn furniature (there may even be a flamingo) So much for the distractions. Now-- on with the main event. The fae got out some popcorn and a lawn chair, sitting down to watch the show.
Emi Dennou Emi and Umi grab threads. They're a bit nervous about doing so, this is playing around with forces they don't entirely understand and follow different rulesets than they are used to. Nevertheless, their eagerness to be 'of use' compels them to hold on anyway. Unpleasant? For that matter...can they really trust Coyote to do what's best for Will?

Maybe it's that concern is what leaves them around. Maybe it's just another indication that one should not consider fey magic to be dependable.

Or maybe it's because Umi wrapped her string around that potted plant she picked up before and then sat on it.

"...You are too reckless." Emi tells her.
Will Sherman Will stares at Coyote for a moment.

"What DID YO-"

Will's player stops the clip, "Alright, we're just going to cut things right here. Will says something about 'where are my friends' and gets all indigiant before believing they are all safe after Coyote talks him in circles for about five minutes. Needless to say, that Will just talks on a radio, and confirms it. Did we need an hour to do this? No."

The scene skips to Will staring at the card, and then back at the door...

A bit more fastforwarding of the unlocking door...

And like a Kingdom hearts cutscene, they go right through, like the floor moved FOR them. Will struggles with something for a moment, clutching his his heart for a moment as it feels like something is DRAGGED out of him. A few moments later, Will doubles over, and something ELSE is standing there. Emi and Umi will notice right away that the figure is...strikingly similar to Will. It's in a strange 'related' way, and not in the 'identical' way. His skin is lighter, his hair blonde, his features more royal in a lot of ways...this is a man bread for royalty...if he were a man at all.

His eyes...they are however like burning embers, smouldering coals that stare at the stage around them...He see's Coyote, and then looks down at Will who is recovering from getting something shoved out of him.

"Freedom? After all this time? Do you think that will spare you, Coyote?" But the Fae pauses, "No not freedom...what matter of trick is this, do you continue to thrive on my suffering like Oberon? Like this...thing." he waves at Will. "Oberon's puppet is all you are..."

He turns, as the scene around them is not from Will's memory this comes from, but from Loki's. This is Valhallah, or as close to it as the legends say. Things are always less impressive when set upon by human eyes...legends are not always legends.

Three figures are seen walking up a tall hill, the top is the place of their destination...Valhalla so to speak...

Sigyn, Loki's wife walks beside him...his son Narfi on the other side. They are talking, as they walk to the party...

"Oh god...not this.." Will says, "It was one of the memories I watched ended.."

"..." Loki responds, litterally silent as he watches, before turning towards Coyote, "What in in Hel are you trying to accomplish here?"
Coyote "Shh. This is where it gets good." Coyote tells the trapped fae with absolutely no fear of the mad one. (Which in itself is probably a stupid and or reckless move. Possibly both) He offers some popcorn to Emi and Umi, looking at the potted plant.

Coyote nods in approval. "Good reflexes." and turns back to the show. "And no. Not freedom. Oh-- you didn't think it would be /that/ simple would you?" The fae laughs quietly.

If there is still an edge of very nervous tension to him, he is trying hard to conceal it. " No. This is the /straightforwards/ answer, as requested. Neither of you has bothered to see it, so here I am, languishing Coyote, who just so happens to have a hammer handy. "
Emi Dennou Gonna turn Loki into a Will, then put that Will in a box, then put that box in another box, then smash it with a hammer??

Umi chuckles to herself, rubbing her nose in a bashful but proud way. Emi takes the bag of copcorn and holds it between her and Umi so they can share. "Thank you." She says since it always pays to be polite to trickster gods.

When Loki gets his sass on, Umi fumes, cheeks reddening as she flings a popcorn kernel at him. "Don't you dare! Will's not a puppet at all, he's doing this all on his own! No Toblerone--"

"Oberon..." Emi corrects.

"Tobleron." Umi counters.

Emi pulls at her cheek. "Enough, we are being asked to observe. We have to keep our eyes open for clues."

"Ahhhkayyyyy..." Umi relents, grumpily.
Will Sherman "I did not request anything. HE requested it, I am not in control when he is on the stage, no more than he is when I am...well, the one time." he laughs, "How MUCH he thrashed to be on the stage." Will curses under his breath, "You son of a..."

"WHat gives you the RIGHT for anger? You who have been my my torture device for the last three hundred years?" he turns from Will, indigant, "I will destroy everything you hold dear...and then move on to bigger fish."

"What..?" Will only manages... "What do you mean?"

Loki ignores him...and walks forward, "You no doubt are ignorant of why I was sealed...but at least do not play ignorant of your role in my constant torture...."

Will looks completely at a loss at this revilation... however Loki is not hearing it, Loki simply continues on glancing towards Umi, "I'll start with her." he says, but for now doesn't do anything. "How I will torture here...I will cut away her ties first...make her experience the depths of her own solitude...and that is just the begining." he continues...but even then the scene shifts, taking on the image of inside the place on the hill. Here there are two sets of gods, the Valnir and the Aesir, Loki being the head of one group. The Valnir are darker gods...Hel, a dark figure made of embony and shadow sits at her father's side, while Sigyn, who looks nothing like the others sits on the other. The other son is not seen at first, As discussions and looking like heated debates are going on between the two sides...

"Odin, this is getting us nowhere, we're talking in circles..." Loki says, "Why do we simply come to a compromise on it, an-"

Odin smashes his fist into the table, he looks like he's had a few too many to drink, "NONSENSE! Little brother, we are settling this issue tonight, or you're going to dual me publicly..."

"We all know what would happen, Odin, and that is hardly fair. You inherited the brawns, and I the bra-" a blast of thunder strikes Loki from the side, as Thor lowers his mace, "You dare put yourself on the same scale as Lord Odin? You filty Vanir are not even worthy o-"

"Enough Thor..." Odin says, "He knows what he is...filty son of a jo-"

"ENOUGH!" the missing son of Loki shouts, pointing at Odin, "I will take the challenge in my father's place. I will fight you, to settle this matter you motherless son of a-"

Loki is still barely standing, being helped by Hel and Sigyn. "That boy still didn't know what he was getting into.." The real Loki says...
Coyote "Not to be confused with a very good chocolate." Coyote turns back to the memories, eating some very delicious triangular chocolate that has nothing to do with Oberon. An Oberon flavored chocolate would start at 'Horrendously Bitter' and move through the spectrum towards 'Nauseatingly Smug' and for a fae, that takes a significant amount of milligrams in Smug.

"You wanted freedom Loki, and I as sure of Hel am not going to grant it. There's really only one who can. And as for the straight answer. Now you have it. Sherman, you have surely seen the scenes of my dear and-- extremely droll cousin's final punishment?" he looks over at Emi and Umi and comments. "Whose threats would be better served if he threw the sheet back over himself and wiggled his fingers but --Well.-- I think you misunderstand something, Will Sherman."

Coyote looks curiously at the memories, listening as you would at an interesting bit of opera. "You are not only the bowl. You are also the snake, dripping venom with every passing year with the emotions you cannot be bothered to handle yourself. Oberon does not do simple punishments.. especially when he feels.. creative."
Emi Dennou "Was not Loki his blood brother... is this after Baldr?...or was that myth simply untrue...?" Emi mulls to herself. "Perhaps it is a matter of history being written by winners..." She looks up, frowning at the threat, but Will is here to solve this situation for good.

Umi is at first taken aback by just how far Loki is willing to lash out at her. She pulls away from Emi, flinging a popcorn kernel at Memory-Odin. Really, 'fey are dicks' seems to be the big cosmic lesson here. She then angrily shoves popcorn in her mouth, trying to put the idea of isolation out of her mind. It's one of the few threats that actually CAN get to Umi.

But there's something in Loki's 'missing son' that reinvigorates her and she stands up. "No! He knew, this one believes! I can sense his burning rage, his noble spirit--even through the mists of time! To fight someone you can't defeat...The Network has had to do that before too. So we understand--He chose to fight and lose, because not fighting was worse! ... You didn't deserve this, but Will doesn't deserve to suffer either. S-so if you're gonna cut my strings, you better, 'cause that's not gonna stop being true!"

Emi grabs Umi's arm and pulls her close, gribbing her arm tightly. "Coyote, are you suggesting...that Will's darker emotions...are the poisons?" ARE YOU SAYING THAT HE IS THE SHADOW? "But how...? The Network wonders."
Will Sherman Loki, the real one pauses as he looks towards Umi...

Again he is silent, but he turns back towards what would be his son's death...the start of a war. The image fades, the next one...

It is a funeral, or as close to one as Fae can come to. Someone asked if Fae could die once...yes. Yes they could, they were as mortal as...well as god things could be, but killing each other is what could do it. And cold iron, but not even Oberon used that on other fae. He had SOME standards (some)

Loki is watching as a boat is set out to sea, before being lit on fire by arrows. It did not contain a body...Odin did not leave that, or so he was told. But the fires that spread on that boat...

It is visible in his eyes, in memory Loki's face...rage, pure...concentraited, and bitter. Loki was filled with a burning rage, the normally quiet yet tricksters god had thrown off the facade.

"I suppose it started then..." Loki says. "The begining of the end."

Will is forced to watch...forced to listen to just how horrible his existance really was...he looks down, simply unable or unwilling to say anything.

"The negitivity that flows through you goes into me, because you are unable to handle it yourself. You didn't get what most got when you were created, you had an outlet...a free battery of magical energy, and a conduit to put unwanted emotion..."

"Every dark thought...every bad experience, everything too hard for you to handle flowed into me. You sucked away at my power, cursing me doubly."

Memory Loki turns, away from the sight, to plan...

"You already saw what comes next. I make no appologies..." he says, "He was my /son/. He was murdered over a trivial issue because of Odin's pig headedness...and Oberon's unwillingness to settle the dispute." Loki says, "Or did you not know, Coyote? Did you know of the torture I suffered for the resultant war that broke out? Or do you share his feelings on the matter?"

Will is listening, he is just...silent. Right now, there IS no Loki in him.
Coyote Coyote listens to Umi and leans back in the lawn chair. He looks a little surprised at the outburst but his curiosity is tempered by caution as he keeps an eye on Loki during this entire exchange.

"Puck is a self satisfied prig whose only saving grace is a sense of humor." he smirks and shakes his head, crossing his feet on the lawn chair. "But we believed Oberon had made a mistake.. until the end of the first century." Coyote slaps a hand into his thigh. "Boy, then we remembered how selfish humans are. Almost--" he grins. "Almost as selfish and self-serving as ourselves."

Coyote makes a waiving off motion in the direction of the memories. "You kept everything good and everything that would have healed to yourself, and gave away only your pain and your grief." Coyote shakes his head. "It's hilarious. In a certain light. Oberon does that. He games us all. Why do you think we bothered now? --Because Oberon is gone. Wherever he has gone, and I truely hope it is /far/ away-- well." he smirks at Loki, tilting his head ever so slightly as he shrugs.

"While the cat's away."
Emi Dennou Umi doesn't say anything else, she's put forth her piece. She grumpily eats popcorn. Even Umi knows she can't right wrongs in the past. And even if she could, this is a bit above her power level. At least she's not Yamcha.

Emi doesn't think this is a very funny punchline. She's seen Will grumpify plenty in his life, one can't help but wonder what it would be like if he didn't have a magical outlet. Still, Emi thinks, the role of a detective is to help those that can't be helped by anyone else.

"Is there a way to stop that?" Emi asks. "This one doubts Will had been doing such things intentionally." She's very glad she was not born fey. Being born as Cronus food, even if it was left at that, seems far better. "There is no purpose to this torture."

Umi looks towards Will, who has been quiet. She bites at her lip faintly.
Will Sherman Will looks towards the image...

He already saw what came next...the war...the torture...Oberon's punishment, his birth. The cycle continued, he had been nothing but a pawn...

And then Coyote's words hit close to home...too close.

"<GOOSEHONK> you! I am nothing like him!" Will shouts to Coyote, he doesn't even care if he's a fae or whatever. Will seethes a bit...Will has known negitive emotions...but he always pushed them away...pushed them far from him. Grumpyness is one thing...but the sheer...negitiveity from certain recent events.

"I'm sorry." he says, not self defeating, not down, he says it evenly towards Loki, "I've been used to hurt..." he pauses, "Man what does that even make you people. I have like five freekin' parents.." argh... it's headache inducing.

"Do you think that wil-" Loki starts, but Will cuts him off, "No, not even a little. I can't change the past...nobody can...not you no me, not that jerk Oberon. I can only go forward, but..." Will pauses. He looks at Umi and Emi, they were here for him...he needed their strength, because they depended on him, so he had to depend on them. "I can't change what I've done...but I can stop it now...I guess I've been in the past, going with the flow because I'm...too afraid to make waves. Always afraid of hurting something...someone...but I can't go through life afraid. These two taught me that. They...they just keep going forward, even when their lives were being used as a game...even when things got too tough...even though I gave them hope, and got trapped...Emi did everything to keep me safe, and Umi risked everything to try and save me."

"I...I will accept what life gives me." he says, looking to Loki. "I will accept this...I will make amends for what I did...both in Manhattan and to you."

Loki tchs, but is silent for a moment...he can't really...say anything here. What did it matter, when the trip down memory lane was over, he'd go back. Whatever Will said, true or not, would not change anything. "Well, then I guess this is where I go back to sleep."
Coyote Coyote golfclaps politely. He is already up out of the lawn chair and offering his hand with genial politeness to Umi.

"I think that is your cue, little one. I am tasking you specifically because of your reflexes." he gestures to the potted plant, smiling charmingly as he gestures over to Will. "You will have to keep an eye out for this one. Another thing humans and fae are known for are bad habits."

Coyote grins. and turns towards them both. He holds up a card, and each side is the same design, only a different color. "Perhaps not forever, cousin-- because you and I know how long that is. Simply--" he shrugs.

"Call it-- for now. So tell me, Will Sherman-- what, in the end, was the punchline?"
Emi Dennou "Eh?" Umi looks up, eyes wide. A hand is being offered to her?! BUT IT IS COYOTE. Are there any cards up his sleeve?? Well she takes it anyway. Don't shun the fey. Don't be rude to the fey. Be very hopeful that Coyote remains amused. She reddens deeply at Will's words. Emi remains as cool as ever but gives him a small smile. It's nice, really, that Will is willing to take on extra pain like that. She only hopes he can handle it--after all, he did explicitely say he already was keeping pain that would heal. That means there is pain that will not heal so easily. And that was enough to be truly torturous.

Well, they believe in him.

"Uh?" Umi manages, before saying, "What?" She steps forward. Her cue ... to ... something ... well, she moved forward. She looks towarsd Emi to see if she groks matters but Emi says, "Perhaps..."

A lullaby? Umi mistakenly thinks one up and swings a foot forward and says, "um...put your left foot in..." She swings it back. "Put your left foot out..." She swings it back in. "Put your left foot in...and ... shake it all about?" She sings awkwardly.

"..That is not a lullaby, Umi." Emi says.
Will Sherman "No...that's not a.." Will starts..

"Lullaby at all." Loki finishes. They both stare at Umi, Will starts shaking his head, before Loki bursts into a slightly off putting laugh.

" say that Cousin, but..." Loki says...

"Hey I am not letting you off that easily." Will says, "The road to healing isn't just for me either." he says, to a surprised Loki, "It's for the both of us. I don't think I can stop using my powers...but now that I understand them...and you, there is no need for me to be afraid of them...or you. I said I was going forward...and I am not leaving you behind, so you're coming with me."

Loki looks blank for a moment, " noble. Lets see how long this will last, in the end..." Loki starts to fade as he walks forward, to where he needs to be.

After a moment, Loki is gone, the room, and they are on the first floor of the Castle again. Will looks odd for a moment, before he looks towards Coyote.

"Fae are dicks." he says, but with a grin, "...And that I had the answer all along. Puck gave me the answer."
Coyote Coyote lets out a sharp bark of a laugh, both at Umi's rendition of the Hokey Pokey as Loki's surprise. Perhaps Loki's surprise has been the punchline he personally had been looking forwards too all this time. The fae nods to Will, grinning.

"Maybe it wasn't the short straw after all." and the fae disappears in a poof of smoke as he does so. The sharp yipping howl cackles into the distance, fading into nothing.
Emi Dennou Perhaps that moment there is telling, Emi raises an eyebrow, but is silent until things are over. Umi, naturally, isn't about to say anything after being thoroughly embarrassed like that. But once it's just them and Will, she gets enough self esteem points to ask something.

"Emi... Loki was right to be angry, right? He was his son..."

Emi is quiet for a few moments, looking around Castle Oblivion. They don't know this place, and are glad they can see an exit. She closes her eyes a moment, thinking about this, and then eventually comes to something of an answer.

"You mean to say, he was actually quite like Will,don't you?" She turns to Umi. "...You mean to ask, if one loses family in such a way, isn't it all but natural to fight the world, when justice has failed you?"

She quirks a small smile. "Perhaps so. But that is why we are detectives, Umi. The Network believes--it is our duty to try and stop people from having to go through what he did, and being a recourse to those that could not be helped through traditional means. Perhaps this sort of thing is why the TDA exists."

She shoves her hands in her pockets. "I, too, hope he can find peace. And maybe this is the first step to that. But even if not, nobody should be tortured like that. This one believes that firmly. In any event, we owe our sisters food."

She heads on out the door.
Will Sherman "H-hey.." Will says, as they talk amongst themselves...

"...So cold." he says, as they walk out, leaving him there. He pauses...looking around him again. "...Heeeeey! Wait up!" he calls after the two of them. The doors to the castle closing, as a single woman appears behind the door. The figure, looking much like Sigyn, smiles as a single tear runs down her face. She is gone, her voice on the wind... "Goodbye Will.."

"...Melody?" he whispers for a moment, shaking his just this place. Just this place...

"I said wait upppp!"

This scene contained 53 poses. The players who were present were: Will Sherman, Coyote, Mercade Alexander, Avira, Cirra Constantine, Maximilien, Emi Dennou