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Last Edit: Dec 12, 2012 23:16:53 GMT -5 by greatbeyonder
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Post by greatbeyonder on Dec 12, 2012 19:57:02 GMT -5
In the north of Gotham, where the elite gather, lies the Beaumont Towers, a once prestigious and respected hotel. A year ago, it was bought about by Tate Industries, and had its upper floors heavily renovated with the latest security measures. Tonight, the Demon's Head meditates on the 40th floor.
He has sent his minions to scour the city for his allies, criminal and otherwise. In the meantime, he meditates on the balcony, pondering the wretched state of this hell. He is tired... how long must he endure this? Relying on petty criminals to punish vain elitists. These people must be taught the error of their ways, and only though true suffering, could humans truly change. Unfortunately, these modern times had made even suffering seem trivial, and thus Ra's might be forced to resort to more... drastic methods.
He breathed in the smoke of the poppies burning beside him. This had become his ritual before any great act of power. He must embrace the fear now, or else be crippled by doubt later. The smoke tickled his skin, conjuring images of the Great London of Fire. The sound of crying English mothers assaulted his ears. It was soon mingled with Greeks screaming in Constantinople.
Ras focused on his breathing and kept his posture. He could not allow any feelings of regret and pity temper his determination. Ras al Ghul must not think of himself as a man. He must think himself as a concept, a force of nature. The League cannot be impeded by any one man's doubt.
After two hours of confronting his demons, the Lord of Shadows stood and wiped the sweat from his skin with wet towel and dressed himself.
He chose a sand colored suit for tonight and ordered music to be played during his meal. He did not specify from which country. He sat at the table and began to eat, alone and without ceremony.
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Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow
"and at the end of fear...Oblivion"
Player: Jon ~
Registered On: Feb 15, 2012 20:39:14 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 941
~ Relationship Status: Won't Say I'm In Love
~ Partner: Fear
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Post by Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow on Dec 17, 2012 11:09:53 GMT -5
Dr. Crane had been working on one of his newer research. For months his mind became bent on it, he thoughts were consumed by it and everything that revolved around it. It was just a mere concept but it would be perfected with time. Just when he thought he was going to have a quiet night to himself he was met by the most ominous company. Not because he feared the man at the door, a weak man that told him he needed to see his captor immediately. Dr. Crane nodded and let the man leave from the door, he turned back to his research and let his mind run over each chemical neatly placed on it.
What choice did he have?
There was no choice, not as far as he had come, not for what it was worth. There was no price he wouldn’t pay. So the doctor began gathering his things, getting ready to meet with the one person he’d rather avoid talking to if he could. If he wanted to speak with him there was probably some reason behind it that he didn’t care about. The man’s cause was pointless….worthless, It was a waste of what could have been. He let his hand drag over the table, letting his digits run over the most important tools in the world to him. He let it hover and then rest over a single object, a poppy of a blue hue. Slowly he let his bone fingers lift the gentle flower by its stem and he stared into its bright yellow in the middle, surrounded by its ocean of glory. His lifeless eye’s seemed captivated by the flower and it held his attention there. The most important ingredient on Earth….For now.
The flower was placed gently back on the table. Wasting no more time he turned to grab his coat and a few of the objects he wanted to take with him. He padded his pockets to make sure his syringes were in place, though it wouldn’t surprise him to be searched at the door regardless. Still he never left without these things, and he never would. With one final reach onto the rack near the door he grabbed his mask and stuffed it underneath the rim of his pants on the back. Getting adjust he pull his jacket over it and pulled up his collar, ready to walk out the door.
He took a cab to leave the part of the city that he was in. It was never difficult to wave one down, but the real challenge came inside when they insisted upon talking to him. They were Insufferable, mindless, rabble that knew nothing of why they were here or why they did what they did each day. Dr. Crane was particularly quiet in the car, but he never enjoyed talking to much of anyone. His eyes remained focused out the window, not speaking to the man at all until he told him to stop a ways down the street from his destination. The doctor stepped out of the car and the driver became upset with him, getting out and yelling at him from the other side to pay him. But when Dr. Crane finally turned and stared the man down from the other side of the car, a blanket of fear ran across the cab drivers face. He had recognized him finally and froze still in the spot he was at. The doctor almost smiled at this response, soaking in the anxiety in the man’s face alone before he whispered. "Are you scared?" The man wasted no time after that jumping right back into his car and skidding off.
After that was over Dr. Crane made his way to the towers that he was told to make his way to. It took him a few blocks to get to where he needed to be but once he was there he stopped momentarily to adjust himself. He pulled his collar up a bit higher and removed his glasses entirely to replace them with larger sunglasses. It was difficult for him to walk into many places without getting noticed, and although he didn’t fear their eyes, bringing the police to the towers was not want he was called here for, so he was discrete in his entrance and went immediately to the elevators where he was met by one of Ra’s men that would allow him access to the 40th floor. While he was in the elevator he adjusted his collar back down and removed his sunglasses to replaces them with the standard rectangular thin rims that he normally wore. When the doors opened he was led down the hall and to the entrance of the suit.
Slowly he stepped into the room and took in its atmosphere. What an incredible waste of so much space. Music filled the air, a particular type he didn’t care for, but he rarely cared for any at all, merely a distraction while trying to work. He took light steps in until he saw him….sitting at the table. Dr. Crane stopped in his tracks to suppress the twitch in his eye at just seeing the man. There was no personal vendetta, he didn’t want the man’s demise or to see his fall. He was a lost man with a lost cause. But he was also his captor. Ra’s Al Ghul, had held the tightest chain around Dr. Crane’s throat, something that no one knew about but them, and the doctor intended to keep it that way. Nothing would please him more than to be set free of the man, but he would do it himself. He needed to come out from under his hand, the power of the plant that he was able to give him held him there. Try as he might, Dr. Crane had worked tirelessly to replicate the serum, or grow the flower himself, but both to no avail. The compound broke down too quickly, and as for making the flower grow…..That was another matter entirely. He wasn’t a botanist, but he had seen enough to know how to care for the flower, It simply wouldn’t grow out of its environment. Because of this….the chains that bind remained and they would until he could.
Anything at any price.
The doctor stood in silence to the side of the man at the large table. He didn’t make a move to do much of anything but stand, and not say a single word. He was called here for a reason, and he would make that known if he wanted it to be so.
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Post by greatbeyonder on Dec 17, 2012 12:05:43 GMT -5
The Demon's Head stood when Scarecrow entered the room. It was a form of respect he rarely gave. He still recalled his encounter with the Romanovs. He had tolerated Rasputin's pretensions because he had vital information concerning Lazarus pits and displayed proper courtesy, but the Czar and his family had done nothing but degrade his ideals and ask insulting questions of his lineage. When Lenin returned to purge the royals, he had the full assistance of the League. Alas, Lenin's successor Stalin was not so grateful and spent his reign slaughtering anyone he suspected of having League affiliations.
"Ahh, my good doctor!! I cannot tell you how long I have looked forward to this meeting!! I am told you've performed marvels with the flower."
Which of course was the sole reason Crane lived. Ra's al Ghul hated poor criminals as much as wealthy criminals, but especially despised educated criminals. A doctor who tortured his patients was, in the immortal's mind, one of the clearest signs that this city must be razed to the ground. Amongst the League of Assassins, there were many sadists, to be sure, but none who killed solely for pleasure. Like many great men, instead of actual morals, Ra's al Ghul possessed standards.
Still, if you were going to supply a psychopath with illegal biological tools so he could test and refine chemical weapons for you, it was difficult to imagine a more acceptable testing ground than Gotham. After all, for what other reason would the Demon's Head deign to visit this blight on the earth...
"When I first contacted you, I was well aware that you were one of the few capable men in the world who could properly... utilize the poppies, in a truly modern fashion. Prior to our arrangement, I merely used it as a means to train my men and teach them to overcome their fear. And though it has served me well for centuries, I knew that oneday someone would find a way to truly exploit the flower's unique qualities."
He leaned against the table.
"I am pleased with the samples you've had your men deliver and I will authorize your shipments to be tripled. However..." He crossed his arms in the eternal and universal sign of authority. "I need to know you haven't jeopardized our relationship for the sake of... your perpetual curiosity."
The word insanity hung in the air.
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Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow
"and at the end of fear...Oblivion"
Player: Jon ~
Registered On: Feb 15, 2012 20:39:14 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 941
~ Relationship Status: Won't Say I'm In Love
~ Partner: Fear
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Post by Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow on Dec 27, 2012 12:46:38 GMT -5
Dr. Crane’s glacial eyes met with his captors the moment he stood and they wouldn’t leave from that moment on. A piercing stare that wanted to bore into him, he wanted to challenge him with it to show him that he wasn’t a force to be held just under the upper hand. His leash to be jerked at will. He wanted to show him and he would show him one day that he couldn’t be called in like a dog and sit before his master, being told what to do and how to do things correctly, to please.
He listened to him but made no move to come forward as he spoke. His voice seemed overly enthused to see him, and the feeling was not mutual, nor shown in any way. His expression remained static, lifeless and stale. It would be difficult to determine how he felt one way or the other about his presence. But when he mentioned his gateway to the truth, the coldness behind his eyes seemed to fade for a moment, and his stare became distant, through the man.
There was nothing in the world more important than that flower. He had performed more than just mere marvels with the flower. It was so much more than what this man was capable of understanding, and that thought alone caused a fury in him that he held at bay. How could he ever make him understand what it was? The way they used it was a travesty…He had taken the flower and turned it into so much more, his perfect mixture, that not even Ra’s knew how to concoct….yet. There would probably come a day where he would have to answer for the ingredients, but that was yet to be seen. He had taken the flower and added his own chemicals into it, creating the same effect that they got except 100x more potent and more real than what they train with. That flower…was the answer to everything.
Even as his flattery of his accomplishments continued the doctor’s demeanor didn’t change. He didn’t need recognition for his work anymore, especially by those that would never understand it. Once he sought recognition for it, once he sought to prove it to his superior in the ‘good’ and ‘just’, the legal way. It was a waste of time, they would never see and they would never understand. Although he wasn’t going to deny the expansion of shipment, there would be no reason to turn down more of what he needed for simply doing what he did best.
But it was his final statement that made his eyes jump back to life, a color rushing back into them, a certain brightness that had previously dropped for his mind to sink into another world. Instead of looking through the man he was now looking at him, in his dominant, authoritative pose. The expression on the doctor’s face finally turned darker and he casually took a few steps forward, bringing his hand to the rim of his glasses to adjust them on the bridge of his nose. His other hand went behind his back and stayed there, as if now attached to the fabric behind. ‘Jeopardize’ their relationship…He knew exactly what he was accusing him of. It was the very same thing that he had been constantly accused of for 10 years. The same word he had to be reminded of every moment that Dr. Arkham still lived and breathed. The name alone in his mind was enough to make him tighten his fingers behind his back. So with a deep breath and a reminder of who he was standing in front of, despite his distain, he would answer. “To produce adequate results I am in need of research subjects. Everything is simply educational, and put into my research. I can assure you nothing is recreational.” He paused and took another step to the desk, his eyes still keen on the others. A rising feeling came up within him, something that was impossible to ignore. “But I can’t help but wonder…” He pulled his lip under, ever so slightly to wet it with his tongue as his eyes became lost to Ra’s and fell again into a distant world. “What are you afraid of?”
How could he resist? The pull was far too strong to ask the question after such…Anxiety was produced in his last statement. Why would he be searching for a problem if he wasn’t afraid that there was one already? It was the question that got him in so much trouble, with the police, with the asylum, with the vigilantes’, with society, and of course…with other Professional Criminals.
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Last Edit: Dec 30, 2012 21:12:06 GMT -5 by greatbeyonder
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Post by greatbeyonder on Dec 30, 2012 21:08:55 GMT -5
"Ahh, Doctor Crane, you have stole the words from my mouth, you cunning thief!" He snapped his fingers. in the way only truly powerful men can."When I was a child, only your age, I saw a bird the size of this floor. I thought, Teth Adam himself could not tame this great beast. Of course, men eventually proved me wrong and hunted the giant rukh to extinction before my eyes. It was then, I inducted myself into the first great cause of my League of Shadows."Two men entered, bearing a large covered cage between them. "Conservation."
He walked over to the cage. "Cynics will remark I never added humanity to my list, but in the New World, there will be no place for pessimism."His back to the doctor, he slipped his hand inside the cage and cooed in some dialect of Arabic not heard since the time of Saladin. "Thanks in part to you. With your contributions, I have insured only the strongest willed will survive once this operation begins in earnest."
"But I digress. The thing I fear most, Doctor Crane, is man's cruelty consuming itself and the other occupants of this planet. I've done my best to hold back the cultured beast of humanity, but every time I lay a snare for it, like the Hydra, sacrifices one limb to grow two more. After that, I dread only one thing... disappointment." He tore off the cover and opened the cage. "I give you Corvis Markovis , the Markovian crow, largest of the corvis family in Eastern Europe! I took the liberty of transporting a few here from my personal menagerie!!"
He stepped aside as the birds flocked about the room, harassing those it has not been trained to protect. "Once again, I ask you, Doctor! Are we going to have any more problems with discretion?!"
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Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow
"and at the end of fear...Oblivion"
Player: Jon ~
Registered On: Feb 15, 2012 20:39:14 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 941
~ Relationship Status: Won't Say I'm In Love
~ Partner: Fear
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Post by Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow on Jan 4, 2013 20:04:23 GMT -5
Dr. Crane knew that asking would lead to some kind of hostility. It had with so many other professionals in the past. The fact still remained that he didn’t care what upset them and what didn’t , it was all about answering that one question, and seeing it with his own eyes. But it was never so simple. People were simply too ignorant to take the world as what it was and even Ra’s was no exception to this rule. The man was blinded by his own false purpose.
From the void where the doctors eyes had fallen into they came rushing back at the snap of his fingers. His attention was captured back from the world that overpowered his mind and his eyes were finally able to see him again. But he was going on about some story of his childhood. Perhaps a closer look into it would have brought him closer to understand what fear drove the man. That was what made him who he was, to only thing that made him who he was. But something was wrong about this conversation already.
The doctor let his fingers come off the table and her turned slightly to see the two men entering the room with a large object that had a sheet over it. Through his peripherals he kept an eye on them, but his focus was still on Ra’s and the words he spoke. When Ra’s began to move toward the cage the doctor stood his ground, not making any effort to move from where he was, and seeing little point at this moment. By the time his hand went into the covered object he knew what was coming….
Ra’s certainly wasn’t the first to try and use this against him, but he was the first that actually knew what he was doing before he did it. The man knew far more about his childhood than he had ever wanted him to know, and more than anyone else had, now Edward Nigma aside. He would never admit, but at this moment, a rare moment, he felt truly trapped. A twinge of anxiety? No, No…He wasn’t scared… He wasn’t afraid… He was fear. But then the veil was lifted from the cage.
His announcement fell on deaf ears. His eyes widened the moment he saw the massive feathered demons bursted out of their cage and flocked the room. His first instinct was to get away. His heart went into his throat and his face went completely pale. His fingers went back to the table and drug along it, as if some part of his reality in the present world was dependent upon touching it still. But even with a solid object in his hand his mind couldn’t save him from himself. The doctor had no choice but to succumb to his deepest memories, his deepest fears. He backed away but a bird brushed him from behind and made him jump forward, losing whatever sanity may have been left on the table. Just after one came at him from the front and knocked him back off his heels as it assaulted his face.
There was no time to practice his art, his muscles couldn’t loosen as they normal did to protect himself from these kinds of falls and he hit the rough roughly, as an amateur would that didn’t know what they were doing. Like a child his arms went in front of his face to protect himself, not even noticing that he was beginning to whimper words of the past to himself. Yet among the chaos a voice arouse, it was the sound of his captor. “Alright..” He said weakly as he batted each bird that dove at him. He’d never seen crows this massive before and each swipe at them seemed to make them more upset than less inclined to hurt him. “ALRIGHT” He shouted through the mess of birds. The doctor had managed to back himself all the way to the wall adjacent to the man, his knees to his chest and his arms curled around them to protect himself. A familiar position….One that he’d rather no one had to see.
In his encounter with Edward….Before…Before everything after the mess they got themselves in. He was better prepared to face the massive swarm of birds he unleashed upon him, perhaps it was because he had been in the room for several hours, perhaps it was their varies in size and type, or perhaps it was because he had been so broken, that at that point he was just going to show Edward who he was really dealing with. In the end he did…but it ultimate ended differently than both of them had expected.
This situation was quite differen’t. He couldn’t fight back against Ra’s, there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t hurt the flock of birds he set upon him, he couldn’t punish Ra’s for doing this to him, he couldn’t do anything! The situation was maddening….But what could he do? Destiny had chosen him. He would pay any price for the truth that he held onto so tightly, and because of this…Ra’s would have his throat…and his service. “No NO!” He tried to speak through the swarm, swiping and ducking his head from the birds. “…I’ll do whatever you wish..” He spoke in his defeat. "I'll behave..." The abused child within him spoke from the past.
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