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[wrathfulkhan]

"Leave a message. I'll get back to you."

Comments

[royalguard_style]

[Well, he tried.]

Hey, if I set something of yours on fire, I'd be inviting you to watch it burn, not standing here kissing your ass, buddy.

[And the truth comes out.]

I just wanted to apologize for what happened the other day. That, and ask you a few questions.

[wrathfulkhan]

[Out it comes. Gene folds his arms. Besides, he's not foolish enough to leave his things out.]

Okay.

So apologize.

[Yeah, he's pulled that semantic trick before.]

[royalguard_style]

Sorry.

[He's proud, but he's also a weasel who would apologize, just as long as he wasn't asked what he was apologizing for.]

[wrathfulkhan]

Is that a general apology for your existence?

[royalguard_style]

Would you hear me out if I said yes?

[wrathfulkhan]

It's not me you need to apologize to. It's Akito.

[He waves a hand.] Speak.

[royalguard_style]

[Dante only grunted. He wanted to remark on how he was going to to help Akito before he started being a little brat, but he decided the best thing to do was to keep his mouth shut.]

I saw you and Tony in the dreaming. It looked a lot like you were messing with his brain somehow. Is that close enough to what happened?

[wrathfulkhan]

[It's like a shutter goes down behind the young man's eyes. That's a bad memory dredged up in the least tactful way possible.]

Goodbye, Dante, [he says, and starts to close the door.]

[royalguard_style]

[Dante quickly jammed his foot in the door. Nope, sorry. You're not getting away that easy.]

I did have a job for you, and I was hoping you'd discuss it a bit more civilly than this.

[wrathfulkhan]

That is not something I discuss, [Gene says flatly.] And this is as civil as I get on that topic.

[But his curiosity finally wins out.] How on earth could that be connected to a job?

[royalguard_style]

Then we don't have to discuss the particulars. I just need your help

[God, this was difficult. He finally drops the act, and speaks more frankly.]

It's my brother. He was messed up bad back home, and the poor guy doesn't even recognize his own name anymore.

[wrathfulkhan]

[Gene opens the door a fraction more.]

What do you mean? [He thinks he knows what Dante means.]

[royalguard_style]

[And he's back to his usual self as quickly as he changed in the first place, except now he's speaking frankly and honestly.]

I mean a demon from my world did the same thing you were doing to Tony. Except, well, permanently. I've figured out that he's in there somewhere, but other than that? I have no idea what to do anymore. Any chance you could fix him?

[wrathfulkhan]

It wasn't me, [Gene snarls,] it was Malicant using me. I would never do that to him. [...again.

Which means he's about to jump at the opportunity to use that ring for good.] I can try. I'm not accustomed to undoing that, unless I'm the subject.

[royalguard_style]

We all did things we would never do in that cave, kid. That's not the point.

[Except for those corny speeches. If Dante went evil he would be the corniest supervillan ever.]

But you've done it before? How much different would it be to do this kind of thing to someone else?

[wrathfulkhan]

I've done it before, [Gene admits, somewhat bitterly.] I've never tried to reverse someone's brainwashing, but I'm guessing the mechanics are similar.

Like I said, I can try.

[royalguard_style]

That's all I need to hear. What do you need to get this done?

[wrathfulkhan]

Time, and access to your brother.

It would probably be easiest if he's open to the change. How strong is his will?

[royalguard_style]

It's a tough call. He's the most stubborn son of a bitch I've ever met, but apparently there's some pretty tough magic keeping him locked up. I'm going to make an educated guess here and assume that "time" means more then a day.

[wrathfulkhan]

That would be my guess, [Gene says.] I won't know for sure until I'm actually trying.

[royalguard_style]

Good luck. I'll try to pay you what I can but honestly? That's not much.

Oh, and one more thing?

[wrathfulkhan]

Don't...don't worry about it. [He waves off the offer of payment somewhat awkwardly.] Consider it a public service.

Hm?

[royalguard_style]

Okay kid, it's your call. [Even though the public service would have been to leave well enough alone.]

He's not taking the news that he's not himself too well, so try and be discreet. Oh, and we never had this conversation.

[wrathfulkhan]

[Gene has never left well enough alone in his life. Like he's about to start now.]

Of course. I wouldn't take it well, either.

[Beat. Then:]

So how am I supposed to do this if he's not supposed to know we spoke?

[royalguard_style]

I've found that leaving out the details usually helps in this kind of situation. Just keep it vague. Hell, lie and say it's another trashy bar rumor if you want.

[No Dante, that just makes things worse.]