The Century Club ep06 : Spirit of the Century

11/27/2014

The Century ClubSpirit of the Century

Episode Six
"Order"

Kenji Katana stares at the Earth hanging in the sky.  All over the world, people are affected by the strange virus that transmogrifies people into the likeness of Kenji Kata. At Buckingham Palace, the hordes of afflicted are charging at the people in the streets.  At Warsaw, a group of prisoners turn to face their captors, surprising them as they now share a single face.  At the United States, workers who are finishing what will someday become Mount Rushmore turn to face each other and smile with their singular face.  The very first McDonalds is just about to open, and the gathered crowd has transformed into Kenji's likeness.  "Is this how the world will end... a whisper rather than a bang?" Kenji wonders.

In Japan, everything seems quiet.  Then... a flash of white heat.  A mushroom cloud.

In some hidden base, military personnel inform their General of the successful launch of the weapon.  The General wipes away tears as he hopes and prays this attack will be enough to force Japan to halt what they think is an assault from their end.

The self-professed Emperor of the World, Count Baron von Duke tells Kenji that the world will only unite under their banner.  Only through them will there be a chance for a better tomorrow.   Kenji asks how would that even be achieved.  But the Count admits it already has begun.

"What have I done to help you do this?"

"You stopped the one way to warn the world," the Count responds and looks at the floor at the dead Cosmo.  

*

Elsewhere, Walter Le Frogge braces himself for impact as the plane strikes the water.  Victor Knightfellow seems lost in another fugue state.  A massive yellow eye stares at them through the water!  Suddenly, a massive clawed hand rises out of the water and catches the plane at the exact same velocity as their descending vehicle.  It was the kaiju from the moving island!  The thing speaks in its low voice, asking for Svetlana.  Walter feels something grab his arm, and turns to see Svetlana clutching him.  Walter slaps her to startle her and make her let go, even if she somehow seems to have reverted back from the transformed state.  Back to herself, Svetlana is a bit embarrassed about the fact she kept from them the existence of her pet.  The thing has saved them from the crash.  

Victor awakens from his fugue to see the beast and panicks for a moment.  Walter calms him down and explains what happened, including that Svetlana had changed earlier, and now was back to herself.  Uncertain, Victor leans close to inspect her but finds nothing out of place.  Walter does notice the plane is still damaged from the landing.  Thankfully, the Kaiju seems to continue carrying it in the correct direction. He starts to realize it probably could sense her.. and for a brief moment, she vanished from the shared link they had... which prompted it to rise up and search for her.  Svetlana shares that the feeling reminded her of a strange sensation she had when she was near a bridge.  Walter recalls that happened when time had a strange flux.  Both Victor and Walter realize that was the incident which lead to Cosmo vanishing.   Victor finds what happened to Svetlana even more... familiar... but he fails to find in his memories the connection.

That's when metal tipped fingers begin massaging his shoulders once again.  The wicked Glorianna Sheeda reemerges, whispering to Victor how that was quite a close call.  "Too bad for Japan, though."  Victor learns of the weapon of mass destruction that had been unleashed there and of the hundreds of thousands of lives that had been lost there.  Glorianna makes the offer again: If Victor agrees to make her Order, she will help him get what he wants.

Svetlana and Walter realize Victor has again slipped into a dreaming fugue.  Walter admits he's been like that most of the time.  Svetlana tries to comprehend what just happened, and Walter explains she had transformed into what Kenji Katana looked like before he became a man of steel.  Walter shares the story of Kenji Katana, and what is now happening all over the world.  Svetlana admits she doesn't know anymore what is real... maybe Cosmo did exist... maybe the world did "break".  Walter wishes Victor can explain things since he usually understands the world's Mysteries.  

*

The Count tells Kenji to leave him at the beach.  He tells Kenji he has to bury his dog.  Kenji does not leave however.  The two choose the exact same spot where to bury Cosmo, then lift him carefully and silently lays him to rest.  Kenji closes his eyes to say a few thoughts in Cosmo's memory.  By the time he opens his eyes, the Count is gone and he is alone at the beach.

Kenji decides to look around the beach, hoping to get a better idea where he really is.  If that is the Earth in the sky, then does this mean he's somehow on the moon?    Kenji begins to realize there is something wrong with the stars.  Kenji begins to notice there is a wall of curved glass in the distance, as if he were inside some planetarium or green house.  He begins to walk towards the horizon, wading into the water and hoping to see how far the wall goes.  To his surprise, he doesn't have to walk that far.  He hits the wall soon enough and starts to wonder why the wall even exists when the water he is in can be seen extending far past the glass wall too.

As Kenji tries to push forward, and break through, his senses begin to fight against what he sees.  He feels wires and cables somewhere against his skin, even if there are no such visible things.  Kenji continues to tug, continues to pull, and as he causes more damage he begins to see more and more a strange chamber around him that only lasts for a blink of an eye.  A white room.  Him on a slab. Cables connected to him.  And people with medical masks standing nearby.

Kenji continues to struggle, fighting against the unseen things that try to keep him down.  He strains, forcing every iota of strength he could in his attempt to break free.  He can now see hexagon glass mirrors all around him.  He can hear Japanese men screaming that he is waking up.  He can feel the straps breaking free, and he starts to realize his body remains a metal body!   Above, on a crane platform, the Count Baron von Duke calls for them to "Shut it down!"  Kenji begins to pull at all these medicinal tubes and the like that he suspects were used to fool his brain into thinking he had a body.

And that's when he sees it.  Across the room, in a similar prison and still unconscious is a dog.

"Cosmo!"

*

The Kaiju arrives at the shoreline and walks towards a stunned gathering of military soldiers.  Tanks and cannons train themselves at the beast.  Svetlana and Walter call out to the soldiers, trying to convince them that the monster is not a threat.  The Kaiju tries to make its way past them, but its immense size just hits way too many things in the way.

By the time they arrive at the London headquarters, the military has learned to at least pull back and give the monster more room.  During this whole journey, Sheeda smiles at Victor for resisting the urge to make a decision.  He admits fearing not knowing what will come if he does agree to make a deal.  Victor isn't certain if they really did find a cure.  The idea of Walter just slapping others as the cure sounds completely idiotic.  Sheeda tells him they are nearing the event horizon for him to make a decision.  There is no need to rush making it.  She is completely certain he will make it in the end.

"What matters is what you will decide."

She cites Aliester Crowley who made decisions without understand what he was getting into.  Or Percival who jumped into the past without really understanding how his actions will shape things.  Or even Kenji Katana making a deal just when he thought he was about to die.  This last fact shocks Victor, who never knew Kenji made a deal with the Fair Folk. He starts to wonder where they all stand in Sheeda's eyes.  If Kenji made a deal with her.. and she wants him to make a deal with him... is there a reason Walter is involved in all this too?  

They discover others are present in the London headquarters!  A mix of different nationalities are present, with members of America's CIA, as well as other nations are present - some kind of joint meeting in hopes of grasping how to deal with the existing chaos.  Maps are pinned to the wall.  Marks have been placed to denote where sightings have been made.  With the Kaiju under watch by tanks and soldiers, the Century Club find themselves speaking to these newly forged Allies in hopes of finding a way to resolve the issue.  Svetlana is held at gunpoint, however, when they recognize her as being part of the Soviet Super Solider program. It seems Germany has declared their protest over the American's bombing of Hiroshima, and have allied themselves with Japan.  The beginnings of what may become a World War now stands in the brink.

The attack is being called the One World Order, and they believe Japan was behind the attack.  They believe Japan instigate this during the Super Soldier Programs.  Victor tries to explain to them that these are all the actions of Count Baron von Duke.  The Allied forces tried to isolate what causes the transformations but any contact has caused the others to get affected as well.  They were hoping Professor Noble could help, but he was killed.  So they reached out to the next smartest mind on the planet, the biochemist Warren Hardings - leader of the Normalists.  Harding is rolled into the room, inside to a standing prison and strapped to it with multiple restraints.  The man finds it appalling that he has to work with abominations, but he fears more a world completely populated by Asians.   "That would NOT be Normal."

Victor shares that Svetlana was earlier infected but somehow fought the infection.  This revelation causes panic however, and the military now draw their rifles out and train them at the three!  All the others pull back, making sure they stay away.  The French Ambassador who shoook hands with Victor are now also being told to move into their area.  Victor's words to try and explain they are not infected fall weakly against Warding's whose words ring with more confidence and understanding of science.  Harding demands for conditions if the others desire to have him help them.  The demands include full containment suits for him and his team.  Oxygen masks and all to keep them safe from infection and to be addressed with an honorific.  Fearing infection, the Allied forces agree and force the Century Club to wait in containment.

While imprisoned, the team talks with the others on possible locations to find Kenji Katana.  A British MI-5 Agent tells Victor to shut up about Le Frogge slapping her infection away.  Victor admits he only deals with the impossible and is sharing what he witnessed.  The Agent does warn him that Harding might demand for the Frog's hands as a specimen.   Victor clearly is playing with the big boys now.  Walter talks with the others, finding strength in their diversity as they try to consider where Kenji may have been taken.  Remembering his Puzzle Castles, Walter starts trying to think of what patterns the Baron might have always done.  He shares the Baron focuses on islands, rather than countries.

"If it is a matter of trivia, perhaps I can offer some suggestions," a voice calls out and Walter turns to see the woman with long hair.  It is Whilemina Wheeler!  Walter and Victor are confused, recalling she had transformed as well into Kenji back at the Century Club headquarters.   She identifies herself as Sophia Wheeler and admits she suspects they recognize her sister.  She notices that he tended to have a fascination for titles.  She suspects if that pattern is maintained, the Baron would then favor a certain small island in Marguerite Bay, close northeast of the Courtier Islands in the Dion Islands.   The place is called Emperor Island.  And its southeast end is the winter breeding site of emperor penguins. The MI-5 Agent tells them he will see what he can find.

*

"Stop him before he finds it!" the Count screams.  Kenji mentally calls for his blade and not too far away, he sees his blade being held down by tiny metal clamps.  The white room was made to convince Kenji that he was at some beach looking down at the world.  As the Count calls for someone to stop him, Normalists emerge to face against Kenji.  The body seems much more finely tuned than his old one, but being different, Kenji realizes he is having some trouble making use of the body.  One Normalist smacks a fist at Kenji.  When the Normalist withdraws his mechanical arm, Kenji realizes the opponents he is fighting against have the same body as him!  He executes a flawless parry on the man's next strike, then counters with a blow into its midsection.

*

Victor suspects Harding is up to something.  As he approaches them in his biohazard suit, Harding mentions Walter Le Frogge has something he needs.  He draws a scalpel and tells Le Frogge he needs his hand.  "Samples," the military man calls out, "Not the whole hand. Just samples!"  Harding rolls his eyes.  "Semantics."

Harding mutters to Walter something about both of them having been tampered with in the past.  He tells Walter he wasn't expecting to see him again, but decides to focus on what he can.

Sophia and the MI-5 Agent return to inform Walter and Victor that there are two possibilities.  One is the Empereur Seymour chain, and the other is the Emperor Island in the Antartic.  Victor recalls there was an underground facility involving volcanoes before.  He suspects it might be the Hawaii island more given the Japanese names on the islands.  Two teams are formed to investigate them.  One to check each island.  The Century Club is to choose which one.  They turn to ask Victor what to do but find him lost in another fugue.

*

Victor speaks with Glorianna Sheeda, who asks him what does he really have planned.  She asks him if they know what to do given the damage has already been done.

"I am Victorious!" Harding sudden calls out.  He raises to everyone's view a full face mask.  "There is not enough time to design it, so pardon the faceless nature.  But I was able to create filters that will keep any secretions from entering the mask."  Walter finds the idea incredulous. Victor wonders if this is some trick.  Harding explains that vectors match the cure.  So since the vector was affected by Walter's secretions, creating filters to block the same secretions can protect one from the vector.  Walter wonders why he made only a mask and not a full body suit.  Harding explains it is because skin is the best insulator right now against it.  The face has too many openings. 

Glorianna Sheeda reminds Victor they have barely enough time left.  Victor asks what it would entail when the Order is created. She explains she will get to roam freely among her people. And Victor will stand to lead them to a new age.  Victor asks what he needs to do to create the Order.  Sheeda explains all he needs to do is to ask her to let him.  The rules among the Fair Folk require such wishes to be worded aloud.  Sheeda asks what is the one thing that stops Victor from making the order right now.  Victor hesistates.  He shares he made a deal once and it went sour.  Victor then is told the deal can be freely revoked whenever he wants.  Victor decides it doesn't matter what he may end up doing, so long as it saves the world.  

*

The sword breaks free!

It flies into Kenji's hand even as the Count screams no.  With the rumbling earth, Kenji makes use of his superior balance against his opponents.  He spins, and the blade slices through the robotic faceless henchmen of the Count, and ends the maneuver in his signature pose with his body bent forward, one hand reaching for the ground, and the other folded behind him with the blade.  Reunited with Tsurugi, his Weapon of Destiny, Kenji felt ready to face anything in the world.  The Count realizes Kenji plans to release Cosmo from his VR prison and yells at him to stop.  "Not when we are so close to making the world a better place!"

Kenji rushes down the room to where Cosmo is and sees the dog is indeed breathing!  A surge of relief rushes through Kenji, realizing that his killing to dog was just a mental illusion.  The Count warns Kenji to stop or he will press the button that will cause the base to self-destruct.  Kenji however ignores the threat and plants his hand on Cosmo's face, then he starts ripping the dog free from its restraints.  Count Baron von Duke presses the button and the base begins to explode in different areas.  "You've ruined it all!" the Count gasps.

*

Harding starts handing out the masks to those in the room, instructing them to wear them to protect themselves from the vector that the Count has unleashed.  But suddenly, the unexpected occurs.  Figures in strange archaic armor suddenly come into focus, standing all around them!  Walter le Frogge turns to ask Victor what has happened, only to find him shaking hands with a strange and terrifying woman.  The deal has been made.  "What just happened," Svetlana gasps.

"Name my order," Glorianna Sheeda asks Victor.

Victor turns to everyone else and tells them, "It is the Order of Glorianna Sheeda."

"And you are," Glorianna Sheeda asks, grinning with her fanged maw.

"I am Victor Knightfellow, " he replies, "The founder of the Order."   Glorianna Sheeda then turns to the others and announces it is time to save the world.  Walter and Svetlana hurry to Victor's side and ask what is going on.  Victor admits that this might seem like a deal with the devil.  "Sadly, it is worse."  Glorianna then turns to Harding and reveals the deception he has accomplished.  With a wave of her hand, she causes all the faceless masks to disintegrate as she reveals that Harding was allied with The Count and had allowed himself to be captured in order to send the true vector into the world.  All over the world, the supposed ongoing "infection" was actually not a physical infection.  It was merely a mental act of hypnosis that made people act in a different way and see others as suffering symptoms that are not there.  "A mass hysteria on a world-wide scale. " The Count had sent the EGO group to had set up towers in different parts of the world, and these transmitters have been releasing subliminal messages to convince the weaker willed of the supposed infection.  She offers Walter a human body.  And teases Svetlana for being overwhelmed.  Svetlana does recall using the radio and tried to call for help when the change happened.   The government leaders in the room begin to realize they had been shooting and attacking their own people.  Sheeda offers to stop all the armies worldwide in a single moment if someone asks for that wish.  Victor shrugs and calls for it.

They confront Harding on what the true plan is.  Harding finally admits that the Count was experimenting on man-animal hybrids for years... and some of those experiments created people like Walter le Frogge.  Their genetic material provided the basic building blocks to create this viral weapon.  And the masks, the "cure" was to be the actual vector to spread it.  Svetlana seems satisfied in knowing Glorianna Sheeda can stop the "plague."  She grabs hold of Walter and Victor and bounds for the Kaiju.  They know they have to save Kenji.

Glorianna Sheeda turns to the world leaders and smiles.  "I guess I am in charge now."

Svetlana asks if Sheeda will be the "ending of this story" and if she will truly take over all.  Walter admits he doesn't like it.

*

Explosions rock the structure.  Kenji leans over Cosmo's body, hoping to shield the dog from the destruction all around them.  The Count screams about how the world was already ready and was going to accept the "cure" willingly!  He tells Kenji that he has doomed them all to a future where the world is overpopulated and selfish.  More explosions erupt!  Kenji feels his metal body warp and twist from the intense surges of heat and force.   But he ignores all the pain he can.

Kenji looks up to see the Count moving towards them.  One of his arms has been blown off.  Blood cakes his mask.  Fire is climbing up his leg. But he continues to walk towards Kenji as he snarls about how Kenji had left him in explosions before.  He will not do the same thing again.  The Count reaches for the Tsurugi on the ground.  Kenji moves to keep Cosmo safely behind him.

The Count raises the sword menacingly.  "Good bye... me.."

But as the blade is swung, it hits golden light.

*

The others can see the island.  A golden domed light structure seems to erupt from the base.  Svetlana asks them how they will stop Glorianna Sheeda.  Victor admits he has the option to revoke the wish, but Svetlana asks him what will happen to everything if he does.  She asks if the world still is saved from the plague.  And if the military all over stop killing civilians.  Hiroshima comes to mind.  Victor is uncertain if revoking will bring him back to the time before... and allow him to retain memories he has made now.  Victor realizes there still is the demon he used to make a deal with.  In true fashion, that is when the Demon Familiar returns, whispering it has always been there. Victor realizes he can form a second Order.  One that will oppose Glorianna Sheeda.   The Demon admits someone else will have to be the Founder of that order.  The rules of magic do not allow him to found two.  Victor considers someone who would fit the role.    He will have to find that person, and get him to say yes.

Svetlana and Walter realize Victor has gone into a fugue again.  She decides it might be best to focus on Kenji even as the explosions rock the island.  Using her immense strength, Svetlana picks Walter up and on his signal, throws him into the burning building.

Walter masterfully lands safely despite the explosions, and while clinging to the walls, searches for any sign of Kenji Katana in the area.  Peering against the waves of heat and clouds of smoke, Walter tries to scan the area for his friend.  Down below, he sees the silhouette of a man with a sword.  And the moment the blade descends, it hits the golden globe of light!

Angered, the Count strikes once, twice, thrice but cannot break the light.  Another explosion hits and the sword is flung into the air.  Fire consumes the Count.  Walter spins in the air, evading the fire, and snags the blade mid air, then he lands where the globe stands.  Inside, Cosmo and Kenji are safe.  Walter reaches into the dissolving globe and hands Kenji back his sword.

Kenji's new body is sleeker in design.  Newer.  But their reunion is cut short as the Count's voice roars, "Not DONE..."  From the fire, blood droplets actually begin to move out of the flames, clumping together and swirling into rising towers that solidify into meat, and the meat twists into sinew, muscles, and hints of bone.  Walter stabs at the thing with his blades, only to see the reforming meat continue to form around the edges, unharmed.  "I have control of every single cell of my body!"  The Count rises to almost full human height, body reforming with each second.  Kenji asks if Cosmo is okay and the dog responds by creating a golden globe around them.  Walter jumps on Kenji's back and the three watch as the Count begins to get consumed by the fire at his feet.  Despite being able to reform his cells, the fire burns away his form too quickly.  In his dying throes, the heroes decide to leave, with Kenji providing the foot power to pedal away inside the golden light like a giant hamster ball.

*

Victor asks if he can sell his name to the Demon, but it reminds him it is too late.  Victor considers Kenji or Walter taking the role and watches as they arrive with Cosmo.  Behind them, the island burns as the buildings now completely fall apart.

*

In the months that follow, the military successfully trace all the radio transmitters that were releasing the subliminal messages.  Many of the transmitters turned out to be Brotherhood locations.  Invisible Fortresses were actually acting as the networks transmitting the signals.  Harding's cure is never released.  Svetlana snapping out of the mind domination turns out to be less about Walter's skin and more at the thought he would hit her.  The world recovers.  Science and magic join hands in a new era.

*

Walter le Frogge is drawn by the pet Kaiju to an island at one point, only to discover it is not an attack but a surprise proposal from Svetlana.  She drops to one knee and tells Walter before all their gathered friends that she would want "his tadpoles in her."  Walter blushes (as does everyone else present) and Svetlana wonders why given all she said was want to have his baby.  Their wedding is a celebratory moment as the monster-frog finds love with the most beautiful and powerful woman in the planet.

*

Harding is tried for his acts of violence against humanity.    Sophia Wheeler is happy to see her sister locked behind bars.   She writes a memoir of the day she got a chance to see what it was like to be a hero, and dedicates it to the Century Club.  The book never sees print, however, as the governments of the world want no record of how they were incompetent in the events.

So she "accidentally loses it" and it gets spread worldwide as a pirated book.

*

Nothing is left behind in Emperor Island of the Count's work.  Not even any traces of him surviving.  Kenji Katana is blessed with a whole new body, however, given his new metal frame somehow allows him to feel more.  It sadly also means he now gets hurt more.  His days off when not fighting crime are spent playing catch with Cosmo.

*

Walter lives a happy retired life with Svetlana, their ninety-storey pet Kaiju, and their two kids whom have inherited many of their superhuman abilities.  A new generation of heroes are born.

*

And Glorianna Sheeda's hold on the world soon finds the beginning of its eventual destruction when Victor Kinghtfellow finds a young man named Percival Jones who is studying in a private school and always getting lost in the library, reading lore and wishing he could do magic to make the world a better place.  Victor realizes he would be perfect.  He comes up to the young man and offers to teach him how to use real magic.  To show proof, Victor uses the same very ritual Percival taught Victor and swaps their destinies for a moment.   In return, he will promise to form an Order dedicated to bringing down the rule of Glorianna Sheeda.

He agrees.

*

A world that has been changed.
A world a bit different.
But not too different.

"One step for man... one leap for mankind."

The first man on the moon waves at the camera, and we see the dog in the space suit with the man of metal waving back.

The End.

The Century Club ep05 : Spirit of the Century

09/10/2014

The Century Club
Spirit of the Century

Episode Five
"The Final Transmission"

Whilemina Wheeler awakens to find herself still held prisoner by the Century Club.  She remains in one of the rooms that formerly belonged to the late Aleister Crowley.  It has been a week since the events on the Silver Line.  The first three days were spent interrogating Lady Shi.  Walter Le'Frogge and the assassin banter back and forth at worst, with one talking about the Brotherhood and the other about the Sisterhood. She reveals to him that the Sisterhood has in many ways the Brotherhood to thank for their existence.  They were founded more or less after the Brotherhood's inception. She claims the Sisterhood had taught the Brotherhood many of the more stealthier techniques and even demonstrates this by slipping free of her bonds using a technique the Brotherhood teaches.  She admits her mission was simply to delay the others so their leader could escape with "the chosen."  She also confesses being curious about Victor given Wheeler, like Victor, had lost an eyeball even if no one had touched the other.  She wonders if Victor's powers were spoils from the White Circle.  She shares that the Brotherhood and the Sisterhood were both formed to eliminate the White Circle and when it was defeated, in its ashed rose the Circle of Crowley and the Scions of Glorianna Sheeda and the Invisible Circle of Rasputin.    Most of the details shoots past Le'Frogge, however, given he never really meddled with such details. She even reminds him that the bombs that struck the Invisible Fortress that allowed Walter and the other survivors of the Seven Warlords of Japan's human experimentation was done by the Sisterhood. They were all test subjects of the Noah Project, an attempt to fuse human and animal DNA.  Lady Shi reveals she herself is simply wearing "a skin."

Victor is in the hospital, recovering from his wounds.  He still is missing an eye, but the pain is not as bad given the painkillers in his system.  The curtains separating his bed from the rest of the beds easily reveals to him he is in a hospital.  On the dextrose bottle nearby, Victor can see his reflection shaking his head at him.  The curtains part all of a sudden and it takes Victor a moment to realize the curtain of the hospital never moved.  Instead, a gossamer curtain supernatural in nature flutters open and Gloriana Sheeda walks in.  Victor tries to coax the Demon to make an offer, but ice frosts over its surface, blocking him.  She sits on the bed beside him, but only after he gives her permission to do so, and offers him a bright red apple which she claims is extremely rejuvenating.  Victor asks if there is a price and she insists it is a freely offered gift.  He quickly suspects he is no longer in the Hospital.  Gloriana is probably trying to trick her into accepting a freely offered gift.  Victor feigns ignorance.  She tells him she was wondering what he thought of her offer, and reminds him that she can only ask three times before she can no longer ask him the question.  They talk about Percy, about the White Circle, and about Kenji Katana - if he really is a ghost.  Victor starts to muse if Kenji is a ghost from the future.  She tempts him to be remembered in history as having founded the Order of Glorianna Sheeda.  She even tempts him with three gifts: Immortality, Sight Unbound, and to be free of his promises to the Demon.   If he ever wanted to call her again, he merely had to do widdershins.  Svetlana arrives, pulling him from the bed to ask about Kenji.  Victor is now certain he is back in the world, and tries to calm Svetlana down to explain what just happened.  She accuses him of being jealous of his leadership, but then raises her ire again about the "invented" Cosmo the Talking Dog. Victor swears he can prove Cosmo is real and stresses he is the enemy now.  Svetlana threatens that if she discovers he is lying, she will cut off his -

Kenji's eyes open.  He is in a strange vista.  Sand is beneath his chair.   The distant sky is filled with starlight and faint hints of clouds.  To his surprise, he looks down and sees human legs.  He reaches up to touch his face, but as he holds his hands up he sees skin.  Human hands.  Arms.  He.. is human again?  Not far, he turns his head and sees Sputnik staring back at him.  Sputnik demands for answers to know who this "Cosmo" is, given he is at the forefront of Kenji's thoughts.  Kenji asks if he knows who Cosmo is and even prods further to ask if Sputnik does not see Cosmo within himself.  The Count Baron von Duke comes into view and seems happy to see Kenji now aware of his human body.  Like Kenji, the Count is wearing clothing fit for the beach.  Cloth covers his face, save for the painted finger and hand.  Kenji tells him he looks like a Normalist, but the Count claims he is meant to look like no one in particular.  Kenji asks whose body he is inhabiting and the Count insists they are friends and the body he wears was not taken from someone else.  The Count tells Kenji that they have known each other for a long, long time.  And that they both want the same thing.   The Count motions Kenji to follow him and the two walk down the beach.  Sputnik warns Kenji that if he tries anything, he will pull down the moon at him.

Kenji learns of Sputnik's story, of how the Count saved Sputnik on the day he was supposed to die from the flames.  The Count simply wants everyone to respect the life and existence of everyone else.  The Count before believed the Century Club was the clearest diving group that would stop the unification he wanted.  But all changed when he was witness to the world suffering from the unraveling of time.  Kenji finds himself wonders why would the Count remember that incident.  The three stop at the beach side near a fire and there are meats on skewers above it.  Among the meats, Kenji's sword is there.  When the Count asks him what an ordinary man would choose, Kenji retorts that there should not be any ordinary man.  The Count now talks about how he realizes the world needs more than a Count.  The world needs an Emperor Duke.  He tells Kenji to draw the sword and that he will show him how the world will be unified.   Kenji takes the blade and once again feels the odd-yet-familiar sensation of feeling the cold metal of the weapon.  Holding the blade up, Kenji sees his reflection on the blade and he sees his own face.  The body, somehow, is his body.

"Strike then, Samurai.  Unmask the Count.  Unmask and see the Truth.   Reveal the Emperor.  Or strike and end it."

The Count holds his arms wide, leaving him open for Kenji to unmask or to be killed.

Back at the Century Club manor, Svetlana and Victor Knightfellow head down to meet with Walter Le'Frogge.  Victor declares he is tired of the charades.  Svetlana talks to Walter, asking him to tell her the truth if there is a Cosmo and he admits there is.  He tries to explain there were strange events that happened that day and he admits even he cannot remember them all.  Svetlana is so urinated about all the crazy talk and admits she misses the day when only Victor did crazy talk, and even remembers that day back when she was left on the tower that day with the bomb.  Walter fails to realize that day wasn't changed even with Cosmo's disappearance.  Svetlana even retells how the Normalists attacked that day, how Walter fells when he tried to reveal himself, and Victor using his magic to link their brains and communicate as a group.  Walter realizes some events have shifted somewhat to have Svetlana remember Victor doing what Cosmo did that day.  They head down and find Victor already confronting Wheeler.

The Man of Mystery has focused his gaze into her eyes and enthralled her to tell them the whole story.  He is tired to trying to gently gain information.  He twists her mind to believe that she was actually a quadruple agent who worked for Victor.  She starts telling them what he knows.  She admits the plan was to get Kenji Katana.  He was the focus of the train heist.  The Princess Anastasia was not even relevant to his plans.  "It was always about Kenji.  Always about making sure that no one would be able to stop his plan.  Kenji was the only one who could stop it."

The bandages fall.

Kenji stares at his own face.  The Count Baron von Duke has the same exact face.  But covered in scars, with threads that show he had been sewn up together so many times.

"What is a body supposed to do without a soul?"

Kenji Katana realizes that the Count Baron von Duke is actually his body.  The body he had left behind after he had escaped into a metal body.  Wheeler explains to Victor and the others that the body had become sentient and somehow crawled and sewed his body back together again.  Walter wonders aloud how could Wheeler know all these things, but no one hears his question.  Wheeler merely continues to talk about how the body is not just an animated corpse.  How she infiltrated the group deeper to understand more and learned that the body remains alive because somehow, the Count has the power to command and control every cell in his body.

"It was a matter of Science.  The Seven Warlords of Japan desired the ultimate weapon against the West.  Kenji Katana was chose to carry the greatest gift of Nippon.  And that gift was not the sword.   It was the blood."

Svetlana asks if Wheeler means he is like a Super Soldier.  She asks if Kenji Katana was also given the serum that was created to be given to the super soldier candidates.  Svetlana is confused why Wheeler is sharing the information as well and Victor tries to help.  Walter asks Wheeler where the Count had taken Kenji and she tells him that would be the Final Invisible Fortress.

"Victor, what is the Final Transmission?" Walter asks Victor but to everyone's surprise Wheeler retorts, "Exactly.  The vector is the final transmission."  Wheeler's body suddenly twists and distorts and within seconds, the group stares at an exact duplicate of Kenji Katana (or at least they would have recognized the face had they seen him before).

He refers to Kenji Katana as the ID held in control while the Count is the EGO.  Kenji asks about the body he is using and the Count admits it is his body, recreated cell by cell by his own will.  He claims the physical limitations of form are but a desire away.  "We are the new Adam."

The starry sky is now showing a new display in the sky.  The planet Earth.

Wheeler/Kenji is telling the group of how all the final Invisible Fortresses are releasing the final transmission.    He addresses them all proudly, telling them of his masterful plan: a virus has been released and is now airborne, and in a matter of time everyone in the entire planet will become transformed... into Kenji Katana as well.  It will become an entire world remade in a single image.  A world of disciplined warrior-poets.  A world of peace.

"Message delivered.  Unification begins."

Victor remembers Percy's words of a world with a single face.  They thought Percy meant the Normalists.  Now they realize Percy meant Kenji's face.   The group learn the Final Invisible Fortress is supposedly in the moon, and the group consider options on how to get there.  Svetlana tells them she just received emergency broadcasts from Russia as well.  Reports that there are reports of other people transforming into a single face.  Victor calls his contacts in London among the CIA about the virus as well, and tells them they have some kind of disease-related problem.  They inform Victor that they are receiving reports from their own Intelligence communities of a strange affliction of people gaining the same face.  They refer to the incident to be similar to a plague.  The CIA lament that the Professor Noble is dead but realize that means it is time to do it.  They tell the group to head to London immediately.  They hurry to a plane in hopes to meet with the government agents and map out a plan.  While flying in the air, Glorianna Sheeda visits Victor a second time, and amused with the incidents asks Victor a second time if he would help her form the Order.  Victor however tells Glorianna Sheeda that a world of Kenji might be a problem she would have to deal with alone.  And when Glorianna muses that seducing a single lonely Asian man would be easy, Victor counters that Kenji probably wouldn't have human urges by then.   However things turn for the worst when while midflight, Walter notices the plane is dipping lower towards the water.   Balancing on the plane, he maneuvers to the front of the plane and discovers that Svetlana seems to have been affected by the virus!  She begins to transforms before their very eyes into Kenji.  She, unfortunately, was the person who was piloting the plane.  

Victor turns down Glorianna Sheeda a second time.  And the plane strikes the water.

Kenji tells the Count he cannot allow this to happen.  The Count tells Sputnik to use his telekinesis to tear away the body he had given Kenji.  He reassures Sputnik that Kenji will survive, given he is merely an intelligence trapped in a stone.  Sputnik hesitates.  Sputnik asks Kenji if he would have stopped people from allowing his love, Laika to die.  The Count, it seemed, claimed to Kenji that if the world is all Kenji, Laika would never be sent to space.  Kenji asks Sputnik to trust himself.   He allows Sputnik to tap into his thoughts and begins to find more and more images of Kenji's memories with Cosmo.

But as the Count realizes what Kenji is doing, upon seeing the telepathic glow of Sputnik flickering between Gold and Red, he suddenly draws out a pistol to shoot at the dog.  Kenji sees this and flings his blade in hopes of stopping the Count.  The blade flies but if leaves Kenji's hand a second too late, hitting through the gun and into the Count's hand.  The bullet flies and it meets a mark.  It hits as the light is golden. To Kenji's surprise, however, the Count begins screaming and crying about how Kenji had made him do this.  How he had made him kill Cosmo, when what he wanted to do was kill Sputnik.  Had he killed Sputnik, Cosmo would then be able to exist since the Sputnik line would have ended.

Kenji however wonders if this also suggests that the Count shares his emotional attachments in more ways than he realizes.  Perhaps they are more a single person than they realize!

"You don't deserve your body," the Count growls and Kenji begins to feel his body rebel against him.

The Century Club ep04 : Spirit of the Century

08/13/2014

The Century Club
Spirit of the Century

Episode Four
"The Plan"

The Silver Line was the first intercontinental train that was to cut through all of Europe and the neighboring countries.  It was capable of immense speeds and was affordable only by the rich, the popular and the influential.  It had just opened its doors to the public after a few weeks of testing and monitored travels and had a passenger capacity of 150.

The train had been taken over by the Normalists.  Faceless and dangerous, these vile agents of terror had taken over the technological marvel.  And the Century Club learned only of this when Whilemina Wheeler, Fearless Reporter Extraordinaire happened to call them using the strange futuristic portable telephone that she was able to filch from one of the enemy agents.  Wheeler warns them that faceless soldiers have commandeered the vessel.  Knowing they should best try to go help in secrecy, Walter Le' Frogge is able to contact an old friend, a human-animal hybrid like himself who had also escaped the clutches of the Brotherhood.  The ally is part of a travelling circus, and he knows someone who has a plane.  The ally flies them to the next upcoming bridge that the Silver Line was to pass and on the right moment, the three leap to land on the car's roof and get there stealthily.  There is golden light surrounding the front of the train's engine as it approaches.  Kenji Katana wishes Cosmo was still with them.  Victor Knightfellow wished Svetlana Sol was with them but she quit the group after getting tired of hearing them repeatedly lamenting the loss of a member of the group which she had no recollection of:  Cosmo.  True enough, as Percy warned them, only they recalled Cosmo's existence in the team, and after his disappearance, Svetlana felt the three were teasing her about an imaginary member, to the point she felt they were insulting her for being part of the Soviet Union.  Victor had the added issue of no longer being in touch with his Spirit Companion.

They land, but Kenji's metal body slams against the roof too hard and the train's Shifting Directions does not make it easier.  Victor Jumps At the Call and gently lands on the roof.  Kenji bounces off the roof and begins to roll down its length!  Walter laments all these attempts to do stealth with the man of steel.  A crash!  Kenji crashes through a sky roof in one of the cabins and hits the carpeted floor.  The people dressed in their wonderful clothes and rich garments stare at Kenji realizes he had just landed on the food tray.  As Victor and Walter make their way to see what happened, Kenji finds Wheeler holding a young sixteen year old girl behind her.  She mouths, Get Out Of There, and Kenji rolls to the side with the table cloth wrapped around him to cover him.  The door slams open.

A soldier steps into the caboose, and he demands an explanation for the noise.  The man is dressed in a military uniform, with no insignia or political markings on his clothing.  There is a thin wire extending from his ear to his mouth.  He demands for an explanation and Wheeler misdirects and explains that the food cart smashed into the sunroof when the train hit a bump.  Walter laments how she is not a good liar.  The soldier asks if she is trying to make a stupid joke.  Walter watches from the roof, balanced perfectly with his sticky feet as being the First Human Frog.  Victor notices Walter does not see the incoming tree with a low hanging branch!  Unable to call out to warn him, he uses the Talisman of the Wylde to attempt to usurp control of Le'Frogge.  It works!  But that split second, Victor's unconscious body nearly slides off the roof from the moving train.  Dropping control, Victor leaps back into his own body and Walter reaches out to grab the Man of Mystery before he falls off the edge.   Thankfully, Victor's coat snags on to something on the train.  Back in the train, Wheeler insists that is what really happened and Kenji realizes she is motioning him to throw him OUT of the train.  "Well you never know if it will happen again."  Kenji grabs the soldier's leg and with his incredible might from his New Metallic Body, he flings the soldier out of the caboose and the man slams into another low hanging branch.

With the three gathered together, Wheeler quickly updates them on what is going on.  She tells them it seems to be the same people who attacked the welcoming party.  Victor wonders if the Normalists had this kind of masks.  The other captives ask the group to help, citing their daughters and family members in trouble.  Wheeler reminds them there isn't much time.  The faceless soldiers are working with a group calling itself EGO or Earth's Guardian Order.  And they are lead by a talking dog.  Victor mutters that the day has finally come.. a day which they worried about how they would fix given the mistakes of the past.  Kenji cites they are more or less the in middle of the train, and that whoever is controlling the train is possibly at the front.  Wheeler admits most of the best and Europe's finest are in the train.  Today was the first public opening.  The train doesn't have any special cargo.  Five of the trains contain first class guests.  The rest was wine, caviar, and other wonderful things for the guests.  The security had been forced to sleep and locked into the rear of the car.  Walter admits that would be something Cosmo would do, but even Wheeler does not know who Cosmo is.  One bystander adds that one of the members is a Mister ID, who uses strange lights.  Another shares the frightening tale of a dog that talks.  It calls itself Sputnik.  Victor mumbles about Sputnik sounding like a Russian name.  There is mention of one last member, a woman who is always in the shadows. She appears as an afterimage after Mister ID used his abilities.

That moment, one of the Normalist soldiers asks if all is well.  Wheeler pushes the three to head down to the next train.  Victor trusts the Devil's Luck, mumbles to somewhat supposedly match the voice, and says some glass broke when the cart hit the sky roof window.  "This might take a while.  I'm still here cleaning it up."  The soldier counters that they were supposed to work in pairs.  The sixteen year old girl pulls at Walter to hide.  Walter confirms only one soldier is approaching.  Victor stands in front of the door, at eye level, ready to entrance the man.  The girl tells Walter, "I'm very scared. I wish my papa was still here but he is dead."  Walter turns to Kenji but the man of steel is ready to grab the soldier in the distance.  Wheeler calls out, "Are you really letting your friend join us?" as she mutters aloud in a french accent.   The man opts to wait outside.   Quietly, they all make their way to the back.  Walter hands the young girl back to Wheeler.  He notices Wheeler's expression though of panic upon seeing her with Walter.  He muses there is something special about the girl.  Victor searches his mental map of who would be important at that age and possibly on the train.  As a Scion of Merlin, Victor finds himself remembering the tale of the missing Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna.  Could it be her?

As they move through the next two cars, the group considers their next move.  Walter feels unsure about things.  The doors to the other trains seem to be unlocked.  Kenji considers that given the two guards are roving, there probably are not that many guards to deal with.  Kenji does wonder if there is something in the rear of the train given Wheeler's insistence to head to the back.  Walter asks who the girl is and Wheeler claims she is no one important.  Victor counters, asking if Royalty is really not important.  Wheeler admits she might be someone of import, and she is safer so long as no one knows who she is.  Wheeler shares there was supposed to be a contingent of sixteen staff on the train, but none of them have seen any of the staff since the hostage situation.  Victor muses they are all in front.  Kenji and Walter however consider that the staff are actually the enemy.  Wheeler hands them the device she used to call them, and tells them it supposedly is a telephone though it has no wires.  She demonstrates to them as the phone glows and responds to her touch.   The three realize the lit up parts resemble some parts of Cosmo's uniform.  Victor starts pressing the buttons, watching what happens.  Suddenly, a very loud alarm breaks out from the phone.  In panic, Victor flings it out the window!  Walter grabs it before it flies out and as they all get frantic Kenji asks for it and smashes it under his foot.  From the opposite car, the soldiers call out asking if there is anything wrong.  Wheeler ducks behind a seat.  Walter has slid out of a window to hang in concealment.  Victor ducks to the opposite side to Walter.  The door slams open with Kenji right behind the door.  As the two soldiers step in, they notice the open window.  As one steps forward, the other reaches into his pocket and speaks into the wire, "Something is wrong here in the rear.  Check the other cars."  One approaches the window.  The other waits.  Victor figures the device allows the soldiers to keep in touch.  Kenji takes that moment to act and he grabs the first one and slams him against the second guy.  The two hit the ground.  Victor quickly tells Kenji that the soldier has one of those telephone things.   Victor scans to see if there are any other soldiers.

Walter crawls up to the roof and moves further down to the car the soldiers came from.  Through the window, he sees the clothes folded in neat piles on the floor which confirms their suspicions that the staff are the Normalists!  From the window, a blur of motion shatters the glass.  Walter spins to the window beside the one he is looking through to barge in and slam into his attacker.  The attacker turns out to be a woman!  Walter pulls back at the last second, and he pins her against the opposite wall instead of hurting her.  The woman turns out to be a deadly Asian woman with dragon markings.  She recognizes Walter by name and declares herself to be the Lady Shi.  She admits she has heard of him many times before and has always wanted to meet him!  She tells him that Sputnik has said so much about him, and that as the member of the Sisterhood, she was vowed to someday kill him!

Victor checks the door and hears nothing.  Wheeler complains about how the team does not seem to have a leader.  Kenji pulls out the phone and notices wires sticking out of it, like dynamite or something. Victor takes it from Kenji and fiddles with it, making sure not to press the earlier combination that caused the alarm.  Kenji asks Wheeler to use the phone to contact the other guards and to tell them that everything is fine in this car.  Victor watches intently as she manipulates the phone.  She locates a list in the phone and shows there are sixteen numbers listed. Victor checks the soldier's clothes and there are numbers marked on their sleeves.  They quickly identify the soldiers they've already dispatched but before they could do more, there is a gold spark on Wheeler's forehead.  Victor and Kenji turns to each other and they realize they too have gold sparks on their foreheads as well!  "If Cosmo can read our thoughts, we are screwed," Victor mutters.  The light flares from gold to red.  They all hear telepathically:  *Comrades.  I have found the interlopers.*

Metal locks into place as Walter Le'Frogge activates his signature weapon, Spitze.  Lady Shi unleashes her Dragon Talons.  The two enter a deadly dance as they parry each others strikes amidst banter and quips.

"How is your Brotherhood?  I heard they are dead?"

"Not yet.  I still live!  Where is Sputnik?!"

"Sputnik is everywhere!"

She swings but he dodges and pins her against the wall.  He hears a click, and he pushes her away as she throws a bladed knee at him.  It misses.  She leaps but he keeps a hand clamped around her wrist.

"Did Sputnik tell you to do all this?  Is he your leader?"

"We are the EGO.  We exist to serve the ID!"

"You will know soon enough."

As the footfalls close in, Wheeler turns to the rear door and runs for it knowing Walter should be there.  Victor runs to join her, but Kenji Kanata focuses on the door.  As it slams open, Kenji moves gracefully  as he tackles them backwards both back out into the earlier car.    As Victor gets into the car, he notices two new guards running into the car.  He tells Walter to handle the guards and barks at Shi, "Hey Lady!"  The martial arts mistress, however, flings a dagger at him.  Used to Playing With The Big Boys, Victor catches it at the last second and locks eyes with her.  Walter jumps forward past Lady Shi and closes in at the guards by the door.   With two blades drawn, Walter stabs the Normalists in a swift motion.  The two scream in pain as they drop to their knees with bleeding stomachs.  Victor's eyes lock with Lady Shi's.  "I am a Daughter... The Daughter of the Seven Warlords of Japan. You will not-" but her words are cut off as Victor mesmerizes her to fall asleep.  But crimson light flares that moment in her eyes as Sputnik takes over!

As Kenji slams to the earlier car, the soldiers are knocked down.  But more hostages scream for cover as two more soliders emerge at the other end.  The two open fire with their semi-automatic weapons.  The bullets fail to penetrate Kenji's New Mettalic Body.  The two stop firing, realizing its not wise to keep shooting.

A bladed knee is swung at Victor as Sputnik-controlling-Lady Shi moves in to strike.  Victor reaches out with the Talisman of the Wylde once again to usurp Walter to protect him, but even with the Devil's Luck, the edge finds flesh.  Victor drops to the ground with blood gushing from his ripped leg.  The crimson glow swirls upon Victor again as Sputnik attempts to reach into his mind.  Using Walter, Victor  flings the weapon to help himself, but Lady Shi easily catches it.  Victor takes that moment to sucker punch her in the groin. Even as a Martial Arts Mistress, Lady Shi is unable to resist the pain completely.  But given Sputnik is in charge, the woman remains standing.

Shimmering silver and rainbow hues.  Kenji Katana watches as the two soldiers fall back and a man dressed in shifting silver comes into view.  He proclaims himself as Mister ID, the ideas man, and as Kenji draws his sword to intimidate the man with his Iron Determination, he discovers the enemy is not easily intimidated. He uses his powers to dazzle Kenji with his mirrored clothing like a strobe-light, as he talks about how a warrior is useless if he cannot see.  Kenji turns away, and throws his blade into the air.  Mister ID is confused by Kenji's actions, unaware of Kenji's plan. Kenji charges forward at Mister ID attempts to tackle the man instead, making full use of the Narrow Passageways to his advantage.  Even as the lights flare, Kenji crashes into the opponent.

Victor rolls away from the Lady Shi, bleeding from his leg.  Walter regains control of himself and sees Lady Shi snarling about needing only one hit to kill her targets.  Walter rushes at her, drawing the garrote string to choke her as he was Trained by the Brotherhood.  She howls about bringing honor to her family, but cannot break free.  Victor realizes Shi is possessed by Sputnik still, and wonders if he can mesmerize him using his gaze.  He stares into her eyes and tries to possess him but instead he discovers Sputnik was never in control:  Instead, she was being psychically boosted by the canine.  Lady Shi runs up the wall in an attempt to leap over Walter and break free.  But Walter does the same that moment and the two land, still locked in the entangled state.

Crippled from the tackle, Mister ID attempts to use what he calls science to bring Kenji Katana down.  Kenji Katana unleashes steam out, being a Man of All Seasons, but Mister ID releases a low frequency throb that forces Kenji down as he feels what would be his bowels rebelling against him.   Kenji still tries to use his martial arts training to defeat the man.  His metal fist smashes into Mister ID's chest, forcing him to the ground.  Mister ID feels too Winded to fight.

While the two are entangled by the garrote wire, Victor quickly rushes through his thoughts for an idea to use.  He wonders where Wheeler has gone and wonders if there are knives and forks to use in the kitchen side of the restaurant.  Lady Shi and Walter, on the other hand, bark at each other about their historical training under their specific secret sects.  Walter however has been holding back from hurting Lady Shi, given his unwillingness to hurt a woman.  But seeing how injured Victor is, Walter jumps over Lady Shi's head and twists to try and entangle her despite her training.  In the last moment, Shi attempts to cut the wire to free herself but fails! "It doesn't have to end this way," Walter snarls at her as she is choking.  Victor grabs a nearby saucepan and smacks it on her head to knock her out, but she suddenly shifts to have Walter be in the way instead.  Walter attempts to kick her foot at the last second with his Ninja Skills to force her forward, but fails.  As the pan smacks Walter's head, Walter tumbles backwards slightly stunned.  Victor drops to the ground, and attempts to tie her shoes together.

Kenji looks up and sees the nozzles of guns trained at him.  However, the bigger danger is the pair of nozzles trained at everyone else.  He realizes the soldiers are threatening to open fire at everyone else.  A crimson glow then fills the room as Sputnik enters the area.  "Cosmo," Kenji gasps, "What are you doing?!"  Sputnik declares "Fire" and all the soldiers open fire.  Sputnik however freezes the bullets in mid-air.  He warns Kenjit that if he is injured in any way, the bullets get released.  When asked why he is doing this, a figure steps through the doorway, "He is doing it for me."

The Count Baron von Duke.

The Count speaks about being happy about waking up and realizing the world is a little bit different.  Somehow, he too remembers that the world is a little bit different.  "Comes with being a Millennial," he admits, "As there are people like you who are Spirits of the Century, there are beings like me who are not too happy that there are Centurions like you who are meddling with the world."  He talks about how the world is leading to a self-destruction and that the Centurions have a too-narrow-point of view to see how their actions are supporting thing.  He warns how the events in Hiroshima would pale in comparison to the acts of terror that are to happen daily, to the diseases and other injustices happen all over the world.  He even relates how more violence is to happen to animals like Sputnik as more are used for experimentation and the like in an arms race to reach the moon.  Kenji tries to say how he can try to stop such things, but the Count warns him that again he does not see the bigger picture.  He fiddles with one of Mister ID's arms and a projection is cast on the wall of a Monarch Butterfly.  He asks if they heard of the story of how a butterfly's wings can cause weather to change miles away - and relates how the same thing happens when Centurions try to change history.  "A small nudge here and a whole Millennium is affected:  Climate Change, Global Cataclysms, Chronal Disruptions, Quantum Fluctuations.  All of these are threats non-existent now but will threaten things in the future."  Kenji counters that like all rivers, it can be stopped.  To his surprise, the Count stresses that is true.  He stresses that is why he is here.  He talks about the Faceless Army needing a figurehead, and he cannot do much as merely a Count.  He was focused merely on the Century Club as a threat, but when he bore witness to how much the world has changed due to a single man's final wish, he knew the world needs more than a Count.  "The world needs an Emperor Duke."

When Kenji asked again why are they here this very moment, that's when the Count admits, "We came to lure YOU."  He stresses how they were supposed to be allies.  "Now, that will come to pass."  He reminds Kenji that if he does not surrender, Sputnik will release the bullets to kill the people in the car.  Sputnik growls at how he was left to burn in space vessel had it not been for the Count's actions that saved him.  He even stresses how his loved one, Laika, was the first to burn and how the humans still did not stop their experiments to throw animals to space.     "Fight and they die.  And you will probably defeat us but live the rest of your life knowing all these people died because of your decision.  Or you can submit, and who knows, perhaps your friends can someday rescue you.  You get to fight another day!"

Kenji surrenders.   Sputnik tells him to swear.  The Count tells Kenji to swear on his sword.  "Mitsurugi, to let these people live - I swear on the sword," Kenji declares.  The Count pulls out a screwdriver and walks up to Kenji to unclasp the soul gem once again.

"Wait, take me instead!" the young girl Wheeler was protecting calls out.  When the Count questions why she would be of any import, she reveals she has some kind of ability.  She claims to carry the essence of the last true Wizard, Rasputin.  She reveals she is the missing Grand Duchess and that she fled from her family's massacre to hide the last remaining Bloodline within her.  When the Count asks her to prove it, Sputnik reminds him he cannot do much while he holds the bullets.

Back at the car, Lady Shi finally drops unconscious.  Victor excitedly things he finally was able to disable her.  But as he confers with Walter what to do next, they realize the Cosmo they know could only do Telepathy and Telekinesis one at a time.  If Lady Shi was no longer telepathically boosted, that suggested that Sputnik was using his telekinesis for something else.  As they consider going after Kenji, they realize the next cab is currently empty.  Victor turns to Wheeler as asks her if they can use the mobile phones to contact him.  In response, she throws the second phone to Walter and suggests they try something.  As they both press the buttons on the phone at the same time as she suggested, they both suddenly hear the sound of a gunshot.  Victor slams against the side of the train as a bullet slams into his chest.  Walter turns and sees Wheeler with a drawn pistol.  "Sorry boys, but the Count offered me a position.  And I think I like the word Empress."  When Victor insults her for liking the Count, she admits she actually prefers frogs.  But luck is against the heroes as Wheeler's second shot nearly hits Walter.  Walter ducks behind cover.  "Do anything, Walter, and your Man of Mystery will have a new Mystery to solve: How does a man without a head think?"

As Victor tries to lean forward to grab her leg, she pulls it away at the last second.  That's when she admits Victor's own reflection told her to watch out for his grab! Victor discovers that his spirit companion, the Demon, had just betrayed him!  Victor growls and forces a conversation with the Demon while Walter sneaks out of the car, being a Friend of the Shadows as he tries to maneuver into an advantageous position.   Victor demands the Demon explain what is going on given the Demon broke the original deal with him already.  The Demon asks Victor remembers the day they watched that play called Aladdin and the story of the wish-giver and the lamp, and how Victor never made a wish to free the Demon.  The Demon did not change the terms to be completely free.  He just gave himself the chance to have one free wish: that Victor would have such a hard time and will need him.  Victor counters he does not see the need to ever made a deal with the Demon again, but the Demon asks him if he doesn't feel the urge to learn the things that Percy knew how to do.  The Demon does remind Victor that he doesn't know any other demons and that Victor only really learned to do things that Crowley did.  "You  simply became a Master of all these things that don't exist anymore.  All the demons Crowley commanded are now free.  They probably aren't even demons anymore."  Victor admits he finds the bargain interesting - but questions how he can trust someone who is working for the enemy.  The Demon corrects him, explaining he is not working for them.   He just was silently with Victor all this time, and waited for him to feel what it was like when he was not helping.  The Demon offers a new set of terms:  Quid Pro Quo.  A favor for a favor.  The terms are changing.  Victor will have to do something first before the Demon does something.  The first exchange is offered; if Victor makes his wound worse, the Demon will help him.  As their conversation ends, natural time flows again.

Wheeler trains the gun at Victor, who then yells at her and goads her to hurt him.  She turns, and fires a shot at the Man of Mystery.  The bullet takes out one of Victor's eyes!  Walter then witnesses from his hiding place as Wheeler's own eye explodes as well.  Victor sees his own reflection do a dance of joy.  Walter swings back into the car and kicks Wheeler's gun hand.  He does not notice Victor grunt in pain as his own arm feels the impact as well! "Oooh I'm gonna love this one!" the Demon exalts and only Victor hears his joy.  As Wheeler drops to the ground, Victor slams a bloody hand against the glass and curses the Demon for this trade off.  Walter kicks Wheeler from behind one last time to knock her out and only then realizes Victor is down as well.

"Oh," Walter gasps, "The Demon.  Right.  That's what you get for doing stuff on me with your Talisman," he huffs.

"I guess it is time to go," The Count tells Kenji.  Anastasia  asks them to wait and she shows a glowing orb that swirls from her chest.  The Count glances at it, unfazed, then has Sputnik knock her out with a telekinetic shove.  As she hits the ground, the Count merely mutters how people nowadays don't realize that the Count is a man of science.  "I don't believe in Magic.  Are you ready?" he asks Kenji.  Kenji asks them to take care of the people as part of the deal.  As the gem is pulled away from its socket, Walter and Victor in the distance hear Kenji's body slam to the ground.

The Count, Sputnik, and  his Faceless men are lifted off the ground with Crimson light.  For a brief moment, Sputnik stares at Kenji's body - as if there was a recollection.. a memory... but then its gone.  They leave and Walter arrives at the car with Kenji's body and discovers he has gone completely lifeless.

"Not quite the ending I was hoping," the Demon admits, "I was kind of hoping this would be some kind of last hurray before you died..."  Victor drifts to unconsciousness but just before he does completely so, a glowing woman leans over him and whispers, "You can serve me instead... you know my name... just save my name..."

Glorianna Sheeda smiles.

The Century Club ep03 : Spirit of the Century

07/24/2014

The Century Club
Spirit of the Century

Episode Three
"Parallels and Perpendiculars"

It began as a normal day for each of the Centurions.  Victor Knightfellow is looking at apartments in hopes of finding a new place to move into now that they are based in Paris.  He hoped to find a good location to have his books stored.  Victor used his reputation to suggest his need for a place to stay but most of the government people just stared back at him given the Centurions own a Mansion in Paris.  He had hoped to find a two-storey apartment with a basement which he had hoped to create a dungeon.    The woman showing him around was selling the property quite well, but Victor realized the place was way beyond his budget range.  Something shatters down below.  The two hurry downstairs to check what caused the sound.  The demon asks Victor if its possible the Centurions themselves are who are luring all these criminals to the city.  The two reach the ground level and they see a guy at the table with the small scones and food.  The man stares at the two and asks for their forgiveness, admitting he was not aware of others being present.

"Which one must I be addressing with regards to this estate?"

The woman tries to explain someone is already getting the place, but the man motions his hand and the woman immediately shifts her tone and now asks him instead if he'd like to look around. Victor plays dumb for now, embracing the element of surprise.  The man has the woman tell Victor he can inquire at a later date.  But as she brushes him off to leave, Victor decides to step in and calls out "Hold on a minute there" in an attempt to mesmerize him. Their eyes lock, but to his surprise the man does not fall under his control.  The man stares back and ignores his command to reconsider his actions.  In the man's eyes, Victor can see his own reflection and the Demon panickedly mimes for him to run away.

"Did you just.. attempt what I think you did?"

The man reaches into his jacket as Victor turns his attentions to the woman.  The man slides a ring on as Victor glances out the window for a nearby animal and all he sees is a pigeon.  The man confronts Victor, asking which "Magical Circle" he is part of given there are only four existing in the world.  Victor tries to get the woman's side, talking about how weird the man is but in response the man simply suggests the woman rest and she falls to the ground, asleep!   Victor breaks for the door and runs out into the street.  He starts rushing down the street for the Centurion Club but the moment he turns a corner, the man is standing infront of him.  "Not Morgan," he mutters as he peers into Victor's eyes.  Victor struggles to recall how to call for the cops in France.  "Too skittish to be one of Merlin's," the man adds.  Victor notices a man walking three dogs.  He acts scared and as he collapses in fear, he actually projects himself into one of the dogs.  The stranger catches Victor's body before it hits the ground and mutters, "Definitely not of the White Circle.  Could you be one of Glorianna's?" as he turns his attention to the dog Victor is possessing.  Victor realizes his Talisman of the Wylde is visible from his clothes and the man had recognized it!

That moment, Victor wakes up in a bit to catch the man by surprise.  He once again tries to lock eyes with the man and hopes to the Devil's Luck it works this time.  The man asks him how many times he will keep trying until he realizes it isn't going to work.  The man asks Victor to identify himself but Victor deflects the question and says no one special trained him.  The man commends Victor for knowing the power behind names.  The man starts explaining that he thinks that Victor is either a Student of Glorianna Sheeda like himself, or a remaining servant of Merlin.  He asks Victor directly if he is a student of Crowley's and Victor admits he is.  The man then apologizes and adds, "His demise will be tremendously regretted."  Victor gets explosive as he asks what the man means that Crowley is dead.  Victor turns to a reflection to ask the demon if its true and the demon admits Crowley died two nights ago.  He never told Victor since he never asked.  The man admits he tried to keep it painless, and that moment he glances away to look at the ground and ask it if he should tell Victor the details.  Victor realizes the man's demon is in the ground.. or something.  He tells Victor he attempted Sympathy to find someone close to Crowley since any Man of Mystery who dies has only nine nights to set things right before being irrevocably sent into Hell.  Victor asks why the man killed him and the man corrects him that he did not kill Crowley.  The man explains he was sent back from the future, as Glorianna Sheeda rules the world in the tomorrow.  "My Order exists because your Order creates it in time.  Your mentor called out to me.  He was imprisoned by a Castle of Illusions.  It was in the Bermuda Triangle.  He was the last to die among with his allies."  Crowley summoned the man from the future to do two things; Ensure his soul finds rest, and to ensure their line's propagation to ensure their Order to be born as well.  When Victor asks if he knows of Cosmo, the man admits that is not a good sign.  They are at a junction when the Order of Merlin can be halted and that allies are needed to help stop them.  He also admits there are no records of Victor and his friends in the future, other than the fact they form the Order of Glorianna Sheeda in time.  The man shows he has silver coins, which he had thought to use to pay for the property.  He reveals his name is Percy.

Victor worries though given Glorianna Sheeda means Glory to the Faerie.  The Order of Merlin, in his knowledge, is meant to prepare the world for the return of the one True King.  But supposedly the faerie stand against them in fear of the great weapon: Caliburn.   Could Percy be... Percival?

The man asks Victor for his name.  The Demon implores him not to give it.  Victor tells him, "Commissar Victor."  The man shares also knowledge that they have bound spirits to them.  Victor's is of the Water, hence it appears in mirrors.  His is of the Earth, which exists and whispers through cracks.  The final order supposedly would be of the Air, allowing them to be free and ever present.

Elsewhere, Walter Le Frogge is quietly under a bridge near a river.  He found himself enjoying his free time away from the celebrity of the mansion.  He still returns to the mansion to sleep.  He can overhear many of the people worriedly talking on the bridge above of Germany taking actions that the rest of the world do not like.  Walter catches the sound of heavier footfalls, and he turns to see Svetlana with a satchel approaching him.  She admits she was looking for him and had gone here thinking she would find him here.  Walter asks if she is leaving and she admits she brought with her camping things because she wanted to join him in the camp.  Walter's memories shoot back to Elijah's warning of her not taking break ups well.  And her falling for leaders.  She sets camp at the opposite side of the river.

She asks Walter if he is uncomfortable with her presence in the area, but Walter just deflects and offers to help her set up camp.  Svetlana worries about the coming signs of war and if this would lead to them being on opposite sides of the battlefield.  She even asks Walter if they should leave people to handle the fight on their own in the trenches while special ones like them avoid the battle?  

At the park, Kenji Katana and Cosmo are playing fetch.  Kenji would throw the ball a distance of three fields while Cosmo would telekinetically chase after it.  "That's at least three fields," a red-haired woman tells Kenji and he recalls her to be the reporter for the Tribute.  She identifiers herself as Miss Wheeler and Kenji remembers she was also present when the Normalists attacked some weeks back.  To his surprise, she executes a perfect Japanese bow then greets him in fluent conversational Japanese.  She tells him how as a reporter she has learned to handle stress and cultural differences.  "I am a Woman of the World.  I am fluent in 12 languages," she smiles.   She asks to join the two and Cosmo seems pretty happy to play a bit more.  She tells Kenji she's been struggling to get an interview and that she's happy Kenji has been willing to have this interview.  She even honors his family and his role in the heroic group given the bombings that happened and what separated him from his family. Cosmo returns and to their surprise, Wheeler bows to the ground level in front of him, a way to tell Cosmo that she "bows to him as the alpha".  Cosmo telepathically asks Kenji why she knows so many things about them.  Wheeler, however, answers the question even if was never asked, and admits she has been observing conversations and wonders what the term Cosmonaut means.  "As a reporter, it is my job to be in the know. And I guess I am quite Superb when it comes to that."
 Throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*throw*Cosmo starts telepathically and excitedly asks Kenji to play.  Kenji learns from Wheeler that his body matches the Steam-Powered Japanese Soldiers and that Cosmo's clothing has markings which match top secret soviet research papers.  She finally does admit she is aware of how many of them have connections to Count Baron von Duke.  Kenji asks if she is willing to help them, since she seems to know so much about them, but she does not answer.  Instead, her eyes glaze over and remains unmoving.  Kenji turns to ask Cosmo what happened but learns the cosmonaut too is frozen in that way.  Kenji looks around and terrifyingly learns everyone else in the part is frozen that way as well.

Everyone.



Victor tries asking Percy more about the future and he admits it is bleak.  He mentions of the Faceless Ones, people who have devoted themselves to the darker powers and sacrificed all sense of identity to join the organization.  Victor feels they sound like the Normalists.  The Faceless Ones serve the King Emperor of the World, and his symbol is that of a five fingered hand, with three fingers closed and an eye at the base of the palm.  The group had conquered countries and the Order of Glorianna Sheeda alone stands against them.

And that's when it hits Victor: a dark hand grabbing his cortex and pulling him into a coma.

Svetlana understands that Walter does not plan to have dinner with her.  Walter tries to explain that's not it, but Svetlana admits she is fine that he prefers men, perhaps Victor?  But Walter invites her to have dinner with him later in the evening, but when she doesn't answer he confuses it at first to be because she is hurt. But then he realizes it is because of an intense pain that attempts to grab hold of his brain.  Walter fights against the pain and recovers but he learns Svetlana is lost within herself.  Above the bridge, cars smash into each other as their drivers slip into a coma.  One of the injured drivers crawls out of the damaged vehicle, calling for help.  Besides him, however, no one else seems to be alive.  When Walter tries to help him, the man panics upon seeing Walter's visage.    But Walter's focus is more on the sky.  He sees a plane losing altitude fast.

Kenji tries to snap Cosmo out of the coma by shaking him but it does not wake the telepathic dog.  He sees  a guy coming out of the lake with a wet bike.  A gash on his face suggests the man must have fallen into the lake when he went comatose while biking.  While carrying Cosmo, Kenji approaches the man and warns him to be careful and try to find safety.  He admits he does not know what is happening.  Kenji notes the wound has helped the man regain consciousness.

Victor feels the cold as he loses control of his body.  But then, he's back.  He sees Percy with a hand on Victor's chest and his eyes rolled back to white.  The Demon tries to convince Victor to just kill Percy. It tells him this is his chance.  Victor stares at his chest and finds nothing save for blood stains on his clothes.  On Percy's palm, however, he can see Victor's name was scratched on his skin.  He must have twisted their fates around.  Victor rushes to the nearby restaurant and grabs a knife.  The Demon however continues to tell him to kill Percy.  It even insists that it knows Victor will be his in the end, but Percy is a threat that has to be stopped.  Victor, realizing this is the first time the Demon ever offered something for free, decides not to listen to it. "Let me do my things my own way.  I have to find my friends first."  He slices Percy's name onto his own palm and sticks it to Percy's chest as well.  "Percy, come back.  I summon you."

Percy's eyes open and Victor once again is frozen.  He bemoans to his demon how his "forefathers" didn't seem to know how to properly use magic.  *Well if there is anything, they are fast learners.*   Percy then stares at Victor's reflection and scolds the Demon for not teaching him well. The Demon, as it turns out, can address him too!

Back at the bridge, Walter hears what sound like air raid sirens.  A voice projects from the speakers addressing all who can still hear:

Citizens of New York City.  
If my Super Science device has functioned correctly, you are now all under my thrall.  

But then he adds, almost off-mike, "This doesn't make sense... I can still see them all moving around.. Why are you moving?  You... you are supposed to be frozen... Why is this not working?"  The voice is that of Count Baron von Duke but it sounds like he lost control of his own device in New York and affected Paris instead.

Both Kenji and Walter rush back to the nearest outpost hoping to find allies to help them.

And elsewhere, in a distorted realm, Victor finds himself face to face with his Demon.  The Demon had pulled him out of his body for a more personal discussion.   It tells him that Victor has to understand the rituals he is performing in the future.  Percy converses with him, being able to peer into the spirit world, and he quickly gathers things to match the friends.  He gets a doll with a gemstone for Kenji.  He then takes the animal amulet and summons a frog to match Walter.  Percy asks for their names.   When Victor tries to move, he slams against the edge of the mirror.  He learns he cannot "leave" the confines of the mirror.  He asks Percy to have his friends brought over to his location.  As he holds the ringed hand up, Victor notices it has a hidden needle.  He uses it to scratch upon his own skin to write their names.

Kenji and Walter begin to witness strange things unfolding all around the city.  Rain falls in half the city.  Clouds part to reveal plans, and jet fighters.  A tank rumbles nearby.  A ship sails down the boulevard.    Suddenly an earthquake erupts and both Kenji and Walter are plunged into the earth and emerge in front of Percy.  The two see Percy, bloody and all, with a paralyzed Victor standing nearby.  He addresses them and asks if they are friends of "Commissar Victor" and asks them to help.  They learn he summoned them both here because they do not have enough time.  He tells them that Victor's mentor, Aliester Crowley is dead and they have to help him save his soul.  When Victor asks if there's really time for this given other things seem more pressing, he explains that when the man died, the terms of his condition had the phrase: Let the Greatest of All Histories be tied to his Life and his Death.  "With his death, all histories are coming together."
A B-52 bomber emerges from the clouds, approaching them.    On the side street, a Porsche had smashed into the older vehicles of the era.    Victor asks if the Demon can reverse his terms, and the Demon admits they can... for a price.

Percy explains that they must bring back from the dead.  When Walter asks how, Percy explains all magic follows one single rule: "The Rule of Three.  I need three lives to replace his.  Since I am not of this time, I cannot choose.  You two must choose three lives to replace his and allow him back from the dead."

Victor says no.  He tells the Demon that Aliester died because it is his time to die.  The Demon agrees and tells him the man clearly wants his future to exist, and will do everything to make sure it does.  Victor realizes the Demon was right, Percy was tricking them!  But the two do not know that.  "The Order only forms when Aliester Crowley learns that Merlin is truly devoted to the one True King.  Crowley calls upon the Faerie folk to stop the Order and thus gives birth to its existence."  The Demon admits it would be a simple matter for it to rewrite Crowley's Final Terms, but the price would be for the Demon to freely rewrite Victor's own Final Terms.

Walter and Kenji weigh the decision Percy asks them to make.  Around them, all histories are falling into each other.  The world is falling apart.  But Walter does not trust Percy.  He asks for Victor and Percy explains most minds were unable to cope with the destruction of Time and Space, and they shut down to await til things become normal again.  Those that are awake, however, will bear witness and possible be driven mad by the process.  They alone will remember what happened once time is flowing back in its proper motion.  The two are uncertain. Walter admits to Kenji he does not trust Percy at all.  "What do we do, Kenji?"

Percy admits he does not need their trust. He only needs them to know the truth.  The Count Baron von Duke has killed Aleister Crowley and has gained all the powers of the ones he had killed.  Walter asks if Victor can be brought back, and Percy admits he merely have to condemn him to the insanity and make him bleed.  Walter lands on Percy and points his blade upon the stranger, "Bring him back!"  Percy slashes Victor's skin to force him back.

"Persuaded to what!" Victor calls out as he wakes up.  The Demon was about to offer him an alternative to change Crowley's final words but the actions of the others had pulled him away from the dimension before the Demon could finish his statement.   Victor quickly explains to the others that he can try to change things, but Percy tells them they are down to the final minute to make their choices.  In the sky, a bomber plane approaches.  Its side says, Enola Gay.

Victor offers the Demon his Final Words to change the terms of Crowley.  Percy tries to stop him but Walter keeps Percy back.  "Dead people should stay dead!"  the three are in agreement.  Percy screams.  The world's first atomic bomb falls from the sky.  "Victor," Kenji tells his friend, "Do it."  Percy glares at them,  "The three of you could have offered your own lives to stop this.  Instead you have given the Demon the whole world."   The Demon however sneers at Percival, "Too late Percy.. he's already given it to me."

*

The world seems to be back to normal.

The people awaken without memory of the events.  Any damage that happened in the streets are gone.  Nothing seems amiss.  Kenji, Victor and Walter see a golden orb lock upon each of their heads and immediately they hear Cosmo's telepathic voice as he asks why he is in a house he does not recognize.   Kenji explains he had left the dog in a command center.  "Everyone is well?"  Cosmo asks.  Even Svetlana responds in the link that she was just in front of Walter earlier but now he is missing.  Victor tries to explain that things happened. Things that none of them could control.

The three turn to Percival.  The man has slowly begun to turn translucent.  Victor apologizes that if his future was not meant to be, it was not meant to be.  Percival mutters, "Then neither shall you have one."   He vanishes.  Victor then directs Cosmo questions of the future, asking about the Faceless Army and the Order of Glorianna Sheeda.  Cosmo was about to answer, admitting to have heard of such an order, but suddenly the telepathic link is gone.

Kenji freaks out and rushes to the command center.

*

There was no sign of Cosmo in the Command Center.
The soldiers admit they did not see any dogs in the area.  One mentioned seeing a golden glow turn translucent and fade away.  Like a dog but it wore odd clothes.

Kenji looks at the others as they arrive.  "We have saved the world.. but..."

Victor turns to the closest glass surface to try and talk to his Demon.  The Demon is no longer there.

*

At the headquarters, Svetlana reads a telegram.  It talks about a sole survivor of the New York Chapter House - Aliester Crowley - who was able to arrive and give his final report before expiring.  The New York Chapter House Centurions discovered a Castle of Illusion.  They were annihilated.  Aleister Crowley was only able to escape by making a deal with a Water Demon.  He gave the final report in hopes to prepare the team to avenge them.

The telegram was accompanied by a film reel.
Svetlana loads the reel and watches its contents. 

Inside, images form of Aleister, bloodied and mauled, as he recounts how they were ambushed by the Count Baron von Duke and his own team.  "They are well too prepared, too coordinated.  Beware the Hound.  The Hound can read your thoughts.  The Hound is the Count Baron von Duke's Greatest Ally."