Telepathic IC 'Inbox' and Messenger Bird Reception (Empatheias)

[spiritofjustice]

[Catch-all post for one-on-one messages that need to be delivered directly to Bobby, either through the amulets or with a messenger bird.]

Comments

[Voice]

[sobored]

Is that really it though? I mean if you feel so strongly about justice, then shouldn't you be outraged that I'm not paying for my crimes? In fact, you could even say my very existence is the worst injustice of them all given the rules of this world.

[Don't mind her, just chipping away at his argument.]

But I don't think that's it! Nope! I think there's something else! But it's okay! Because while I figure out what that is, I'll be more than happy to help you feel the way you should about this horrible injustice! Yup!

[In other words, she'll help him despair.]

Because...you need my help. And I think we're friends, and friends help each other right? Even if they don't necessarily want that help. Really, it's all so pointless.

[Voice]

[spiritofjustice]

[Junko's reasoning is so incredibly backwards that it might just make him weep. Or maybe he's supposed to laugh even more, or experience indignation that she's trying to play him for a fool. He doesn't even know what the appropriate emotion should be, anymore.

Outraged at the injustice of it all? Please. It's clear that they both know such a thing won't happen. Not as long as he can help it. That doesn't mean he's going to accept the injustice either. For now, he's going to move himself back into a sitting position. His body is shaking like a leaf and he still can't see a thing through the pitch-black darkness that his emotions have created, but that's fine.]

I have no reason- to be worried. Justice- always has a way of catching up with villains like you. That's why- it's one of the strongest forces in the world.

[He starts rolling up his sleeve to get to his amulet. This conversation is far too taxing and the longer it drags on, the more painful it'll get for him. It's all spiraling out of control.]

You'll get your just reward soon enough, Miss Enoshima.

[Voice]

[sobored]

[But Fulbright, as far as she's concerned, you're playing right into her hands. Seriously, way to take your own group's advice about putting her out of your mind. Then again, it's not like she really gave him a choice, right?]

I will? I will? I will? Because I sure hope so! I mean you can't just say something like that and not follow through. That'd leave me in such despair that I can't...I can't even begin to imagine how despairing that would be, so you have to do something! After all, that's your duty right?

[Actually she can, but that's not really the issue here. The issue's that well, if nothing happens, she despairs, and if something happens, then she also despairs. But she sure thinks that if she's pushed him far enough to do something, then that would cause the most despair, wouldn't it?]

[Voice]

[spiritofjustice]

[Nobody said that he'll have to follow through. In fact, if something were to happen to Junko shortly after this, he'll act as surprised as everyone else. Bobby Fulbright would never act on a petty grudge, after all. And he'd certainly never do anything outside the bounds of the law. Whether the Phantom would is a whole other matter.]

My duty- is to protect people, not punish them. That's up to the court system. Good day, Miss Enoshima.

[With that, he rips his amulet from his arm, drops it on the floor and waits. He waits for the turmoil to die down, both inside his head and around him. The trouble is, it doesn't. While the place eventually brightens up again, revealing just how much property damage has been caused, the fires don't quite die down. The cold doesn't quite disappear. The pain in his chest and in his head won't quite dissipate.

He's still in despair. It just won't leave him, and the fact that it won't leave him is exactly what keeps causing him to experience more despair. A vicious cycle, just as it always is when it comes to his emotions.

He waits and he waits until he can't stand it anymore. That's when he crawls over to his bed, ripping up one of the floorboards beneath it. Below it is a small, secret trove of treasure. Assorted notes on various information he's gathered over the past nine months (it's only due to a bit of reflex that he even bothered, because none of this is particularly secret), as well as little bits of 'evidence' that he's snatched up here and there. A piece of marble from the statue of Sosyne's shrine in Inoman, some shards of armor from the world's surface and one more thing.

Toxin from the Exterobus Apathes parasite.

He pocketed it when he was in Kimishima's clinic a few weeks ago. The Phantom, that is, not Bobby Fulbright. Bobby would never steal. Bobby would never think to use this stuff as a defense against Junko, either. After all, it'd been made perfectly clear that PAS can no longer affect her. That doesn't matter. There's more ways to put this stuff to good use. It's dangerous- the cause of a lethal illness, but right now he doesn't care anymore. All common sense has been foregone. A microscopic hit is all he needs. Just enough to get his psyche back in order. Just enough to vanquish those pesky emotions.

Once he's built up enough apathy to have it become a line of defense against Junko's despair, that's when the Phantom will find a way to deal with her.]