James
Fuck…
Get off of me!
You don't understand what's going on!
Doctor
I know what I saw!
You won't get away with attacking Dr. Sunshine!
Do you know how many people he's helped?!
He's an unrivaled genius in medicine!
James
I don't care what he is!
He's a psychotic serial killer!
Ophiuchus
It's no use
James
!?
Ophiuchus
He won't believe a word you say, I've spent my life establishing myself as a pillar of this community.
If you think I'll let some nobody playing detective ruin everything I've built, you've got another thing coming!
James
How the fuck is he not hearing you!?
The doctor pushes James' face into the ground
Doctor
Quiet!
Ophiuchus
It's nothing new, you've seen this technique used before by my subordinates
James
(He's using his Manifesto to speak so that only other Manifesto users can hear him!)
(That's such a clever trick to make sure regular people aren't suspicious of what we're doing…)
(...It also lets us communicate over larger areas without having to worry about raising our voices.)
(That's a smart strategy, I'll have to incorporate it, assuming I make it out of here alive!)
(The disease is spreading pretty quickly, I can feel my back getting stiffer…)
(At this rate, the disease will finish me off long before Dr. Sunshine or his Manifesto are even able to do anything to me!)
Lacerta
I bet you think you're pretty smart.
Dr. Sunshine
?
Lacerta
I bet this strategy has always worked out on all your victims, catching them by surprise and using your Manifesto's gas-like body to attack them without them realizing what's happening…
The black embers around James' hair begin to ignite again as Lacerta pushes the doctor off of James
Lacerta
…the only issue with your strategy is that you never accounted for me.
My Lacerta offers perfect close quarters and long range attacks while having a hard body of scales and regenerative properties…
Lacerta breaks its limbs in the places that James has the bone
Dr. Sunshine
!?
James
You already saw what happens when Lacerta hurts itself, the damage will heal itself.
I'm eager to find out if Lacerta can also heal diseases and what happens to the muscles that got torn…
James takes up an athletic stance with Lacerta's legs and tail appearing, the black embers appear around his limbs before he disappears
Dr. Sunshine
(What in the world is happening?!)
(He broke his own limbs so that his Manifesto would heal them!)
(He's crazy!)
(Not only him though, that power of his is absurdly powerful as well!)
(What are those black flickers I keep seeing?)
(His attacks are getting more powerful each time they appear, are they the excess power being leaked out by his Manifesto?)
(Have my taunts worked too well in pushing him?)
(Now that I think about it, I've seen those sparks before…)
(It was the last time I felt fear before today…)
Flashback
Dr. Sunshine
I always knew something about me was "different" from those around me
When my father died, my mother wailed for weeks, but I didn't shed a single tear.
His death meant nothing to me.
When I saw him in his casket, I was more interested in seeing what was inside of him.
Of course I never acted on these impulses out of fear of what might happen to me if I did…
…but one day when I found a dog on the side of the road I let my curiosity take over
A young boy is crouching over a dead dog
The camera zooms in to show a gas leaking out of the dog
Dr. Sunshine (Young)
Woah.
The young boy looks around before grabbing a stick and smashing it over the carcass. The stick snaps in half when it hits the animal
???
Hey, hey, hey, careful there
You might get a splinter.
Dr. Sunshine (Young) looks up to see a high school boy standing over him, leaning against a tree, ??? looks around
???
Where are your friends?
Dr. Sunshine (young)
I don't have any…
???
Now that won't do!
How about I be your friend?
Dr. Sunshine (young)
Reall!?
???
Of course, now "friend", let me ask you a question:
What exactly do you think that is before you?
Dr. Sunshine (young) looks at the man blankly
Dr. Sunshine (Young)
A dog?
???
Ha ha, well, I mean, yes. It is a dog
But in reality do you want to know what that is?
Dr. Sunshine (young) nods his head
???
A test.
See, I've been experimenting for the last few weeks and I wanted to see what would happen to that dog.
Dr. Sunshine (young)
Experiments?
???
Yeah, as someone who's been blessed by our heavenly father, I've taken it upon myself to usher in a new era of prosperity for humanity, but to do this I need to understand my power.
Dr. Sunshine (young)
I'm confused…
???
Let me put it this way, what do you see in front of you?
Dr. Sunshine (Young)
A road?
???
Good, now…What do you see?
Dr. Sunshine (young)'s eyes widen in surprise as a Manifesto looms over him now
Dr. Sunshine (young)
Eep!
???
Ha ha, I'll take that to mean you can see my Corvus now.
What I've done is shared a bit of my "blessing" with you.
There's a whole world out there that the average person will never be able to understand…
…but as a profit, It's my job to share these blessings with as many people as I deem worthy.
Once I've found enough worthy candidates, I'll be able to fulfil my mission and deliver us into a new era of humanity: One where only those with a "blessing" may dictate what's right and wrong.
A world where "justice" isn't dictated by whoever has more money, but whoever has been chosen by God.
Dr. Sunshine (young)
Excuse me, but how do you know God chose you for that?
It seems like a lotta work for one person.
???
Well, like I showed you before, I can share these blessings with people.
That makes me the perfect person to gather candidates and bless them with divine power.
Dr. Sunshine (young)
If I had one of those "blessings," do you think I'd be able to understand what people think?
???
If you had a blessing, you wouldn't need to understand what people think. You'd be so far above them it wouldn't matter…
!
Actually, how would you feel about keeping that blessing I gave you?
Dr. Sunshine (young)
Really?!
???
Of course, though, in return, you have to do exactly as I say…
…or else I'll take back that blessing and show you exactly what happens when you rebel against God.
Dr. Sunshine
That was the first moment in my life I felt genuine fear.
After that, things progressed smoothly for me, the boy would teach me how to use the power he gave me until I had far surpassed what he had achieved with the power.
The boy had shown me what no one else was able to: the joys of life
Because of the boy, I was able to make even people older than me recognize my strength and intelligence.
I found I was at my happiest when others were bending to my every whim
2 years later
Dr. Sunshine (young)
So?
Care to explain what you thought you were doing coming to our school?
Boy
I don't know, my dad said that this was going to be my school from now on!
I-I didn't want to come here!
Dr. Sunshine (young)
Likely story. Boys! You know what to do, right?
Goons
Of course…
As the two boys that are clearly older than Dr. Sunshine (young) begin to approach the boy, ??? bursts through the door
???
Playtime's over. Sunshine, time to talk.
Goons
Hey, who do you think you are to talk to our boss like that?!
??? glares at the boys
???
I said: Playtime's. Over. Do I make myself clear?
???'s body is covered in black flames as he says this
The goons and the boy they were picking on leave the room
Dr. Sunshine (young)
What's wrong?
You never look for me?
You didn't even tell me your name, you just said you'd tell me if you ever needed to
???
Well, I need to find you now.
Do you remember what I told you when I gave you that blessing?
Dr. Sunshine (young)
That I had to do anything you asked in exchange
???
Good, I'm cashing in that debt now.
I need you to kill 2 people for me.
Cuts to the exterior of a different building, the two boys are leaving the room as ??? holds a candle and sets each curtain aflame
Dr. Sunshine (young)
Isn't this your house?
???
It was.
Dr. Sunshine (young)
So were those your parents?
???
They were.
He pauses
???
I thought you felt nothing when your father died, does this mean you feel bad now that we killed someone else?
Dr. Sunshine (young)
No!
That wasn't what I meant!
???
Forget it, after today you won't ever see me again anyways.
I'm going to New York, there's not enough people that are worthy out here in rural America.
After today, your debt to me is clear.
Never, and I mean NEVER try to find me after today.
If you try to find me, I'll make sure you suffer a fate far worse than what those are going through right now, smashed to bits after being turned into statues by their own body turning against them.
This is our final goodbye, may our paths never cross again.
Dr. Sunshine (young)
Wait!!!
Don't leave me!
Dr. Sunshine
(That was the last time I ever saw him, and the last time I ever saw those flames. I don't know what those flames were, all I know is that he had a far more fearsome power and aura than any other person I've ever met…)
(…until today that is.)
(James Spectre, you are the first person I've met I think could give that man any form of competition when it came to power.)
James appears behind Dr. Sunshine out of nowhere and with one shot covered by black flames destroys Ophiuchus causing Dr. Sunshine to collapse to the ground
James
Hah…hah…Caught him off guard…
That's for the best anyways…
Now, to go back and make sure my friends and all the other statues are ok…
Camera pans to a man in a suit watching James
It's the same man we saw watching his fight with Fornax.
???
James Spectre…I believe I've let you run free for too long.
Maybe it's about time I introduce myself…