Breakdown

Chapter Three:
Pressing The Point: Clive Dove

"Interview commenced! Accused, state your name, age, gender , occupation and the crime of which you are accused!" Joshua was very eccentric and out of his chair, for one reason – finally, he had a reason to have at this. Well, that, and the accused was – well, the accused, meaning he was hooked up to seventeen different shockers, meaning that Joshua would finally see some entertainment. Why he loved dishing out a little torture was beyond him, but oh well – it was well intentioned torture at the least. Quickly, he paced from the door and around the table, sitting down whilst grinning madly.

"… Clive Dove. Sixteen years, male – newspaper journalist, accused of terrorism… and treason against the crown." Joshua looked at him slightly confused; after all, it was against Hawks in particular – then again, it was London – and Bill Hawks did seem particularly eager to have the young boy sent down – and against the crown was a guarantee to have him put on trial as an adult.
"Right. Now, I'll be fair with you. I believe you're innocent. However, this is far from being proven – nonetheless, there should be no need for the shockers. However, I do find that this thing… can enhance someone's memory slightly. So… who did you receive orders from?"

"Pardon? I… don't know what you're talking about." And not only was he hesitant, but he grabbed his right wrist with his left arm at the same time. All of a sudden, a sharp pain flashed through his right leg. "Ah!"
"I don't take kindly to lying. And you're transparent at it, just so you know." Joshua looked twice his age as he fixed his jade coloured eyes upon the young boy – even if he was pretty much the same age as the other person in the room. "Who were you taking orders from? Please, tell me now."
Clive shrank down in his seat. Joshua just sighed. Slowly, he pulled out a wad of small slips. "Okay. Was it this one?" He threw one of the photos down. No reaction. Wordlessly, he threw more and more of the photos down, until he saw what he was looking for – a single tear. "Found you. You've never seen or heard who it was who `repossessed` your plan, but you were forced to play along with it… so…"

+Questioning Begin+
Reaching The Top

"So? This is a bit of a waste of time, isn't it? Why don't you just begin my trial?"
"Because…" Josh applied a small shock to the arm – "I need the truth. If I don't have the truth, then I can't exactly survive – to an extent, quite literally. Now – It is my understanding that, to begin with, you were in charge of the operation – and were planning on destroying the forgery of London at it's culmination - to then return both Bill Hawks and Dimitri Allen to their normal lives at the next available opportunity."
Clive's fist met the desk. "What does that change? I still destroyed a good part of London…"
Detail Confirmed: Future London Destruction
"True, but – and this is important – were you actually initiating the actions of the destruction."

Upon Joshua hitting a large button, stimulating Clive's nerves, Clive… had a recollection.

He was standing there, at the controls. It was shortly after he had informed the Professor and the rest of his travelling party of Bill's… special state. He didn't kike lying like that – but, well, Bill Hawks, or Dimitri at least would be conscious. Anyway, he just focused his eyes on the screens in front of him, continuing on with his plan. Sure, the y co-ordinate on the screen was a tad off – but, he had no choice now – to cancel this attack would mean an awful lot of things would go wrong – he checked the programming – any recalls, and the detonation mechanism would automatically activate.

Sure, the night sky was out – but, he had just knocked away most of the high intensity lamps on the ceiling – and not to mention cut off the electricity supply in the local area. So… he kept going. Although, he did hope that the Professor hurry up and resolve this entire situation. After all, running around destroying the entire city was starting to wear quite thin. He was, however, slightly unsettled by the screaming around him – it was louder than he had hoped, but, well… everyone has technical mess-ups sometimes.

Then, as expected, the screen started flashing red. Clive half smiled, but, it wouldn't do to drop the act. After a few seconds of rapidly punching at the controls, he stumbled over to the balcony – and looked on in slight shock. He saw… London. Where he was expecting to see 777, he saw a normal hotel – a regular haunt of his.

"How is this happening… It can't end this way…It won't end this way!"

With this cry to whomever forced this upon him, he passed out. When he regained consciousness, he was being helped out… and when he asked her why…
She had seen the files. Every last one. But, she knew – to interfere – would interrupt the flow of time.

Clive doubled over, panting. Joshua, eyes closed, sat there, expression neutral, breathing deeply. Then, he smiled. "So, Clive…. Do you feel like you can testify to that? Sorry about using that by the way." Clive, in spite of everything, laughed. Honestly this time. And, unsurely, Joshua joined him in said honesty. It was kind of ironic – now, that whoever had a vendetta against the government had used Clive as a scapegoat – however tangled the web was – it's strings were falling. So, both of the men gave their first honest laugh in years. Looking at each other, Joshua just gave him a look of determinate resolution – this was it now. He didn't give a damn if this was his final case in England – at least, for the time… by hell, he would enjoy this.

… Oh, I almost forgot.

Questioning End
Determination Found

Notes: If Clive were 16 now, that would make him 6 – unless its 15 years, in which case – oops. Also, funny thing, I was listening to the recreation of the E3 trailer for SSB4 – guess where the music suddenly grew within my head? Anyway, thanks for all the support!