Volume 3 - Plagued

Plagued

Fear is like a contagion. It spreads from person to person like a disease without a simple cure.
~Canon

Scene 1, The Palace Tower
[Irakura looks out on the city, from the palace tower, which has an awesome view, with gigantic floor to ceiling windows. He looks out, and notices small fires, carriages running amok, people running crazily, and stores closing.]
Irakura: The city's in a state of high paranoia... the smallest thing throws entire blocks into fear frenzies... something has to be done about this... I won't let Sparrow win!

Scene 2, The Grand Plaza
[A large group of citizens are gathered at the Grand Plaza. Irakura is atop the podium, and there are several messengers to relay his words.]
Irakura (to crowd): People of Norea! Hear me now, or i'll kill You faster than Sparrow could! Rumors, dreadful rumors, have reached my ears. I hear that my people fear for their lives, because of a master terrorist, the infamous Sparrow! I'm hear to tell You, it's not that big of a deal! We can beat Sparrow, when we pull together and fight hard. To prove this point, I will be spending the remainder of this day right here, in the Grand Plaza. I DARE Sparrow to come after me. He'll be in for an unpleasant surprise! People! There's no need to fear!
Crowd: *cheers*
Random Guy: Maybe he's right...
Another Random: I hope. I can't take this anymore!
[Canon is at the back of the crowd, and, after hearing The Prince, leaves to his base]

Scene 3, Canon's Apartment
Canon: Did You all get Irakura's message?
Others: *nod*
Canon: Good. We're going to set up a perimeter around him, and protect him.
Koiki: What.
Canon: I understand this is a bit different-
Koiki (angrily): We're protecting The PRINCE?! Our number one enemy, and We're PROTECTING him?!
Canon: Listen to me. The Prince is NOT Our number one enemy. Sparrow is. Sparrow is currently a worse being than Irakura. Sparrow kills innocents, to simply make a point. He is, as Irakura has stated, a terrorist! He's creating terror, so he can knock down Irakura. Sparrow has allowed himself to be blinded, completely blinded, by his desire to defeat The Prince. The Prince isn't out there killing people to make people afraid right now. That's Sparrow. He's darker than Irakura right now, and he's let it happen to himself. We're going to either redeem him, or stop him before he slips lower. Understand?

Scene 4, Atop a building that helps form the Grand Plaza
[Maru is notching an arrow. Maru is one of Sparrow's men, and we know that because he was seen next to Sparrow in “Declaration”.]
Canon: *knocks the bow out of his hands and kicks him in the back, knocking him down* There's more on top of the other buildings! Go!
Others: *scatter to the buildings*
Canon: This can't be all Sparrow has planned...
[Canon takes a moment to survey the land from his vantage point, next to the unconscious Maru, and sees a flaming train of carriages coming down a street.]
Canon: Oh. Well.

Scene 5, The Train of Carriages
[Sparrow is in the front, laughing]
Sparrow: i've got You now! Hahaha!
[Suddenly, an arrow with a rope shoots down, diagonally, because it's from a window on a building on the side of the street, but the carriages rip right through it. Canon jumps out the window, landing on a carriage three back from the front]
Canon: *struggles to get a good stance, and slowly makes his way towards the front*
Sparrow: *spots Sparrow and growls angrily* I should've never brought You with Us! *unsheathes his sword then climbs up, and walks towards Canon*
Canon (seeing Sparrow walking towards him, through the flames): Am I..hallucinating? *shakes head, then reaches for his sword, and, finding his sheath empty, looks around for it, and sees it, stuck in a carriage behind him. Before he can turn around, Sparrow gets to his carriage*
Sparrow: *swings at Canon* time to repair my mistake!
Canon: *ducks*
Sparrow: *swings vertically* Die.
Canon: *dodges it, and the sword breaks through the roof, weakened from fire. He then slips into the carriage, and opens the side door, and starts to inch his way to another carriage, the last one, the front one*
Sparrow: *looks for Canon, jumps into the carriage, and sees he's escaped out a door* Come back here! So I can kill You! *swings out the door, and breaks the carriage, which collapses into a heap of junk, on wheels*
Canon: *steps onto the first carriage* What to do... *spots a braking lever* I suppose that'll do!
[He pulls the brake, but it's ineffective. He accidentally snaps it off. He uses the heavy metal bar to break the coupling connecting the first carriage to the others, then come up with a new plan. Sparrow, who'd been about to jump to the first carriage, instead falls to the ground.]
Sparrow: Traitor!!
[Canon steers the carriage wildly, knocking it over, and causing the others to detach and crash. They skid for a while, and stop a few yards from the edge of the crowd in the Plaza.]
Irakura: Look! We have thwarted what is surely another assassination attempt from Sparrow! He's made dozens of attempts today, all thwarted by Your faithful military, and honest people like You!

Scene 6, The Rooftops
Canon (to the others): Maru's escaped. Sparrow was gone by the time I made it back to where he fell. But. We succeeded in stopping Sparrow. Today could've been much worse. There were no deaths. That's a change for these people. A welcome change. What we're doing is right, and if any of You doubt that, You can leave.
Koiki: *sighs, then smiles* I see what You're talking about, Canon.

Scene 7, The Grand Plaza, at Twilight
Irakura: And that's the end of another glorious day in history. *stands up and leaves, smirking about his victory*