Devil May Care

Steal something of Johnny's from Arachnos

Okay, kid, here's the deal. I'm jonhhy Sonata, and I need something done. If you really are as good as Basse says you are, then you should be able to do it. There's gonna be a couple steps to this, so if you're in, you're in for the long haul. Before you say yes, I'll tell you how it's gonna start to see if you got the mettle. First thing I need is I need you to steal something of mine Arachnos got a hold of, and cover it up. Can you handle that?

I knew you had it. What I'm looking for is really simple. A piece of paper, an old contract with my signature on it. That rag's been worth a lot to me over the years, and I haven't minded it in Mr. Recluse's hands. But now, I need it back, and I don't want to bother him by asking, if you catch my drift. So I want you to get it for me, kid. Oh, and blow up some of their other files while you're at it, and take out any guards around them. You always want to leave 'em guessing.

According to Mr. Sonata, the contract he's looking for should be somewhere in here.

Objective: You have destroyed some Arachnos records

Objective: You found Johnny's contract

Johnny's Contract

This thick contract is written in strange reddish letters that glow faintly and feel warm to the touch. It's dozens of pages long, and written in a bizarre kind of legalese. The signature on the bottom is Johnny's world-famous autograph.

Mission Complete: You got the contract Johnny wanted

Hey, kid, you got just what I wanted jsut the way I wanted it. See, Mr. Recluse, part of our deal was that he'd keep hold of this little piece of paper for me. Keep it safe, you know? Well, I'm tired of playing it safe. That's part of why I like you. You're dangerous. You're a risk taker. I like it. Well, now it's time for Johnny Sonata to stop acting so safe all the time. It's time for Johnny Sonata to take back what's his! And kid, I'm gonna need a lot of help to get it.

Interrogate a Circle sorcerer

Those Circle of Thorns guys, they're jerks, the lot of them. Some kinda ghost-guys stealing people's bodies and driving 'em around like cars. It ain't right. I tell ya. Jerks, I says, the lot of 'em. But they're jerks who sometimes know something, and that's why I need your help on this. See, you got me that contract, and I'm thankful to you for it. But the whole thing, it's all in mumbo-jumbo. Those circle guys, they got mumbo-jumbo down pat. So, what I want you to do is get hold of one of those guys, and make him look at this thing.

This one should be easy. There's this Circle guy who's a bookworm, 'Librarien Engrat' or something. Well, I want you to take him by the scruff of the neck, and have him tell you what I need to decipher this contract. Knock him around some, first, so he knows we mean business.

You take a copy of the Contract to show Engrat

A copy of the contract

This thick sheaf of photocopies is a duplicate of the Contract Johnny Sonata had you steal from Arachnos. Johnny's name has been blacked out on this copy. However, you notice that it's still warm to the touch.

People don't like to talk about Mu ruins under St. Martial, out of concern that it might scare away tourists. But like all of the Rogue Isles, St. Martial is riddled with them.

Objective: With a few minutes of questioning, Engrat told you what you wanted.

'I can tell you it's demonic'

After you smacked him around a bit, Librarian Engrat was ready to tell you what he could about the copy of Johnny's contract you showed him:

'I'll tell you what you want to konw, just cease! This may not be my body, but I've grown quite attached to it. Little bit of humour there.'

*Ahem*

'Well, I can tell you it's demonic. Most likely a soul-exchange contract. You know, wealth and power and fame in exchange for one's soul. As a librarian, I've seen a great number of them. I note that the contractee has been blacked out, so it's most likely someone powerful. You, perhaps? Well, whoever it is, if they're looking for a way out of it, I'm afraid I won't be much help to you. You'd probably need a specialist in demonic negotiations like the traitor Akarist to find a loophole.'

Mission Complete: The interrogation wasn't too useful, but you did get a good tip.

That's all he had? Go talk to soem other guy 'cause I ain't got nothing? What did I tell ya? Jerks, the lot of them! Still, that name, Akarist. I've heard it before. That could be something.

Capture Akarist in another dimension

So I looked into this guy Akarist. Turns out he's some kind of Circle guy who turned on 'em and went over to the heroes. Now, the vigilanties over in Paragon City use him as a consultant on all kinds of wierd things 'cause he knows about it all. Sounds like just the kind of guy I want looking at this contract of mine. So here's the deal: Right now the heroes have this guy insome kind of wierd other dimension or somethin like that. I want him back here. So I gotta send someone to get him. And I want that someone to be you.

Now, I got contacts and I got contacts. So I know about this guy, name of Grant Naylor. He's a good kid, and they got him out in Nerva working on one of those Circle portals. Trying to make it work for us. He'll send you where you need to go, and bring you back when you're done. Just give him a couple of tickets on the house.

Front row seats

Johnny Sonata is always the hottest ticket in town, and these two front row seats are probably worth more than most people on the Island make in a month. Just the thing to bribe a low-paid technician.

This place is strange in a way you can feel deep inside. But Akarist is out here, and Johnny wants you to bring him back.

Mission Complete: You kidnapped Akarist

'These things never end well'

Before you handed him over to Johnny's men, Akarist told you something:

'Ah, so I was correct. This is about Mr. Sonata. How droll. No doubt he's begun to fear his contract is finally up. Oh, you did know that, correct? This is all about the little deal Mr. Sonata made to gain all of his wealth and power and fame. It's a sad case, really, but one repeated any time ambition and ignorance boldly stride into the open arms of the underworld. I was wondering why so many people seem so enthralled by such a mediocre singer. And here I had put it off to changing tastes in music over the eons since I was last alive.'

It does make sense, though. My guess would be that the 'Wailer' demons are part of the curse, come to collect Mr. Sonata's soul. Mr. Sonata has been very clever, though. St. Martial itself is nothing more than a series of wards meant to distract, disrupt, or bar the demons' entry. But it won't work forever. I'll provide him advice of course, but it's not going to help. These things never end well. Believe me, I know.

The delightful thing about situations liek this, is that it works both as history and as metaphor. Johnny Sonata sold his soul for success literally, but the sort of person he is, if there were no demons in this world, he would have sold his soul just the same through more mundane means.

That Akarist guy, what a piece of work. So he gets here and he just sits down and starts going over that contract. No complaints, no nothing! What a professional, huh? Just like you, kid. A real pro, all the way. He said he's have something for me soon. I shoulda had someone nab him years ago! Hey, when he's done, I'm gonna want you in on this. Johnny Sonata don't forget the people who've helped him, kid.

Talk to Hardcase

Those Circle guys are jerks, I tell, every last one of 'em! Even that Akarist guy. Oh, he went over that contract, and he told me what he found, sure. Then a whole pack of heroes busted him out! People today got no loyalty, kid. Anyway, I know what to do next. It's gotta be about these Wailer guys. Akarist, he said that they would know how to stop all of this. So I need you to find one of their leaders. Talk to Hardcase. He'll know. That's what I pay him for.

Ask him where the biggest bunch of those screaming demons is holed up. Akarist said you'd find some kind of king of the things there. And once Hardcase tells you where to go, then bring that thing back. I got pulled some strings and got some Fortunatas comin' in to work their charms on it.

The cries of the Wailers echo down the tunnels.

Objective: You have defeated the Wailer Lord

Wailer Lord [Elite Boss] The Wailer Lord is the biggest and strongest of the demons that infest St. Martial. It's assumed that the wailers fight for the power and the knowledge that comes with the title in terrible howling brawls that shake walls blocks away.

Mission Complete: You have captured the Wailer Lord

That Wailer big-shot's gonna have something to cry about when those Fortunatas are done with him. And then I'll know where to find what I'm looking for. And it's all thanks to you, kid.

Stop the Wailer from disrupting the ritual

That Wailer thing, it talked all right. Now I know where to find what I'm lookin' for, but I still gotta fidn a way to get there. So, I talked to some people, and came up with a plan. Now I got me some a' them Mu mystic types on loan from that Mu'Drakhan guy. They may be all about 'denying the mortal' and all that, but you show the right guy and good time, and you can get what ya want. They're working on a ritual now, something to find what belongs to me and what I've wanted back all these years. but more of those Wailer things are coming, and they're gonna try to stop my mystic boys. And that's where you come in.

I knew I could count on you, kid. So, here's what you have to do. I got those Mu mystics using the two obelisks outside the Giza like a pair of rabbit-ear antennae. Now, if those Wailers over-run things, that's where I'll need you to swing into action. I want you to be waiting in the truck, so you can jump in if trouble comes up. Get those mystics back on station so they can finish this thing. This is one step away from the end, kid. We're almost there.

So, that's where he hid it. That son of a...

Hey, kid, you did great! I was just looking over the report from those Mu-guys. They told me where to find what I've been looking for. It's something I sold a long time ago, something I been wanting back for a long time. And I'm gonna need your help to get back what's mine, kid. I need to get back what's mine.

Get back Johnny's soul

Okay, kid, it's time you learned what this was all about, if you didn't know already. You need to know for this last bit of it.

You see, a long time ago I was just another crooner trying to make a buck. I did okay at first. Then things got bad, and then they got worse, and then I was driving a bus and dating a waitress and I realized I was never gonna be big. Everybody knows the story about how some big-wig hears me singing on that bus, right? Well, that all happened because I made a deal.

Those Circle guys, everyone thought they were just some wack-job hippie thing back then. Well, I went to a meeting. They told me they could change my fortunes. They showed me... things. And I did it. I gave them that cute little waitress and they set me up with some kind of thing. A demon. It offered me all I ever wanted, andI sold my soul for fame and youth and looks, and I never looked back. Bbut now, my time's past up. And I don't want to pay me end of the deal. I want you to get me my soul back, Dread Tomax. You're the only one I can trust to do it.

I done everything to keep the demons back. I hired the best mystic mumbo-jumbo men in the world to make this place a fortress against them, but they're getting closer every day. They'll break through soon, and I dont' want that to happen. ecluse wanted to keep my contract to keep a hold over me, so I had you get it back. That told me that if I got my soul back through some other means, the contract's null and void. The Wailer Lord, he 'fessed up where my soul is, and that ritual told me how to get someone there. Only I cant' go myself, cause, get this, it's inside me. My own personal hell, right inside me. The ritual set it up so that I can send ya there. I just gotta concentrate on a door, and you just gotta walk through it. Get my soul out of there, Dread Tomax. This is my only chance.

You step through the door and into another world: Johnny Sonata's personal hell.

Objective: Johnny's Soul is gone. It fought to the end to keep from having to go back to him.

Johnny Sonata's Soul [Arch-Villain] Sold to a demon on a lonely winter night in exchange for fame, wealth, and power, Johnny Sonata's soul may be the last remnant of a different, better, person who might have been. Johnny might want his soul back, but Johnny's Soul might not want to return.

Mission Complete: You found Johnny's soul, but it wanted to die before it woudl go back to him.

So when ya left, that Wailer Lord started talkin' again. He said that even if I got my soul, the Waielrs would still come, cause they're after my life. But the joke's on them. 'Cause the moment I felt my soul die, I stopped caring. It's kinda like I'm free. Now that it's gone, I don't miss it. No guilt, no regret, no loyalty, nothin'. I feel kinda hollow, I guess, but pretty soon I don't think I'll even remember what that means. Now, you know a lot about me I really don't care for you to know, but you were useful, so I won't have ya killed. Hey, I should thank ya', I guess, but it looks like gratitude don't mean much to me now, either.

Get out a' here, kid. Ya bother me.