THE SLORG!
"You'll have a head start at least. Maybe you could invent those stimpak things in another universe and make a fortune" Miss Tairee said to Arcade a bit jokingly, then looked at Cole. "Well, between the two of you I'm not sure who I should be more worried for. It would be easier for him if you don't try to starve yourself" the librarian added, placing her hands to her hips with a half criticizing look.
There was some writing sound in the air around the little group, and they saw words appear in their vision; although those on the other end of the call did not experience either effect.
"Life can be extraordinarily unfair about giving everyone a chance at decent living. I would think you would know that better than most, mister Timothy Lawrence. I am not trying to convince myself or you. I am stating facts. The right to be unhappy is an odd thing to desire."
"Huh?" Louie was startled as Ben started yelling, and watched him run off. "What? Ben, what are you doing?!" the trainer asked, speaking up to be heard as he didn't follow Ben for the moment.
edited 13th Jan '18 9:41:51 PM by FirockFinion
You are reading this.
Snowy
“It’s weird, but I’ll admit it’s a bit more efficient this way. At least now there’s just one group wandering around instead of 2 smaller ones, right?”
Of course, mentioning the Writer set off Ben’s brat mode, and so he ran off, deciding that running away from the group was a great way to stick it to the guy.
“Wait, Ben-” Rean shouted, watching the boy run off. He groaned. “I’ll go get him.” he said, running off after the rebellious 10-year old.
It didn’t take very long for Rean to catch up to Ben, given he was taller and more physically fit. He moved to stand in front of the boy, trying to keep him from going any farther. “Ok, I know this whole situation is messed up,” Rean said, holding out his arms to block Ben. “But running from the group you were leading someplace isn’t exactly the best way to rebel against the Writer.”
Library Lobby- It's Like The Group Chat but Live In Person
"You sure you're not stuck in a game? Like an MMO or something?" Futaba asked. "It sounds like one..." Yusuke rubbed his chin, deep in thought about something.
"A godlike figure cutting and pasting people from different realities together on one canvas. It sounds more like an otherworldly collage or mixed media work to me," he said. "You should take some photos to bring back with you."
"Y'know, not everything has to connect back to art, dude... Ryuji said, before the Writer responded to Makoto and Jack. She didn't bother talking back, however. What would he know about wanting choices in life if the only ones that mattered to him were the interesting ones? He was too removed from the rest of them to really understand what they wanted. Rex jumped into the conversation, getting a few confused and slightly interested looks from the Phantom Thieves.
"...Hola?" Ryuji mumbled to himself.
"It just means hello in Spanish," Ann said to him. "Jeez, I thought you were just bad in English...'"
"Hey, what do you mean by cover?" Morgana asked.
"Remember the books on other worlds I was talking about?" Makoto pulled out the Persona 5 book and angled it so that the camera could see it.
"Ohhhh, so we're famous after all! Not like I wouldn't expect someone to write books about us." The cat puffed out his chest a bit.
"But are we famous for succeeding or failing?" Haru asked, knocking Morgana down a peg or two. "Sorry, I was just thinking out loud... she said.
"So who's this guy? Is he supposed to be important, or is he just an NPC?"
"Don't call people that, Futaba..." Makoto said, giving her a sharp look. "His name is Rex, and he's one of the people stuck here too. We were helping to fight off the aliens that attacked yesterday." Haru looked a little disappointed.
"Too bad we didn't get to see Queen battling alien invaders. It must've been quite violent." Makoto blushed.
"Haru, it wasn't that exciting... but you did help me a little. I, uh, asked to borrow your grenade launcher to damage some armored vehicles."
"Well then, I'm happy to have been of service, Mako-chan," she said. Ryuji looked shocked, and then he grinned.
"Holy crap, that sounds awesome!" he said. " Were you riding your bike at the same time?"
"It really wasn't a big deal, seriously! By the way, where's...?"
"Oh, Joker's downstairs with Boss. He thought it'd be hard to explain what was going on if it really was you on the other end of the phone, so he's running a distraction so we can talk."
"That was smart of him..." Makoto said. It was good that one of them was still thinking about keeping their group out of trouble. "And Akechi?"
"He's with your sister at work. He's been keeping tabs on her for the past three days while we were, uh, regrouping from your disappearance. ...Don't worry, we're still keeping him the dark about the plan." Morgana said, lowering his voice. The Palace still seems intact, but we haven't gone back in yet."
"So she's doing okay then..." Makoto let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Or Sae was at least functional enough to keep going to work, even under all that extra stress.
edited 22nd Feb '18 12:01:40 AM by ScorpioRat
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
I dropped the remains of the oversized magic toothpick, unhinged excitement growing at the fact that this actually affected her. (Why it sounded like more than just a "boo hoo, I lost a useful tool" was a mystery, but it's not like I was complaining...)
"Gee, maybe you'd know if you had a concept of empathy," I answered smugly, trying to focus on that feeling and not the mortal terror that came with half-formed flashbacks of horrific pain and betrayal ha ha repressing that feeling is much easier when you only have to do it for a couple seconds at a time. At least she hadn't caught on yet. I didn't think she did, anyway. It wasn't like she'd never faked thoughts and feelings before or anything.
Hands now empty of unusual artifacts, I grabbed her and went back to trying to drag her off, trying to contain the increased wobbliness of my own flight pattern. "Come on...maybe you can think on that alone in, the cold, dark confines of a cell for the next week and a half. D-doesn't that sound enlightening? Learning things you should already know...Perhaps you'll even discover that other people are entitled to their free will and ability to be something other than toys for your own entertainment. Not that I'd bet on it or anything, personally I think it's a long shot." Look down and try to see if you can spot the prison instead of having a panic attack on the spot. Nope, don't see it there. Maybe turn this way and it'll shift into view...?
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
I just want to help!
Cole looked a little bit...disappointed, perhaps, by what Miss Tairee said about food, and he was rather quick to turn, wrapping his arms around Arcade's neck and hiding his face against the other man's shoulder, as though abruptly bashful. He muttered something, that might have sounded like "But I don't like food" if it weren't being mumbled into a lab coat.
Delicious in the Moomin Valley
Jack, Library
"Hey, how about you shut the fuck up, alright? Alright." Well, that was one way to actually make him angry. Writer was currently one of the few people in the multiverse to have Jack snarling, and that was no mean feat. Granted, the other person capable of doing that was Claptrap, but then again, it seemed like an innate ability of all Claptraps in this godforsaken space.
"...don't call me that. It's gonna get you in legal trouble." He added after a moment of quiet stewing in a more relaxed tone before deciding that leaving Writer be was a smart play for now. Instead, Jack shuffled over to where Rex and Makoto were. The former was already barging in on the conversation, so he figured that him showing up wouldn't harm anyone. "Yo, folks." He didn't offer any commentary on the cover - having not seen it before - merely just waving hello. "You got yourself a badass friend right there." Jack chuckled and gestured at Makoto.
Big Grah
Prison
The Riddler figured that with Wells on alert and guards running around, coupled with the sounds he'd heard earlier that something was happening. He didn't know if it was Garrett or another prisoner trying to break out or even just some enemy trying to storm the prison, the Riddler knew that whatever event was about to go down could prove decisive in his status on this world, his standing with Wells, and his freedom.
"GUARDS! GUARDS! WHAT'S GOING ON? I DEMAND PROTECTION AND ANSWERS!" Riddler called out, reasoning that if Garrett was trying to break him out, his shouting and the guards coming near his cell would alert the thief to where the supervillain was. If it was some outside threat, Riddler judged that having more guards nearby would help protect him from some less-than-permanent but still presumably painful death. And if it was just some criminal out to try and break a few people out of prison, Riddler could play the dutiful prisoner and just say that he wanted the guards there for his protection and wanted no part in the breakout. Heck, even if it was Garrett out there and Garrett failed, Riddler could earn some points with Wells if he claimed not to know what was going on.
"The more people who have access to stimpaks the better," Arcade noted. They were immensely useful when people were hurt, and if they were in a world without such useful technology, then people were probably in need of some more efficient method of healing.
That train of thought was derailed by Cole suddenly burrowing himself into Arcade's shoulder. Instinctively, Arcade brought a hand up to steady the toddler, and to comfort him.
He softly chuckled and shook his head. "She's right Cole," he said, "I can't let you go without food. I won't force you to eat more than you have to though. As long as you're healthy."
edited 14th Jan '18 8:27:46 AM by Skooter910
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
For the Horde!
Ben stopped when Rean stepped in front of him, and he looked up at him and frowned.
"If the Writer really does want us to meet up and go to get something to eat, he's probably gonna make us do some kind of eating challenge where we have to eat really disgusting things like what Grandpa makes. I'm not doing any more challenges for that dweeb. I'm done being his little dancing monkey." He stood there and pouted, crossing his arms in a somewhat petulant manner.
edited 14th Jan '18 9:26:36 AM by AllHailThrall
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
That One Gal
Phoenix watched in a bit of surprise, a bit of disbelief as Ben stormed off yet again. Why does Phoenix seem to have the power to repel ten-year olds?
Luckily someone else went after Ben, and since Phoenix didn't want to make things worse, he stayed put. With the buff guy, the other kid, and some tiny dragon. Yeah, them.
Maya, on the other hand, had no qualms in running after Ben. Okay, so she didn't run. She just...yelled. "Ben! Come back!"
"Bad in English? But you are..." it was easy to forget everyone was under some nifty real-time translator... thing "Nevermind"
After comparing the city to an MMO, one of Makoto's friends asked if Rex was some sort of NPC.
"Ouch your words hurt, frogger" he joked "I'm at the very least a secret character you unlock by beating the hardest difficulty"
The conversation quickly shifted to the massive fight from the previous day. Makoto played down her efforts but from the looks of it, she had an—admittedly deserved—violent reputation among her friends.
"I don't know, I think those aliens are never gonna forget that beating"
Considering she had used a rocket launcher, it was appropriate. But naturally she cared more about her sister's well-being. That was a surprise, Makoto didn't act like the stereotypical little sister.
"Oh, you have a sister? Well, time to tell her the good news, right?"
The Writer meanwhile, kept arguing with Jack. He didn't think being unfair was a big deal because life was unfair. That sounded like him, alright. Coming up with excuses to not help without receiving something in return. Also, Jack had apparently legally changed his name.
"Yeah, I would stick with 'Jack' too, Timmy"
Snowy
Library Lobby
"Frogger? Heh, that's funny coming from a guy that looks like a walking anime cliche. Who are you trying to cosplay with those goggles and that jacket?" Futaba asked Rex.
Jack came into view, and the rest of the group looked over at him.
"Hey, who's this old guy?" Ryuji asked, looking at him suspiciously. "You're damn right she's a badass!"
"His name's Jack," Makoto said. "He's not a bad person, Ryuji, he helped me out a few minutes ago. Ugh, you guys make it sound like I'm always picking fights..." she grumbled, looking away.
"Well you did create an interesting first impression on us when you tried to confront a mob boss alone," Yusuke reminded her. "A bit reckless, but effective in getting us a way into his Palace."
"That was a one time thing! Besides, fights just sort of happen around here without much warning, and I have my Persona now anyway."
"Whatever you say..." She could tell Ann was just humoring her now, but she let it go. When Rex brought up calling Sae, Makoto shook her head.
"No, I can't risk telling her anything while I'm here. She's, uh... a prosecutor working with the police, and she's assigned to the Phantom Thieves case," Makoto explained. "In the state she's in right now, she might not believe me if I explain the truth of where I am and try and pin my disappearance as one of our group's "crimes". We don't need anymore evidence against us." It hurt that she couldn't even send a message, but it might just ruin everything they've been working towards for the past few months.
"Queen's right," Morgana said, though he looked sympathetic. "We're in a bad enough legal situation as it is, and contacting her might alter her Palace as well. We shouldn't tell Akechi about this call either. We'll pretend we're still ignorant as to where you are."
After Spyro had arrived on the scene, two more people arrived and joined the group. One was a spiky haired man in a suit that Hercules did recognise was from the library earlier and had been with Jack when Ben had that little moment about the writer and another one was a teenaged girl, no older than the man and Herc assumed that she was with him. It looked like they were going to join them to get some food, the man then brought up the writer in the conversation and then Ben threw a fit and decided to runaway from the group that he was leading.
Luckily Rean had managed to stop Ben from leaving and was trying to get him to come to his senses. But Ben was still in a foul mood, Hercules approached the teenaged girl and gently placed a hand on her shoulder and looked at her with a reassuring glance. “Let them talk it out amongst themselves.” Hercules said “I’m pretty sure Ben’s gonna be alright. A similar fit happened earlier in the Library if I recall. And I’m guessing that’s not the first time that’s happened in regards to anyone mentioning the writer to him.” He couldn’t say he approved of Ben’s actions of running off like that, but Herc was pretty sure that mentioning even a teeny, tiny, thing about the writer was a pretty touchy subject to him, whatever had happened here before he had arrived, the writer had obviously left a bitter opinion in Ben’s mind on how he viewed him, if his outburst was anything to go by.
edited 14th Jan '18 1:29:44 PM by TheStarscream759
Delicious in the Moomin Valley
Old Man Jack (not really), Library
Jack spared Rex a single glance. "Dude. Come on. Can we not? I mean, it's not like I had much choice in the first place." And then he got called and old man by the blond dude on the other side of the phone call. "Hey, I'm fresh off the acting school, alright? I just had a facelift." Tired sigh. "Part of the job."
Rex suggested to let Makoto's sister know that she's safe and sound, but as it turned out, said sister was actually on the other side of the barricade. "Yeah, that sounds like a recipe for disaster." He didn't understand much about the Palace and what not, but he was willing to believe when Makoto herself said it would be bad. "That said... uh, what are you planning to tell her once you're back?"
Big Grah
Library Lobby
Makoto sighed at Jack's question. There really wasn't much she could do when she got back other than to play dumb and hope no one was willing to dig for a real answer.
"I'll just have to lie and say I don't remember anything after I was walking home from school. Maybe claim I was knocked out for most of it. If I tell the truth, Sis will either assume I was drugged anyway or start interrogating me for even more information. Knowing her, possibly both..." Makoto did not like the thought of being on the receiving end of Sae's relentless questioning. She might just accidentally say something incriminating with enough pressure.
Happy Box Hater
Handwaved to the Library
In short order the trio of Ara, Hibiki, and Caboose set off for the library. Despite their best efforts, the city shifting made it so that the trip took forever. A few times they even ended up right back at the start. Once Caboose stopped leading the way, though, they found the library after turning a single corner.
Forgetting about his company, Caboose ran ahead to the building. First he ran into the door before bouncing off onto the ground and then he got up and opened the door. The librarian wasn't here, which confused the blue soldier who had by now figured out you were supposed to talk to her to get things because she was magical or something.
It was only after struggling for a minute with the written explanation that Caboose understood what he must do. "HELLO!" he yelled very loudly into the air. "I WANT TO TALK TO CHURCH!"
Waiting for a response from what he assumed would be a heavenly light shining down bestowing him with prophecy or maybe a talking horse materializing into the air, the soldier noticed two people he recognized crowded around something. "Rex! Makoto! You are still not dead! That doesn't happen very often to people I know!" he announced in a tone that didn't suggest he realized the implications of that statement.
Why is a yam attacking me?
Spyro and Sparx-On the Streets
Spyro blinked multiple times at Ben’s outburst and abrupt leaving of the group. The did meant well, but man was he emotional.
“I think you said the wrong thing there, dude,” Spyro then said flatly to Phoenix, before walking over to where Ben and Rean where talking, just managed to catch some of Rean and Ben's talk.
“He’s got a point.," Spyro interjected. "As big a jerk as the writer can be, it’s not like he’s strong arming anyone into doing anything they don't want to. So forget about the jerk for a bit and relax.”
edited 14th Jan '18 3:22:25 PM by Dezmo
Prison
The Riddler decided to call for guards at the top of his lungs. This solved the problem of finding where he was, but of course, also posed the slight problem of possibly sabotaging Garrett's entire expedition; it'd be rather hard to free someone whose cell is watched by a guard from a few feet away.
In any case, Garrett couldn't exactly spend the whole day within these air ducts, but there was little chance of opening any of the vents without making any noise. Garrett decided to wait a moment to see if Wells would stay here, or go towards the Riddler. Then he headed in the other direction away from Wells, picking the vent which seemed the furthest from the Lieutenant's position; then he'd proceed to disassemble the fan quietly.
Once the fan was gone, and if Wells or anyone else hadn't wandered nearby in the meanwhile, Garrett would use a whole two moss arrows to muffle the vent as well as he could; then he'd give the vent a first, good whack — and then stop, waiting to make sure nobody heard.
THE SLORG!
There was some writing sound around Timothy, and more words appeared in the small group's vision.
"I have a feeling that I don't need to worry about Hyperion's legal department, or their 'legal' department. Besides, it's not like your boss needs to know."
Not far away, after Caboose made his loud request, there was scribbling noise around him, and he saw words appear in his own vision.
"Unfortunately for you, your friend Church is dead. Is there somebody else you would like to contact instead?"
There was a short delay before Wells came wandering to one end of the hall into Riddler's field of vision. Wells walked over to where he could see the whole cell, but stayed a bit away from the bars, and folded his arms; this actually put him into Garrett's own field of vision, where the master thief could see him standing just a few cells down the hall from the vent covering he was now at. "You don't need protection today mister Edward. This is one of the forced peace days, where it's impossible to get hurt, even by accident" Wells said, shaking his head slightly. "Now if you'll excuse me..." the militia leader turned, though paused for a moment, eyes narrowing as he stared towards the end of the hall, like something was occurring to him. Then he walked off. Both Garrett and Riddler heard Jackson faintly yell something at Wells, but the militia leader didn't seem to respond; or if he did, it was too quiet to hear from this hall.
With Wells gone again, Garrett was able to disassemble the fan quietly after a minute, then with the moss arrows, whacked the vent with about the same noise as punching a rock through a pillow, which is to say effectively none. The metal around did a faint warble from the distortion, but that was faint enough that even Riddler would have trouble picking it out from just down the hall. Everything seemed in the clear.
"Make sure he has a good diet, too. He has to get used to eating a variety of foods" Miss Tairee told Arcade, then seemed to relax and give a half smile. "... It does seem like you really care. You shouldn't beat yourself up so much; I'm sure you'll do better than you expect" she said in a slightly quieter tone.
You are reading this.
I just want to help!
Cole muttered something else a moment, before turning his head enough to peek at Miss Tairee, studying her just a moment, before letting out an almost tired-sounding sigh.
"...I think we'll be okay. I don't like food and Arcade doesn't understand people but we can help each other with that. And I can help protect him. It doesn't have to be all of him." He offered maybe a bit of a smile. "...you look like you were having a good time. And...I wanna talk to some people..."
He sat up a bit more to look at Arcade, a little contemplative. "Can we go back to the library now?"
"Right, I should probably look into healthy diets now that I have the opportunity to eat more," Arcade said, "and child-rearing. And whatever world we'll be sent to..." He trailed off, looking thoughtful before shaking the thoughts off.
At Tairee's kind words, Arcade's cheeks darkened slightly and he had trouble keeping eye contact. "I- well, that is... that's nice to hear, no, I mean, thank you," he stuttered, quietly.
"I understand people," he muttered indignantly at Cole's observation, otherwise letting him speak without interruption. He blinked and frowned at Cole's suggestion.
"I don't want to put any undue stress on you," he said, "you shouldn't have to worry about protecting me when I'm the father." He said the last word with slight hesitation, still unused to applying it to himself.
"Well, if that's all we needed to complete the challenge, then yes," he answered, "you can have the rest of the day to talk to your friends." The twinge of melancholy in his voice was evident.
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
"Alright alright, sorry" Rex apologized to Jack. He was really touchy about his name but apparently there was a story there to tell.
Right now, though, Rex was more interested in proving Futaba wrong. Looking like an anime character, yeah right.
"What? You are seeing things" he said, straightening the jacket to make a point "These are just my work clothes. I like to do my job with style"
As it turns out, Makoto was in a weird situation. Her sister was a lawyer that would not believe a word from Makoto and blame her group for disappearance. Hell, even lying would lead to more interrogations.
"She sounds like fun. Anyway, there has to some way around it"
Although... come to think of it, why was she in charge of their case? What was their case anyway?
"Wait, there's something I don't get here. If you guys enter people's minds how does anyone even know your group exist? Or are you actually stealing stuff? Because I thought that was a metaphor" he rubbed his temples "Ugh, mindscapes give me a headache"
Caboose showed up out of nowhere, loud as usual and surprised that his friends were still in one piece. He really didn't get how the city worked, didn't he?
"Hey man we were just, you know, talking with Makoto's friends. And still breathing, nothing bad happened"
edited 14th Jan '18 7:31:20 PM by DeisTheAlcano
That One Gal
"I know I said the wrong thing," Phoenix mumbled as the tiny dragon walked away. (I always say the wrong thing to him, apparently.)
Maya looked up at Hercules, frowning. "I mean, I don't like the guy either, but I don't storm off whenever he's mentioned."
"You're almost twice his age," Phoenix pointed out.
"Yeah but, I can't turn into aliens! I haven't been in this city as long as him, I think. He should be a bit USED TO IT BY NOW!" Maya shouted the last part back to Ben, coming off a bit meaner than she meant it to be.
"...I'll be honest, I don't know where I was going with this" Rex admitted to Jack.
The Writer excused himself by bringing up all the good by proxy he had done but Rex was frankly not in the mood to answer. Not matter how he sliced, he was doing bad stuff and even then he was catering to the wishes of people that were far from close to his weight class. Although something did catch his attention.
"What was that about Arcade?"
It was better to leave Makoto some space to catch up with her friends and explain the bizarre situation she found herself. That was never a fun experience. Her friends were really worried and had checked every place she could be in, always fearing the worst.
And wow that cat could talk. Not too surprising but still unexpected from what Rex had heard of Makoto's world. Anyway, with a quick recap of the last few days and the basic mechanics of the city, Makoto's friends were up to date with her situation. They were still concerned so it was a good time to show them she was in good company.
"Hola people" Rex to introduced himself "I have to say, you guys looked different in the cover. Not that I'm complaining, street clothes suit you better"
edited 13th Jan '18 9:29:26 PM by DeisTheAlcano