Happy Box Hater
Library
"I'm doing better than the reds and blues," Washington said regretfully. "It was a last stand, you know. I think they were fine with dying, but only in an all or nothing way. None of us really expected to both win and carry losses."
"Wasn't Sarge saying it was a good day to die, though?" Caboose asked innocently.
"He said that everyday, Caboose. That's just who he was. Not that I think he wasn't happy going out in a blaze of glory, but red team needs him. Grif has just been sitting in a room eating oreos and Simmons can't deal with being a sycophant without a superior."
"Yeah, a pirate ship does need its captain... wait, what about Donut?" Caboose asked, remembering his closest friend on red team.
"Crying. You know how sensitive he is. I haven't even heard him say any innuendos since that day. And Lopez, well, I think he might be in denial since he seems very happy. Hard to tell though. We really need to get a Spanish dictionary one of these days."
"But we won... right? The bald evil guy lost and all our friends are saved and..."
"Yes, Chorus is alright and... I think the thing that hit everyone the hardest was thinking you were gone, actually. Andersmith was collecting to get a statue made for you. It's good to know that you are alright at least. Sometimes it seems like the only thing keeping us together is you. Things should be better now that we know you're alright."
"I'm glad Washington. Who have you been talking to by the way?"
"Oh, you noticed... Carolina's here, well she's been here since the battle ended looking for you."
"Can I speak with her?"
"Sure..." A dull thud sounded through the radio. " Nevermind, I think she just passed out from exhaustion. I told her she should have taken breaks."
"OK, how about... Tucker? Can I speak with him? He is blue team also, even if he is the worst member!"
"I... don't think that's the best idea."
Why is a yam attacking me?
I just want to help!
Cole stayed quiet for a second, before finally raising his head enough to peek at Arcade. "Listening to the Writer talk feels like there's someone else in my head..." he finally said. "It feels like being possessed, or...I-I don't want to do that...b-but I will...I will have to, if...if I want to talk to my friends, won't I?"
Eventually, Cole managed to summon up a response to Arcade's question. While Arcade couldn't exactly know what it was like to be possessed, he could see why that'd make Cole uncomfortable.
"Well, you weren't seeing the words earlier, were you?" he asked, "it seems that the Writer is respecting your wish not to have those in your vision. If you're still worried about it, though, I can try to ask for you, if you'd like."
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
Hercules then turned to the man in the suit: ”A buffet?” He asked confused he then quickly added when he realized what he was saying: “Oh sorry I’m asking so many questions, my friend. It’s just…I’ve never seen anything like this before. Not in my world at least.” He was still staring at the huge amounts of food that were on display ready and waiting to be consumed. “And we can literally have anything we want here?” He asked again wanting to confirm what the man had said to him.
He couldn’t help but chuckle as he saw the teenaged girl who was with the man in the suit literally had a plate already with her and was piling it up with food as quickly as she could. “It looks like your friend is very keen on eating isn’t she? Shall we join her?” He said to the man in the suit nodding towards the girl who was already ahead of them.
I just want to help!
Cole was quiet again, then nodded a little, leaning back against Arcade. "...I want to talk to Varric, back home. He is at Skyhold, most likely...um...I used the Eluvian before, but...I don't know what would work this time. Solas was...somewhere different."
He was quiet again, voice dropping slightly. "If...if that's all right..."
Delicious in the Moomin Valley
Jack, Library
So everybody was in shambles and some guy named Tucker was implicitly blaming Caboose for the deaths of their friends. Charming. "Sorry for your losses, guys. Sounds like you have a tightly-knitted crew." It was something that Jack was bereft of, really. Between a sadistic cowgirl, a robophiliac merc, an ex-Lance assassin - ironically the least out there of them all, save for him - a big game huntress and that fucking Claptrap, there was never any real sense of companionship between them. Friendship began at the start of a mission and ended right after - though calling it "friendship" might have been stretching it.
For some reason, Jack was feeling oddly melancholic now. "You guys should probably... talk some more, the two of you." If nothing else, Washington seemed determined to try and help Caboose out. "You'll only get another chance in five days, Caboose. Make sure you make it count."
Big Grah
Happy Box Hater
Library
" Yeah, I'm sure we'll pull through it. Thanks for helping him out, Jack," Washington said to the handsome helper. More muffled, Washington could be heard talking to someone else. "No, Tucker! You're not going to talk to him now. He doesn't need to be antagonized for this."
"Tucker's there? Can I talk to him?" Caboose asked earnestly.
"No he... he has a sore throat and really shouldn't be speaking right now. And he is also locked out of this room."
"That makes sense!" Caboose said sincerely before turning to Jack. "Thank you for helping me, that could have taken hours to explain! I'll go talk to him now."
Why is a yam attacking me?
Delicious in the Moomin Valley
Jack, Library
"Knock yourself out, kiddo." Jack smiled. "You guys hang in there, Washington. Uh, Caboose, once you're finished, try not to bother Makoto and others 'til they're finished, alright? Busy stuff." Offering the clueless blueberry a pat on the shoulder, the body double looked over to where the kids were preparing to avert a diplomatic disaster. Not much he could do there, and too many cooks spoils the broth.
He looked up. A bunch of books above, on higher floors. Might as well try and pass the time some while he wasn't busy... thus, the body double made his way there.
Blue Is Back, Library
A few moments later, a familiar blue-haired shape made her way in. Judging by a shallow breath and beads of sweat all over, Two must have been running here for quite some time and quite fast.
The Intoner bent down at the entrance, trying to catch her breath, hands resting on knees for a bit before she finally regained her bearings. "Did I... did I make it?" She wheezed through her teeth, straightening slowly. The news of being able to send a message back home - or perhaps even to talk with the people from back home - was an incredible motivator for Two. After her premature death a day earlier, she was left in a rut, cursing her uselessness and hoping others had more luck than her.
And then, someone told her that today was a day different than the others. A day where nobody could get hurt, where every fight was on standby, where one could even contact people back from their world... plus, she reasoned, she had to make up to others for dying on them like that. Thus, her sprint to the library. "Can I still... c-call home...?"
Big Grah
Happy Box Hater
Library
"Yeah, I won't get involved in diplomacy again!" Caboose said to Jack.
"Wait, what?" Washington said puzzled before settling on exactly how he felt on the matter. " Good plan, Caboose."
Caboose had only just settled into talking with Washington again when he heard a familiar voice in the library. The soldier turned his head, found that 180 degrees was a bit too much for him, and turned the rest of his body. Two! "I'm going to call you back later Washington," Caboose said before poking the radio in the complete wrong place and calling it a day. Fortunately for him he forgot the simple instruction of press the button to make the call end, so he didn't prematurely cut it off in a fit of stupidity.
"Caboose, wait!" Washington called out, but Caboose was convinced he ended the call so he completely ignored its existence. Still holding the radio that was emitting sounds of protest and explanation demands.
A ballistic blue missile was heading straight for Two, skidding to a halt a few feet away from impact. "Hello Two! I knew you would come back because they all said you weren't dead!" he said cheerily.
"Caboose who are you talking to? What's going on?" sounded out from the radio in his hands.
"That sound is all in our imagination. I turned it off."
Why is a yam attacking me?
As it turns out, Lewis had just entered the library and Makoto was scared of causing him to blow up—both figuratively and literally. The way things were going though, someone breathing the wrong way would cause that. Luckily, it was a break day and they were in the library for that matter, so general destruction through firepower wasn't an issue.
"You are exaggerating. Lewis is... complicated, but it has nothing to do with you. Honestly, he's a bit of a hothead" Rex said and stopped to process what he had just said "Please don't tell him I said that"
Meanwhile, the idea of the lamia village swearing loyalty to Vusluora and being treated as part of it, didn't look like it was getting much traction but Valentina insisted it was the only way. Besides, her friend had already heard enough and it was only time before she told everyone to attack the village.
"Tell your friend she should be smart enough to not ruin this"
Lewis finally decided to approach the group while holding a pole for some reason. Rex wished his weird attitude was about something else but it was pretty clear this was gonna be one of those days.
"Hey man... what's with the stick?"
Delicious in the Moomin Valley
Two, Library
At first there was nothing. Then, there was Caboose. "Ah... hello again, Caboose." She smiled at her friend, though this time the smile was slightly sadder than usually. "...I'm... sorry. Sorry for leaving you and the others when you most needed me." She must have been talking about that time when she took a grenade to the face.
"...I hope you're... um, not upset about it." Granted, it was hard to tell whenever Caboose was upset - save the panic that bore into her ears back then. The little thing speaking in his hands piqued her attention however, especially when her friend insisted it's just in their imagination. Someone he must have called, no doubt.
"Er... hello, voice in our imagination." Two decided to play along. "My name is Two and I'm a friend of his. I... don't really know how to handle an item like this, do excuse me..."
edited 18th Jan '18 1:59:10 PM by FergardStratoavis
Big Grah
Happy Box Hater
Library
"We were done fighting and we all made into the... the book place... here... the library. That's what it's called" Caboose said, sounding somewhat proud at himself for remembering it was called a library. Now this was how the world worked! Dead friends always came back! "Yeah, it was bad and I was pretty bummed out about it but then I remembered that people come back and I hoped!
"[[Cinnamon:Oh, just someone else you met. And... a friend. Don't shoot her, Caboose,]]" Washington warned.
"People can't normally hear the voices in my head... OH MY GOD, I didn't hang up! Hi again Washington!" The soldier turned back to Two and said "So this is Washington! Well... I'm calling him with this. I figure it's about fifty fifty that he is just really tiny and inside of it. He's the captain of the blue team! And like my father but better because he isn't dead!" All delivered in a tone that suggested a complete lack of understanding.
"Please don't feel obligated to play along with everything he says. His grasp on reality is already tenuous and you need to find a balance..." sounding through the device was the noise of a door breaking. "Tucker, no! You can't keep doing this."
"Just let me talk to him!" a new voice said quieter through the radio, presumably due to being further away.
"Is that Tucker? He doesn't sound sick, or like he's locked out! Can I talk to him?" Caboose asked earnestly.
"...Fine. Just please don't be too rough Tucker. You know it isn't his fault... I'm going to tell maintenance that the door broke."
"Thanks Washington. Don't go telling me he doesn't deserve this, though. It was his fault!" Tucker definitely sounded very upset about something.
"I hope you can come to some sort of understanding. You really are developing some anger issues, though. Maybe you should talk to Dr. Grey later." Washington's voice got fainter as he presumably walked away.
"I think you are wrong about something, Tucker. Nothing was my fault."
"You've got to be fucking kidding me Caboose!" Tucker said angrily. "Church sacrificed himself to save us all, and if you were there he probably would have saved everyone! Instead Sarge is dead and all that's left of Church is that fucking armor."
"I... but they're coming back. We still care about them, right? If you didn't care you wouldn't be so upset, so they must be coming back." The blue soldier seemed genuinely confused right now.
"After all this time I still can't fucking believe you're this stupid."
"Now let's not throw the s-word around."
Why is a yam attacking me?
Prison
At the Riddler's suggestion, Garrett scowled, still hunched over the lock. "...Not her. Believe me when I say she's better kept locked up. And there's no time, we got to hurry before the guards corner us here... aaaand there we go." There was a quiet click as the lock finally yielded. Garrett immediately flung the cell door open.
"Keep close; I still have a few tricks that might slow them down," he muttered towards the Riddler as he took off his gloves and tossed them to the Riddler. "If you hear me say 'fire', close your eyes."
And with that, Garrett rushed towards the cell block exit.
Delicious in the Moomin Valley
Two, Library
It seemed Caboose's friends from back home were aware of his... eccentricities. Some also didn't seem all too friendly. Two listened to Tucker's grief-filled accusations. He was obviously upset; Caboose's friend Church was dead - and must have died in a gruesome fashion if all that was left was his armor - and so was another one by the name of Sarge... but how was Caboose guilty of any of this? By not being there, perhaps, but it sounded like Church himself did a lot of heavy lifting to save them.
"Caboose... sometimes friends do not come back." She said softly, trying to find a right balance between comforting and chiding. She had to bring him back to earth, even if the truth was hard to swallow. "This city lets everyone who perished come back no worse for wear, but not many places like this exist. And... even if Church came back before, Sir Tucker would not be so upset if this wasn't the final time." Beat. "I'm... sorry I had to say it, especially since we have just reunited."
"But please, Sir Tucker, do not blame him." She addressed the radio and the angry Blue on the other side of it. "All of us here were whisked away at most inopportune moments, and there is not much that can be done about it. I know you gave it your all, and so did the men who died."
edited 18th Jan '18 5:00:53 PM by FergardStratoavis
Big Grah
Happy Box Hater
Library
"But... he always came back. Every time. I made him come back!" Caboose started to say like a whiny child. "The first time he sacrificed himself I took Epsilon and made him again! I brought him out of the memory loop! He can't just be gone like that... that's not how things work."
"Actually it is. You know why Church was able to come back those times! Stop the bullshit, Caboose. He broke himself into pieces to run the Meta's armor so that we could all live! But we didn't all make it through there." Tucker sounded very pissed, but it was clear at this point to anyone with proper cognition that it was all a coping mechanism. "You were the strongest one there, not counting me in the suit, You could have fucking done something, but you weren't there."
"But I heard you promise him that you'd see him on the other side. Are you saying you broke your promise?" Caboose said somewhat desperately.
"I didn't break any fucking promise! He knew we wouldn't have let him so he just did it without telling us. It wasn't my fault he sacrificed himself. Church trusted us to get the job done and you let him down."
"B-But, I couldn't! Two is right, I didn't bring myself here. I..." He stopped talking for a moment and looked down at the ground. Freckles was currently in a death grip that would've crushed the dog Caboose imagined him to be sometimes. "But I didn't get to say goodbye... or thank him for always being my friend..." The voice of unending sadness, as the emotional time bomb went off.
Meanwhile, Tucker was talking to Two. "Figures Caboose always gets people on his side. I lost my best friend and we all lost the most dedicated soldier that ever lived. And I was at the least risk, I was wearing the badass armor! Sarge was always lost in his little world where he was the war hero and now it gets to be reality, but we needed him! I never thought I'd say it, but I miss being called a dirty blue by him!"
Meanwhile, Caboose was moping... until the briefest flash of inspiration hit him. Slowly he raised up his head, which happened to be pointed at the suggestion box. Gears were starting to turn.
Why is a yam attacking me?
For the Horde!
Ben, meanwhile, had begun to grab a bunch of junk food of various types. Green gelatin covered in whipped cream, vanilla pudding with sprinkles, some fudge brownies, and a bag of... "Chaaaaps"? Whatever. He grabbed it, then went over to the nearby soda fountain and poured some "Nano Cola" from the tap.
He had just finished filling his plate when he glanced over at Maya and her gigantic burger. He grinned.
"That's one heck of a burger!" he laughed, sitting down and beginning to chow down.
edited 18th Jan '18 6:05:20 PM by AllHailThrall
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Prison
The Riddler nodded and took the offered gloves, keeping pace with the thief and keeping his eyes open for any porcine guards or security cameras along the way. He ddidn't press the point about freeing the woman - while an extra distraction would be nice, he knew better than anybody how slippery he and his fellow supercriminals could be. If she was especially treacherous, it would undoubtedly be more trouble than it was worth to free her.
That One Gal
"It sure is!" Maya dropped the heavy burger onto the table, the drop almost destabilizing the entire thing. "I can never get any burger joint to make those really tall kind you see on television shows about crime-solving animals," she said, casually re-ordering the off-centered sandwich. "Since we were super tiny on the first day it was here, and aliens attacked on the second, this is my chance to finally accomplish my Mondo-Burger task!"
Phoenix (with Hercules in tow, possibly) made his way to the table the two were at, a simple hot dog in hand. "There's no way you can eat that whole thing."
"Oh yeah, just watch me try!" She sized up her burger, her enthusiasm trailing off as she finally took in the scope. "Hmmmmmm. Maybe if I unhinged my jaw..."
While Hercules was walking with the man in the suit to the table where the teenage girl was, Herc decided to get some things from the buffet. Hey if he's gonna eat, he might as well tuck in. He spied an apple and some grapes which he put them onto the plate he was carrying. Which he got from a whole stack of empty plates. And then for a final roundup, he got himself a chicken leg as well as a gyro which he was surprised that they even had them here, the last item which he carried in the other hand.
He then walked over to where the teenage girl and the man in the suit where sitting at and sat next to the man who was sitting on the opposite end of the table. "Well they've certainly got everything here." Hercules commented on the stuff that he had just gotten. He put the Gyro down first with the plate with the chicken leg, the apple and the grapes next to it.
THE SLORG!
There was some more writing sounds around Lewis, and more words appeared in his vision.
"A sentient string of words? Not really, but that is an interesting way to put it. You are welcome; you would thus also be pleased to know that those rules are in effect until the end of the day."
Similarly, there was a quick scribble around Two, and she saw words appear in her own vision.
"Yes. Though that depends on who you wish to contact."
Elsewhere, there was some more of the noise a pen makes when writing on paper around Arcade, Eve, and Cole, though only Arcade and Eve actually saw the words in their vision.
"Why something more esoteric? Your friends are awaiting your message in the same form they were the last time you contacted them.
Meanwhile, Valentina looked at Rex with a blank expression for a moment, before holding up her free hand and spreading her fingers out, palm towards Rex as if to show how empty it was. "It's a little late for that" Valentina muttered, then glanced towards Lewis; her dull eyes quickly widened and she tensed up. "I thought you said that this world revived everyone?" the sorceress noted, just about hissing the words out between her teeth.
The floran paused a moment as Garrett got Riddler's cell door unlocked, then rattled her bars with more fervor as the two started to leave. "Hey! Sstupid humanss deaf!? LET FLORAN OUT!" the floran screamed as they left.
There was of course the one security camera at the end of this hallway of cells, and going to the next segment of the prison, there was another. There was pretty much one for every internal area of the prison save for the employee area, and while each did have some blind spots, there was no way to be linking said blind spots together; so long as Riddler and Garrett were running through the prison, they were seen. They were also seen by plenty of other prisoners still in their cells, who quickly started up a racket much like the floran; some were cheering, others were asking for their own freedom.
Meanwhile those listening on the militia radio channel would hear some more simple, quick words from Wells' voice. "They're heading to the front entrance."
"Just desserts, Ben?" Louie asked as he came over to the table, now holding a bowl of soup in one hand, and a plate with some croissants, a muffin, and a large, cube shaped fruit
◊ on his other hand. "I wanted to try some stuff from other universes. I'll be right back with a drink" the pokemon trainer added, setting the two items down then heading over to the drinking fountain. There was a bump on one of the table legs as Pecha the trapinch wandered over, chewing on some limes in her relatively large mouth.
edited 18th Jan '18 8:26:36 PM by FirockFinion
You are reading this.
Arcade nodded at Cole's request. Before he could actually repeat the request, The Writer responded to Eve, apparently. Had she asked for her message in a different form? He hadn't been paying much attention to what she was saying, focused more on Cole.
Right, Cole. Shaking off the surprise at the sudden appearance of words, he directed his gaze up at the ceiling again. "Well, as you probably heard, Cole wants to contact his friend Varric," he said.
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
A mental abstraction made for an rpg was probably easier to kill than the actual thing...especially on a day when killing anyone wasn't possible, period...but my dealing the killing blow on that one had to count for something, right? Not like it was literally the only hit I landed in that entire session outside what was basically the tutorial or anything, or we were operating on D&D mechanics in the first place. My skill at a board game, that should have actually existed in at least a relative sense given a whole one or two other people had ever seen said game, didn't reflect on me at all. That was ridiculous. Silanea was still gone. Yay...? I'm sure she wasn't avoiding me. Obviously she had bigger issues. Clearly. Yeah. This is totally what I should have been thinking about at the moment.
It took a pretty short time to make my way to the genocide lady and co. Short enough that I was surprised I'd gotten there so quickly, being distracted by my thoughts and whatnot. At the very least, she was rightfully afraid of me showing up, if for the wrong reasons.
"What, you mean you're just now figuring out that dying before arrival doesn't count? Y'know, unless someone gets a kick out of messing with that, whether temporarily or permanently?" I side-eyed a bit of open air next to me. "By the way, you do realize written word by itself doesn't always convey tone that well, right?" I added as if I didn't realize the writer was sassing me five seconds ago.
Also, I was still holding a pole. That's right.
"I thought I might need it," I explained dully. "What with the kinds of people that seem to be amassing, in case you didn't pick up on that. Not that...it'd be of much use today, in particular...look, I'm keeping it anyway because I want to, alright?"
Then, despite having acknowledged the futility of it, I swung the pole at the sorceress's head just to get it out of my system.
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
Library Lobby- The Situation Has Escalated a Little
Makoto pulled herself out of her thoughts enough to hear what Rex was trying to explain, but whether she believed him or not was another matter.
"I'm pretty sure it does have to do with me after yesterday... At least a little," she said. She wasn't dumb enough to think he forgave her after only a few hours. Lewis caught up to them with his pole, and Makoto decided that she was effectively stuck here until this was over. Valentina was also apparently not comfortable around the clearly undead person, but wasn't aware of exactly how things worked around the City. Lewis immediately focused on the sorceress, but Makoto wasn't really sure how he knew her. Had he also been a part of the challenge?
Rex asked why he had a pole (which seemed kind of obvious to her), and Lewis explained it was to...defend himself? From what? He then winded up to swing at Valentina's head with it, and despite it being a break day, Makoto still had enough logic to realize that trying to kill someone in the middle of negotiating a peace treaty would not be good. Shit.
"No!" Before she could really think too hard about it, her school uniform flickered with blue flames and switched to the leather clothing and armor she'd been using for most of the day before. Her iron mask was barely able to form before it also burst into flames on instinct. A few feet off, a second, larger burst of blue energy appeared next to Lewis. A metal hand grabbed the arm he held the pole with after Anat was summoned, trying to stop him from making contact.
"Don't... do that," Makoto said, glaring at him despite her shaky voice.
Snowy
Rean returned with a personal-sized pepperoni pizza, some juice and a bowl full of what looked like blueberries, but actually weren't.
He glanced around at the table, and then at his own plate. Most of the table had a bunch of food, including Ben who had nothing but junk food, and the girl in the purple robes having an absolutely massive burger.
Maybe I should have gotten more food. Rean thought. ...Eh. I can always get up again. He sat down on the other side of the girl, and started eating his pizza. Something bumped into the table, and Rean leaned over to look at it. A small brown creature was crawling around, quietly biting into some limes. “Huh...” Rean muttered, watching it eat.
Ev | Library | Getting Everyone Up To Speed
Eve walked with Cole and Arcade to the library, watching and smiling somewhat at the two becoming more used to each other. She arranged the words she was going to say in her head, how to explain to her partners what was going on. She expected their reactions to be impressive, ranging from confusion to outright squee. Either way, this was going to be a very interesting conversation.
As she entered the library, Eve turned to see Cole almost cowering from the entrance, and she tilted her head, confused. He was scared, but she couldn't tell of what. She had to presume that it was one of the occupants of the library, even though no one could hurt him. Seeing Arcade handle it, however, Eve just took a breath to ask for a message. It was much harder to commit to asking a sentient paragraph for a message than a secretary, but she had to, so she started to speak. "Mr Almost A Quantum State? Schroedinger's thought experiment? I was wondering if I would be able to speak to Train Hartnet," she said, before she added an afterthought, more quietly, "not on a tablet, however. Maybe something more esoteric? Magical, maybe?"
OOC Note: Train, Sven and Rinslet are currently sitting in a base, waiting for the promised call.
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