throwback
Then Sylvia lost. She felt more than saw the ball fly past. Wander, who was almost directly behind her waving silent cheers, got beaned in the head by it, but he popped up unhurt a second later.
"Ooookay, Syl," he whispered to himself. "Now's the hard part..."
He waited fearfully to see her reaction. Sylvia was not usually a sore loser, but competitions brought out the worst in her.
Sylvia threw her bat down in disgust.
◊ But, to Wander's relief, she didn't protest. She didn't go right over and congratulate Lucas, either, but she stared intensely at the ground, kicking at it a bit, obviously letting herself take a moment to cool down and sulk.
For the Horde!
Stinkfly looked satisfied with himself, as Sora and Thomas seemed to back him up on this. Unfortunately, it wasn't seeming to have an effect on the rest of the crowd, especially given that the Writer had to make an announcement of his own right after Ben made his. And... while they could contact their world, they would also have to deal with longer challenges. All because the Writer made a deal with Rex of all people.
Stinkfly's eyes furrowed, once the anti-sound subsided and the crowd worked itself into a fervor. On the one hand, a lot of people would start hating Rex for this. On the other hand, he could use this little incident to his advantage. He had to strike while the iron was hot, though. Stinkfly took off into the air and flew back over to the announcer's box, and moved again towards a microphone, gently hijacking it this time. "Sorry I keep doing this, this has to be done," Stinkfly told the two announcers. "And I'm not gonna hurt you guys." Then he looked into the microphone and began announcing.
''This is exactly what I mean! The Writer is making deals with people of the City behind our backs, to try and hurt us and make us suffer! Well I say no to that! We stand against him right now, no more deals with the Writer, no more! There are those who believe that the Writer is some kinda god! Well if anything this proves he's a demon! Stand together against this madness now, and stand together for the time we are here! The true enemy here is the Writer!"
With that, Stinkfly peacefully backed off from the announcer podium and flew back down to Thomas and Sora, and landed just as the watch began to beep loudly and flood the area with red light, turning him back into Ben. "All right, let's hope they got the message this time," he told them. "Let's get out of here." And Ben began to move out of the stadium, looking back at the other City Knights.
edited 3rd Mar '17 9:34:31 AM by AllHailThrall
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Streets - Literally can't catch a break
Suddenly, from her phone, Sans' and every screen and other electronic devices around them, came a message from Miss Tairee, once again with that effect that made it so she couldn't not concretate solely on it. Apparently, Rex had accept an extra, longer, multiple days spaining challenge, in exchange for people being able to communicate with people back in the home during each following break day.
Once she had her ability to think once again, she was filled with a brief surge of excitement at the prospect of those messages ... Until she remember the presence of the Fate from the past in this place. If they were indeed from the same timeline, how would that affect things back in her own time? Would the Fate that she knew have vanished as well? What other effects would such a disappearence have long term? Would there even be anyone as she knew them to send a message to?
Then there people like Sans and Silanea, who by default didn't have anyone to talk to either. They probably were far from the only ones. If there were enough people who could gain no benefit from this change, but would have to suffer the consequences along with everyone else, there might be an uprising in the horizon, with Rex as the prime target ... Even people who might benefit from might take issue with the matter, if it might put them in enough danger ... Yeah, she definitely had a bad feeling about this ...
Sans then said that they would need to find Rex to sort this mess out. If the guy had just sent the message, he probably would still be at the library, which they could, for better or worse, reach instantly thanks to the skeleton.
Drawing out a long sigh of frustation, she then nodded and said, "Yeah, we need to get to the bottom of this. And I think I need to speak to Miss Tairee of a related matter, so yeah ... Let's go."
edited 3rd Mar '17 8:24:34 AM by JamesShields
feeling blue
"before we go though... i wanted to wait a bit before bringing this up but..." Sans sighed. "i know you're still unsure about the wish thing, i know you're afraid of the wish getting corrupted, or maybe that things will go wrong somehow, but i just wanted to say... it doesn't matter if you decide to go through with it or not, i'm not going to hold anything against you. i didn't when you tried that four days ago and i won't now, i just don't want to see you get hurt. do what you think is right and i'll be there to give you support like i've always been, ok?"
He gave Caro a sincere smile, trying to be as gentle as he could about the subject. After taking a moment to let her process what he just said, he took a deep breath.
"all right, let's go."
He then teleported himself and Caro to the library and the first thing he did was look around for Rex.
"rex?"
Happy Box Hater
Stadium-Winner is You!
And the ball flew right past Sylvia! Lucas had won by a thread and got her point. Feeling like he wanted to collapse, Lucas walked over to the skulking Sylvia after scarfing down a container of magic pudding as fast as he could. One quick heal and he was good as new. He told Sylvia "That was pretty fun! Don't take it too hard, I think you did really well." She might need a bit of alone time to deal with it, so Lucas started walking off after healing her of any fatigue.
And then things just happened quickly. Ben's announcement made sense to Lucas, but he wasn't going to give up his points when he was mainly doing this for the fun of competing. A wish to bring back Hinawa and Claus would be amazing, but Lucas also knew that there were probably people with just as valid, if not more so, wishes as him. It didn't feel right to just sacrifice someone else's happiness for his own. Good on Ben for doing what he believes in, though!
And then the weird thing Ms. Tairee did to make people listen happened. Lucas was elated at being able to send some messages back home, as they were no doubt wondering where he was. The second part of information made him forget about that for a bit, though. The reaction to the news of a longer challenge put the boy on edge. Nothing good came of people being turned against each other.
Wait, someone was challenging someone else amid all this?! After a moment, Lucas realized it was Lewis... and he was challenging him... to the same target shooting contest that had been done multiple times already. Well, it wasn't like Lucas really cared enough about his points to not try it.
He made his way over to the tall flaming skeleton through the crowd and said over the din "Um... I guess I can do that. Can we use all our powers? Well, I'll accept either way, but I want to know. Let's have fun with this, OK?"
Why is a yam attacking me?
Eve assured Rex that Ben was just a friend. A dear friend but still just a friend. There was also a comment about wishes being legitimate no matter how much someone else was suffering and could use one.
"You should tell him that. And I'm just saying a headquarters for the City Knights wouldn't really help anyone"
Speaking of, Ben gave a lengthy speech about he wasn't going to go along with the writer's plans. Looks like he was trying to make some sort of statement by riling up people against Tairee's boss. He finished by getting himself disqualified and suggesting people do the same.
"All that to end up losing? He's a drama queen"
But nevermind that. Shit was about to go down.
Starting with Tairee apologizing to Rex for... something before disappearing "What?" and transmitting into ever radio channel that everyone could now contact their loved ones back home. The librarian mentioned Rex by name and Rex himself looked outside to see a picture of him on every screen he could spot. He was a getting a bit nervous now "That's... not my best angle"
The video feed changed to a collage of the different challenges. Some of them weren't that bad—Mickey and the volleyball match—while others...
"Is that... Mary?" the screen quickly changed to a bunch of bright robots that looked like different animals "And, really, animatronics? Lame. I would have made them sing 'Daisy Daisy' in no time"
And to top it all off, she mentioned that Rex had agreed on his own while barely having asked for anyone else's opinion. And this challenge was going to last for several days. Awkward. Looks like not many people were happy with that including Ben, who continued transmitting another speech about stopping the deals with the writer.
"Come on, why the long face guys? This is a good thing, right? I mean, tomorrow no one can get hurt and if we lose, there's no harm done, right?" he looked at Tairee "Right?"
And, according to Curly, Wells really wanted to capture Rex. Just a day in, and he was already hating his time in the city.
"What do you me—" Sans suddenly showed up out of nowhere with Caro and started talking like he hadn't just made physics play dead and roll over "Sans! What did I tell you about teleporting like that?"
Grinch - Stadium Skies
"People of this city, there's no need to fight!You don't want to go to sleep angry tonight!"
The Grinch appeared in his copter over the stadium's wall,
shouting from above so that he could be heard by all.
Then he reached into his overstuffed burlap sack,
and pulled out a stuffed duck, its feathers all black.
"Forgiveness, compassion, and love, there's no doubt,
those are the things which Christmas is about!
Reach into your hearts, and reach into yours souls,
because upset emotions all come with a toll!"
Then that Grinch, he started to throw down stuffed toys,
the truest way he knew to calm down girls and boys.
The first he threw down was the black-feathered duck,
these people were so worked up, but he didn't even give a darn!
Streets -> Library - Searching for the source of the issue
Sans' speech did manage to get her to feel a lot better, even if she didn't quite yet know what to do with the whole matter. At the very least, she was not afraid to consider that option anymore, even if she still compared and constrated it against options such as the ones offered by that guy from Sans' group earlier today.
With a much wider smile, she said, " Thanks, Sans ... That helps a lot. That's the best I can strive for, really. Whatever the case, that means a lot to me."
Then he took them straight to the library, by chance very close to Rex, who proceeded to be startled by their sudden appearence.
After given a moment to recompose, she thne said, "Um, Rex ... About that challenge you accepted ... Did you even get told anything about what it would be like? Besides the multiple day thing?"
edited 3rd Mar '17 11:29:00 AM by JamesShields
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
The other person accepted the challenge, and I registered it was Lucas. Though he did have a question about if he could the full range of his powers. Huh. Did he have an ability for this like I did? Whatever. I couldn't afford to be picky, who knew if I'd find anyone else who'd accept a challenge anytime soon?
"Sure thing, Lucas. But how about we up the number of targets? 10 sound good?"
Pay no attention to the falling stuffed animals. This is no time to be distracted.
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
Happy Box Hater
Stadium
He accepted that all powers would be allowed. Lucas wouldn't feel bad about doing anything when Lewis had agreed to that, though Lucas assumed that Lewis also had a plan. Either way, it would probably be a fun match. Especially with the stuffed animals raining from the sky for some reason.
"10 targets sounds fine, just so long as they aren't spread too far apart from each other. I guess we should start now?" said Lucas in response.
Why is a yam attacking me?
Bucket O' Sushi ~ Staying Out of This
The story opened with a mage fighting with a dark, formless beast in a dark forest, which ended with the mage getting knocked out and turning into a ferret. Fate would be awfully surprised if the beast wasn't the result of a Lost Logia, and furthermore she was fairly certain she saw that ferret during her fight with Nanoha.
Before she could get much farther than that, she was interrupted by Ben's voice over a nearby radio yelling about how this contest was just a way for the "evil writer" to make them all fight each other. According to his statement, he then proceeded to throw away his points to show the "writer" that he wasn't going along with it.
Fate guessed the "writer" was the person who created the city and brought everyone here. If that was true, then the fact she'd been brought here at all gave a certain kernel of truth to Ben's words. Maybe it really was for the best that she wound up losing, undecided as she was about what Caro had said earlier.
As it was, however, it wasn't relevant to her. She'd lost, had no way to get back into the contest, and as it was didn't have a real desire to even if she did. It certainly said something about the kind of person Ben was.
Before she could go back to reading, another announcement came. This one was much harder to ignore, not only because it was louder but also because it was somehow interfering with her very thoughts. It made it very difficult to tune out the words of what sounded like Miss Tairee. The first part of it stated that it would be possible to contact someone from home tomorrow, and once every five days after that. The second, and more worrying, part said that Rex accepted a challenge on his own that would last for multiple days. Then it ended, taking that uncomfortable sensation with it.
Fate shook her head before mulling over what was just announced. The first part was nice, she supposed; even if they lost the contest, at least they'd be able to tell Mother about what happened. It was the second part that really concerned her. Having just got here, she didn't have much context as to what these "challenges" entailed. She did guess, however, that they were something that made life in the city a little more difficult than it needed to be. So if there was one that would last for more than just a day....
"What was that?!" Arf's voice asked as the familiar herself emerged from back in the kitchen. "I couldn't even think! I'm lucky I didn't burn the place down!" Then she took a few deep breaths and shook her head to try and calm herself, before turning back to Fate. "I heard something about a challenge. Got any guesses as to what that means?"
"It's probably exactly what it sounds like. Some kind of trial to overcome," Fate replied, "Apparently Rex accepted one that would last for more than one day? We don't exactly have any frame of reference as to what they're like, so I don't know how bad they're going to be."
Arf frowned. "Rex? That boy who gave us a ride to the library this morning? Come to think of it, I don't think we've seen him since. So what? Are we going to have a tougher time because some idiot decided he wasn't having enough problems?"
"I don't know. All we can do is wait and see." Fate frowned herself. "On a brighter note, apparently we'll be able to send a message home tomorrow. So if we decide the mission's worth pursuing despite everything Caro warned us about, we can tell Mother about the delay."
"Let's hope she's understanding about all this...."
At that point, another message from Ben came over the radio, which used the announcement to reaffirm his previous point.
"Oh yes, and Ben said something about the contest being just a way for the 'Writer' to have everyone fight each other. I'm guessing this Writer's the person who created the city and brought everyone to it," Fate added.
"Kid seems to think he's evil, at any rate," Arf commented, then scowled, "And I'm actually inclined to agree. If he was at all nice, he would have at least asked permission before bringing a bunch of random people here. We couldn't have been the only ones who got taken in the middle of doing something important!"
She sighed. "Well, we're no longer involved in that nonsense. Let's just stay out of any further nonsense and try to have a pleasant evening, or rest of the day, or whatever." She turned back towards the kitchen. "I'm going to go finish cooking now. It shouldn't be too long until I'm done, provided no more interruptions happen."
At that she headed back into the kitchen, and Fate went back to reading.
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
After Sylvia lost, Plague Knight was about to ask her, Wander, and Lucas to join him in leaving the library until Lewis came up and suddenly challenged Lucas. Dammit, he thought. Then he heard Ben's second speech in order to rally the people against the author. Curses, he thought. The inexplicable falling plush toys from the sky seemed to add insult to injury.
"Wander, I need your help," Plague Knight said. "And before you ask, yes my children are safe, and they are in the library right now."
DAMMIT MARK, STOP HOTTING HELPY!!
feeling blue
"first of all," said Sans, ignoring Rex's comment, "you probably have an angry mob coming at you right now. don't leave the library, as long as she's here," he gestured to Miss Tairee, "nobody can do anything to you or even forcibly drag you out of here and because you chose to do this on a day nobody can hurt you at all, plus the fact tomorrow is another day like this means we have some time to sort things out. either way, stay here for now, ok?" He asked, his tone sounding serious and surprisingly no-nonsense.
He then pulled out the booklet he had gotten on his way to the stadium and began reading it, finally claiming his one point.
"second, somehow you ended up tied for second place in the competition. so if you still wanna get that wish, don't try to fight back against anyone that might come for your head. i can give you my point if you want to have a lead over the guy tied with you." He explained.
edited 3rd Mar '17 12:47:37 PM by FullMoon
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
"Deal," I replied, and on cue two rows of ten targets appeared around us, a red light coming on. Seeing as I wasn't going to be able to just cheese this, I hurriedly conjured my flame, intending to split it into 10 shots, taking just a brief moment to aim...
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
Happy Box Hater
Stadium
Unaware of what Lewis was competing for, Lucas treated this as just another competition. And since Lewis had stated that all powers were allowed, there was no reason to feel bad about pulling a psychic flash bang from out of nowhere. Lewis started doing something with his flames when the match started, but Lucas was just as ready for action.
The flash of light known as PK Flash was conjured right in front of Lewis. This was a light so strong that it was capable of actually knocking people unconscious on some occasions. While the effects wouldn't be quite so dramatic this time, probably, it would definitely have an effect. And Lucas would capitalize on that by taking out all of those neatly lined up targets with PK Love, used as many times as necessary. He had just filled up with a magic pudding so he wasn't hurting for energy for that.
edited 3rd Mar '17 1:18:19 PM by pillowmantis
Why is a yam attacking me?
someone
Eve|Library|I'M SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS.
Eve was going to respond to Rex's comment, but she gpt distracted by Ben's tirade against the Writer. He clearly didn't think that through. It was a good thought, but it could have terrible consequences.
And then came the broadcast. What had Rex done? Even if the longer challenge only affected him, he had still gotten half, if not more, of the City angry at him.
"Do you have a good angle?"
A mouse, a volleyball match, a couple of others she didn't recognise and...
Her hand creeped to where the hook had gone through.
"Really? Even without your nanites?"
This could be bad. This could be very bad. Then he started to talk about how it was okay because no one could get hurt tomorrow.
"You have no idea of how long this challenge may last. It might be 2 days, it might be 10."
She kinda wanted to yell at him. He hadn't seen the City at its worst. He wasn't here yesterday. She wondered if he would change his tune if he had been.
Then a skeleton arrived, through teleporting. Wow. The skeleton made some good points about staying in the Library. And about the challenge. Essaying a quick look at the leaderboard, she saw a name she recognised as third.
"You don't want the person in third to get a chance at the wish. I'd suggest you take the point."
[TOP SECRET]
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
Just as I was about to launch one into each target, a blinding flash of light hit, making it impossible to see the targets, and I realized just what Lucas was thinking when he asked about using powers.
Shit, shit, shit, shit.
I launched my shots blindly, hoping it'd be enough, and prepared a couple more just in case as I tried to clear the glare from my vision. When I recovered, I saw that three of the targets at the edges of the line had gone unscathed, and rushed a couple embers at—
My point total changed to zero.
Oh no.
"Oh no."
This wasn't supposed to happen. Oh god, why didn't I think of this happening? If I'd known, I'd have said something about it. I should have pried while we were setting out our terms. Why didn't I do that? I didn't know anyone else who was trying for this wish except maybe Caro, either. Who was going to do it with me out? No, no. Those people...
No, don't panic. There's enough panicking in this place. There had to be something I could do. Could I get Lucas on board with wishing to save them? Young as he was, he seemed nicer and more level than a certain bratty preteen had proven himself to be. Except for the fact that he was cheap. If I asked, would he agree and then break his promise if he actually won? Why was I imagining a kid to be that duplicitous? Screw it, it's not like I would know without asking.
"Lucas, wait!" I called, trying to get his attention before he walked off. "I have something to ask. It's about Sans, if you know him, and his world. Could you spend the wish saving it, if you win the final?"
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
Happy Box Hater
Stadium-Sure
He had won! He felt a bit bad about the tactics but not as bad as if he didn't give Lewis a chance to forbid it. But before he could do much of anything else, Lewis asked him to... use the wish for sans? Wait a minute he was in second now. He hadn't even realized. And Lewis actually had a wish, and not a selfish one either. Lucas felt bad.
"I know who you're talking about... he's the last survivor of his people, right? I didn't have a real plan for the wish so I could do that. What exactly would I need to wish for to help him?" he asked.
Why is a yam attacking me?
2 Spooky 4 U
So for that, Sora felt sure that Ben was right. If a wish came from fighting and yelling then that wish was not worth it, no matter how that wish was used. There was always a way to do something without that wish. He felt it deep in his heart!
As for what did and what that brings, Sora really looked forward to being able to talk to someone back home! Maybe he could introduce Ben to King Mickey! Or.......there was one person that Sora would like to talk to. One that he had no other way to talk to. Sora hung his head at that thought and frowned a little bit. That extra long challenge though......Sora didn't like the sound of that. While he didn't know the full details of what a challenge means, everyone's verbal outcry didn't make it sound good and he didn't anyone to be hurt. Still, everyone makes mistakes so he wouldn't hold it against Rex. Asides, the City Knights are here to protect them!
With all of that, Sora told Ben, who he followed to where ever he went, with a reassuring smile, "I think you did a good thing Ben. A wish is bad if you wished that you never tried to get it. There's always another way to do what you need to do." Sora placed his hand on Ben's shoulder, "But that longer challenge thing doesn't sound too good. It's good that the City Knight's are on the case, right?"
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
Lucas apparently already knew at least a bit of the story. Huh. Wonder where he learned it.
"Well, right now the entire place is literally just an empty void or something to that accord, least I think that's what Cole was getting at," I clarified when he asked, "Everything killed by some human or humanoid abomination or whatever. I want you to revive everything, to undo all the damage they caused and if you can, prevent whatever it was from causing any more harm. Can you do that, please?"
edited 4th Mar '17 6:17:19 PM by Oceanstuck
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
Eve didn't seem so confident about fighting the animatronics without powers or the fact that Rex even had a good angle. Well, at least she was making jokes.
"Well, pretty much any angle is good for me. And yeah, a fight without nanites would be tough but I'm sure I could outrun a rusty fast food mascot"
As for Sans, he suggested Rex stay in the library since no one could attack him there. That wasn't exactly news.
"Relax, huesitos, I already know that. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to make the deal when no one could get hurt. So I just did it"
The skeleton also pointed out that he someone else had four points and after ben had going full-Spartacus, he was back on second place. If he wanted to help save Sans' world, he needed to win at least another point. Eve agreed and apparently had history with the guy on third place. Rex suddenly remembered where he had heard the name before: It was the pilot that had attacked Eve. He really needed to stop him from wishing anything. Except now he didn't.
"Look, problem solved" he said, pointing at the scoreboard "Who's Lucas, anyway?"
On the other hand, Caro only wanted to know if Rex knew anything about the challenge aside from it lasting for more than one day before accepting it.
"Well, you see, I assumed it would be some sort of monster dead set on trying to kill me but..." Yeah, that was going nowhere "No, not really"
For the Horde!
Ben smiled up at Sora. He didn't seem to be upset at Ben for what he did. The City Knights were pretty accepting of what he had done, so it must have been a good thing overall. "Thanks," he told Sora. He found it hard to continue being upset, Sora just sort of radiated this charisma that lifted his spirits. A grin slid onto his face.
"So what do you say we head back to the library and get you officially sworn in? Get you a walkie talkie and everything?" Ben asked Sora.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
2 Spooky 4 U
The air was a little cold for Sora's hands, especially the fingers.....Wait! Sora took out the pair of black mitts that he made with Lily from his pant's pocket, took off his normal pair and put them away, and then put on the knitted mittens. Much better! He would have to thank the sweet grandma later!
edited 3rd Mar '17 5:39:38 PM by LightToAll
For the Horde!
Ben walked with Sora (and Thomas and Louie, if they were following), and entered the Library through one of the doors. He started to approach the desk, but frowned when he saw the expression on Miss Tairee's face. She looked like she really didn't want to talk. Ben winced and stepped back, looking unsure. "Uh... why don't we wait until tomorrow to get you knighted?" Ben asked Sora. "I don't think Miss Tairee is in a good mood right now..."
He backed up, looking and seeing Sans and Rex at some other part of the library. Given all that had happened just a minute ago, he really didn't want to start anything with either of them. So he decided to start going outside. He bumped against a young woman as he was backing away though, and he looked up at her. It was the black-haired girl with the spear who had fought in the battle of the library, who was standing nearby when Ben's little 'hug Eve' incident happened. He smiled slightly.
"Hey, you were fighting alongside us a couple days ago, weren't you? Uh, I don't think we've actually introduced. I'm Ben Tennyson, leader of the City Knights," he greeted her.
edited 3rd Mar '17 6:36:27 PM by AllHailThrall
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Plague Knight looked up from the batting competition to hear Ben's announcement, purposely forfeiting the competition and telling everyone else to do so. This gravely concerned the knight, but mostly for Ben. The boy had just marked himself to be smote by the God of the City. Then came the announcement from Miss Tairee herself.
First was the announcement of, after the next day, every fifth day, the break days, people are allowed to communicate to those from their home dimension. While truly a boon for many, the alchemist knew there was a catch. As expected, the other sabaton dropped, and Tairee mentioned Rex managing to completely a secret, long-term challenge beyond the daily challenges. If the knight had known about this beforehand, he had long forgot about it, but in contrast to the knight's indifference, Plague Knight had noticed the stadium crowd growing increasingly malcontent with this revelation.
He could not blame them. While most everyone in this City were incapable of completing any of the daily challenge, many of which involve slaying an extremely powerful opponent, the revelation of someone else doing another challenge on the sly, something possibly far easier, was bound to anger some people, despite it being ultimately beneficial for everyone. Lewis was attempting to somewhat diffuse the situation by challenging someone, but Plague Knight decided the wiser course of action would be to collect Sylvia, Wander, and Lucas, and vacate the stadium immediately.
DAMMIT MARK, STOP HOTTING HELPY!!