There was a shout from outside, one in a familiar voice, and the sound of shattering glass. Jack ground his teeth, assuming that the tied up Seiga hadn't been as contained as she had seemed as he'd flown past. But he hesitated, confused as to why she called out to Lewis off all people. And the chaos started.
Through the large windows, the Guardian watched as a fight broke out among those still outside. His eyes widened as he remembered the young girl still out there. But it seemed people were moving far quicker than him still, his tiredness slowing him down, and some of the others and even Tairee reacted. And with a crying Eve in his arms, Jack couldn't go running out himself. Instead, he forced himself to walk further into the building, jaw tense as he fought the urge to help. Sitting on a couch, he sat there and gently rocked the young girl as she cried.
Ciri - Just Outside the Library
After somehow managing to survive getting hit in the back by a giant stick, and watching Yoshika vanish, Ciri was about to rush Lewis before she felt a gaping hole appear in her chest a few moments before hearing an odd popping sound. Looking down and seeing blood, she vanished, leaving nothing behind save a book and some pens.Ciri - Random Bathroom
Ciri found herself in a random restroom in the city, the chaotic battlefield now replaced by an overweight man in the bathtub. Gritting her teeth, she reached up for her silver sword, while her left hand reached for a Dimeritium Bomb. On one hand, Yoshika was probably dead. Whatever plan Seiga had committed to, whatever ruse she had come up with, it had succeeded, the little zombie girl being consumed by the ghost in the blink of an eye. On the other.... Those animals had made the mistake of attacking in one of the few places in the entire city she could teleport to blindfolded.She began to throw her Dimeritium Bomb down at her feet, but moments before she could release it, in a flash of green, she was gone.
Ciri - Just Outside the Library
Showing up near where she had been standing, Ciri's fingers released their grip on the bomb to shatter it on the ground below her, the cloud of magical silver shards scattering into the air and the particles preventing any of the nearby monsters - or men, or whatever other moniker they felt like using for themselves - from being able to rely on their regeneration, if they had any. Any cut she sank into them all, she intended to make sure it stayed.Resuming the attack she had been making before being so rudely interrupted, Ciri swung her sword at Lewis again, coming in for a horizontal slash from behind as he seemed to be returning to Seiga. Somehow, that monster had made Yoshika vanish, no doubt absorbing him into his corrupt black heart. She would break his heart no matter how many times she had to die doing so, then move onto Seiga.
THE SLORG!
"I... Haven't thought about that... In a long time..." Silanea muttered, as her eyes started to tear up even more.
Meanwhile elsewhere in the hospital, Dave came across Rick and Morty and folded his arms while raising one eyebrow slightly. "You wanna try snorting crystalized sugar? Because even if I did have that, it's probably candy today" Dave pointed out as he continued to work out the full implications of the day's conditions. "This is a hospital, not some kind of speak easy. Pheh! I'd probably hardly be completely sober at any time myself here, if we could just walts into any room with a sink" the doctor was saying, as he walked into a nearby examination room with a sink, "turn it on and have- by sweet Mary mother of Joseph."
Dave stared down at the transparent liquid running over his fingers, then raised his hand up to sniff and lick at his fingers. "... Well then, help yourself. I'll be right back after I find a bottle or something. Kid, I take it you're not gonna join him drinking? Then you keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't wreck any of my hospital while drunk" Dave told Rick and Morty, then hurried away, leaving them alone with the sink that was currently pouring a gin and tonic mixture.
You are reading this.
"Yeah, I thought so..." Curly said, giving Silanea a supportive hand squeeze and smile from the side of the bed, even if she wouldn't see it "Do you ever think of your old happy memories?" she asked, sounding a little concerned.
I just want to help!
"...if everyone went out to kill everyone who ruined their lives, a lot of people would never do anything else. Their seeking vengeance on you, even as someone else's proxy, was not a justified act, no matter how much they might have tried to think to themselves that it was so. Maybe you hurt them too much, but...it's hard, not to be cruel sometimes, when the world you live in is so cruel."
Cole let out an exhausted sigh, rubbing at his face slightly. "I'm sorry...I've...kept you from your friends for too long. The library is not far. ...you should be careful approaching, though. Everything is happening there right now."
He contemplated a moment before shrugging faintly. "I could make us invisible and walk us in if you would prefer...it will make me tired, but we could avoid the worst of the trouble."
someone
Eve|Library|Conceal, Don't Feel?
Eve looked at Jack, and pushed back the tears, letting herself be rocked back and forth, enjoying the motion and the feeling of being safe. She looked up at him, then looked outside.
A silence. "...go. Help." Eve said quietly, gesturing to the mess outside. She wriggled off his lap, looking down at her hands. "...you want to..."
And who was she to keep him from helping where he was needed?
[TOP SECRET]
"I guess," Arcade mumbled. The conversation moved away from his past and he had no desire to extend it.
"Once we get into the library, you can take a nap or get the librarian to give you some energy," he said, somewhat dismissively. Getting to the library would get Cole back to being a kid, and would let him reunite with Eve.
edited 3rd Jul '17 3:19:12 AM by Skooter910
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
Jack glanced down in surprise at Eve's faint words, guilt flickering across his face briefly as the young girl looked down. It had been that obvious? But no, looking down at her now, so small and withdrawn, face swollen from crying and suffering from the traumatic experience she'd only just recently suffered, the Guardian knew he couldn't have just gotten up and walked away. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he had.
He smile slightly, pulling Eve just a little closer as he continued to rock her. "Nah, it's alright," He said, his tone unworried, "There's already a bunch of people out there who are more than capable of handling it. It's you I'm worried about."
The sound of hooves catch Jack's attention, and he glanced up expecting Offeran to have wandered over. He blinked in surprise when he spotted an... alpaca? Llama? He wasn't sure of the difference, but it was one of them. "Uh... hey there little guy."
Lizard Metabolism
Shenhua Is Now Involved. Good Going
A lot of things happened in a short span of time. Somebody bursted out of the window on the library's fifth floor, the little tied-up necromancer called out to murder and then... Shenhua frankly wasn't quite sure. Most thoughts were replaced by a sudden feeling of pain in her chest, the loss of breath and the loss of footing.
Truly, somebody has just hit her strong enough to send her flying. This was a different sensation than the usual pain. She's been punched and kicked a couple of times, but nobody truly carried such strength to just blow her away like that.
Still, it seemed like it was not lethal; it hurt like hell and it was pissing her off, but she wasn't too worse for wear. With a groan Shenhua stood up and dusted herself off. At least the sweet ground cushioned the fall somewhat. That, and some of her dress was left on it, apparently. Of course her clothes would be edible today now. Somewhere in this city, some pervert was having a time of their lives.
Well, no matter. The assassin glanced around in search of someone possibly responsible for this whole ruckus. Mary has just ran away to glomp someone in the library, so she was safe, at least. Rex was fighting the brute, this strange skeleton man was acting strange... so that only left the blue-haired girl looking like she's trying to devise an escape route.
"Where you think you're going, you little skank?" From Shenhua's hand shot out the kukri on a rope. Normally she'd use it to cut her down - seeing as her command was the reason everything went to pot in a moment - but today imposed other limitations. Perhaps less fortunately for Seiga, the length of licorice was to be the weapon here, rather than a marshmallow mock-weight at the end. Thrown like a grappling hook, the goal was to ensnare the troublesome necromancer by her neck or any part of her body. With that out of the way, Shenhua would then pull and attempt to bring the girl for a closer inspection. Her legs and fists were still very much usable, after all.
Wait, no, Mary was not safe at all. Fricking necromancers. Her other kukri shot out from her other hand, intent on wrapping around Mary and pulling her back to Shenhua, though with none the force or hostility that was reserved for Seiga.
edited 3rd Jul '17 6:36:55 AM by FergardStratoavis
How do lizards fly?
I have chortles!
The sphere of electricity bouncing around the inside of the bubble hit Fawful, killing him.
edited 3rd Jul '17 7:59:42 AM by Thegeniusyoshi
"BY THE POWER OF SPARKLES AND MAGIC YOU SHALL NOW HAVE BABIES" - Starclan 5/21/17 "What is it, land on Luigi day?" - Luigi
In love with an Uptown Girl
With that out of the way, Joel and the bots decided to go back to the receptionist lady, and ask if there might be anywhere for them to stay.
When they got there, Joel waved, trying to get her attention. "Um, hey! It's us again! We were wondering, is there anywhere we could stay? Like an apartment?"
Please allow me to introduce myself, I am a man of wealth and taste. Nice to meet you, hope you can guess my name.
I just want to help!
Cole nodded slightly, hesitating before reaching out to take hold of Arcade's wrist, quite obviously avoiding holding his hand. "Do not be loud, or do anything to draw attention to us, or the power will fail and we will be seen," he said softly. "Then you...you will be able to take care of Eve. Once we are hidden, the library is just nearby...guide is there. I...I have to focus on keeping this up."
That said, wisps of what seemed like green mist briefly obscured Arcade's vision, and when he could see again, while he could see his and Cole's bodies as though their shapes were outlined in green, he would notice the no one else seemed able to see them at all.
"G-go now..." Cole whispered, a bit of strain already evident in his voice.
Desert -> Library
"Ah. A lawyer," Garrett replied. "Well, good to know there's someone around here I can feel morally superior to..."
Outside the library
As they got closer to the library, sounds of combat became apparent in the distance. Apparently there was some fighting happening on the other side of the building. "Damn it... What is going on back there?" Garrett muttered to himself. Several people ran around the library, and Garrett, after a moment's hesitation, followed.
There indeed was some kind of a brawl going on. At first glance Garrett couldn't really tell who was fighting who or how many sides there even were, but he spotted a number of people he knew. There was that boy Lucas, and... "Lewis? What are you doing?" Then a woman—Garrett didn't know her name, but saw her a few times yesterday—appeared out of thin air and dropped something that released a cloud of particles into the air. (Knockout gas? Some variant of a flashbomb?)
All of this, surreally, was accompanied by a song blaring at full volume, one that included a lot of "whoa-oh-oh-oh"-s.
Garrett had no idea what was going on, and decided he had no dog in this fight. He swiftly retreat inside the library to observe the fight from the inside.
someone
Eve|Library|ALL HAIL THE ALMIGHTY AND ALL-LOVING ALPACA
Eve couldn't lie. She felt relieved when Jack said he'd stay with her. She didn't want to be alone right now. She clutched the winter spirit once more, with a quiet "...thank you...".
She turned her head, and noticed a fluffy animal running their way at speed. It looked a lot like that plush she had woken up with a couple of days ago. She reached out a hand to it.
[TOP SECRET]
Spidophile
Library
"Why my dear, the answer is of cou-" the Riddler began condescendingly before a great many things happening, including shouting, windows breaking, teleportation and fighting. It boggled his mind and left him speechless, a rarity for him. Clearly, this world would not be as easy to master as he had thought. On the fifth floor, he was occupied by the sight of Yoshika trying to...cannibalize a plant thing? Figuring that assisting her in this endeavor might score him adoption points to further his plans of conquest, the Riddler, gave the plant monster a solid kick or two.
edited 3rd Jul '17 5:29:34 PM by FantasyLiver
"You're an enemy of art and I pity your ignorance" - Domingo Montoya Help save the rainforest for free simply by going to Ecosia.org.
Annoyed Mode: ON
Mary was not a very big fan of being picked up and tossed around. She hadn't known that before, but after something picked her up and threw her out, only to be caught by the "kill her" lady and thrown directly towards the library, she safely deducted that she did not like it.
She also did not like spinning so much in midair, as it made her feel dizzy and nauseated. And she did not like colliding with glass, as not only it hurt a lot, but it also caused some shards to bury themselves into her, causing her even more pain and even drawing blood. But well, at least she was inside the library... well, at least part of her body was inside, with just a little bit left to cross as she continued on her trajectory, aimed straight towards the alpaca.
At least, until something she had not noticed wrapping around her pulled her out. And also pressed into her stomach, causing even more nausea.
"I don't like this dream anymore!" she tried to yell, but she felt something slowly crawling up her stomach, so she was forced to cover her mouth with her hand and desperately try to swallow the nasty stuff that was fighting to come out.
Mary really did not like to be picked up and tossed around.
THE SLORG!
With some quick typing from the Miss Tairee at the central desk, Yoshika and Riddler both blurred and vanished from the top floor, just as Yoshika was starting to collide with the floran. They each reappeared next to the central desks, in separate bubbles.
Miss Tairee then spared a brief glance to Chise, and pointed her healing device at Chise and proceeded to heal the girl up. Then she snapped her gaze back to Chise again, in particular the hat on her head. "What? Where did you get that hat?" Miss Tairee asked, only to then turn her attention over as Ben very loudly and urgently requested assistance. Miss Tairee started to type on her computer again, but paused as Joel and the bots walked up. "Sir, can you not see that now is not a good time? If you can find an empty apartment that isn't claimed you can go ahead and squat there; alternatively, go to the Home Sweet Home hotel, where they will keep you safe in exchange for doing chores" the librarian said to Joel in a clearly irritated tone.
She started typing again, only to be interrupted a second time from the distraction of Mary breaking through one of the windows and then being dragged back out again, much to the dismay of the Miss Tairee who was near the revolving doors on that side. "Mary! No!" that Miss Tairee yelled, starting to type on her holographic screen only to pause as it beeped at her and some new ten dimensional text scrolled into view.
The Miss Tairee back at the central desk looked a bit appalled for a moment as the other of her read that information, but then shook her head and tried to once again get back to her typing. As she finally finished it, she paused. "... I'm sorry Ben; you don't have all the pieces of it here. I can put it back together, but my boss won't allow me to replace any of the parts; you'll have to go back to where you lost it, and find the missing piece" Miss Tairee told Ben, her tone a bit reluctant and apologetic. She gave a glance back out at the fight, then looked at Ben again. "You'll still want to help anyways, won't you?" the librarian guessed, and tapped a couple of keys. With a blur in front of Ben, a phaser pistol appeared, just like the ones she'd given to the militia. She added simply, "it's non-lethal."
Louie had followed Ben over to the desk, but was still keeping an eye on the situation outside. "By Arceus..." Louie muttered to himself as he watched the chaos unfolding.
Back upstairs, after confirming to herself that she was unharmed, the floran woman made a fast sprint for the center of the room, and jumped the railing to drop into the open segment of the library. She fell to nearly the floor, where abruptly her momentum seemed to turn ninety degrees, sending her towards the revolving doors closest to the battle. She arrived at said door a little before Digger would, but had paused there, surveying the battle outside for the moment.
Thus in the end, Sin Sayer was currently alone on the top floor.
As Spyro moved for the bell tower, the robot was not shooting at him right away, but it was aiming its rifle in his direction... After a couple moments, when Spyro suddenly changed from a zig to a zag again, the robot fired, and an expertly led shot nailed Spyro, forcing Sparx's protection to trigger. When Spyro then moved up against the wall of the building, he couldn't see the robot anymore, which glanced the way he went, then hopped down to the inside of the bell tower, just before the lightning bolt hit and set the upper portion of the wooden tower on fire.
Back over at the main part of the fight, things were going to hell pretty quickly.
For the simplest part, Rega didn't halt his assault as Rex tried to talk to him and taunt him. "You're a filthy human! That's reason enough!" Rega yelled while hacking his plasma blade through one of Rex's smack hands to the point of rendering said hand basically unusable.
Lewis' advance on Seiga was suddenly interrupted as Ciri's slash hit him from behind, his shield flaring and shattering with the impact; Ciri's blade still hit him and hurt him a bit, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Then there was Shenhua's double action. Seiga's hole appeared in the ground, creating an instant tunnel through about a kilometer of solid bedrock-turned-fruitcake, but before she could utilize it, there was suddenly a rope around her neck yanking her away. Shenhua also managed to pull Mary away from the library just after she'd broken through the glass pane.
There was then a quick moving shimmer in the air, and blood sprayed from the front and back of Shenhua's torso, and she lost grip on both ropes. The now stationary shimmer crackled and coalesced into visibility as a cherry red, long, double-tipped spear made from the same kind of candy as a jawbreaker, currently impaled through Shenhua's torso. The main shimmer somewhere in the sugar dust and silver shards shifted, then a shot of plasma cheese fired just past Rega's back and into the charging Lucas. The bad news for Lucas was that he just took a shot of plasma to the chest; the good news was that this also made his psi counter kick in, and a shot of energy flashed back onto his attacker.
There was a flickering and crackling in the air as the figure's invisibility was disrupted, and they flinched back slightly. There stood what clearly seemed to be Ben's huntbug form,
but the white parts of the outfit had turned a cheesy yellow, while the black parts had turned a dark shade of teal; he also had a cherry red mask on, and a gun of some kind on his right shoulder along with twin blades mounted on each forearm, all also a matching cherry red color. The predator then let out a growl and moved back slightly as phaser fire came in from one side of the library, placing Rex and Rega between himself and it.
At that side of the library, Phillip was doing the best he could to use the curved wall of the library as cover, while Nails moved in behind him and waved his arm at Phoenix and Maya. "Get inside, inside!" Nails yelled to them.
Silanea shook her head. "If I try to think about my family, I just think about what happened..." Silanea muttered quietly, her hand trying to flinch away from Curly's at first, then slightly squeezing back.
edited 3rd Jul '17 7:15:50 PM by FirockFinion
You are reading this.
feeling blue
Suddenly I felt perfectly fine and I could actually see things properly. Now that I wasn't close to falling out of consciousness, I noticed that the inside of the library was much colder than the outside and I was able to notice that there were things going on outside, especially when a little girl go thrown through the glass walls and pulled back outside, as well as the people stuck inside bubbles. There was also some loud music playing, it was a nice, oddly familiar song, but it seemed to be a little wrong to be playing something that loud in a library.
"Thank you," I said to the librarian, then tilting my head slightly until she drew attention to the hat, "I got it from a man named Cole, he gave it to me to help with the heatstroke. He'll probably be here soon," I explained taking the hat off now that it wasn't need anymore.
I then looked back outside, both confused and afraid of what was happening outside. "What... is going on out there?"
"You should treasure those good memories, instead of focusing only on the traumatic events that have happened. If you keep going at this rate you'll never be able to move on, because right now the only thing you're doing is focusing on the negative aspects of yourself and as we can see it's restraining enough that you have been sitting on this bed for who knows how long doing nothing until now," I said as I remained seated, my hands joined together as I tried to be as straight-forward as possible, "besides, from what I've heard, my apprentice and Rex are both trying to help you recover those you've lost. Instead of focusing on the events that led to their demise, focus on the good memories, they will give you the mental fortitude to keep going as a reminder of what exactly you're struggling for."
Truth be told I had little interest in this whole affair. But her story somewhat reminded me of Chise, except unlike her Chise had already moved past her traumatic memories. There were some parallels to be drawn and I knew Chise was going to be helping this lamia no matter what I said, so I might as well try to help make the job easier.
edited 3rd Jul '17 7:47:58 PM by FullMoon
Once again Arcade felt a spike of disappointment at the lack of hand holding. He was comforted by the knowledge that he'd soon see Eve, she'd probably be willing to at least give him a hug. Though, if she'd want anything to do with him after finding out he'd almost done, he couldn't say.
Still, he listened to Cole's instructions and followed them dutifully. He had enough experience traveling unseen that it wasn't difficult at all to keep anyone from spotting them.
He briefly paused when he finally spotted the melee out of sheer confusion. What the hell was going on? He didn't know the majority of the people there, or what they were fighting about— which meant that he felt next to no guilt just running past. More fighters would only complicate matters.
Once they entered the library he sighed in relief. There was still some chaos— it wasn't like the fight was just being ignored— but it was still calmer than what they had to wade through.
He spotted Eve near a... Horse? He supposed? That wasn't as important as the fact that he'd finally found her. He looked at Cole and said, "ask the librarian to turn you into a child and stay here, please."
Without another word, Arcade practically sprinted over to Eve. He didn't even seem to register Jack, simply staring in horror when he saw her tear-stained face. "Eve...?" He called softly, "I... I heard- I'm sorry I wasn't... God, Eve."
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
I just want to help!
Fortunately, Arcade apparently wasn't the type to ask a lot of questions or delay when given an order to follow...at least not from him. At another time, that realization would have disturbed Cole greatly, but focusing on trying to keep the two of them hidden from the swirling violence all around took up the entirety of his attention.
Thankfully it was easier when they were all too distracted with each other to be looking out for anything intruding. He kept their cover all the way into the library, when Arcade saw Eve, said...something, to him, and let go, causing enough of a distraction that Cole's invisibility disintegrated, both of them reappearing in the lobby in an instant flash of green, rather than the usual slow mist that accompanied Cole's cover disappearing when he chose to release it.
He watched Arcade go, wavering a little on his feet, taking a moment to wipe at a wetness under his nose, not quite registering the trickle of blood. Then he half-shuffled, half-staggered towards the central desk.
"I-I...I'm very tired now..." he said softly, unsure if anyone was really hearing him, stopping several feet short of the desk and looking as though it were all he could do to stay on his feet.
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
I'd moved a few paces forward before a blue flash appeared around me and something slashed me from behind. It burned somewhat (ironic) and I doubled over accordingly, but remained standing. Ahead, Seiga tried to fly away and traced a whole in the ground with her hairpin, before someone tried to choke her with a rope, only for that someone to be impaled and release her.
Well, I've dealt with worse injuries than this.
Without looking behind me to see who my attacker was, I rushed forward in a glide at top speed, feeling glowing ectoplasm seeping from my backside (was it the same color?)ooc note , arms reaching forward to pin Seiga to the ground with one hand and, if she didn't drop it, grab the hairpin with the other, while progressing from humming to quietly singing along with the ear-splittingly loud music, now in its second chorus.
The alpaca didn't seem to notice Jack and Eve acknowledging its presence, being too agitated by the fighting. Unfortunately, it also didn't seem to notice a nearby couch in its way, smacking into it and falling over, scrambling to get up.
edited 3rd Jul '17 8:28:36 PM by Oceanstuck
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
For the Horde!
Ben was aghast. Miss Tairee, seemingly all-powerful... couldn't fix the Omnitrix unless it he had all the pieces?! How was he ever going to reach the saloon again to get the piece that he was missing?" He sighed. Before he could even answer though, it looked like Miss Tairee had read his mind. He was going to ask to try and resume the fighting in some way.
And then Ben was handed a gun, kind of like the ones the militia had. Ben picked it up daintily as if it was something disgusting. Before he could complain, Miss Tairee clarified that it was nonlethal, and Ben frowned and winced, holding onto it regardless.
"I'm gonna leave the other pieces with you for safe keeping, okay? Please don't let anyone else have them. I need you to help me with this, please?" Ben asked her. If she said yes, he would leave them on the counter for her. If not, he would grab them and stuff them back into his pocket. Regardless, he would then rush outside a side exit to try and cut off the assaulting group from behind. He glanced over at Eve, who was being tended to inside the library by Jack.
She was safe in here. He had to go out and help the others. He furrowed his brow. "I'm sorry, Eve. But I've gotta do this," Ben said simply, and exited the library to head the others off.
edited 3rd Jul '17 9:00:52 PM by AllHailThrall
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
I think I'm a sofa
Digger - Library - Digger used Tackle!
I finally made it to the first floor. Taking the stairs was a terrible idea, I realized, panting at the bottom of the staircase. I looked up to see the plant lady just jump down from the top floor, and then, impossibly, turn and fly towards the doors. Something about her just filled me with rage, and as much as I wanted to rip her head off for touching—no, eating my stuff, my top priority was getting to the fight outside.
Well, while she was in the way...
Might as well kill two birds with one stone.
"REMEMBER TUNNEL 17!" I gripped my pickaxe in both hands and made a mad dash for the floran. If I was lucky, I'd be able to tackle her into the revolving doors with the handle of my pick hitting her square in the gut.
edited 3rd Jul '17 9:10:14 PM by ProTrash
(holds pool noodle threateningly) Do you want to know what we do to artists?
"I can imagine" Curly said, just holding Silanea's hand gently while she tried to decide what to say before Elias added his thoughts. He was surprisingly wordy, and apparently his apprentice was going to help with the challenge? Curly filed that thought away for later.
"I've lost people too, Silanea. Though it might be a bit different since I hardly have any memories to start with" She said kindly, "Mourning is important, But try to remember something happy about them before we bring them back. Maybe something about your Mom?"
edited 3rd Jul '17 9:19:06 PM by BlitzTrain
"I can't make you believe in anything," Arcade said, resigned, "if you don't think the world is salvageable, that's only something you can change for yourself. You're wrong about Despair, though. Just because it is a part of you, doesn't mean it's a large part.
"You weren't just hurt, Cole, you were tortured. That can make a monster out of anyone. The only difference is that your darker half his able to take control of your body. For most of us, we don't change anything but our actions."
Arcade's face swam with emotions, from horror to resignation to pity. Finally, he ended on regret. "I was a monster to a few of those bounty hunters," he said, "I knew that they were just doing a job, finding the last bit of a cruel organization that— for all I know— ruined their lives.
"And yet, I still would let them bleed out. I knew exactly what I was doing, the pain I was condemning them to, but I still did it. I was so hurt that I tried to spread it to people who were simply doing their job. And worst of all, I feel no guilt."
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."