Makoto and Two quickly vouched for Lewis being less scary than he looked. "...All right." Rean said, putting aside the fact that Lewis vaguely looked like a strawberry-flavored Nosferatu.
◊ "Nice to meet you, Lewis." Then Lewis pointed out that no one explained who Rean was yet. Oops.
"...Right. Rean Schwarzer. I showed up here around two days ago, same time as Hercules over there."
Then he heard a familiar child's voice shouting at the top of his lungs behind him. Oh no. He turned around and yup, Ben was flipping out again. Rean sighed. This was the 3rd day in a row he'd seen Ben getting upset over something Writer related. "...He doesn't do that all the time, does he? Or did I just show up at a really bad time?" Rean asked, turning to Two, Caboose, Yuna and Lewis.
"Oh, alright" Silanea said, clearly being mildly surprised, but also giving a small smile after Rex changed his mind. Silanea's expression shifted to some confusion after his next statement though. "'Wing-man?'" the lamia muttered, raising an eyebrow, then turned towards the sofa after his request.
"Oh, yes of course" Silanea responded sincerely, slithering over to the sofa. "What is a 'plushie'? Is it this?" the lamia asked after slithering back out of the sound-proof bubble, holding up the plushie in hand.
You are reading this.Suit yourself :p I sent a bit halfheartedly, before focusing back on the conversation. "Rean. That's a name I haven't heard before. Well, you seem okay enough, so I guess I won't try flaying you or anything," I joked dryly. "So, samurai, huh. Sounds like there's a story there, I'd like to hear it."
I waved at Morty offhandedly. "Hey." He was making the same observation I just had about Disney Herc. "So I see."
I was about to try and needle Rean into talking more about himself, but then someone had to start screeching indignantly. I facepalmed, as the new guy worried out loud whether this was a regular thing. I wanted to defend Ben, because face it he was a preteen thrown in a crapsack dimension, but. "...Yeah, sorry, this is pretty normal." Empathy or not, that was just the facts. "There was this one time where some psychopath tried to frame him for murder, and instead of rolling with the militia needing to have an actual investigation to rule him out like any responsible jurisdiction he threw a bitchfit at me for daring to try and sit his self-absorbed ass through it. Like, sure, being framed in the first place sucks ass, but I'm sure whining and being uncooperative totally fixes the problem." Ugh...
"What does it say that I'm tempted to get involved? Can't imagine it being any more than a headache, though."
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guessDetective Two Wishes She Could Solve Ben's Case
Oh. Did I say something wrong? "Um, apologies." I don't know what exactly I did, but we didn't have to dwell on that. Perhaps Sir Lewis just wanted to speak for himself. Enough of that; let's dwell on Sir Hercules' impressive accomplishments! A hydra alone was already quite a feat, but to con a god? Clearly he must have been quite smart. Almost like Cent, in fact! He may not look like it to some, but he's always has a cunning plan ready to turn the tables if mere strength cannot succeed.
"It's all very impressive, Sir Hercules! Truly you are quite accomplished!" He did not deny it - even though he was still understandably confused as to how Sir Lewis knew all that. Unfortunately, I didn't get to dwell much on it, because a familiar voice began ranting in his crusade against the Writer. Ben was at it again; despite everything shaping up well between him and Eve - Rex even helped! - he just couldn't seem to be able to let go of his grudge.
He had some right of it. The Writer's actions seemed to gravitate towards whatever would amuse him the most for the time being, and it seemed suffering of others brought him more enjoyment. Miss Tairee however did everything she could to make our stay here a bearable one, if not outright comfortable for some. Quite a few people came from unsavory worlds - like Sir Arcade, whom I found shuffling back from Ben in discomfort - so to come here where time periods mingled and intertwined, there were quite a few improvements. Just now Sir Arcade's sight was restored to functional, apparently.
Eve summed it up the best. We were ants - albeit interesting ones - to the Writer. Our lives were ultimately meaningless to him, but because we were here he would become invested in us. In that sense, he had an access to an unlimited number of ants; even if we were all to be sent back to our homes, he'd likely just find new people to observe. Miss Tairee pointedly didn't think of us as ants, else she would not offer her assistance. Plus, even in times of direst peril, one could always hide in the wings of the library where everyone - weak or strong, hero or villain - could find a shelter.
Ben, at the end of the day, meant well, but I feel like obtaining such grand power at such a young age warped him somewhat. This might be true back at home that he is the only one qualified to solve problems - which speaks volumes about local armies and law enforcers, really - but here most people were on largely equal footing. We were all equal under the Writer's watch; it just so happened that some of us could fend for ourselves and some of us couldn't. I hugged my shoulder, watching this spectacle unfold as the man unfamiliar to me - but a friend of Sir Arcade, it seemed - tore into Ben's thought processes.
"Ben, please..." I spoke out, approaching him slowly. "Nobody here expects you to like the Writer or to sympathize with his cause... however, we are ants to him, as Eve said, even if we're people." It was hard; my children never had to worry about pressing matters such as this one, so I was hoping my words were carefully chosen. "Plus, without Miss Tairee quite a few of us here would have it much worse. She does all she can to help."
I knelt by him, and tried offering a reassuring smile. "We shall take on any challenge he'll have us do, and we shall emerge victorious from each one every time. It'll show him." It wouldn't. It was a lie that I devised to try and get him to calm down. Again, we were just ants.
Eve | Library | There Goes Progress
Eve was silent, watching solemnly, as Ben ranted, just listening. When she started to talk, her voice was somewhat cutting, as she, honestly, was a bit over this song and dance, mush like everyone else. "Ben, don't you think the ants say that too? Or do you really think that the rats that are used for lab tests want to be dissected and studied? Are we really more important than them, to someone like the Writer?"
She paused, and huffed. "You refuse to try and make the best of a situation." She paused. "Someone once told me, a long, long time ago," way, way too long ago, and it wasn't exactly the best context, "that, when you're forced into a situation you can't control, you can take the way of the coward, snivel and whine. Or you can put your head up, and let the world know that this wasn't your choice, but you're going to do it anyway. And you're going to make the best of it," she said, sighing, and standing back. "Ben, all you're doing is being irrational. Being here, it sucks. A lot. But it means that we can make some things better. Like Sans' world. Like Arcade. Being in the Wasteland would've killed him eventually, by his hand, or by someone else's. Would you condemn him to that fate, just for your principles?"
[TOP SECRET]Ben huffed, petulantly turning his head away from Miss Tairee for a moment. However, having to listen to all the arguments these people were having in the Writer's favor, all these statements on how he should just accept what's going on and just try to help people on a small scale.
They didn't understand. They hadn't experienced what he had.
"The fact that you're okay with the murder is bad enough. The fact that you're okay with the ice day is bad enough," he told her. "Thousands of people dying over and over until they go braindead. All that p-pain and... and suffering. And all... all for this s-stupid book," Ben said, voice wavering, while also sounding oddly tranquil. "He has to be stopped. He has to be stopped. He. Has to. Be. Stopped. I can't just let him kill more people. I can't just watch him kill more people. I don't care if we're ants to him, or people, or whatever. Letting him do this... I refuse to let that happen. It can't," he insisted, sharp pain entering his voice, starting to shudder slightly.
"I'm not doing any more of the Writer's challenges. I'm not playing his games. I'm not a coward. I'm not an ant, or a rat, or a rational. I'm stopping him. I will stop him. I have to stop him," said Ben, with conviction. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't."
edited 11th May '18 6:33:10 AM by AllHailThrall
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither."All right..." Anders said, raising an eyebrow. "Perfectly good goal, certainly. Your execution, though...preeeeeetty lacking. People suffer and die and get tortured in my world, likely in several others I'd say. It isn't fair, it isn't right, but it is reality."
He contemplated Ben a minute longer. "Annnd...I think on some level, that's what this is really about, isn't it? You're blaming who hurt you, and everyone else, and trying to fight, when you haven't even stopped to check if your own bones are broken, have you? ...ahhhh typical hero complex."
Eve | Library |
Eve stepped forward, compassion in her eyes. "You're shouting at the blizzard," she said gently, softly. "The Writer doesn't care. And nothing you say, nothing you do, will make him change his mind. You can't stop him. No more that you can stop a tornado, or an earthquake. But not being able to stop him doesn't make you weak, Ben. It just makes you human."
She took a breath, melancholy seeping into her tone. "You have to accept that this is a fight that you can't win. You have to live with that. You need to accept that you're only human, because if you start to think that you're more, then you start down a slippery slope." She reached out and took his hand in a comforting gesture. "What happened to those people was awful. But at least they came back to life at the end of it." She looked at Anders, her whole expression conveying Not Helpful. But he did have a point. Ben was clearly traumatized. Maybe that was the root of his problem, of his anger.
[TOP SECRET]Library
"Not on your face," Caboose said to Two when she commented on him staring. "Looking at the evil flower." He said it plainly, as if he expected it to be accepted without question. Of course the soldier couldn't just explain what he had found out, that would make way too much sense!
Meanwhile there was a really spirited discussion about ant farms or something going on. Caboose didn't realize there were people who got so heated about ants! That was pretty neat. In other news, Caboose had misinterpreted another conversation. "This all seems like normal behavior to me," he said cheerfully.
Why is a yam attacking me?Outside Library- Still Trying To Help
Even if she knew she hadn't been waiting outside for very long, Makoto could tell that she was getting restless. Yesterday morning was a rough start and it'd only gotten more stressful from there, but today felt different in a good way, and now she wasn't sure what to do with the extra energy beyond just twisting the throttle and going somewhere to do anything. Anywhere was fine at this point. Anat agreed with that line of thinking, and she felt the bike jerk forward a little before she stopped the momentum.
No, she was waiting for Rex to finish what he had to do, and then she could figure out something to work on. Preferably something more positive than just driving, but that'd be satisfying enough. Makoto texted Rex a quick message.
"Ah... uhhh... fine, it was fine..."
Died? As in... died-died? It took Yuna a few seconds to process what Two had just told her. Yes, her friend was fine now, but that did not change the fact that she had died yesterday somehow. Had it been an accident? Had she been involved in a fight? Had it been painful? And more importantly... could it have been prevented had Yuna been there? Could she have done something to protect her friend? Take the bullet or hit or whatever it was that killed her? Well, she had been rather busy with all the people that needed help, and Two was perfectly fine now, but... had she really been neglecting her friends enough for them to die without her even noticing?
By the time Yuna was able to snap out of her trance, there seemed to be quite a ruckus happening nearby. There was a kid arguing rather loudly with some people, including the librarian, who did not really seem to actually care all that much. There was something... oddly familiar about the boy. Perhaps it was his way of speaking, or his viewpoints on the librarian and her boss... or the fact that everyone kept calling him Ben, which meant he could very well be the City Knight she'd dragged to the library the day before.
Yes, that was probably it.
In any case, Ben did not seem to be doing all that well. So of course, as his relatively new friend, Yuna took it upon herself to try to calm him down and cheer him up. So she took a deep breath and approached the City Knight, determined to ease his suffering however she could.
"Ben..." the knight-in-training called to him, tapping his shoulder, ready to let him receive a very warm and comforting hug the second he turned around.
Miss Tairee leaned her head back for a moment to let out a frustrated sigh, before looking back down at Ben. "Did I not just say that I was not alright with it? It just doesn't matter whether or not I'm alright with it" Miss Tairee clarified, again. "If a man is highly upset because the sun rises every morning, that isn't going to stop the sun from rising. The best he can do is just try to make it less uncomfortable for himself; so it is with me and the Writer's project" the librarian went on, turning her eyes down at her goblet of coffee and swishing the remaining contents around a bit.
You are reading this."It's an expression" Rex tried to explain to Silanea. "Like... when you help a friend talk to the girl he likes"
At his request, Silanea quickly looked for the plushie, despite not actually knowing what that was thanks to her medieval background. She came back from the sound-proof bubble not long after though, showing said plushie to Rex and basically everyone else at the library.
"Yeah, that" he said, trying his best to pretend he didn't care much about it. "Just... keep an eye on it, please?"
Makoto wanted to get an update on the situation and specifically if she could help. It was hard to say how she would take the idea of giving the militia a hand after their pretty awful interaction just a few days ago. Fingers crossed.
edited 11th May '18 7:46:36 PM by DeisTheAlcano
Ben just stood there still, taking Eve's hand and frowning.
"But... he's not a tornado, or a hurricane..." said Ben quietly. "He's like... a god. He's all powerful and he's... totally evil. And if I can't stop him... he's gonna keep hurting people. He's just gonna keep on doing it forever and—" he started to say, before he heard Yuna's voice behind him, and she suddenly wrapped him up into a hug when he turned. Ben jumped a little, but didn't move much.
Instead he just stood there, his breathing becoming ragged.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.Outside the Library
It didn't take long for a response to come, and some of Makoto's enthusiasm died off as she read it. Wells wanted Rex to help recapture the people that had escaped yesterday, which was certainly important and all, but...
Personal anxiety or not, she wasn't going to get in the way of that just because she wasn't on great terms with the Militia. They clearly trusted Rex, and he'd probably make it much easier to catch the prisoners. She'd just have to grow a spine and deal with it. Rex already knew how she felt about them anyway, so she couldn't exactly pretend that nothing was wrong. And yet he was still thinking of what she wanted to do... She was pretty sure that the "face" he made with the keyboard was a wink, at least.
"R-Right." Rean said, silently hoping Lewis was just messing with him now.
"Evil flower?" Rean asked, turning to Caboose. Two had a flower on her hat, and had one in her hair with what he assumed were her normal clothes. That was just a pin or something, right?
Then Lewis asked him if there was a story behind Rean being a Samurai. " Samurai? Oh right, the armor. He detached his sword and its sheath from his sash, and then held the whole thing out in front of him. "I'm trained in an Eastern sword style, so I guess The Writer thought it would be funny to dress me like I'm from there."
Then Lewis and Caboose explained that Ben got mad like this a lot.
"...Oh." Rean said, disappointed. Understandably, Ben was acting how a kid thrust into this sort of thing without any guidance would act. More like a brat than a hero. Maybe someone in the City could mentor him and help him get through the remaining days. Lewis wanted to go over to help, but he was hesitant. A few people were already talking to him, though, including Two and Eve.
"...Actually, I think the others have it handled for now. If too many people start talking to him, he might just get confused instead. We can jump in if it gets worse, though. " Seeing how Ben got quiet pretty quickly though, things were hopefully going to be fine. Even the hug from Yuna looked like it helped.
"Yeah, you're probably right." I sighed. "Might be better to just let him get it out of his system anyway. That's how it is with kids a lot, 's just...easy to forget when you haven't had to babysit in a while. Or maybe I'm just salty."
He wasn't exactly piece of shit material, that was a little hard when the part of you that wasn't batshit crazy had a clear enough idea why people were like that and was holding the reins like it should, but maybe I had a bit of a hard time not holding it against people for shitting on my own pain, even if I could keep my mouth shut about it (so to speak).
I tried shoving it aside, with some success, fidgeting with the end of my cloak. "Funny, y'know. I was, actually thinking of bugging the big guy for something before I went up and said hi, but I guess now's a bad time." This better not happen every time I thought of going up and writing. "Um, that's kinda cool, the sword thing. I think mine's on account of an ethnic thing, though I guess it'd take a bit of explaining if you're not from somewhere with a Mesoamerica." Might as well steer the conversation away from the dumpster fire if we weren't going to get involved in it ourselves.
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess"Of course" Silanea said with a nod, glancing at the plushie and then downwards, seeming to think for a moment. Then, she slithered over to the central desks. "Excuse me? Can I have one of those magic bags to put this in? With some kind of strap?" the lamia requested from Miss Tairee.
"Ah, yes. Just please wait a minute" Miss Tairee said, setting the goblet down and getting to writing. "Did you still want any breakfast?" the librarian then asked towards Eve, while finishing up the writing and another bag of holding, with a leather strap on it, appeared on the desk. Silanea took the bag, placed the plushie inside of it, then looped the strap over one arm and her head, resting it on her other shoulder.
You are reading this.Detective Two Is Also A Therapist
Ben continued to be refuted by others... it was honestly a little hard to listen to. He also misunderstood what I meant, but the fault is on me for not making it concrete enough. He explained further, something about an "ice day". No, I wasn't here for it, but it sounded like it left an impression on him. I can tell it would on me. If the cold really was so biting that people kept dying over and over, it was a display of incredible cruelty on the Writer's part.
Caboose was being distracting. "I'm sorry, Caboose, but you're not making any sense." I replied a little absentmindedly, paying him a brief look before going back to the issue at hand. That was the root of Ben's problems. He wasn't just throwing a fit because he couldn't have his way. He was raging against the heavens, such as they were, and it was a fight that could not be won. I can only berate myself for not noticing sooner.
Yuna had the right idea. After a moment of hesitation I wrapped my arms around both Ben and her; a gut feeling was telling me she too was in need of one. "We cannot avert things sometimes." I said quietly, holding them both. "And if we let the clinging to the past consume us, it would destroy us." ...I just wish my way with words was any better. "You've done an admirable job helping others here, Ben, but not even the greatest hero can defeat all villains or save all innocents." It was a harsh reality of the world, and Sir Arcade's friend had the right idea about it - even if his words could use a bit more sensitivity.
Eve | Library | This Went Weird
Eve looked at Ben. "But you can't kill him," she said quietly. "And you can't stop him. And it's not your fault that you couldn't save those people." She stepped in, joining the hug. "What you saw was terrible, what you have had to endure is unfair. But you can't save everyone, Ben. Trust me, I know." Almost off-hand, she nodded to Miss Tairee, before turning her attention back to Ben.
edited 12th May '18 7:09:54 AM by secretlyasuperhero
[TOP SECRET]“Oh it was nothing really.” Hercules replied in a modest tone addressing Two regarding his previous achievements. Once again he wanted to think he was quite humble with what he had done back in his home world but his accomplishments weren’t exactly things to sneeze at either. Then someone bumped into him, Herc then looked down and lo and behold it was that kid that was with Rick. “Hello there, your that boy I met a few days back at the buffet. It’s Morty right?” Herc said giving Morty a friendly wave to him he was about to talk to Lewis about how he knew Herc’s life story when Ben started ranting and raving about the writer again.
This was about the third time that his friend was going on about the writer and Herc felt worried about Ben in general as Lewis explained why that was the case then Hercules started feeling sympathy for him. “He’s lost, he’s confused, he’s millions of miles away from home and his Grandpa and Cousin aren’t there to help him calm down all the time.” Herc then said quietly to Rean summarizing Ben’s situation.
Rean then suggested that they keep out of that situation for the time being and then Herc pretty much agreed: “It’s better to let him calm down rather than further complicate I guess.” He then turned to Lewis and then continued his previous conversation with him: “So Lewis you’ve also seen my movie right?”
Ben stood there silently for a moment, trying to reach his arms around to hug the girls. His breathing was still ragged, and he just looked drained.
"But what if he does this again?" Ben asked softly, pain in his voice. "What if... thousands more people... d-die? You said it yourself. I can't stop him. If he does something again to torture more people..." Ben trailed off, his voice cracking near the end of his sentence. "I don't... I don't know what I'd...
Ben hugged the girls a little tighter, starting to sniffle, shaking a bit.
edited 12th May '18 9:59:32 AM by AllHailThrall
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.Yuna was a little bit surprised when Two and Ben's girlfriend joined in on the hug. She could understand Ben's girlfriend joining in because... well, girlfriend, but she had no idea Two was so close to Ben as well. Still, knowing that more people were there to support him was very relieving. Ben himself was still not doing that well though, so she took it upon herself to motivate him.
"Then we keep doing our best to help," the magical girl assured him, her voice firm and resolute. "Even if we can't stop everything bad from happening, there's still a lot we can do to help people! I don't like it when people suffer either, so I'd rather do everything I can do to help them. It doesn't matter if it's little, or if it's dangerous, we still have to give it our best!" She pulled away just enough to look him in the eyes before continuing. "We can't give up on helping people yet... because this city needs heroes. So... let's work together on being the heroes these people need!"

Rex sighed after seeing Silanea's reaction. He didn't want to disappoint her but he also knew she would never complain in a million years after what he had done for her. Maybe he could swap things around so his schedule had room left for Wells' little mission. Makoto would be okay with it, sure.
"All right, I'll check it out. But I've still got some stuff to do here first"
Hopefully that didn't include having to defuse the situation with Ben shouting about ants and other stuff. Rex had too many things in mind to pay a lot attention to it but it sounded bad. And sadly not that unusual. Even Silanea didn't seem all that impressed and wondered just what Ben was trying to accomplish with his attitude.
"Apparently ruin my reputation as an excellent wing-man" he joked. "But seriously, I have no idea. He was doing fine before I woke you up"
Seeing how lots of people were already trying to convince the hero that his ideas were a little too black and white for the real world, Rex continued on with his mission and walked to Tairee's desk. First thing on the list: not miss Tuertín. Rex had already lost the shirt he got for participating in the competition that eventually restored Sans' world. And that was just a memento that had very little value in on itself, this was a gift. He was planning on taking it back home and it needed to survive one more week for that.
"Can you keep an eye on the plushie in that sofa where we sat to watch TV?" he asked, before deciding to add a little detail to make things clearer. "...it's Makoto's" technically not a lie. He had just omitted the part where it was a gift from her.