towerofanimus | You're never gonna smile with the way that you're wired

Entry tags:

You're never gonna smile with the way that you're wired

Characters: [OU]Dave Strider, [AU2]Dave Strider, [AU1]Jade Strider, and anyone that wants to deal with all these brainwashed Timekids.
Setting: Various places in the Tower
Format: Either
Summary: All the Time players got hit with a bad case of the brainwashing. All of them also have different degrees of it. Malfunctioning is going to be a pretty gruesome situation for anyone involved.
Warnings: Language, body horror, and really gruesome deaths

[Floor 15: Workshop]
You might hear some cussing from this particular floor.

Dave is idly at himself with a screwdriver. There's something really off about a kid made of gears trying to tune himself up with a screwdriver. He eventually puts it back on the table and gets to his feet. This wasn't really helping. He needed a better way to keep his gears fully functional.

Perhaps he'd start making his rounds, making sure no one is misbehaving.

[Floor 22: Art Gallery]
It's almost quiet. Completely quiet if not for the subtle sound of gears turning. Hopefully you aren't too absorbed in the artwork or you might have someone behind you completely silent except for the sound of gears.

Unlike those in Group C and Group D, he can speak. "Do you enjoy the art on this floor?" Red eyes with no emotion regard the pieces or artwork before turning back to you.

[Dormitories]
Dave is stalking this floor.

He can't stop unless a minute has passed. He has to do things in 60s. It can't be half it has to be full. But he's mostly more interested in making sure no one is acting up. No one is misbehaving. He'll stop and talk to residents or order those that are in Group C or D around, but for the most part you might get away with not having to converse.

You better watch your tongue if Dave speaks to you. If he thinks you're acting up, he might have to deal with you personally.

[Malfunction: Any Floor]
It was only to be expected that Dave would eventually malfunction. He's gotten pretty far not doing so. His body moves mechanically as it seeks out people. But this time everyone is misbehaving. Everyone needs to be punished.

They're causing the admins grief and trouble with their attitudes.

As he walks, there might be glimmers here and there of more of him. Because it wouldn't be right if Dave did not use his time powers to the best of his abilities.

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John was actually resting up here, he had done the stupid thing and split from his alternate self. Both going to different floors to scope out the place. But he had been admiring the art on the way in here, and as that familiar voice came ringing through.

But what Dave would see wasn't relief.

No. It was more a more guarded look. He had already run into the Pokemon Dave, and well that hadn't turned out to be all roses. "The art is nice. But I think I must be on my way." He doubts highly that the conversation will end there. Oh god, he doesn't want to go through this again.

Did you think you escaped? The taller Dave makes his presence known as he steps out of the shadows. He's here to guard the artwork. Pay no mind to silent shadow who goes right back to his duties on this floor. He doesn't even bother to acknowledge John, he's a busy guy. Shit to do. Blog to-

Only not. He just. Stands there. You better pray they don't both malfunction at the same time.

Dave as ordered, is on this floor as well. He is busy checking over the equipment and doesn't even look up when the higher unit gets to his feet. Dave has been falling in and out of consciousness, aware only of how things are just getting steadily worse. He fights out of stubborn desperation, aware he isn't going to get any where with his struggles.

The body puts tools back in order, and picks up a cloth to clean them. When they're all in neat rows he moves about to clean the floor and tend to other things, so long as he isn't given a new order, he'll go about the room and leave to attend to other areas.

He's been out for a while. He doesn't quite remember why; it's like he blacked out. Now that he's back, there's a bunch of drones running around? Yeah, fantastic.

Tahno walks into the art gallery quietly, feeling sort of suspicious. He's managed to avoid the few drones he's seen, and this place looks pretty empty... Right?

No matter. He has two canteens slung over his shoulders, and he uses his bending to cling to the water inside. He hears the faint sound of gears, but thinks nothing of it. He's never been on this floor before. He approaches one of the paintings with mild interest, figuring it's something to do while he waits for all this to pass. He doesn't think long-term. He can't stay here forever.

Dave tilt his head curiously and just smiles. The smile doesn't really meet Dave's eyes though. There's something dangerous about the look on his face. "I didn't say you could leave yet. We're having a conversation." Do you think you're going to leave so easily, John? You're fooling yourself.

"You aren't allowed to leave yet, John." He motions for the other Dave to stand by him.

"That's a nice painting, isn't it." Hi, Tahno. You might remember this kid from awhile ago, but things are obviously really off now. Like the kid had a normal body instead of whatever he is now.

Dave stands behind him. "Have you been on this floor before? I'd be careful which way you turn. Some of the pieces here aren't as nice."

He wasn't expecting a voice. He flinches and spins around quickly, lifting the water just a few inches out of the canteens. He stops when he sees Dave. Normally he'd stop because he recognizes a person. Now he stops because... what happened to this kid? Shit, was he a drone, too?

He hasn't really had to deal with one yet. He's not sure what to make of it.

"Seen better paintings," he mutters.

Then, he glances around quickly because he's not sure what Dave means by that last part. Were some of the paintings dangerous, or...?

He pulls the water out a little more and tries to sidestep and put more distance between them.

Edited 2013-04-19 22:40 (UTC)

"Sometimes if you aren't careful with which way you go, the paintings get grotesque." Dave seems to have his attention on the painting in front of them but it's obvious that Dave has his attention on the other.

Dave just smiles a bit. "Have you been bad? I'm not going to hurt you if you haven't misbehaved. But you're acting pretty suspicious. You've been good, right?" He doesn't take a step, but he does turn his full attention to Tahno. "You haven't been causing trouble, have you?"

He takes a single step forward.

John stops dead in his tracks. He should have kept going. He really should have just walked out and away and not looked back. Especially with Pokemon Dave here, the one who effectively ended hi earlier. If it weren't for God Tier- well. He wouldn't be standing again.

"I just happen to be late for something really important! I got caught up in looking at the art. That's all." John you lie horribly.

John you really are kind of a shitty liar.

Jade's ticking kind of seemed to mess with the vibe of the quiet little art museum-- and compared to the other two Daves, one being way older and the other you know, kind of being made of clockwork, she looked like downright the tiniest God Tier ever.

She didn't actually say anything, besides standing on the other side of the younger Dave. She gave a small nod to John-- he was...probably in trouble. Everyone was kind of in trouble with them. But she wasn't sure there was anything she could actually do about it...

"Oh, yeah, god forbid I see a little blood."

He's seen enough shit in the Pro-bending ring to handle some blood and maybe even a pretty bad wound. His icing moves tend to do that to people. Hell, even his water did that if he could time things right.

He pauses for a minute at Dave's question. Honestly, he has no idea what he's been doing lately. Maybe he had been misbehaving. Not that he gives a shit.

"I dunno, kid, you tell me. Who are you to be punishing anyone, anyway? You're stuck here just like me."

Tahno swallows and takes another step to the side as if it'll help. He pulls his water all the way out and coats his hands and upper arms in it. It's closer to him, then.

The younger Dave probably looks like a mob boss with how the older one steps over to loom not unlike a bruiser about to be cut loose to cause pain. He stands silently in place. There's not a drop of blood on his red godtier clothes.

John is an idiot. Dave is convinced of this even as he throws all of his mental weight against whatever was done to him. Not again. He's not going to kill twice if he can help it. It's stupid and futile but he has to try.

Kinda funny how all of them make noises, if you get too close to Dave he ticks. With Jade (man Jade as a time player is weird but he accepted it) here too he knows his odds are shrinking if he does break free. He can't kill them.

He won't.

It's just. He is not that sort of guy.

Jade was here, just the same as him; she had her own tools in hands (a wrench, instead of the other Dave's screwdriver), and was trying to help him tune his gears. She didn't even know she knew how to screw with gears, to be honest. But orders were orders, of course.

She stepped back silently (as silently as she could be, at least,) when he stood up, retreating to stand beside the older Dave, almost out of caution.

That frustration couldn't be good...

"I'm not in charge of anyone's schedule, but I think you're lying, John." Dave starts to step forward. "You shouldn't lie. It makes you really suspicious." Dave already looked unsettling being made of clockwork, but now all the time kids were together. That was really bad for John. "We punish people who misbehave, John."

He motions at the two. "Please make sure he doesn't run. We should make sure he's not disobeying." And by that, everyone should know how this ends. Spoiler, it ends in a lot of pain and death.

Just like everything else in this Tower.

Unsettling wasn't even the proper word here. Unsettling was taking it lightly. John is pretty sure his knees are shaking at this point. He really regrets stopping up here now, he should have kept going no matter how tired he was. "Okay so let me correct myself then. I was just going back to my room. Nothing serious. I didn't mean to make a disturbance." If he even made one. "Punish..?"

Not that he was moving anyways. How would he be misbehaving anyways? He was just walking through, stopping, and resting. Trying to get back to his alternate self so they could stick together. Being stopped like this was not only terrifying but also highly inconvenient.

Jade really didn't like the sound of that "we." She didn't want anything to do with this-- but what choice did she really have?

Without a minute of delay-- though plenty of second thoughts, and third thoughts, and fourth thoughts-- she moved from Dave's side and over to John's. She moved and-- well hey, there was almost an increment of hesitance there! But it lasted all of a microsecond, and she turned to face Dave again while grabbing one of John's arms to hold him in place, the ghost of a frown on her face.

Sorry, bro.

Dave's mind was screaming. He couldn't understand why. Everything was alright. He was alright.

But his hand twitched and he felt like something was off. They were misbehaving. But they're weren't. They were doing as they were told. But no, they were misbehaving. He's sure they were. They didn't disobey him, but they must have disobeyed someone else. That can be the only reason.

He waits a minute before speaking. "Both of you. Come here." Had he had any of his consciousness, it would be screaming no. But that's crazy. Nothing is amiss.

"I wouldn't say just a little blood. I was thinking something more like tortured bodies and your biggest fears. Doesn't that sound nice?"

Dave has seen plenty in this place. He would be disgusted usually, but he just sounds so calm right now. He's not bothered at the thought of how terrible this floor can seem.

"The admins fixed me up." He admires the gears for a moment. Like they did him a favor. "I'm a unit. I'm supposed to do what they want me to do. I'm not stuck here. It's an honor to be here."

Dave takes a step forward. "I asked you. You're deflecting the question."

We. Oh for the love of cheese-its why is it always 'we'. He doesn't want to kill John again. John was like a pin cushion in the session. He's got stab issues that doesn't require confrontation therapy.

Of course, the order comes and he obeys while cursing in the back of his mind. He struggles and god damn he's so tired but the body continues forward without a pause in its stride. He reaches John's side and snags his arm at the arm pit, locking that arm from use as he turns to face Dave.

Son of a fuck.

The dustpan is left where it had been during his sweeping as Dave walks towards the other Dave. The conscious part of him becomes aware again, curious in a morbid and cynical fashion. What can he say? There's never a dull moment in this horrible circus of horrors.

He takes two long stride to stand before his counterpart. There's no way to glance around or look to Jade. Inwardly he wonders if she's witnessing all of this in the same way he is. And just what is left of his smaller, younger self's mind.

What will come after all of this?

Dave waits, deciding for now to be conscious.

Inwardly, she might've been wondering the same thing-- but she didn't really think about it. Because she didn't want to think about it, because she was too busy thinking about how much she didn't want to be here and how this was wrong and the impending sense of doom welling up in her stomach and--

Of course that didn't actually matter, because she retraced her steps forward again without losing so much as a second, stepping forward dutifully at Dave's behest.

Well, okay, he wasn't expecting that. After a second to think, it doesn't really surprise him, he guesses. He sort of shrugs and gives an "eh...", unsure of how to respond to tortured bodes and such. He'd never had to look at that before, but he'd heard rumors about what the Benders did to a few non-bending criminals.

"Fixed you up, huh? I remember you being a little bitch in the storage room one day. Seems like you'd be a shitty candidate for a 'unit'."

He finally figures out that Dave's just going to keep stepping forward as he steps back. He almost wants to run, but that would be a hell of a blow to his pride. He stays put, this time, letting the water lift off his arms into bubbles around his hands.

"Who knows what the hell I've been doing, kid? I don't. Maybe I've been going around fucking up the tower. Maybe they wiped my memory for that."

He regrets saying that, but he just can't help himself. He's so used to being in control. Being the strongest person in the room.

It's strange being weaker.

"You're just trying to give me lie after lie. I'll make sure you never want to lie again. It's too bad you chose this floor of all floors. Someone will have to clean up the mess. We'll have to be careful not to damage any of the art," Dave mostly seemed to be musing to himself. There was no way this Dave would ever gain full consciousness.

He slowly approaches them. "It's okay, John. You won't misbehave again." At least, you really hope he won't catch you misbehaving again. Whatever counts as misbehaving.

There's nothing really left of it. The only part of it that might be left is the part that screams, and Dave doesn't understand why. Why it hurts and screams. He doesn't know what he could be doing to make it do that. He just knows that these two must have done something wrong. Something they shouldn't have.

"You two have been behaving right since you've been with me yes?" They're misbehaving. He knows. They need to be punished. He needs to punish them.

Dave chuckles a bit. "That was an unfortunate meeting."

Dave raises his arms and Tahno might be seeing double. Even triple. More Daves coming from other hallways. "I mean, being a Knight of Time and all. To show weakness when I shouldn't have." If he had any part of his mind left, he would know this is wrong. Threatening the other. But the longer they speak, the more he's sure Tahno has done something wrong.

"I don't like your answer. You're either avoiding telling me the truth or you're lying." And that requires punishment. Because that means they misbehaved. They've been making it harder for the admins.

Alright, one-on-one was one thing. One person fighting an army, on the other hand... Well, Tahno wasn't really ever up for something like that. But he had to pretend. But... what was a Knight of Time? Were there such things as Timebenders or something like that? Because it sounded ridiculous. Still, all of these things looked exactly the same... he stopped trying to figure out how.

"W-what's the matter, kid? Scared I'll beat you unless you've got your friends?"

It was a really pathetic attempt to try and trick Dave, and he couldn't even say he thought it would help.

"What do you want me to say?! I don't remember what the hell I've been doing! I can't remember anything! But if you want a piece of the Wolfbats, fine!"

He backed against the wall and flexed his hands. He had moves that could take on quite a few people at once, but he didn't have enough water, and even if he did, he wasn't sure he could do this many. So he waited to see what they would do. Maybe they wouldn't be so strong?

Oh, wishful thinking.

He nods. Of course he's been doing exactly as he should be. What else could a unit be? Dave within sits up. His ingrained paranoia is blaring warnings at him. There's something wrong with the tone his counterpart is using. He hadn't cared or asked that before.

Huston, we have a problem.

There's no way to make the body disobey the orders. If the smaller Dave decides he has to die, there will be nothing he can do. The thought brings an odd wave of relief. When had he ever been in control of when he died?

Never.

"We should definitely talk about this a little more before you do anything out of hand dude. I just panicked okay, I didn't want to seem all suspicious which in turn made me extremely suspicious." Son of a bitch, that didn't look good at fucking all.

John might be trying to back up, but he can't. He doesn't want to die again. He already died once. Wasn't one time enough? Oh my fucking god.

Goddamnit John, would you quit digging your own grave!

Jade's grip sort of loosened, but she couldn't rightly let go completely. That would be completely breaking the rules and-- she, wasn't sure she could physically do that anyway...

But that didn't stop her from averting her gaze, pre-emptively wincing, as it were.

Jade nodded furiously, much more so than Big Dave at least. It was probably a futile hope, wasn't it-- that things were fine, that everything would-- just be OK, and maybe if Little Dave was convinced enough that nothing was wrong, then it would be true and everything would just. Be OK.

She was fidgeting, as much as she could fidget-- it was probably pointless to think that, wasn't it? No, it was fucking stupid. But she could still hope.

Dave doesn't have the ability to do what Jade can. He might as well be in chains, his inability to break free makes him an unwilling watcher of any slaughter. He smashes against the control, desperate to make himself go do another task. But he can't. When an order from group B is given, he is unable to use his one out.

Run John.

Run or die.

Dave is completely fine! He's doing what he should be doing. Or at least, that was what his mind was telling him. At the same time, there's a look in Dave's eyes. Almost confused. He doesn't know why his head is screaming. Painfully even. It doesn't make sense. He's doing the right thing.

His hand grabs John tightly. In moments, John can probably start feeling pain shoot through him as the gears slowly turn, ripping skin and crushing bones.

This is a terrible way to go.

Dave circled them though. And his mind was a complete warzone. Something was wrong in his mind. No, not the part where he should do what the admins want him to do, but suddenly everything seems so wrong. Everyone has misbehaved. It's such a ludicrous thought, but it refuses to leave his mind.

He doesn't think he can believe them. He can't. The screaming in his mind must be because they're lying. "I don't think you two are telling the truth."

This is bad. Really bad. Dave isn't bothered by it, actually. Death to him is inevitable. Still, he reaches for his counter-part's hand and traces we are not lying, on his palm and lets go. Death by gears is a terrible way to go. He'd seen it but to experience it? Eh, it can't be worse than blowing up or getting shot full of holes and feeling your flesh start to come apart where the bullets ripped through.

This is so fucked up. The boy within observes and sighs. If he could fight back, take control of himself he'd pin him down so Jade could run. Then make war with himself in a twisted battle that would make any psychologist wet themselves.

Dave just gives him a lopsided grin.

"I'm not trying to win. I'm here to make sure you understand not to disobey again. And these friends are me, anyways." He almost finds this hilarious.

The other Daves don't move, but this Dave leaps forward at Tahno, not wasting anytime. He had other floors to patrol and he can't waste anytime. He means to grab at Tahno's throat first, although he imagines that the other will be able to avoid his first attack. He seemed formidable and he sounded like he's had training.

"You're going to regret this."

She visibly flinched at the spoken words; not violently so, but it was already hard following Dave's movements, and whatever he was thinking sent a deeper sinking feeling in her stomach.

They were screwed. That was it. They were fucking screwed.

She watched the older Dave try and reason with him-- er, as much as you could reason without actually being able to talk at least. But as for Jade, she was just sort of. Standing there frozen in terror, as terrified you could look without eyes at least. Because she was absolutely positive even trying to reason with him was quickly becoming futile.

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You're never gonna smile with the way that you're wired

[Art Gallery] Before he goes off with Route John to kill Bro.

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[Workshop]

[Art Gallery]

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uvu Tell me what you're okay with! Don't wanna step on toes.

Just warn me up here what you're trying to do? I'm cool with him dying horribly. But he'll fight it!

If Dave malfunctions, he'll try crushing Tahno in his gears. I'm also fine with him not dying 0u0

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He'll probably try and ice shield, but he's only got a little water and gears can prob tear through

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crashes in with wreckless abandon

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YES GOOD

he is so sorry :(

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\o/

uvu

I'm not :D

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uvu

Re: uvu

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Sorry for the late reply!!

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