towerofanimus | Glamour Failure

I thought the fact that the administrators weren't average people was at least somewhat obvious. They are administrators of a place like this, after all. It should go without saying that going against them will be difficult.

I never heard of a condition like that. [Jonouchi that's not saying a lot.]

He bent down, "Climb on..."

And it never will, but I don't have a better idea and I don't want to give up.

[ ...

Staring down at her "hand".

And right after she grabs it with her other "hand", tugging on it as hard as she can. At this rate she's just going to tear herself apart trying.. ]

Yeah, stay behind me and scream if something's coming, got it?

[ He replied nodding his head. They were going to make it somehow. This isn't going to end badly. He didn't want to lose his friends. ]

[The retrieval unit's lacking the light of the soul doesn't escape David's notice. That it also appears to be comprised of red fluid makes it all the more creepy, as if it were full of blood. Certainly fitting for what it just wound up doing to the Orcs.]

No kiddin' ...

[So the Tower has something analogous to the PPD's Police Drones, or ... no, in this case, it's definitely more like the Arbiter Drones he's heard of lurking within the Rogue Isles. Sensing that the threat the monsters posed has been adequately dealt with, he cautiously steps back onto the floor, towards the bloody mess the retrieval unit made of the Orc band.]

Look at dis. Dat guy, you, me, everyone else—we're all made of dis goop and bendy wire crap, but dey weren't.

[David kneels down to try and pick up one of the swords. Can he even do that right now? Well, he'll find out, he supposes—but then he freezes just before trying to grasp the hilt. The familiarity of the blue fluid-filled fellow has finally hit him, and David glances to look back at his compatriot.]

Hey wait, don't I know you from somewheres?

[He is more glad for that than words can describe, and that's just the thing, isn't it? Sometimes words aren't needed at all.]

Way worse. And at least we know the truth now. As horrifying as it may be, that's always a good thing.

[Because Riku would rather live the pain of the truth than drown in the comfort of the illusion.]

[He hums in agreement as he takes off and walks down the hallway. It's time to take action.]

[It's quite a comforting arrangement they have, that way. There's nothing quite like being known and knowing in return. She finds her hand coming to rest, curled, over where her heart should be.]

If it really is the truth, then yes. It's... I've always thought it was better that way. But--....

[But she can't help being conscious of what that part that's probably supposed to be her looks like in comparison to others, because shouldn't it be more different than that?]

Because it makes me happy to care about people and be cared about in return. Maybe people hurt each other sometimes, but I would be sad all the time if I didn't have anyone I was close to.

[It definitely is. He tilts his had a little, not certain why she is so uncertain.]

But...?

[She falters, visibly even given her state, and when she looks back up at him it's with a less noticeable frown.]

... But I thought it would look different.

[Her... 'soul', she means.]

[She follows, silently but no less ready, taking in the differences, and memorizing details.]

Heheh-- "waste of time".

[Maybe it's because her mind is already reeling, but she-- takes it as a joke. Laughs at it like it's one of her stupid ironic jokes that aren't actually ironic at all. Because this one, was pretty accurate. More accurate than "witch" of time that was for sure.

It's kind of hard to tell if she's laughing or still crying at this point.]

It's ok, we can pretend we don't know each other.

[It occurs to her for a moment that duh, things probably went differently in different universes with different genetics. Then again, it could also just be she as scared shitless of Noir even now.

She doesn't think about that too long though and decides not to dwell on it, and instead helps spread the mud around. It did sort of help, in a weird way.]

That joke is getting too many levels of grime and irony for anyone to handle.

You do be shutting up. [She continues the dragging] You do no be being allowed to be drowning in self pity.

we're building up a crust no one can get through. Making this shit a mantle. [He's downplaying how everything utterly went to shit. It just doesn't seem that smart to bitch about home and the things going on where space is being cracked when they have some very real problems now. The time kid in him focuses on the present.

It means a few less chances he'll wind up dead in the next sixty seconds. Give or take a few. Forward. Gotta look directly ahead or he's going to get lost and the loops will spiral out of control and the dead Daves will start piling up. He adds more mud to her arm, defining it the same way he remembers seeing it last.]

That's right. *Enoch begins to speak as David goes to check out the sword.* The monsters, I suppose Zo brought-...

*And he's cut off by David's question.*

I think we've met. Your voice is familiar. You're...David, am I right? I'm Enoch.

Enoch!

[David stands up, seemingly forgetting about the sword completely. Glancing up and down at Enoch's body—no, he can't recognize a single detail. Blasted film.]

Jeez, it's hard to tell who's anybody like dis. We're all like extras out of some Jell-o commercial—

[And then he looks back over to the Orc bodies at his side.]

—but you're sayin' dese guys are like dem phantoms you were talkin' about?

[And hooray for useful chokepoints! Kain gave one last wide spear-swipe at the orcs, then spun the insubstantial-seeming blade about and out of the way before bolting in David's direction. They had only known each other for mere moments, but he'd rather trust a fellow prisoner than trust the tower's monsters.

Those monsters, to their credit, are in hot pursuit.]

[Hunched over like a quarterback trying to muscle his way past an opposing team, David runs full-tilt where he remembered seeing the stairwell. Hopefully his armed rescuer is keeping tabs; he's not checked back to see how he's doing holding off those monsters.]

[It takes a few seconds of full running to reach the stairwell. Once he's close, David leaps for the foot of the stairs, preferring to get some elevation immediately. He stumbles with a loud THUMP upon slamming into the stairwell, but he manages to scramble up far enough to allow Kain some space once he's reached the stairs himself.]

Ah...not quite. The phantoms will speak in familiar voices. These are just...monsters, from other worlds. Zo missed, when he tried to pull someone in from that world, and got monsters instead. I suppose monsters come in with their own bodies, but not intact. I've recognized a type of demon from my own world, but...certainly not as it appeared there.

[Kain's eyes are forward, and he's not concerning himself overly much with what's behind him. Perhaps he should have, for an arrow had just narrowly grazed him, but there was no time for such regrets. Trailing orange fluid, he too makes it to the stairs, clears several steps, and then leaps over David with astonishing agility.

His landing is not as graceful as it could be, but no ankles were snapped and he doesn't tumble. So.]

...are they still coming?!

[Yeah, she wasn't exactly fighting it at this point.]

Fuck you. It's better than drowning in a lake. And I'm super fucking good at it.

Glamour Failure

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Oh, now that David and Enoch traded names, I can tag this back without a time paradox!

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Yay!

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