Accountability.

[ratingspoint]

"Killswitch? I 'left Alphys to die'? Please, darlings, don't tell me you actually buy all these tired old storylines..." It's been a few weeks since that particular voice has been heard by anyone in the Vault; it's sharp, flamboyant and incredibly familiar, and it's coming from the same place the Kingmaker's always seems to - nowhere and everywhere at once, piped in through some unseen system. "You know, normally I'd balk a bit at being dragged out in front of all of you for another trial, because I think you all know by now how much I hate repeat performances. Fortunately, there's a difference, isn't there? Between now and then... And if the crowd cries for an encore, who am I to deny it!" There's a panel of wall behind that balcony, one that slides open quickly and easily; the pair of people that emerge from it...well, they're different than anything the Vault has seen so far, that much is obvious. The first is reasonably slight in frame, his hair and his clothing bright in color; he's resplendant in...just about every tacky accessory Caren unwittingly brought with her to the Vault - with the exception of the bra, naturally. Because we've got to have some dignity here, clearly, even if that dignity doesn't extend to the fucking leopard-print bucket hat currently sitting on his head at a jaunty as hell angle. His expression is intense and deeply manic, his body shaking a bit and fists clenched at his sides as though he's trying to keep himself from laughing, from lashing out and hitting the wall, from doing something to relieve some of it, but his eyes... ...His eyes, though. His eyes are dead as hell, his stare cutting and utterly devoid of emotion all at once. And the second...well, he's familiar, though it seems his avatar has changed quite a bit since the last time you saw him. It's something more suiting, let's put it that way. He's the one leaning over to greet you now, hands braced tight against that railing spanning the length of the balcony. "Beauties and gentlebeauties, I'm pleased to introduce to you our hosts for the evening! First of all, the Kingmaker, without whom none of this would have been possible!" And that gets a sweeping gesture to his side, where the ginger just...enthusiastically pumps his fist in the air, and that's when the laugh escapes him, harsh and uncontrolled. "It's about time!" Mettaton tosses his head a bit at that; he doesn't laugh himself, but he seems pleased enough with it before he continues. "As for me? Well, I'd like to wish you good evening and good luck - both sentiments straight from the King of the Underground! Try to make this good for us, all right?" "Make it cool!" "...Sweetheart, really." ...Right, well! Let's begin, shall we?

Comments

[pokexplorer]

I see. So the both of you asked her for a set of participants, and we are the ones who turned up?

[Man, he wishes he could ask Glory some things too, but those questions have been used up...]

[ratingspoint]

More or less, sweetheart! We wanted an interesting set, and we definitely did get one.

Thank you for that, at least.

[pokexplorer]

[That's just going to get a mild scowl, along with a dry response.]

I am sure we are all happy to oblige.

[But now that he's thinking about it...and he realizes it is less relevant but his curiosity speaks for him.]

Did it surprise you to see someone from a repeat world end up here once again?

[He's speaking about whomever had the Pokedex.]

[greatestcool]

Yeah, that was pretty weird. But Silver didn't know Archie— Torrential. They were both from worlds with Pokémon. So it was a surprise, but not totally unheard of.

[pokexplorer]

Oh, there were two? How fascinating.

[NOT THE RIGHT WORD TO USE RIGHT NOW, COLRESS...

He does serious up rather quickly though.]

Likewise, I do not know either of them. [The name "Archie" in regard to his world sounds vaguely familiar, though.] But our world is rather vast.

That said...it is unfortunate about both of their fates.

[greatestcool]

...Yeah. Yeah, it is.

[sleepingkogoro]

It's strange...

It's said this was to deal with bad people. Uryuu-san and Tinman are undoubtedly bad people. Alphys-san...I suppose she was by extension a bad person for giving Tinman the body and therefore giving him the means to do all the stuff he has done. I suppose the rest of their group was bad people in some way.

...how did things go wrong, if these two didn't have anything to do with Glory's decisions? Why did Glory choose us all? It's true if you think about it most of us can be "bad people" in some way, but there are a few that don't really fit.

[ratingspoint]

Alphys didn't do anything to deserve this.

[...wow, hello, mettaton, fuck did you come from- ]

[sleepingkogoro]

Yet you let her die. Can see how it happened. She was going to be part of your past life, what with how you were going to murder someone along with Uryuu-san, and therefore she didn't really matter anymore. You are absolutely great at leaving people behind.

Don't worry, it's completely in character for you.

[Mouri sounds so absolutely patronizing...it is his way to deal with the disgust he is feeling right now. He knows there's a possibility that stems from Mettaton's reaction: Alphys died and therefore Mettaton saw no reason to not to let everyone else in his group die.

But he wants to hear that from Mettaton himself, if the chance arises]

[ratingspoint]

That's enough! I did not let her die!

[captainobnoxious]

Because you killed her.

[... The secret she'd been holding off on saying.]

[greatestcool]

Stop it! That's not what happened, he already said that!

[sleepingkogoro]

Then you tell us what happened. Come on, I'm listening. I'm a detective, after all. Listening is what I should do.

[goodforsomething]

So, you said you leavin' Alphys to die was just a tired-out storyline?

What really did happen to her?

[ratingspoint]

...She was murdered. In the last game, she was murdered.

It's the second time that she's died, that I know of.

[goodforsomething]

The second time?

[Well that's...weird...]

Which one of 'em did it?

[notjustawriter]

I doubt it has anything to do with "bad people" and hasn't for a long time.

[greatestcool]

Silver wasn't bad!

[ohhhhh boy you pissed off the crazy ginger disaster]

He didn't do anything wrong! He was pulled into this stupid game just like you guys were! Unless you want to start arguing that you're all awful people because trust me, I'd love to hear that one!

[sleepingkogoro]

Hm, sure. I can't say I knew Silver at all, so I can't pass judgment on him. I'm sorry.

[Interesting reaction, from what Mouri sees. Not what he expected. It sounded...sincere. These Kingmakers are interesting]

[greatestcool]

You should be! He... He was really, really kind.

[captainobnoxious]

Alphys wasn't a bad person.

[Not with what she did for Mettaton. Not for how she was more into building things than battling.]

[isafraid]

I'm sure she wasn't.

[Sigrun, and by extension, Mettaton, would know best. Simple fact.]

[cherryblooded]

Haven't we told you things about accusing people who you've never met, detective?

[sleepingkogoro]

[A glance for you. He knows, Cherryblod, he is just trying something]

[penduli]

Well, they wanted an interesting set of people, so Glory gave them one. [ ...someone who loves blood, a vampire, an actual psychotic mess, a mermaid princess, a rock...

It's. Definitely an interesting group. ] Morality's largely based on people's experiences and perceptions anyway. Everything I did here, I did for my sister, even though it was wrong—and I know it was, though some people might think it was noble of me to try and save her—and I...

...I don't know if I'd do it again at this point, actually. [ #characterdevelopment— no he just got back the memory that was "fucko go enjoy your life and stop worrying how it's gonna be without me" paraphrased. ]

Anyway, the purpose of a game changes as time passes. Words end up meaning different things based on how they're used—it's honestly no surprise a game meant for weeding out the bad initially might eventually turn into something like this.

Of course, I've never expected someone who earned the title Dilatory to really think things through completely before speaking.