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

[penduli]

We're not exactly the brightest bunch, Ryuunosuke. We mess around for most of our trials, still manage to find the culprits, and all anyone does is ask stupid, pointless questions until one of us hits something that sticks and then we dogpile it.

[ THE TREND ISN'T UNNOTICEABLE. ]

I mean, I won't vote to give either of you a chance unless there's a really good argument someone's got aside from, "We'll be the bigger people, we won't be murderers like them." [ Especially not Mettaton? Cool sob story, you still hurt Sigrun for the second time. Her request not to hate him too much? Totally null and void now! ] We've been like you two this whole time, sending our peers to their death just because they decided to be the killer of the week.

[ ...thankfully he did not actually kill anyone, but you know he. also decided to try and be killer of the week, so he doesn't really have anything to say about that topic, really? Ha. ]

But we're stupid, and humanity's always wanted to believe that people can be better than what they are. That's all.

[penduli]

[ ...thank you for proving him right guys, holy shit look at that line of comments. ]

[greatestcool]

...Your friends are still around. Ours aren't.

[And that seems to be all he has to say in response.]

[goodforsomething]

How does that work anyway? Did the computer handle people dyin' differently last time?

[sleepingkogoro]

...maybe it wasn't virtual at all.

[notjustawriter]

There must be something different about this round.

[greatestcool]

I have no idea. I don't think it did? I didn't really mess with the settings or anything. Mettaton handled most of it.

[ratingspoint]

...No, it didn't.

[...Ryuunosuke please don't bring him into this um]

[greatestcool]

[HE'S FROM 1993 HE CAN'T DO SHIT, THIS IS ALL ON YOU, BUDDY]

[amygdalae]

...you said you asked Glory for us and to set up this game, correct?

What were your exact words to her?

[ratingspoint]

...That doesn't have anything to do with the dead from our round. That...

[...jesus, okay then.]

That was revenge. I'll admit that was revenge.

[amygdalae]

It was. And I can understand why.

[But he'll never forgive. Not quite. Perhaps never, either.]

What I mean is when you asked for Glory to set this particular game up... she might have interpreted certain commands differently, depending on what you said. That might be why the 'dead' were processed differently this time around.

[ratingspoint]

No, I...

[Mnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngh.]

The dead were purged from the system. Glory didn't handle that. I did.

[greatestcool]

...What?

[captainobnoxious]

[is this the break up scene]

[sleepingkogoro]

[oooooh Mouri is cringing. This won't be pretty at all]

[isafraid]

[DUN DUN DUUUUUUN]

[notjustawriter]

[...Well, uh.]

[ratingspoint]

...You heard me.

[amygdalae]

You rendered them braindead.

[Just a statement of fact here, not a question.]

[pokexplorer]

[Oh.

Well that's nice.]

...And I take it you still have the ability to do that.

[Why did this have to be his first thought. Why.]

[cherryblooded]

Why did you do that, my dear?

[It's not judging. Just confused.]

[sleepingkogoro]

Multiple timelines, multiple iterations of the same person. Mettaton-kun described it with Alphys-san a while ago.

Who knows, maybe there's a Silver somewhere you could meet again. I'm not saying you'll have the same friendship, but you know Silver better than I do, so maybe it'll turn alright either way.

[greatestcool]

[That gets him to laugh, but it's not the wild, manic laughter from earlier. He runs the back of his hand across his eyes before responding.]

Y-Yeah. Maybe. I... I like to think things would turn out okay. It'd never be the same Silver but... but I'd like that.

[goodforsomething]

...nah. It wouldn't be the same at all.

[He's had people lost through portals - he's thought about that.]