trusthell | Accountability.

Accountability.

"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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Neither of them are good people.

[... That's true, now. What Glory said.]

They're both bad people, and it's true we can't trust them. But I don't think they could kill us. Maybe a select few, but there's ten of us and two of them. There's still three people alive right now that Mettaton doesn't want to see die too.

[And hopefully Ryuunosuke still doesn't want to upset Mettaton, even with... the everything that just was.]

They know how this works better than any of us do, too. Even if they're both morons. We can use them to stop the other games.

[...This gets him thinking.]

Miss Sigrun, do you suppose we should also consider Glory in this? She may be a mixture of memories, but she seemed to have rather strong opinions on "good people" and "bad people".

[Neither Mettaton nor Ryuunosuke have spoken about the subject, so he wonders where that part of her comes from.

...He's just wondering how much control Glory has here, too.]

... It's true, she does. She also thinks that bad people can be missed or liked, even if they're bad.

[Glory thinks she's a good person. That's nice, really.]

I'd like to ask her opinion, but I don't know how favorable it'd be to anyone's plans.

Missing them and liking them is one thing, but...what do you suppose she would say about the possibility of sparing them? She specifically mentioned Mettaton when talking to me about bad people.

[Yeah...he had a conversation about it too.]

...I'm frankly more concerned with making sure they never do this again, or turn against us if we ultimately decide to keep them alive.

[A twitch of the jaw.]

Right now we have no idea what the two of them are capable of; they could actually have their powers in here right now unlike us, and they'd be able to get rid of us in an instant if that's the case.

[And then get purged, which means they just die for good.]

We can't just blindly think sparing them means they'll spare us. Perhaps now they might, but what about the future?

If they wanted to kill us, they would've already. And they'd have every right now to spare us even if we spare them because there was a good chunk of us, myself included, talking about killing them.

[Even if she... doesn't want to make good on her kill intent right now.]

Cherryblod wants to take them both in. That also means they'd be staying with me. Two people Mettaton couldn't stand to see hurt. Not that either of them could beat us -- I'm confident enough to take out that noodle, and I already know what kills Mettaton.

As for the future... no one can predict that. They could want to do this again. They could be content with killing trolls in my lands and performing around the known world.

But we shouldn't dismiss the fact that they are useful for the time being. Keeping our guards up won't be an issue, I think.

...you know what, I can fully trust Eide-san and Cherryblod-san to be able to deal with those two. It isn't because I hope Mettaton-kun or Uryuu-san will stop being bad people and won't try anything against them, but because I know Eide-san and Cherryblod-san are more than capable to counter anything those two can do.

[Emotions are a bust. Practicality triumphs]

Thank you. Really, I - thank you.

[It means more than he could possibly say.]

....Yeah.

I don't trust Mettaton or Ryuu, but I do trust Cherryblod and Sigrun.

They've been the leaders here, haven't they? They've kept us together this long.

[Oh.........]

Thank you both. I'm sure not everyone would agree on the topic of me, but definitely Cherry.

[Speedwagon nods curtly.]

If there's anyone here that we could put our trust into handling them, then it might just be those too. If it's this plan we're really following... I'd say there's no better option to handle it then Cherryblod and captain Sigrun.

[he likes both of you nerds. Please don't let them down.]

[BRUCE CAN'T TRUST EITHER OF THEM RIGHT NOW TBH

BUT YOU GUYS WANT IT SO

IT HAD BETTER COUNT]

[HOPEFULLY?

I mean, c'mon, Bruce. Look at it this was.

if it doesn't work you get bragging rights.]

(no subject)

amygdalae - 2016-04-30 04:55 (UTC) - Expand

[Urghhhhh

You people, seriously.]

Are you all really so willing to risk everything just because of them being potentially useful in the short term period? They purposefully set this up, deliberately made this happened, and even if this is just a VR simulation, it doesn't invalidate what happened, and what we all felt and experienced.

I don't want to spill any more blood either, not with what I already have on my hands. I don't care what happens to me - but you guys are my responsibility and I'll see it that you all make it out of this safe and sound no matter what. I can't trust either of those two jokers up there with all your lives on the line.

We're our own responsibility, Mr. Banner. We don't belong to you or anyone else—it isn't your job to keep us safe.

[ Hell, it's not even Sigrun's job to, even if she's so stubborn on it. ]

If they want to take in those two, that's their choice. Let them deal with it, while you go off hopping around worlds to take care of everything else. [ He... also doesn't agree with the notion of them being anywhere near Sigrun or Cherryblod, but whatever. ] It's either we go for that neat little alternative they've thought up for us, or we kill them.

It is, but its mine as well at the same time. [Not that he wants them to think of him as a leader or anything like that, but. They've been depending on him in their own ways. Its only fair that he has to do the same in return.]

I don't want everyone here to suffer for a decision made solely because of one or two people.

[They can't just leave it to chance here. Not after everything.]

We've all got a responsibility to each other. I know I'd feel partway responsible if I voted to spare 'em, and later they went off and killed some more people.

Pretty sure Sigrun or Cherry could take 'em both down alone, though. Only trouble I see is if they maybe sneak off.

They won't leave my sight.

[... Which, given how she's been treating Black this whole week, is a goddamn feat if they do.]

(no subject)

penduli - 2016-04-30 04:36 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

captainobnoxious - 2016-04-30 04:38 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

sleepingkogoro - 2016-04-30 04:39 (UTC) - Expand

Protectin' people's as much my job as it is yours.

I can't say I know what it takes to be an Avenger, but as the last of the Schattenjäger, I'm not about to go down a path of violence if there's a chance this can be solved without bloodshed.

However remote, I'm willing to take it, if the rest of the group is.

Edited 2016-04-30 04:31 (UTC)

...I hurt a lot of people before I became an Avenger. And even while I was one I rarely used my powers, because of how uncontrollable it was.

[He of all people knows of violence and war and pain and death, and he wants to stop it too, yes, but is that kind of trust worth it? After these eight weeks? All the lives already lost?]

I don't want to shed more blood either, as I've said before. I'm just not sure if this is the right way to do it - to blindly trust two people who we have zero reason to trust at all, and who has done nothing but hurt all of you.

Edited 2016-04-30 04:37 (UTC)

I'm not asking you to trust Mettaton and Ryuu, that would be stupid.

But can you trust Sigrun and Cherryblod? Can you trust them to watch over those two, to make sure nothing happens?

(no subject)

amygdalae - 2016-04-30 04:44 (UTC) - Expand

You don't have much faith in the people around you to be able to take care of themselves, do you, doctor?

[Her eyes are finally leaving the balcony so she can address him.]

I'm thankful for your concern and your contrasting opinion. It's good to have a voice that speaks out. I just think it's more practical to use them for however long we can, because we don't know how long we'll be doing this, and the bonus is no one gets to die immediately.

And if we die, well, you get to say "I told you so".

I haven't seen a reason to think otherwise.

[Just a little bit dryly.]

I'm still very sure this isn't a good decision. There's so many ways this can all go wrong, and I don't want to see any of you suffer or die because of one stupid decision.

[Seriously. Bruce has made a lot of stupid decisions in his life.

...still, with that said, Bruce can very clearly see that everyone seems to be on the other side, and he takes in a slow, deep breath.]

I won't stop you all from making your decision. I don't think any of you are listening to me, anyway, so anything else I say at this point is useless.

Just. Be careful.

[Don't suffer through it all yet again.]

Nah, it's a pretty dumb idea! They're literally serial killers!

But it's not like anyone was ever gonna talk Cherry out of it anyway. I figured we were screwed when Mettaton came out.

[He's actually sorta shocked that Sigrun was willing to consider the group's safety first?]

(no subject)

amygdalae - 2016-04-30 04:49 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

goodforsomething - 2016-04-30 05:14 (UTC) - Expand

I am listening, Bruce.

[...Just getting that out there.

He still isn't entirely convinced himself, even if he trusts Cherryblod and Sigrun. Just...after everything these two have displayed, how can Cherryblod and Sigrun jump to wanting to babysit them?]

Edited 2016-04-30 04:49 (UTC)