RE: THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN CANCELED [S!1][ROUND THREE: PORT CERIDWEN]
07-25-2017, 06:45 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-22-2017, 07:07 AM by Solaris.)
Freefall was on the beat, she was in her element, or, at least that’s what she was telling herself. Bennie was leading the way to the scene, smooth talking them past any curious minds, and being far more helpful than Freefall could have expected… but still, she couldn’t help but feel a bit like she was just along for the ride. Beunissima (she could call her Bennie but she was Beunissima) gave off a feeling of… something, something that Freefall just couldn’t pin down, and beyond that, beyond that she knew that something was...wrong, but what…
“Freefall, what do you think of this?”
Freefall snapped back to reality for a moment, turning to the scene, which was as miraculously Bennie had left it. “Well, for one thing, it’s incredible no one’s found this yet, you weren’t kidding when you said it was fresh.”
“I’d just missed whoever did it, I don’t think I could have cut a closer entrance unless I heard the killer slam the door on their way out. Too bad, that, confronted with the killer, starting off with a chase, what an opener that would have been, eh?.”
Freefall rolled her eyes a little and looked over the body and found much the same information that Bennie had before, the stabbing was excessive, the man had definitely been dead before the killer finished his work, and it was for the sake of the “message” plastered in blood that so many wounds had been made. Freefall stared at the blood on the wall, a swirling mess of nothing if you asked her. “I don’t think I have to tell you that this is important, but shit if I know what it means.”
“Hmmm, well, I can’t say that’s unexpected,” Bennie took a picture of the wall. “I suppose we’ll just have to find our resident artist! Or perhaps, you have someone else in mind?” Regardless of if he could actually help or not with this conspiracy, Tschic’s perspective on things could only be interesting.
Freefall shuddered for a moment, not really wanting to get into whatever… Tschic was probably doing here and somewhat blatantly confirming Bennie’s suspicions. Emboldened by a desire to avoid the ever raving artist, Freefall looked at the corpse one more, before being hit by a flash of realization. “I’ve seen this man before.”
Bennie was actually a little hurt at Freefalls obvious, if not terribly unexpected disdain for her fellow artist, but she supposed there would be a time and a place for enlightening Freefall in the benefits of the Artistic Eye. “Pardon? You saw him before he died?”
“No, I mean I’ve seen this exact man before, he was heading towards a large building, where, I, at the time, assumed they were just similar looking people or the mist, or something, but… maybe they were all the same…”
“So triplets? Quadruplets? Sounds about right for this place, power in numbers and all that... Well, that’s an excellent lead, let’s leave before things here get hot then, shall we?”
Freefall nodded, although she still felt… off… like there was a pressure… She darted her eyes all around the room, but couldn’t see anything.
Bennie noticed, obviously, and couldn’t help but feel some pity. You’d think a spunky super-heroine would be a better fit for this kind of thing, but Freefall was clearly not only a bit paranoid, but also somewhat lost… it was kind of cute actually. As Bennie followed along to where Freefall had seen the identical men, she wondered if she was really making the most out of this relationship. Freefall wasn’t stupid, naive, wanting to believe in the best in people, prone to emotion, but while Bennie was an excellent performer, it was only a matter of time before the heroine's sense of justice caught on to her less than shining moral compass. Still, it’s always fun to play heroes, it makes the perceived face-heel turn all the sweeter.
In her personal mulling, Freefall finally landed on something that she hoped would clear some of the air, “Bennie, you said that, in your world, you need showmanship to survive? What… what do you mean?”
Bennie smiled, and sighed, as her insides screamed at this golden opportunity that she had been handed, “I won’t lie to you Freefall, I’m used to this kind of thing. Do you know what they say about stars? They aren’t born… they’re made… Well, as for me? I was forged, in more ways than one. Do you know what it was like? Could you imagine, what it was like, to feel the weight of a thousand eyes, seeing your every move, sometimes, your life, in their hands, based on what they thought was the most entertaining?”
Freefall gasped and stopped running, clenching her fist tightly… before letting out a deep breath. “Bennie… I… I had no idea… I….” Freefall thought back to Bennie’s introduction, how easy it seemed to her, how easy it came to her… She wasn’t sure what to say, what to think, there was just a lot to process at once, and so little time. Freefall continued her walk, catching up to Bennie who had slowed her pace a bit to compensate.
“Listen Freefall, this isn’t the first time I’ve been asked this question, don’t worry about it, I’m used to living my life, after all, we all have our roles, don’t we? Which, brings me to a question for you. What do you think your role in this is?” Bennie couldn’t help but plant just a little seed, “I mean, you obviously want to be a hero, but… how’s that really worked out for you so far?”
Freefall looked away from Bennie, her mind wandering once more, tip toeing around the question of just how much Bennie knew about the events of the battle so far. What was her role in this? What was she doing? In the immediate, she was trying to solve this crime, trying to stop whatever force was trying to consume this port town. In the long run, she wanted to unite everyone, bring them all together to stop this horrible contest, but somehow, it just, hadn’t come together. Was it her? Was someone trying to weave chaos amoung the contestants, to prevent that very thing? She had been wondering, and while she would love to believe the latter, she couldn’t help but conclude the former. Freefall wondered what Ace would think, and that told her everything.
“Bennie, I think, if I’m being honest, right now I just want to go home. Not, not by myself, I want all of us to go home… but… I don’t think that I’m cut out for this, not by myself. If I had my teammates, Ace, METAL, even...” Freefall muttered to herself, clenched her first, and hurried her pace towards the library. Maybe she couldn’t do what the other Eagles could do in this situation, but she could at least do this.
As Bennie giggled to herself at the determined heroine, unaware that she had been blissfully indulged in some foreshadowing, the single light that neither of them had noticed ceased the deterrence it was running on the scene of the crime. While it didn’t know where this was going, it would be inconvenient if the two “heroines” couldn’t follow the threads… “Soon…” said a whisper.
---
“How could you!”
“Listen, I.”
“We all care about her, the two of you can’t just, barge in by yourselves! We are a team!”
“BUT.”
“Ugh, if Gadget hadn’t been sent away, I can assure you that he would agree with me.”
“Magenta.”
“Don’t you “Magenta” me! We are a team, Ace. Freefall too. If it was me, I know that she’d want to come too. We’re all going to save her, and nothing will stop us from getting her back. How long?”
“S00N.”
“Freefall, what do you think of this?”
Freefall snapped back to reality for a moment, turning to the scene, which was as miraculously Bennie had left it. “Well, for one thing, it’s incredible no one’s found this yet, you weren’t kidding when you said it was fresh.”
“I’d just missed whoever did it, I don’t think I could have cut a closer entrance unless I heard the killer slam the door on their way out. Too bad, that, confronted with the killer, starting off with a chase, what an opener that would have been, eh?.”
Freefall rolled her eyes a little and looked over the body and found much the same information that Bennie had before, the stabbing was excessive, the man had definitely been dead before the killer finished his work, and it was for the sake of the “message” plastered in blood that so many wounds had been made. Freefall stared at the blood on the wall, a swirling mess of nothing if you asked her. “I don’t think I have to tell you that this is important, but shit if I know what it means.”
“Hmmm, well, I can’t say that’s unexpected,” Bennie took a picture of the wall. “I suppose we’ll just have to find our resident artist! Or perhaps, you have someone else in mind?” Regardless of if he could actually help or not with this conspiracy, Tschic’s perspective on things could only be interesting.
Freefall shuddered for a moment, not really wanting to get into whatever… Tschic was probably doing here and somewhat blatantly confirming Bennie’s suspicions. Emboldened by a desire to avoid the ever raving artist, Freefall looked at the corpse one more, before being hit by a flash of realization. “I’ve seen this man before.”
Bennie was actually a little hurt at Freefalls obvious, if not terribly unexpected disdain for her fellow artist, but she supposed there would be a time and a place for enlightening Freefall in the benefits of the Artistic Eye. “Pardon? You saw him before he died?”
“No, I mean I’ve seen this exact man before, he was heading towards a large building, where, I, at the time, assumed they were just similar looking people or the mist, or something, but… maybe they were all the same…”
“So triplets? Quadruplets? Sounds about right for this place, power in numbers and all that... Well, that’s an excellent lead, let’s leave before things here get hot then, shall we?”
Freefall nodded, although she still felt… off… like there was a pressure… She darted her eyes all around the room, but couldn’t see anything.
Bennie noticed, obviously, and couldn’t help but feel some pity. You’d think a spunky super-heroine would be a better fit for this kind of thing, but Freefall was clearly not only a bit paranoid, but also somewhat lost… it was kind of cute actually. As Bennie followed along to where Freefall had seen the identical men, she wondered if she was really making the most out of this relationship. Freefall wasn’t stupid, naive, wanting to believe in the best in people, prone to emotion, but while Bennie was an excellent performer, it was only a matter of time before the heroine's sense of justice caught on to her less than shining moral compass. Still, it’s always fun to play heroes, it makes the perceived face-heel turn all the sweeter.
In her personal mulling, Freefall finally landed on something that she hoped would clear some of the air, “Bennie, you said that, in your world, you need showmanship to survive? What… what do you mean?”
Bennie smiled, and sighed, as her insides screamed at this golden opportunity that she had been handed, “I won’t lie to you Freefall, I’m used to this kind of thing. Do you know what they say about stars? They aren’t born… they’re made… Well, as for me? I was forged, in more ways than one. Do you know what it was like? Could you imagine, what it was like, to feel the weight of a thousand eyes, seeing your every move, sometimes, your life, in their hands, based on what they thought was the most entertaining?”
Freefall gasped and stopped running, clenching her fist tightly… before letting out a deep breath. “Bennie… I… I had no idea… I….” Freefall thought back to Bennie’s introduction, how easy it seemed to her, how easy it came to her… She wasn’t sure what to say, what to think, there was just a lot to process at once, and so little time. Freefall continued her walk, catching up to Bennie who had slowed her pace a bit to compensate.
“Listen Freefall, this isn’t the first time I’ve been asked this question, don’t worry about it, I’m used to living my life, after all, we all have our roles, don’t we? Which, brings me to a question for you. What do you think your role in this is?” Bennie couldn’t help but plant just a little seed, “I mean, you obviously want to be a hero, but… how’s that really worked out for you so far?”
Freefall looked away from Bennie, her mind wandering once more, tip toeing around the question of just how much Bennie knew about the events of the battle so far. What was her role in this? What was she doing? In the immediate, she was trying to solve this crime, trying to stop whatever force was trying to consume this port town. In the long run, she wanted to unite everyone, bring them all together to stop this horrible contest, but somehow, it just, hadn’t come together. Was it her? Was someone trying to weave chaos amoung the contestants, to prevent that very thing? She had been wondering, and while she would love to believe the latter, she couldn’t help but conclude the former. Freefall wondered what Ace would think, and that told her everything.
“Bennie, I think, if I’m being honest, right now I just want to go home. Not, not by myself, I want all of us to go home… but… I don’t think that I’m cut out for this, not by myself. If I had my teammates, Ace, METAL, even...” Freefall muttered to herself, clenched her first, and hurried her pace towards the library. Maybe she couldn’t do what the other Eagles could do in this situation, but she could at least do this.
As Bennie giggled to herself at the determined heroine, unaware that she had been blissfully indulged in some foreshadowing, the single light that neither of them had noticed ceased the deterrence it was running on the scene of the crime. While it didn’t know where this was going, it would be inconvenient if the two “heroines” couldn’t follow the threads… “Soon…” said a whisper.
---
“How could you!”
“Listen, I.”
“We all care about her, the two of you can’t just, barge in by yourselves! We are a team!”
“BUT.”
“Ugh, if Gadget hadn’t been sent away, I can assure you that he would agree with me.”
“Magenta.”
“Don’t you “Magenta” me! We are a team, Ace. Freefall too. If it was me, I know that she’d want to come too. We’re all going to save her, and nothing will stop us from getting her back. How long?”
“S00N.”
Standing here, The way ahead's becoming clear
All across these new frontiers
In my hands I hold the ones I love
Walk forward through the cold dawn
Always to new horizons
All across these new frontiers
In my hands I hold the ones I love
Walk forward through the cold dawn
Always to new horizons