voidtreckernet | VIDEO-ish (cw: torture and murder)

VIDEO-ish (cw: torture and murder)

[Before the ICP flickers on, every passenger hears a resounding, deep voice thunder through every car in the train, carrying with it a deathly—if odd—proclamation:]

PENALTY GAME: HELL REVERSE!

[Moments later, every ICP turns on to reveal a figure shrouded in shadows, holding the unconscious body of Xue Yang with one hand as the Eye of Wdjat blazes on both of their foreheads. It's clear they're in the gaming car, but if anybody tries to enter from either end, they'll find the doors are impossibly locked.]

Passengers of the Voidtrecker Express, I hold in my hands an unrepentant murderer who slaughtered one of your very own: the victim being A-Qing, and the criminal being Xue Yang. While she has returned, this crime cannot go unpunished, and I have taken it upon myself to try and burn out the stain on his soul—or, at the very least, provide adequate agony for all of his victims, both on the train and off.

If you need to see proof of my justice...

Avert your eyes if you do not wish to see memories of the brutal death of a young woman in her prime.

[The screen flickers once again, this time showing A-Qing's murder, although it doesn't have any audio. ((OOC: Additional CW for graphic depictions of murder.))

When it returns to the interior of the Games Car, the shadowy figure is gone, but their voice and Xue Yang remain.]

I leave it to the council to dispense their own punishment, as meager as it may be.

Remember, passengers:

I am watching.

[The ICP clicks off, and the train is deadly quiet.]

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I just need... [Well. He's not sure of all the things he might need, but at least here, and for now, the greenhouse car is fairly quiet, save for their conversation. That in and of itself helps. Alice isn't a threat. Alice isn't going to hurt him. Other people might, that's been made clear, but she can be trusted.]

I need to rebuild my shields, first, probably. [Might be a good thing for her that he lets her go, now, to almost comically flop down onto the ground and sit crosslegged, planting his hands not on his knees, but on the soil of the greenhouse car, and breathing deeply. Closing his eyes. He can, at least, explain what's going on--he's calmed down enough for that.]

The mental ones will take a bit longer, but I'm sure my physical shields are shot, too, so...ground and center, first. [Though he's already working on that, and it really doesn't look like anything to someone without magic. The next part, however, is a bit more visible, as a shimmer of yellow light envelops him briefly, then brightens steadily.] Mom and Carlson always taught Alex and I to layer our shields. I can only use Earth magic, but Alex might manage to use fire someday. Fire elementals give us their attention, but we can't command them like we could Earth. Still, it's always better to treat them like friends, not servants. Not that there are any elementals out here, but once we get to a world, well.

[It might be something of a distraction for them both, but it's probably better that than let Alice get distracted by her anger. Xander knows he isn't okay, but he's getting closer to that state of mind...]

[ Alice can't help but feel instinctive worry the moment he lets go of her. No matter how much she's still trying to get used to physical contact, she really doesn't want to let go of him right now. Not with the current state of things. There's someone out there preying on fellow passengers of the train, and although they said they were only going after those that deserve it, Alice knows better than to trust anyone's word.

And she at least has to protect Xander from worse. He's already so upset. She can't let him get actually injured on top of it, or worse, or--

She's so lost in her own thoughts that she doesn't even realise the guy is talking to her until he's already halfway through his explanation. And said explanation is kind of hard to follow - although that might just be since Alice's mind is on at least fifty other things at the moment. There's not much capacity left to understand the intricacies of another world's magic.

Alice takes in a deep, uneven breath and pinches her earlobes with her long nails to try and regain some focus. (Thankfully not hard enough to draw blood, but it's not far off.) It's not helping much. Her head feels like it's swimming against the current. ]

I will.. stay here with you. Until they are fixed.

[ Not that she knows what that specifically entails, or how long it will take, but.. it's not like she would do anything but worry about him anyway even if she would go somewhere else right now, so she may as well stay in place. ]

[Really, if he'd had enough time to think about it all coherently? Xander would be worried that this...individual would be coming after her. He knows she doesn't think much of herself and hasn't been the most upstanding citizen, as it goes. What if this crazy dude comes after her? It might come to him later, and...well, if it does, that won't be a good thing. In truth, he'll probably panic...

At least for now, he's distracted.]

Well, halfway there, really. [Xander gives her a sheepish grin at that, lifting one shoulder to shrug halfheartedly.] You weren't thinking of hunting them down and stabbing them, were you?

[He means it as a joke, but Xander does realize that if she answers...Alice will probably be completely honest. It kind of worries him, really, but she just said she'd stay here with him until he fixed his shields. Well, the physical ones, anyway. The mental will take longer--the nature of that particular beast--and he's not going to make her stay with him for that long. He also knows Glorfindel's mere presence will help, so that's a good thing.]

I'm...I'm glad you came to look for me, and found me. It is helping, Alice. Thank you. [He'd reach out to her, but he's unstable at best, and Xander's pretty sure she's not in the best head space either. Better to err on the side of caution, right now...]

.. I'm glad it's helping.

[ Despite the small pause, and the oddly quiet way she says it, Alice means it. Probably so much more than is actually evident. It doesn't feel very much like she's helping, but if Xander says she is, then there's got to be at least some core of truth to that, right? Maybe she can do something good after all. Something that doesn't involve hurting or destroying anything.

She sucks a breath in, trying to calm herself down as well - and still failing to fully get there - before sitting down. A small distance away from him, of course, since she doesn't want to interfere with what Xander is doing here. ]

But.. of course I was thinking of exactly that. [ She doesn't want to lie. Even though being honest is kind of terrifying. She's afraid Xander might finally see her for what she really is and decide he no longer wants to have anything to do with her anymore. But lying would be even worse and she knows it. ] I don't care whether or not that person decides to dole out their own justice. But they hurt you. They hurt Alice. I can't forgive that figure for either of those things.

[It takes a moment for Alice's words to register, but when they do, he glances over at her, wide-eyed with shock. That's the overwhelming emotion, but Xander clenches his teeth for a moment, brows drawing down.]

They hurt little Alice, too?

[He takes a breath, then, trying to clear his head. He knows how Alice usually reacts at this sort of thing. For him, a little, and he lets that go. But she's very protective of her younger self--understandably. And this sort of thing is unforgivable, for her.]

...don't take this as a suggestion, Alice, but...I'd think seriously about shanking them myself, for that. If I thought something like that would actually help, though? I don't think I'd stop you.

[How's that grab you, Alice? Xander's still frowning, though.] I try not to weaponize my empathy much, though I know how...and even that's a thought. But I don't want to make things worse, either. For anyone. Or myself, and I kinda feel like that'd be putting a target on my butt, you know?

[This whole fiasco has left a bad taste in his mouth.]

[ There's clear surprise visible on her face when he says that. I'd think seriously about shanking them myself. I don't think I'd stop you.

It's unexpected, considering how much Xander seems like an endless force of good to her. Then again, maybe you just start to view someone like that by default when you feel like such a pit of darkness that's only illuminated whenever he smiles like a dumb, oblivious puppy when he's around her. Not that it's a bad thing that he has that kind of side to him - if anything, it makes her feel a little less bad about her anger.

But then there's those last words, and those immediately distract her mind. ]

It doesn't matter if you'd have a target. I don't think you understand.

[ She takes a step closer, then another, covering the distance she was so carefully keeping. A hand reaches out to touch his shoulder. ]

I-- I will kill anyone who does as much as think of hurting you. I'll wipe them out of existence. I'll..

[ Alice cuts herself off, suddenly releasing her hold on him as if she's burned herself, stumbling back a step and letting out a miserable breath. ]

Sorry. I..

[ That was too far. Even though he agrees with her desire to get those people for what they've done, that reaction felt a little too extreme. Too raw. It hits just a little too hard upon the fear of him realising just how awful she is.

She buries her face in her hands. ]

.. I am such a mess.

[No, no, that's not good. Normally Xander would never, ever overstep himself, but now? He reaches for Alice to wrap arms and wings around her to hug her, petting her hair gently.]

Maybe you are, but you didn't ask to be. Someone else did this to you and you're trying hard to take yourself back. I see that. There's good in you still. You care so much! About a lot of people.

[Not just about him, but him too...]

It's easy to say you're bad or a mess, but there's a lot of good about you too. You want to protect people. If you do things that hurt others, it's because they did things that weren't right. I know two wrongs don't make a right, necessarily, either. But sometimes, there's no other way.

[He doesn't want it to be too much, that hug, so he backs off to look at Alice.] Maybe I don't understand. You're right. There's a lot I don't understand, even with my empathy. But I want to. And I don't think you're a mess, I think you're struggling to work things out. That doesn't make you a mess. It makes you strong. And definitely stronger than the people who made you this way.

I admire you for that, Alice. And you being strong? That helps me too!

[ The hug is a lot. But Alice doesn't move to push him away. He just lets his arms and wings envelop her while she listens to what he says.

And what he says is.. hard to believe. Is she really not a mess? Is there anything good in her? Sometimes it feels like she knows, but at other times it feels like the line has become so blurry. Especially when her natural inclination towards violence when it comes to injustice comes to the light like this. ]

...

[ For a moment she can say nothing. She just watches him after he backs off from her again. ]

It helps you..?

[ Her voice sounds weaker than she would like it to, but she can't help it right now when her vulnerability is already full on display. ]

If I was alone right now, I don't know what I'd do. I really don't. [He shakes his head, closing his eyes tight. Mercifully, he does release her to flop back on the grass, again.]

I'm trying to hold it all together--for myself, for you. [For a lot of things...] But I'm mad. And a bit confused, and I wish Alex were here because he's smarter than me and he'd know what to do, and I don't even know, for sure!

[For Xander, that's practically a tantrum, and Cottonball, who's decided she's dry enough, gives an irritated squeak and lofts up from the grass to come burrow into Xander's hair at the nape of his neck. He reaches for her for a moment, giving her a reassuring pat. He rubs the other arm against his face, so he doesn't start crying again--that'd only upset Alice, probably. It's not her fault that his mental shields will take longer to fix. Concentration and time. The fact that he's got the magic ones up will help, though.]

Yeah. You being here helps. More than I can tell you.

[ Bless Cottonball for trying to help in this situation. Or, well, at least trying to prevent more of a tantrum from happening before both Xander and Alice just end up even more upset than they already are. Alice appreciates the effort on her part, really.

But she knows she has to do her part too. It doesn't matter that she's angry. She's way too used to the emotion. She just doesn't want him to be hurt. And he says her being here helps. So maybe her words help too.

That thought is enough to at least make her make some effort. ]

Xander.. He's not here. You're here. And that's-- that's fine.

[ There's some hesitation, but then Alice is the one who slowly reaches out this time, her hand only landing on Xander's shoulder though. ]

I don't think anyone knows what to do in a situation like this. [ Especially when SOME PEOPLE insist on not just throwing those guys off the train and straight into the void like they deserve! ] Intelligence isn't necessarily what's needed right now-- empathy is. Someone kind and willing to understand and help out others. Someone like you.

It's.. It's good that you're here.

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