Time Of Truthiness!

[unbroken_chain]

Who: Everyone!
Where: All over the city!
Summary: The Time of Truthiness is upon Hinoto-Ri!
Warnings: Basically everything.

It begins. A strange aura spreads out over Hinoto-Ri, stealing into the hearts, minds, and mouths of every denizen of the city, changing them - embiggening their souls with the power of TRUTHINESS.

For one week, Hinoto-Ri becomes a city where no lies can exist. Who is responsible for this? Will their dedication to ABSOLUTE TRUTHINESS bring them victory...or defeat?

DUN DUN DUUUUUN

Tune in to the Destiny Strings Broadcast Special: Time of Truthiness to find out!


ooc: okay folks, go ahead and mingle!

Comments

[a_gentle_boy]

"The temple...?"

He realizes with mild surprise that he has to take a moment to recall his journey. It felt so long ago.

"Chubi..." It had been enough of a tongue twister when it had actively been on his mind; Lucas refrains from trying to guess at the name of the building. "The temple we unlocked with the Waters of Time?" The Sixth Needle. The last one before they had had their final confrontation under the bedrock of New Pork City. "...I see."

He pauses to think about how best to proceed before he speaks once more, hesitantly. "...I'm from after. We've finished our competition already."

[psimera]

Unlike Lucas, the Commander doesn't have any trouble remembering names - he can always just save them. Like Master Porky's instructions. "Chupichupyoi."

Finished...? It takes him a few moments to realize what that means - Lucas still exists. That means - that means Master Porky's plans failed. And the Commander failed him, somehow. Maybe another battle against the boy with his friends, maybe the boy just managed to sneak into where they were digging out the final Needle before he got there - it doesn't matter either way. His expressions slips momentarily into something shocked, then a mix of upset and angry, before it goes blank again.

"How did you win?" It'd be stupid for the boy to answer - the Commander doesn't know if time can be changed, but he's definitely going to try if he knows what to do. He's just hoping his demanding tone will distract from that.

[a_gentle_boy]

"You let me."

For the first time, Lucas lifts his gaze and meets the Masked Man squarely in the eyes. ...Eye. His hand grasps the badge pinned to his chest more tightly, betraying some measure of his inner turmoil. "If I'd known what you were going to do, I would have tried to stop you. But I guess... it's what you wanted. ...Maybe there was no other way."

A pause now and when he speaks again, his steady voice breaks partway through. "Y-You always looked out for me... Claus."

[psimera]

Let him? He'd never let an enemy -

That whole trail of thought is broken off when he finally, finally hears the name. It jolts through his head in a way that he doesn't like at all, finally settling into an uneasy thrum somewhere around his chest, and he stiffens.

"Designation 'Claus' recognized - " only, what he meant to say was not, not recognized, it just didn't come out that way. He jerks, that uncomfortable feeling near his heart rearing up once more, tries again - "Designation 'Claus' re□c□ogn□ -" - and doesn't even bother to finish the statement, voice glitching in a horribly mechanical-sounding way. Apparently that's one of the things reconstruction touched.

Not. Not not not. As long as he only thinks that word, makes sure to avoid connecting it to any other thought, it's not a lie, just a word, and that way it comes out. "Not." He glares defiantly; despite the sword, suddenly he feels like he's the one being forced into the defensive.

[a_gentle_boy]

The unexpected sign of weakness does not go unnoticed. This is his chance. He must seize upon it.

"You do. You have to. Listen to me." He exhales slowly and takes a step forward, his posture more assertive. "When the first invasion of the Pigmask Army happened three years ago, a woman named Hinawa was killed. She had a husband, Flint, and two twin boys, Claus and Lucas. Claus was the older. He was... energetic. He swore that he would take revenge on whoever it was that had done it. ...Lucas was weak. He couldn't help his brother."

How many times had he played that scene again in his head? If he had stopped crying. If he had called for him to stop... If he had even just gone along and held him back...

"That... That was the worst mistake I've ever made in my life." The tears well up, briefly; he rubs them away with a sharp shake of his head.

"We looked for you for three years. Every day for three years, Dad went to the mountains. All he ever found was your shoe. We didn't just lose Mom that day. Because of what happened... we lost everything that made us a family." Hinawa, dead. Claus, missing. Flint, heedless of his remaining son, wandering the mountains until he had lost himself. For three years, he had been on his own.

"Porky was the one who found you. If we had gotten there first...!" His hand balls up so tightly around the badge now that his entire shirt is wrinkled and stretched; Lucas doesn't seem to notice. "If we had gotten there first... If I had realized it sooner. If I had just told you to stop....."

--You stupid idiot!!--

"It's my fault, Claus..."

[psimera]

The Commander takes a step back, this all sounds - oddly familiar and that thrumming is wrong, all wrong. If his head didn't feel all - glitchy, he'd probably have snapped at himself mentally - don't show signs of weakness, it doesn't suit Master Porky's Commander, step forward again. But he's too disoriented to think about that for long.

- when stuff is going bad, fall back on his chimera programming, that's what he's supposed to do. It's throwing error messages at him right now, on the surface, but the base is still stable. He closes his eyes and - falls.

Flatly, emotionlessly, the Commander starts reciting, "Designation: Pigmask Commander. Build Version: HumanChimera version zero-point-nine. Affiliation: Pigmask Army and Master Porky. Assignment: Pull the Needles for Master Porky." And that's all true, even if it's true at the same time as - "Designation 'Clau□s'..."

He still can't say it, not correctly, he knows that, and his jaw clenches. His eyes snap open angrily, and he stalks forward again, raising his sword. Someone watching carefully might notice him shaking just slightly.

"Stop."

[a_gentle_boy]

He is crying in earnest now. He had promised himself he wouldn't cry again until he had completed the quest, until the world had been saved. Until the very end. Now, after the end, the tears flow freely, and he does nothing to stop them.

"Claus...!" The cry is anguished, a response to his brother's mechanical words. "You're not Porky's servant! You're my brother. My big brother!"

To have this conversation once again... It was paradoxical, impossible. Never in his dreams could he have imagined that it would happen once more. The others weren't here this time to stand with him. Flint wasn't here to take a blow. Hinawa... Hinawa was at rest now. They would do this alone, in a world far from their own.

"I don't want to be alone again..."

[psimera]

Somehow, Lucas's tears make him slow. The Commander is beyond questioning this - his programming is still going wrong, he has no idea what kind of input crying is supposed to make and whether it's translating right with all those errors. All he knows is that it suddenly takes an unreasonable amount of effort to just move.

His biological eye, the uncovered one, is leaking. The Commander reaches up with his free hand, feeling the wet, and stops entirely to rub at it furiously.

His thoughts are screaming nothing but 'g5fNEd□1lwDBGB□HqzjxSWOe□□ypF0Op□TU1xFz□JTjhms' at him now, and he realizes, with a small, horrified choke, that his programming is actually crashing. No, no it's not supposed to be crashing, he doesn't know what to do without it, he's never not had it as far back as he can remember - only is that as far back? He can't tell anymore, he never had this problem last time he fought Lu - he can't even call him the boy anymore, something won't let him, it's Lucas.

His programming is crashing and he can't take another step and he's crying and he just doesn't understand, so he wavers, shuddering, and -

He turns and runs.

[a_gentle_boy]

"Claus! ...Wait!"

Despite everything, the Masked Man remained a chimera. He could run far longer and far faster than Lucas could ever hope to, and so though he quickly pursues, he does not truly hope to stop his brother. His tears flow so heavily now that he can hardly see; the world fades in and out before him as he struggles to breathe in between his sobs.

"Don't go!"

--I'm going to get strong. I'll be so strong that I'll easily defeat the Drago. ...Don't follow me!--

"...Don't go."

Eventually, he comes to a staggering halt, gasping for breath. Lucas slowly lowers his head and places his hands on his knees, shifting his weight forward. For a few moments, he rocks back and forth in this position alone in the middle of the street until his breaths have calmed.

"Claus..."