You can thank your lucky stars that everything I wish for will never come true [W2 Thurs]

[zerotohiro]

[It's dark in the jungle but he doesn't care. He's grown used to navigating his way around the parts of the jungle nearest the beach and he's not afraid of anything that's out there. (Though maybe he should be.) Thursdays are something he should fear, but at the same time if he's calculating right, he has at least another hour.

He's walking through trees and vines when he sees it. It's hard to miss in a dark, a flash of white and red and he sneers while coming to a halt. He's alone. No team, no Baymax, nothing. It's him and him alone but the sight of the kabuki mask infuriates him enough even still.

He didn't ask for this to happen and if his friends hadn't let the man get away, Hiro could have ended everything much sooner. Callaghan deserved to get what he gave, and what a time for opportunity.

So he runs. He bolts, leaves rustling and vines and branches snagging on his clothes as he heads straight for the man in the mask with a fist raised and he extends it into a hit.

…right into Keith's chest, probably. With that hit making contact he feels justified enough and he pulls back again to try and tackle Callaghan to the ground, still completely focused. Sorry, buddy.]

Comments

[alienated]

[Yeah. Okay. This sure is happening.

One moment he's squinting at a rock, having sworn it was an arusian a second ago, and the next he's getting pummeled by a 14-year-old. His reaction is immediate, flipping Hiro over so he's facing towards the ground and holding his arm behind his back. It takes him an additional moment to realize this was less of a murder attempt and more of... something else? It's not as if anything on this island has been "normal" since sundown.]

Dude, what's wrong with you?! [Slightly loosening his grip, because wrestling a younger teenager is not very fun at all.] It's me, Keith!

[zerotohiro]

[So a counterattack wasn't expected and there's a sound that's almost like fury as he tries to squirm out of Keith's grip. Granted, being flipped over means he's staring at the ground and suddenly very aware of where he is and who Keith is.

He stops moving as much because yeah, wrestling out of an older teenager's grip isn't worth it and he turns his head back to look up and make sure.]

I have to go after him. [That's literally not an answer, but okay.]

[alienated]

Go after who?

[The grip loser as to avoid accidentally bruising Hiro's arm, but, yeah. He's not going anywhere without putting some effort into it, and Keith is feeling less inclined to let go with how Hiro is acting.]

I'm not letting you go anywhere until I know you won't get yourself killed.

[zerotohiro]

[Let him be free!!! But no, okay, he realizes after a bit that he's literally not going anywhere and he fixes Keith with a frustrated look while his arm gestures behind the older boy.]

I'm not going to--how could you miss him? [And a more frustrated gesture???] Red and white kabuki mask? It's hard to miss even if it's dark outside and I'm not letting him get away again, so let go. I'll be back before curfew.

[alienated]

He's not here, Hiro. I wouldn't have missed him if he passed through this area.

[White, in particular, is pretty striking when you're surrounded by nothing but tropical plants and darkness. Keith may have been hallucinating for a good chunk of the night, but he's not blind. That much he's certain of, and so, he doesn't budge even for a moment.]

Listen to me, there's no one here but the two of us.

[zerotohiro]

[...looking at it, he does realize they're alone. He's quiet, staring at the dirt before he attempts to break himself free completely.]

Another one. [He shakes his head, clearly frustrated and disappointed. But then he realizes:] Are you okay? I didn't...sorry. [He didn't mean to punch you bruh you just happened to be in the way.]

[alienated]

I'm fine.

[Keith understands, considering he was ready to rip into someone earlier tonight. Hallucinations are fun for the whole family.]

What about you? You aren't hurt, are you?

[Sorry he had to pin you, bruh. Speaking of which, he's letting go now that he feels Hiro isn't about to run off to chase after an hallucination.]

[zerotohiro]

[Flexing his hand a little to check before there's a firm shake of his head.]

I'm fine. I wish...[He's stopping that thought.] Someone told me that we're all seeing weird stuff but that nobody knows why yet. Is that true?

[alienated]

[He nods. Everyone he's bumped into, himself included, has been tripping... so...]

Could be the chiefs. It's not like messing with our heads is out of character for them.

[zerotohiro]

Knowing what we know about them, that's possible. If they're manipulating the crime scene and everything they could totally manipulate stuff we're seeing. They don't last for too long, so there has to be a way to block them out.

[There's a pause.] But how are we going to know what is and isn't real if this keeps happening?

[alienated]

"If it doesn't logically add up, it's in your head." [It sounds like he's quoting someone.] We know now we're hallucinating. We stay focused, and we can snuff out what's real and what's an illusion.

[Even if it's easier said than done. No amount of deep breaths will help make this less terrible.]

... Besides, we're the only ones on this island. I get the feeling it'd ruin the "theme" if someone new ended up here.

[zerotohiro]

[That's very sound advice. Why does it still kind of make him want to cry? He's solemn and focused and he inhales deeply before there's a very slow sigh. It's followed by a nod even as his arms fold over his chest.]

Yeah...I guess that's a good point. An overbalance would be a greater risk of throwing them off and they won't give us that leverage. But at the same time I'm not even sure we can play by logic all the time anymore.

[...] That means you've been seeing some pretty weird stuff too? [Not bad, necessarily. Just weird.]

[alienated]

[Because even if you hallucinate about someone you desperately want to see, they'll never be real. :) This is fine. Probably.]

No, not if the trial's any indication. They're asking us to trust anything but logic.

[Which is one big, fat screw you. Everything on this island is designed to work against them, and the chiefs both know it. How are they even meant to win under these conditions? Implying they're meant to win at all, anyway.

... There's a pause here, before he nods and answers without any real intonation:]

Yeah. Same as everyone else.

["Weird" would be nice.]

[zerotohiro]

Easier said than done. [But he gives Keith a pensive look even with that answer, lips pressed into a thin line as he slowly nods.]

...do you wish some of them were real, too?

[alienated]

[... Deep breath. Blinks all too purposefully.]

It doesn't matter. [Translation: Yes.] I'm worried someone's gonna do something stupid because of this.

[zerotohiro]

I am, too, but how are we supposed to watch everybody tonight to make sure that doesn't happen? There's still way too many of us.

[alienated]

We could try rounding people up. [If only.] But it's getting close to curfew and we don't know where everyone else is.

[zerotohiro]

And we know not everybody's staying in their own huts so that makes it even more impossible. So what are we even supposed to do? Just wait until tomorrow and find out what went wrong?

[alienated]

We'll figure something out. Round up the people we do find, and if anything happens — we can at least clear those.

[except they won't because this is a murder game, you fools.]

[zerotohiro]

I might stay outside as long as possible to try and track who's going into which huts. That should maybe be a Thursday standard if things don't keep being weird.

[But it will always be weird as murder thwarts them.]

[alienated]

I'll help. We can get a better range of vision between the two of us, and compare what we see to everyone's alibis on Saturday.

[Murder will always be one step ahead of them.]

[zerotohiro]

Sounds good to me. If that's the plan, then we should probably head back now before everybody else does.