[ The grappling hook hits him. In the eye, specifically. He lets out a pained yell, and falls over, clutching at his face.
The invisible crowd presses closer. Parts of them will suddenly become visible, like a leg or a hand, as they keep chanting for the fight to continue. A few start kicking at the fallen teen.
[ as soon as the grappling hook hits and the teen falls over, Mabel drops the hook so she can kneel down by Ichiro and hug him. "but he's holding a gun--" WELL TOO BAD, MABEL IS HUGGING HIM WITH RELIEF
she shrinks in horror at the crowd's screaming, though, and flinches at the sight of them beating the teen while he's down. ]
But--but you said to make him go away! So we could go back to having fun at the playground! We don't--he's already hurt, you don't have to keep hitting him!
[ oh he almost jumps a foot and a half when mabel hugs him, nearly startling out of his skin - thankfully, he does not fire off a shot because of it, flinching upwards instead. the situation starts spiraling rapidly out of control, and --
ichiro's a bleeding heart. he always has been. hearing the voice, feeling mabel flinch next to him, the screaming of the crowd - it's so unbelievably familiar and he just can't watch that happen, even if it's half invisible, even if this snot nosed kid just tried to kill him. the justice bound part of ichiro jolts in his chest and he makes a stupid decision - ] Hang onto the dog! [ and then twists in mabel's hug to break free of it and then pushes back up off the ground, gun in hand, breaking out in a sprint to try and get back to the kid on the ground, shoving his way through invisible nothing. ]
loud, authoritative, he shouts - ] Alright, back up!! [ and he absolutely will start pistol whipping invisible people at this rate if he can't get through. ] Leave the kid alone! Break up the fight before I break up your face!
[ and then, to the voice: ] Is this just a game to you?!
[ The gun manages to get the crowd to pause, and he can hear the sound of feet shuffling. It buys him some time, but how much is questionable. The teen sobs on the ground.
The voice, however, does not sob. It replies in a chipper manner. ]
Just doing my job! I have to take care of you, right? You should be grateful.
[ Mabel watches the teen sob, broken. It feels wrong. Even if he was a jerk, he seemed so confident and forceful, and to see him be reduced to this is just...disturbing, in a way.
The voice snaps her out of it. ]
Grateful for what?! We took care of it ourselves! You don't have to--don't just keep hurting him! Beating someone up isn't supposed to be fun!
[ time is something. he manages to burst through the crowd and get to the kid, putting himself between the invisible crowd and them. this might get him punched again but he just can't let them whale on him like that - his voice drops a little, lower, quieter as he looks him over the best he can, warily glancing up at the invisible, paused crowd and keeping the gun in his other hand as if to get them to back off. ]
Hey, hey, hey - c'mon, kid, we're done. We're done. [ no hard feelings (?) but also like maybe don't shoot people.
mabel's yelling? valid as hell. ichiro feels the familiar rise of bitter anger somewhere in his stomach, and grits his teeth as he glances away for a moment towards the direction of this mysterious voice. ] Take care of us?
I'm just helping you protect your new furry family!
[ Ichiro will feel hands shoving at him, some yanking on his hair and spitting on him. They can both hear a chanting of Kill! Blood! More as the crowd presses in.
Miku makes a small PUPPY!!!!!!!! noise, and the voice immediately starts talking again. ]
You should go to a different spot in the park. This one isn't good anymore.
[ Ichiro can feel that someone is trying to go for the gun. ]
....fine. But not because you said so! Just to get away from all the bloodthirsty invisible people!
[ she picks up Miku in her arms protectively and chooses a random direction to start aimlessly walking in. she rubs her cheek against the top of Miku's head and, sighs, says quietly: ]
Oink.
Let's go, Ichiro!
[ she is blissfully unaware of his, uh, gun situation. ]
[ okay if ichiro has learned one thing from being in his own universe about weapons it is that guns are powerful and you do not let them fall into the wrong hands so there is not a fucking chance he is letting go of this gun.
the tugs on his hair, the jostling, even the feeling of spit on his cheek - his temper flares like a shot and he rips his arm up and out of the grip of the hand that's trying to grab at him, practically snarling (is that enough animal for you francy i'm so tired) ] Fuck off!
[ some part of him, under all that rage, curls up with guilt. how many times had he been on the opposite side of this? he doesn't want to leave this kid with the crowd, but it seems like they're more interested in him, now, so - ichiro curls over, tightly, shoves the gun in his inside pocket of his jacket, and then puts his shoulder down like a football player to barrel his way out of this crowd as it presses impossibly closer, feeling trapped and caged like a wild animal and fighting back to get free.
he hears mabel, at least - if he can burst free of the crowd, he will, and go in her direction. my gun now you shot me with it finders keepers
also just like, yelling at the sky at this point. ] Make my mic work, if you want me to do crowd control so bad! [ FUCK!!!!! ]
[ The voice doesn't answer, but they'll hear some static briefly.
Ichiro can get away, and the crowd continues to throw insults at him. He and Mabel might feel objects falling around them-- water bottles, sticks, anything the crowd could have gotten ahold of. The teen tries to crawl away from the group.
Funnily, the part of the park they're heading to now seems just fine! It's bright and cheery, and there's picnic baskets and blankets scattered around a field. Cheerful chatter fills the air, and they seem to be unaware of all the noise happening not too far away.
[ Mabel shields Miku and starts running until the violent crowd seems to disappear. She looks at the picnic laid out before them, though, and approaches hesitantly. Very hesitantly. ]
...should we go sit down?
[ she's a little, uh, picnic-shy after their playground encounter now. ]
[ hate this!! hate this! god! ichiro picks up the pace to shield mabel while they're at it, so they're some sort of two person dog conga line of protecting each other, and just feels his temper getting worse and worse by the second. by the time they stop, he's breathing a little bit harshly, and glances back at the retreating scene behind him, thinking about that kid.
... at least that shitty crowd (and that useless voice) were focused on them, it feels like. he doesn't like it, though, can't sit with it, and he shakes his head and forces himself to focus on the strange setup before them. keep calm. you are strong, keep calm.
... it's about this moment that he remembers he got shot, also? hmmm. ]
....yeah, I need - I should probably do something about this. [ that sure is blood! and it's starting to hurt now that they're slowing down, though his adrenaline hasn't calmed for a second. if they're gonna get three seconds of pause, might as well use it. ] Come on. [ and he jerks his head towards a red checkered picnic blanket. ] 's Miku okay?
[ she immediately starts shoving Ichiro towards the blanket and shoving him to sit down. ] Miku's fine! We didn't get hurt! [ YET. Anyway, as soon as they're sitting down, Mabel will crawl over to the corner of the picnic blanket and start trying to rip it up. ]
You're supposed to wrap these wounds real tight, right?!
i don't trust this peaceful tag at all! ichiro does go to sit down without any fuss, dropping onto the blanket and shifting quickly, shoving the last of that anger down and focusing on this different not quite crisis - also trying to make sure mabel's calm. ] It's okay - it just clipped me, it's fine, don't worry.
[ honestly after being struck by literal lightning last time this is a major improvement so far!! so. he shifts to put some pressure on the cut and looks around them while mabel's doing that, reaching out to put his free hand on miku's head and give her a scritch between the ears. ]
Yeah, I don't need a tourniquet or anything - just enough to get the bleeding to stop. It's gonna be okay - thanks, Mabel-chan. [ while this is happening though he is warily looking around. any more signs of invisible people. ominous storm clouds? distant buildings? is the nice music familiar?? ]
But this is definitely a peaceful tag around. Although looking around, Ichiro will notice that there's now even more picnic setups than there were before they sat down. A few are closer to them, but anyone who may be invisible doesn't seem to be paying them any mind.
[ Mabel manages to rip a nice long strip of blanket off and scuttles over to Ichiro to try and wrap it around his leg and tie it in place--probably tighter than necessary, but Mabel isn't entirely sure how much pressure is needed and tighter is probably better, right? Less chance for the blood to keep coming out?
When she's done and the voice gives instructions again, though, she'll turn around and stare up at the sky suspiciously. ]
What if we just wanna have a nice little picnic with Miku instead?
[ OW well she's trying. once the voice starts talking ichiro adjusts the makeshift bandage himself, fixing the tie on it while mabel's focused on the voice. he looks over at miku, giving her a little scritch behind the ear. good girl, good girl.... ]
Puppies need to be exercised. I'm sure you can find something.
[ The voice goes quiet again.
Off in the distance, towards a different woodsy area than they saw earlier, they can hear some commotion, but it's hard to tell exactly what from over here. More blankets show up. ]
[ hate that. ichiro tunes into the music and looks at the commotion - about how far are they from the woodsy area? what kind of commotion, is it just loud noise? ichiro's tensing, again, carefully pushing himself up to a crouch instead of sitting on the ground. ]
...yeah. Good thinking. Stay close.
[ for now, he's just going to pay close attention to their surroundings, eventually spotting a stick or something kind of near their blanket and nodding at it, then giving sweet miku a ruffle with his hand.
and then, calling out to this narrator, again: ] What's going on over there? [ if they play along, at least a little, then maybe it'll answer more questions. tanaka-san please. ]
[ It's loud noise, that might be people talking, but it's far enough that it's difficult to tell for sure. It's also far enough that that they'd be walking for probably at least ten minutes before they actually reach it, if they're moving quickly.
Miku wags his? her? gender tail at the stick, barking happily. They can hear some cooing sounds from blankets nearby.
[ The cooing sets her on edge. Are people going to try yanking Miku away from them again? Everything about this feels wrong. But she throws the stick just a few feet away--within easy view of the blanket and within easy running distance for Mabel.
Can I safely assume that Miku excitedly runs after the stick and immediately bounds back to Mabel with it. ]
Good Miku! [ pet pet pet! ] You're having fun, right?
[ what. also i cant remember what we gendered miku but miku should be a boy since hector is a girl for gender equality.
ichiro pushes himself up to a fully standing position, now, reaching into his pocket to click the safety back onto the gun so he doesn't kill himself (wouldn't that be funny) and watching the distant scene warily, turning his head every couple of moments to check on mabel and miku. ] And, what, you want us just to pretend nothing's happening? Is that what I'm getting here?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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The invisible crowd presses closer. Parts of them will suddenly become visible, like a leg or a hand, as they keep chanting for the fight to continue. A few start kicking at the fallen teen.
The voice starts again, ]
This isn't a fun time! You're ruining it!
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[ as soon as the grappling hook hits and the teen falls over, Mabel drops the hook so she can kneel down by Ichiro and hug him. "but he's holding a gun--" WELL TOO BAD, MABEL IS HUGGING HIM WITH RELIEF
she shrinks in horror at the crowd's screaming, though, and flinches at the sight of them beating the teen while he's down. ]
But--but you said to make him go away! So we could go back to having fun at the playground! We don't--he's already hurt, you don't have to keep hitting him!
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ichiro's a bleeding heart. he always has been. hearing the voice, feeling mabel flinch next to him, the screaming of the crowd - it's so unbelievably familiar and he just can't watch that happen, even if it's half invisible, even if this snot nosed kid just tried to kill him. the justice bound part of ichiro jolts in his chest and he makes a stupid decision - ] Hang onto the dog! [ and then twists in mabel's hug to break free of it and then pushes back up off the ground, gun in hand, breaking out in a sprint to try and get back to the kid on the ground, shoving his way through invisible nothing. ]
loud, authoritative, he shouts - ] Alright, back up!! [ and he absolutely will start pistol whipping invisible people at this rate if he can't get through. ] Leave the kid alone! Break up the fight before I break up your face!
[ and then, to the voice: ] Is this just a game to you?!
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The voice, however, does not sob. It replies in a chipper manner. ]
Just doing my job! I have to take care of you, right? You should be grateful.
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The voice snaps her out of it. ]
Grateful for what?! We took care of it ourselves! You don't have to--don't just keep hurting him! Beating someone up isn't supposed to be fun!
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Hey, hey, hey - c'mon, kid, we're done. We're done. [ no hard feelings (?) but also like maybe don't shoot people.
mabel's yelling? valid as hell. ichiro feels the familiar rise of bitter anger somewhere in his stomach, and grits his teeth as he glances away for a moment towards the direction of this mysterious voice. ] Take care of us?
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[ Ichiro will feel hands shoving at him, some yanking on his hair and spitting on him. They can both hear a chanting of Kill! Blood! More as the crowd presses in.
Miku makes a small PUPPY!!!!!!!! noise, and the voice immediately starts talking again. ]
You should go to a different spot in the park. This one isn't good anymore.
[ Ichiro can feel that someone is trying to go for the gun. ]
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[ she picks up Miku in her arms protectively and chooses a random direction to start aimlessly walking in. she rubs her cheek against the top of Miku's head and, sighs, says quietly: ]
Oink.
Let's go, Ichiro!
[ she is blissfully unaware of his, uh, gun situation. ]
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the tugs on his hair, the jostling, even the feeling of spit on his cheek - his temper flares like a shot and he rips his arm up and out of the grip of the hand that's trying to grab at him, practically snarling (is that enough animal for you francy i'm so tired) ] Fuck off!
[ some part of him, under all that rage, curls up with guilt. how many times had he been on the opposite side of this? he doesn't want to leave this kid with the crowd, but it seems like they're more interested in him, now, so - ichiro curls over, tightly, shoves the gun in his inside pocket of his jacket, and then puts his shoulder down like a football player to barrel his way out of this crowd as it presses impossibly closer, feeling trapped and caged like a wild animal and fighting back to get free.
he hears mabel, at least - if he can burst free of the crowd, he will, and go in her direction. my gun now you shot me with it finders keepers
also just like, yelling at the sky at this point. ] Make my mic work, if you want me to do crowd control so bad! [ FUCK!!!!! ]
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Ichiro can get away, and the crowd continues to throw insults at him. He and Mabel might feel objects falling around them-- water bottles, sticks, anything the crowd could have gotten ahold of. The teen tries to crawl away from the group.
Funnily, the part of the park they're heading to now seems just fine! It's bright and cheery, and there's picnic baskets and blankets scattered around a field. Cheerful chatter fills the air, and they seem to be unaware of all the noise happening not too far away.
The voice starts again. ]
Enjoy the day!
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[ Mabel shields Miku and starts running until the violent crowd seems to disappear. She looks at the picnic laid out before them, though, and approaches hesitantly. Very hesitantly. ]
...should we go sit down?
[ she's a little, uh, picnic-shy after their playground encounter now. ]
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... at least that shitty crowd (and that useless voice) were focused on them, it feels like. he doesn't like it, though, can't sit with it, and he shakes his head and forces himself to focus on the strange setup before them. keep calm. you are strong, keep calm.
... it's about this moment that he remembers he got shot, also? hmmm. ]
....yeah, I need - I should probably do something about this. [ that sure is blood! and it's starting to hurt now that they're slowing down, though his adrenaline hasn't calmed for a second. if they're gonna get three seconds of pause, might as well use it. ] Come on. [ and he jerks his head towards a red checkered picnic blanket. ] 's Miku okay?
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Luckily, nothing attacks them. They can even hear pleasant music playing from a nearby radio at one of the blankets.
Miku whines. This is just a peaceful tag. :) ]
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Ichiro!!!
[ she immediately starts shoving Ichiro towards the blanket and shoving him to sit down. ] Miku's fine! We didn't get hurt! [
YET.Anyway, as soon as they're sitting down, Mabel will crawl over to the corner of the picnic blanket and start trying to rip it up. ]You're supposed to wrap these wounds real tight, right?!
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i don't trust this peaceful tag at all! ichiro does go to sit down without any fuss, dropping onto the blanket and shifting quickly, shoving the last of that anger down and focusing on this different not quite crisis - also trying to make sure mabel's calm. ] It's okay - it just clipped me, it's fine, don't worry.
[ honestly after being struck by literal lightning last time this is a major improvement so far!! so. he shifts to put some pressure on the cut and looks around them while mabel's doing that, reaching out to put his free hand on miku's head and give her a scritch between the ears. ]
Yeah, I don't need a tourniquet or anything - just enough to get the bleeding to stop. It's gonna be okay - thanks, Mabel-chan. [ while this is happening though he is warily looking around. any more signs of invisible people. ominous storm clouds? distant buildings? is the nice music familiar?? ]
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But this is definitely a peaceful tag around. Although looking around, Ichiro will notice that there's now even more picnic setups than there were before they sat down. A few are closer to them, but anyone who may be invisible doesn't seem to be paying them any mind.
The voice starts again though. ]
You should play fetch.
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When she's done and the voice gives instructions again, though, she'll turn around and stare up at the sky suspiciously. ]
What if we just wanna have a nice little picnic with Miku instead?
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[ OW well she's trying. once the voice starts talking ichiro adjusts the makeshift bandage himself, fixing the tie on it while mabel's focused on the voice. he looks over at miku, giving her a little scritch behind the ear. good girl, good girl.... ]
With what, are you gonna drop a stick too?
[ don't like this crowding sensation! again! ]
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[ The voice goes quiet again.
Off in the distance, towards a different woodsy area than they saw earlier, they can hear some commotion, but it's hard to tell exactly what from over here. More blankets show up. ]
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She stands up abruptly, looking resolute. ]
I'll do it.
I'll play a little bit of fetch with her and...and maybe whatever this is can end! I won't even throw anything that far, so we can stick around here.
[ and, both for her own comfort and to show Ichiro she'll be fine, she pulls out the grappling hook again. ]
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...yeah. Good thinking. Stay close.
[ for now, he's just going to pay close attention to their surroundings, eventually spotting a stick or something kind of near their blanket and nodding at it, then giving sweet miku a ruffle with his hand.
and then, calling out to this narrator, again: ] What's going on over there? [ if they play along, at least a little, then maybe it'll answer more questions. tanaka-san please. ]
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Miku wags his? her? gender tail at the stick, barking happily. They can hear some cooing sounds from blankets nearby.
The voice replies. ]
Oh, I think an accident. Don't worry about it.
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Can I safely assume that Miku excitedly runs after the stick and immediately bounds back to Mabel with it. ]
Good Miku! [ pet pet pet! ] You're having fun, right?
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[ what. also i cant remember what we gendered miku but miku should be a boy since hector is a girl for gender equality.
ichiro pushes himself up to a fully standing position, now, reaching into his pocket to click the safety back onto the gun so he doesn't kill himself (wouldn't that be funny) and watching the distant scene warily, turning his head every couple of moments to check on mabel and miku. ] And, what, you want us just to pretend nothing's happening? Is that what I'm getting here?
[ not in MY protagonist house ]
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The voice hums. ]
It's better if you don't go. You should be playing.
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