re_alignment | Number III: A Public Service Announcement

Entry tags:

kingdom hearts | axel

Number III: A Public Service Announcement

[The transmission opens with a full body shot of Axel. It seems he has the communicator propped up on something in order to allow a wider view, and from the looks of the background, he's somewhere around the Junkpile.]

Hey there, robots of Haven. Autobots, Decepticons and.... miscellaneous others. Thank you all for tuning in today for this very special public service announcement.

What is it about, you might ask? Well, to be perfectly honest, it's about your attitudes. Specifically, your attitudes towards humans, humanoids, and other organics like myself.

Now I know what some of you are probably thinking. 'What's that pointy-haired weirdo talking about? I like organics just fine. Why, some of my best friends are organics!' And believe me, we all appreciate the friendliness and general lack of deliberate attempts to stomp us.

However, it's not the liking part that's the issue here. What the issue is is the simple fact that you all seem to think being 20-feet tall and made of metal automatically means that you're superior. Especially when it comes to the ability to defend yourself. And I don't just mean certain unpleasant individuals who'd try to squish us for fun. I mean all of you, or at least most of you.

You might try to be nice about it, and you're probably genuinely trying to protect them, but when one of your organic friends wants to help out in a fight? Your general attitude always tends to come off as 'Look, it's cute that you think you can help, but just sit over here while the grown-ups handle things, OK?' And when your friends actually can fight? It's as condescending as hell.

Case in point, my friend Sora. Recently, Knockout locked him in his medbay with him in an attempt to protect him. Which would be great... if Sora needed it. But he doesn't. Lemme tell you a little bit about Sora.

This kid spends most of his time back home traveling from world to world fighting monsters made of pure Darkness called Heartless. I once saw him take out 1000 of them in the space of about ten minutes using nothing but his Keyblade and his wits. Aside from Heartless, he's also fought and beaten- among other things- pirates, the Boogie Man, a sea witch imbued with all the power of the ocean and grown to the size of a skyscraper, and a sorceress who turned into a giant, fire-breathing dragon. Not to mention, he's saved the world at least twice.

I could go on, but the bottom line is that he can damn well take care of himself, even against things like you. He doesn't need to be protected or coddled. In fact, he should probably be protecting some of you.

And just in case you think Sora is an isolated case...

[Axel steps a bit to one side, revealing a chunk of Cybertronian-looking scrap-metal about the size of a fridge.]

Here's a nice chunk of Cybertronian metal. And here's what a guy like me can do to it if I'm so inclined.

[Axel points a palm at the chunk of metal and tosses off a Firaga at it. The large fireball strikes and envelops the chunk of scrap, which quickly becomes red hot and begins to melt. When the fire dissipates a few moments later, the chunk of metal is badly scorched and melted enough to be mostly unrecognizable compared to its previous state.

Axel turns calmly back to the camera.]

So for future reference? Don't automatically assume that just because we're small and squishy that we're helpless. It'll save your organic friends a lot of frustration and it'll save you from looking like an ass.

Any questions?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

One begets another. [Grin.] Perhaps you ought to be careful so you don't end up with more of them.

And I think so, yes. If you're used to it, something unexpected but still familiar gets far easier to accept or pick up the new rules in.

[She smiles a bit dryly and gives anotehr shrug.]

Heartless, though?

Eh, can't say I'm really complaining. I just... question their judgement sometimes. Despite what they seem to think, I'm not really great friend material.

And yeah, Heartless. Creatures made of pure Darkness that try to steal and consume people's hearts to replicate themselves. Really icky things.

I don't think we ever get to decide such a thing, who our friends are... unless you actually don't like them and don't want them to be friends of you because of that, not because you don't feel you're good... ah, friend material.

... Interesting. I'm not sure I follow, precisely, but it's not hard to figure out they're not good.

[A dry smile.]

Nah, I like these kids. They seem to think I'm a better guy than I actually am. Or determined to try and make me one. I'm not sure.

Yes. Definitely not good. And the fun thing about them is that only a Keyblade can take them out for good. Otherwise you smack them in one place, they'll just pop up somewhere else later.

I think, with those two stand points, they might lead to the same end, actually. [She might be amused. You poor thing, Axel.]

Ah... Yeah, that sounds like a singularly unpleasant situation, since it means anyone without the proper weapon can only do maintenance, so to speak, and you're basically fighting in the same contained battle, just continuous.

[She shakes her helm.]

I think you might be right.

[Axel's amused too, if the slight chuckle in his voice is any indication.. Though yes, being unwittingly friended is hard. Not to mention it makes it difficult to maintain a tough-guy rep.]

Yep, basically. And it doesn't help that more than one person out there has tried to make it worse for their own reasons. [sigh] Never a dull moment, yeah?

I shall hope you survive the experience... relatively intact.

[That tough-guy rep? Probably going to be shot, Axel, honey.]

Apparently not, no. And of course there's at least one person who just has to go too far.

[She grunts softly, because that does seem to be how it always is.]

I think I'll survive. Mostly.

{Yeah probly. He'll continue to fake it as long as possible, though. No need for everyone to know that he's secretly adorkable.]

Yeah. Real pain in the ass. Especially when they insist on dragging everyone else along for the ride.

[She chuckles and nods, but says nothing more about that.]

Indeed. I think most of us wouldn't mind if they would leave everyone else alone beside those who might be interested, but of course that's more or less impossible due to what they want to do.

Which means we get stuck making sure they do as little damage as possible.

[Which is more or less difficult sometimes. Like a civil war, or dragging up the darkness in hearts.]

Yeah. Kinda hard to leave everyone out of wanting to conquer the world. Or destroy it. Or possibly both. Not sure what Xehanort's plan actually is back home, other than hugely complex and bad news for most everybody.

[He's working with third hand information, since Sora spent the whole time unconscious, and thus had to go by what Riku and the others told him.]

[She shakes her helm.]

Sometimes they actually are both, for several reasons, as incredible as that is. Hopefully it was resolved?

Um... We'll get back to you on that. Sora's a bit a head of me, timeline wise, and apparently Xehanort's plans are about poised to come together in his time, so hopefully him and future-me will be able to do something about it.

Because if we can't, I think it's safe to say that things are going to suck for everybody who isn't some form of Xehanort.

Ah. [Her expression twists into sympathy.] Got pulled away before you knew how things would be solved. I hope time flows differently enough, or our being here doesn't affect anything, and it does turn out well.

Yep. Sora too, though he's further along than me, like I said.

And from what I understand us being here shouldn't affect anything. According to Sora, I still have stuff to do between the last thing I remember from back home and when he was brought here. And since I've been here longer than he was back there after that incident, I think it's safe to say that time works differently between here and there.

...At least I think that's what I just said. Time travel is weird.

It is, isn't it?

[She laughs briefly and shakes her helm.]

There's things like that that does make me more or less convinced that, if nothing else, whatever happens to us, it doesn't actually affect our realities and being where we are.

[Her smile is sharp and small.]

A relief for most of us, I think.

[Except when somebody has died at home... Like Ambulon. Elita prefers not to think about that, since that would mean he is... gone now.]

Yeah. Always nice to know that you won't have to come back and have all your friends thinking you were dead because you up and vanished for months on end. That would just suck, no matter how you sliced it.

...Even if you did actually kind of die. Temporarily. Though that's more of a unique situation with me, really...

Precisely. And that your lack of presence changed things... though at least I didn't leave at any critical point, but you never know how these things turn out.

[She frowns briefly at that and then sighs, shaking her helm and arching an upper optic ridge.]

Not staying dead is something that happens in your home reality as well?

Well... kinda? More like I thought at the time that I'd be dead, but it really turned out to be something a bit different.

It's sort of a long story...

Ah. [She waves a hand.] And not one you need to tell me right now if you don't feel like it, I've heard, or heard of similar incredible... recoveries even when it didn't seem possible at the time.

[She smiles slightly dryly.]

Some people just don't stay dead, for whatever reason.

Heh, I probly wouldn't have believed this one myself, except for the fact that Sora told me about it. I don't think the kid could really lie to save his life.

And yeah, from what I understand, that seems to be part of the problem with Xehanort. Thirteen times over.

... Thirteen times? [She stares, then shakes her helm slowly.]

Never heard of anything that bad before. My sympathies.

And no, Sora doesn't seem the type to be capable of lying, or lying well.

Yeah. Xehanort apparently never did anything by halves. And of course he screwed-over a bunch of other people in the process.

Of course. I think that's a rule or something. [Elita smiles, a short, sharp thing.]

Either way, hopefully it'll go well in the end.

Yeah, hopefully.

Anyway, nice talkin' to you. I'd continue the conversation, but I've got company coming. Of the friendly variety, that is.

[Not someone looking to put his fireballs to the test, thankfully.]

Better than the other sort of company... for many different values.

[With a chuckle and a gesture that can probably be read as a salute even if it's different than otherwise, Elita disconnects.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Number III: A Public Service Announcement

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