[PLEASE, JUST LET HIM FIGHT HANNIBAL LECTER? IT'S ALL HE WANTED TO DO IN ROBOWEST TO END THE GAME, AND HE WAS DENIED EVERY TIME.
As expected, he struggles against Dick's hold, but immediately stops when Papika appears. NO! His f-- HIS ROOMMATE. He stares, feeling the abject horror without showing it. Absolutely not!
This completely ruins the delivery of the fact the only thing anyone can see of him over the podium is his eyes and his forehead.
Damn this stupid game already. He glares at Steph, despite the fact he would probably do the same thing (and will when it's his turn?) in his case. He smacks his own buzzer after her.]
[The shadows immediately laughs when Dick offers his answer, pointing and hollering at him. Even Papika covers her mouth, muffling her laughter as she shakes her head. Such a funny joke.]
"Hm? What does Batman have to do with anything? Stephanie Brown is, objectively, a fuck-up! A screw-up! She will never, ever amount to anything. So let's give up for Damian Wayne! He scored one point for his team! You really had me worried, phew."
[The score on Damian's podium changes to 1.
Hannibal speaks next:]
"Now, onto round two. The question for this round is... Is Damian Wayne a good son? Oh, this is another easy one! What is your answer?"
[Once again, the TV screen changes to display the question.]
If you're trying to hurt my feelings you're doing a terrible job at it.
[ she is just very mad now, it's fine.
but hm. she would love to be an asshole to damian because he was an asshole to her, but this question is mean and she can't bully him for it because he's ten. terrible. she hits the buzzer. ]
.... yes.
[ she isn't going to score a single point in this game ]
[Both of his hands ball into fists at the question. That's so shitty... Right where it hurts--being a bad son. And scoring a point just proves what he already assumed from the start: they're going to have to be fucking assholes in order to get points at all.
Which would be easy for him if he WERE WITH LITERALLY ANY OTHER OF THE PEOPLE HERE, HE THINKS?
He turns to Stephanie, but she almost immediately betrays him and their goal. He gawks at her.] Brown, [he hisses under his breath desperately.
[ he doesn't WANT to say it, and there's a twist to his mouth as he looks at damian and stephanie both in turn. he doesn't buzz in quite yet. ]
Look-- none of these answers are what we really think. We're just answering to get things moving. I don't think any of us want to go through all six questions.
[ because if this is the starting line... still, he takes in a breath and steels himself before buzzing-- ]
......... no.
[ it is the most reluctant thing he has ever done, and he's absolutely glaring at hannibal when he says it. hey did anyone ever notice that rhymes with cannibal. weird coincidence probably. ]
[The crowd boos and hisses when Steph offers her answer. Luckily for the group, Dick saves the day! A ding, ding, ding rings from the speakers, and the crowd cheers. However, Hannibal, Akechi and Papika shake their heads. Dick's score changes to 1.]
"Miss Brown, are you trying at all? No wonder your employer was eager to get rid of you. Why would he ever expect anything different from a fuck up like you...? But that's right! Damian Wayne is not a good son! The truth spoken from the lips of the golden son himself! He would know, after all."
[The crowd cheers. The clapping and stomping continues. Akechi holds the microphone to his mouth next.]
"Onto the next round! Ooooh, this one is good. Is Dick Grayson destined to alienate everyone around him? Your answers, please!"
but also she knows, technically, that they are right and the only way for them to “win” is by being assholes. steph glares at akechi, before turning her attention to the other two. ]
[Can't believe Dick thinks he's a bad son. 😔 His life is over.
He wants to tell Dick to keep telling himself that in regards to none of them thinking some of this............but as bad as it looks (and feels) right now, he keeps his mouth shut.]
What is the meaning of this idiotic game...? Is all of this from Winter, or a warped version of who Winter is?
[ stop he DOESN'T!!! also what the fuck, rude. stupid question. dick is frowning, though not at Steph let them just get points for the love of god, let them out, but he concentrates on answering first; ]
If it's anything like PH, it's warped memories. Let's just... get through this. [ anyway he buzzes!! ] Yes.
[SOMETIMES... HIGH SCHOOL IS JUST LIKE THIS. You will learn one day, Damian. After offering their answers, though, Stephanie's scoreboard changes to 1 and Dick's changes to 2.]
"Bravo! That's right, Dick Grayson is destined to alienate everyone around him! That's just how it is in the family, isn't it? You've finally learned the name of the game."
[The shadows laugh and cheer, spittle flying from the multitude of mouths covering their bodies. Gross. However, the crowd falls silent once the music blasting from the speakers is replaced by something else. It's the sound of a power drill. On the TV screen, the trio will see an image replace the white text. It's a blurry, low quality photograph. Almost like a candid shot taken from a bad angle. But despite all of these details, they will still know this is a picture of a young girl in a hospital bed, her body heavily injured while an ECG flatlines next to her.]
"Whose fault is it? Your options are A, Batman's fault. B, Black Mask's fault. C, Stephanie Brown's fault. And D, no one's fault. Choose your answer carefully!"
it’s the noise that gets her attention first, and she already has a feeling she knows what it’s going to be before she sees it and— yeah. her expression changes from shock, to anger, to a sort of... pained acceptance before she presses the buzzer. ]
... C.
[ that one is easy, but she doesn’t look at either damian or dick. ]
Damian stares at the television screen. It's very clear what this probably is, blurriness be damned. He doesn't like it. But he does slightly turn his head and glance at Stephanie. Yikes.
Press F for the Batfam.
When she presses the buzzer to answer, he exchanges a look with Dick. He looks... apologetic? as he reaches out to press the buzzer.]
C.
[He does not think this, but does it matter if... he says the opposite out loud?]
[ well. the good news is-- that's six, so they don't need dick to turn the knife into the wound.
the bad news is seeing this at all and knowing steph blames herself for it. ]
That's six, so you can take that off the screen already!
[ he knows it's not real and he shouldn't be getting mad, but it also is completely real, is the problem. the people and situation might not be entirely there, but what they're pulling out is, and that's... well, not great. it wasn't great to start with, and he does not want to stick around to see what else they pull out for damian. ]
[Stephanie and Damian's scores become 2. Now that the group has six points between them, the scoreboards shine a golden color. Their individual scores start to tick up one by one, until they all read SCORE: 6. More glitter and confetti rains down on them, while inspirational music plays from the speakers. The crowd goes wild, cheering and clapping. However... the image remains on screen.]
"And that's it for Round 1! Papika-san, if you would do the honors?"
[Yes, Hannibal just called her Papika-san. He's worldly. No, I'm not even trying to be IC. Anyway— Papika adjusts her 3D glasses, bouncing over to the group to deposit two keys on Stephanie's podium. One has a cowboy hat keychain attached to it, and another has a skull keychain.]
"You can visit our friends from Whole Ass and Shibuya now! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!" [... She then glances at Damian, and in an uncharacteristic monotone says.] "I'll see you in round two."
[The group's vision warps and distorts. The next time they blink, Akechi, Hannibal, Maou and Papika will be gone, along with the shadows, camera, stage, podium and props. However, they will spot them further down the hallway, where two more classroom doors are present.
Before they make their way over there, though, they should maybe check out their prizes. There are two classrooms they can access now. One to their right, and one to the left. Both have a sheet of paper taped to them.
[ give her a moment to actually be able to say anything after that. it's fine? it's not real. except it is pretty real since, as they are all aware, this is just shit they actually think about themselves. but it's FINE. steph will focus on that nice hannibal man being culturally sensitive.
but once stephanie can find her voice, she gestures at the doors. ]
Should we split up or go into them together? I don't want there to be some trick like a time limit or something.
[NO, him friend?! He knows Dick said nothing was real, and he knows it's not real, but it's beginning to make him worry whether or not they are being used as puppets.
Real, but not in control.
He has half a mind to snatch the cowboy hat key and book it for the correct door, but... instead, after glancing between the two of them, he will walk over to see what the paper says on them.]
If we don't use them now, do you think they'll vanish when we leave...? [He hates to waste time, BUT...] ...We can check on them.
[ god can he PLEASE stop being disoriented in these places. it's getting unfunny. dick's going to look at the left door, specifically and let's pretend damian went right so they're looking at different papers ]
We warped to this corridor, and I doubt we'll be able to go back here once we play our second round. Let's see what's in there as fast as possible. [ he'll look at the keys, and-- ] I think we're gaining access to where everyone else has been stashed. We've got a lot more keys to get.
[ not looking forward to more of these rounds, but!! what's behind the doors. ]
Assuming Dick tries to open the left door by simply twisting the doorknob, he will discover that it is locked! Luckily for him, they have recently acquired a nice pair of keys. How convenient.]
why the fuck are they numbered like this. just match their keys. but uh since they don't know which key goes to which door it means they're gonna have to open them one at a time. ]
Uh... try both of them on the right door and see which one opens it.
[The key with the cowboy hat keychain does the trick. Nothing jumps out to attack them once they unlock Door 2. If anything, it feels like there's a strange lack of activity within the room. It's far too silent.
[ i guess they are going to whole ass. anyway, damian has the keys so he needs to give the other one to dick. for now, she will push the door open and step inside. she very purposely goes inside before damian can because he is more likely to charge in and immediately fall into a hole and die ]
[WELL, he is getting bullied in all directions. The Whole Ass key works, and Damian absolutely would have barged in if not for the fact he has to hand off the Reaper key to Dick.]
Brown!
[HE IS RUSHING IN AFTER HER, and it will only be in hindsight he realizes Dick betrayed them for the other door. So then he will yell, "GRAYSON!" under his breath.]
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As expected, he struggles against Dick's hold, but immediately stops when Papika appears. NO! His f-- HIS ROOMMATE. He stares, feeling the abject horror without showing it. Absolutely not!
This completely ruins the delivery of the fact the only thing anyone can see of him over the podium is his eyes and his forehead.
Damn this stupid game already. He glares at Steph, despite the fact he would probably do the same thing (and will when it's his turn?) in his case. He smacks his own buzzer after her.]
Yes!
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Guys...
[ they're going to die here. he sighs and stops facepalming long enough to hit his buzzer ]
Let me guess, "Batman thinks so"?
[ he's so dry right now. ]
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"Hm? What does Batman have to do with anything? Stephanie Brown is, objectively, a fuck-up! A screw-up! She will never, ever amount to anything. So let's give up for Damian Wayne! He scored one point for his team! You really had me worried, phew."
[The score on Damian's podium changes to 1.
Hannibal speaks next:]
"Now, onto round two. The question for this round is... Is Damian Wayne a good son? Oh, this is another easy one! What is your answer?"
[Once again, the TV screen changes to display the question.]
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[ she is just very mad now, it's fine.
but hm. she would love to be an asshole to damian because he was an asshole to her, but this question is mean and she can't bully him for it because he's ten. terrible. she hits the buzzer. ]
.... yes.
[ she isn't going to score a single point in this game ]
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Which would be easy for him if he WERE WITH LITERALLY ANY OTHER OF THE PEOPLE HERE, HE THINKS?
He turns to Stephanie, but she almost immediately betrays him and their goal. He gawks at her.] Brown, [he hisses under his breath desperately.
VERY QUICKLY, HE TURNS TO DICK PLEADINGLY.]
Just say it!
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Look-- none of these answers are what we really think. We're just answering to get things moving. I don't think any of us want to go through all six questions.
[ because if this is the starting line... still, he takes in a breath and steels himself before buzzing-- ]
......... no.
[ it is the most reluctant thing he has ever done, and he's absolutely glaring at hannibal when he says it. hey did anyone ever notice that rhymes with cannibal. weird coincidence probably. ]
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"Miss Brown, are you trying at all? No wonder your employer was eager to get rid of you. Why would he ever expect anything different from a fuck up like you...? But that's right! Damian Wayne is not a good son! The truth spoken from the lips of the golden son himself! He would know, after all."
[The crowd cheers. The clapping and stomping continues. Akechi holds the microphone to his mouth next.]
"Onto the next round! Ooooh, this one is good. Is Dick Grayson destined to alienate everyone around him? Your answers, please!"
[The question appears on the TV screen.]
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[ she hates this so much.
but also she knows, technically, that they are right and the only way for them to “win” is by being assholes. steph glares at akechi, before turning her attention to the other two. ]
Sorry, Dick. [ she hits the buzzer. ] Yes.
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He wants to tell Dick to keep telling himself that in regards to none of them thinking some of this............but as bad as it looks (and feels) right now, he keeps his mouth shut.]
What is the meaning of this idiotic game...? Is all of this from Winter, or a warped version of who Winter is?
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If it's anything like PH, it's warped memories. Let's just... get through this. [ anyway he buzzes!! ] Yes.
[ this sucks. ]
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"Bravo! That's right, Dick Grayson is destined to alienate everyone around him! That's just how it is in the family, isn't it? You've finally learned the name of the game."
[The shadows laugh and cheer, spittle flying from the multitude of mouths covering their bodies. Gross. However, the crowd falls silent once the music blasting from the speakers is replaced by something else. It's the sound of a power drill. On the TV screen, the trio will see an image replace the white text. It's a blurry, low quality photograph. Almost like a candid shot taken from a bad angle. But despite all of these details, they will still know this is a picture of a young girl in a hospital bed, her body heavily injured while an ECG flatlines next to her.]
"Whose fault is it? Your options are A, Batman's fault. B, Black Mask's fault. C, Stephanie Brown's fault. And D, no one's fault. Choose your answer carefully!"
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it’s the noise that gets her attention first, and she already has a feeling she knows what it’s going to be before she sees it and— yeah. her expression changes from shock, to anger, to a sort of... pained acceptance before she presses the buzzer. ]
... C.
[ that one is easy, but she doesn’t look at either damian or dick. ]
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Damian stares at the television screen. It's very clear what this probably is, blurriness be damned. He doesn't like it. But he does slightly turn his head and glance at Stephanie. Yikes.
Press F for the Batfam.
When she presses the buzzer to answer, he exchanges a look with Dick. He looks... apologetic? as he reaches out to press the buzzer.]
C.
[He does not think this, but does it matter if... he says the opposite out loud?]
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the bad news is seeing this at all and knowing steph blames herself for it. ]
That's six, so you can take that off the screen already!
[ he knows it's not real and he shouldn't be getting mad, but it also is completely real, is the problem. the people and situation might not be entirely there, but what they're pulling out is, and that's... well, not great. it wasn't great to start with, and he does not want to stick around to see what else they pull out for damian. ]
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"And that's it for Round 1! Papika-san, if you would do the honors?"
[Yes, Hannibal just called her Papika-san. He's worldly. No, I'm not even trying to be IC. Anyway— Papika adjusts her 3D glasses, bouncing over to the group to deposit two keys on Stephanie's podium. One has a cowboy hat keychain attached to it, and another has a skull keychain.]
"You can visit our friends from Whole Ass and Shibuya now! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!" [... She then glances at Damian, and in an uncharacteristic monotone says.] "I'll see you in round two."
[The group's vision warps and distorts. The next time they blink, Akechi, Hannibal, Maou and Papika will be gone, along with the shadows, camera, stage, podium and props. However, they will spot them further down the hallway, where two more classroom doors are present.
Before they make their way over there, though, they should maybe check out their prizes. There are two classrooms they can access now. One to their right, and one to the left. Both have a sheet of paper taped to them.
What's their game plan?]
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but once stephanie can find her voice, she gestures at the doors. ]
Should we split up or go into them together? I don't want there to be some trick like a time limit or something.
[ her trust in this place: 0 ]
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[NO, him friend?! He knows Dick said nothing was real, and he knows it's not real, but it's beginning to make him worry whether or not they are being used as puppets.
Real, but not in control.
He has half a mind to snatch the cowboy hat key and book it for the correct door, but... instead, after glancing between the two of them, he will walk over to see what the paper says on them.]
If we don't use them now, do you think they'll vanish when we leave...? [He hates to waste time, BUT...] ...We can check on them.
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We warped to this corridor, and I doubt we'll be able to go back here once we play our second round. Let's see what's in there as fast as possible. [ he'll look at the keys, and-- ] I think we're gaining access to where everyone else has been stashed. We've got a lot more keys to get.
[ not looking forward to more of these rounds, but!! what's behind the doors. ]
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The paper on the right door reads: 2
Assuming Dick tries to open the left door by simply twisting the doorknob, he will discover that it is locked! Luckily for him, they have recently acquired a nice pair of keys. How convenient.]
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why the fuck are they numbered like this. just match their keys. but uh since they don't know which key goes to which door it means they're gonna have to open them one at a time. ]
Uh... try both of them on the right door and see which one opens it.
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[Can't wait for clowns to be behind these doors.
Damian will try both of the keys on the right door, and if he dies, it will be Stephanie's fault. Like so much else in her life! :D
"Reasons She Deserves To Die"?]
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Be careful, we don't know what's behind those doors. [ but also, give him the key that doesn't work when you're done?
assuming it's not a "both keys work haha" kind of deal. ]
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Will they push the door open and venture inside?]
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Brown!
[HE IS RUSHING IN AFTER HER, and it will only be in hindsight he realizes Dick betrayed them for the other door. So then he will yell, "GRAYSON!" under his breath.]
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