soul_campaign | Death Clip 3 | Video (June 15th)

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Death Clip 3 | Video (June 15th)

[Hiro looks dead serious today, and perhaps even a little antsy. He talks with a certain speed and tension, and it's clear that he's troubled.]

Hey, everybody. It's Hiro again. I've got a question for you guys... how do you know when you're "ready" to start going on missions? I haven't even been here for a full month, but given all the crazy stuff that's happened, and especially this most recent problem with the people who disappeared on their missions... I want to help. I don't feel comfortable just sitting around anymore. I didn't sign up for the rescue missions because I wasn't sure I was ready, but now I'm worried. I mean, not like I wasn't worried before, but still. I'd like to start breaking myself in for harder jobs like that.

I'm looking for a Weapon who would be willing to come with me on my first mission. I'd like to meet you in person first so we can talk and maybe practice a bit. I've got one little requirement, though: I think I'd like the mission to be after the Summer Gala, unless we can pull everything off before the 20th. I think that might be rushing things, but we'll see what we plan out. See you soon, hopefully.

[Filtered to Chika Daimon]

Hey, Chika. This is totally unrelated to the rest of my post, but do you still need help at the arcade? I think I'd like to try applying for a job there, if there's any spaces left.

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Ah? Then you've surely already heard both sides of that argument, right? Maybe you can introduce me to the Witch that told you about their view on the war without harming you in the process? [He laughs, making a malicious sound that is irritatingly close to an evil giggle for a guy. It's clear by the tone of his voice that he is mocking Hiro.]

[Hiro takes a deep breath, trying to keep his cool. There's a way out of this... maybe.]

Has a Witch ever done you that favor? If so, you should tell me what they said. If I ever met a Witch that was willing to be that reasonable, I'd let them go. [Not that he's ever actually met a Witch...] I like peaceful solutions. I just haven't really had an opportunity to reach any. [That happens when your enemies are aliens whose sole motivation is to destroy your world and the world's overseer.]

[Something in Bakura's face changes at those words, in a way that shows that they definitely had been the wrong ones.]

Peaceful solutions? Don't fucking kid me, asshole, all the 'peaceful solutions' your type ever manages to create are those that make somebody else pay for your sins!! What's so peaceful about you that your first reaction is to assume that you'd be in a position to 'let somebody go' if you ever meet them?!

[Oh, geez, did that ever escalate quickly. Hiro looks a bit visibly put out, but he can't lose his head here. That'd just make more trouble.]

"My type?" What makes you so sure you know what "my type" is? I never said I was peaceful. I've been in positions where I've had nothing to do but fight. And "let somebody go" was just a phrase. The Witch and I would probably be in a combat situation, after all.

[Just as quickly as it had come Bakura's emotional outburst drew back into him, leaving him look and sound dangerously sane and calm even though an angry fire kept illuminating his eyes.]

My apologies, but you see... I've met far too many self-proclaimed heroes, special ones and people with far more 'good intentions' [he says the word like an insult] than brains to still believe in any of this peaceful solutions bullshit. You carelessly speak about making things 'right' without knowing even the full surface, never mind trying to scratch and see past it- I've seen the piles of bodies and tears resulting from that.

...Hm.

[Hiro pauses for a moment, trying to think Bakura's words over as much as possible.]

Maybe it's got something to do with them being heroes or special or something in their home world. I'm not going to pretend I'm a hero or special, though. I gave that up when I reset my timeline.

But, you know... I never really said anything about making things right, one way or the other. I just said I wanted to help out. If kishin eggs are making trouble for people, then I should help them if I'm in a position to act. Which I am.

[Bakura scoffs at those words. It's true, Hiro hadn't said it, but it was always the same with those types who felt the need to say something like that publicly rather than just do it. There's always that foolish hope - just like the one that keeps driving his host to do things that make Bakura want to smack him either senseless or until Ryou finally gained some semblance of sense. Happily sacrificing things that aren't yours to give is not okay.

And since the ancient spirit can't say anything to poor Ryou who only means well without immediately having an army of said goody-two-shoes friends on his back for being 'mean' to poor widdle Ryou he is lashing out at everybody else who shows hints of similar a sentiment instead.]

Are you now? [His voice sounds bitter.] All you can do is kill. You can't prevent more people from dying or being turned into those monsters. For the witches you [he makes a sweeping gesture to show that the 'you' is meant to encompass everybody willing to fight in the city] are nothing but playthings from in the best case. They'll never get anywhere with this war.

What would you rather people do about the Witches and kishin eggs? Nothing? I disagree that we can't prevent more people from dying. Turning into Kishin Eggs would be more difficult to control since that's dependent on what outside people do, but preventative action is better than no action at all.

[Or is it? Hiro's pretty sure this is an argument with no clear way to win (not that winning mattered). All he can do is try to avoid digging himself a deeper grave.]

So you say it's better to keep fighting no matter what rather than looking for alternative ways to settle a this mess?

Believe me, I'd love to look for alternative ways. But you don't seem to think there is one, given your thoughts on "peaceful solutions."

Well, there's definitely none for such half-baked convictions and attempts as you and the others here are displaying.

Don't you know that you need passion and force to change the world?

I definitely do! It was through passion, force, and strength of will that I fought to reset my world and won all my friends over to my side. And the other two sides, who wanted to implement more drastic changes, were definitely passionate. My team just ended up being stronger than them.

Maybe you have a point, though. I can't just blandly offer to help. There needs to be some specific aspect of the fight that I should commit to.

[He scoffs with a smile playing around the corners of his lips.]

Of course I'm right. I'm the sole survivor of an attempt of help gone wrong. Or, well, was.

Really? I think this is something you should explain. If there's a lesson to be learned from what happened to you, and I'm sure there is, I'd like to learn it.

[Bakura laughs haughtily again.]

So much reason... But I have to wonder if my advices really will teach you anything. Well, here goes~

Fist, don't sacrifice others thoughtlessly.
Second, don't pretend to be a hero when your 'powers of justice' are based on taking everything from others and giving nothing of your own.
Third, make sure that everyone you slaughtered is really dead.

...Those points should be all pretty logical, shouldn't they?

They make sense. In my world, we almost sacrificed someone in order to unlock power to defeat the enemy, but I was able to keep her from dying. Making sure things are really dead is kinda... grisly, but it makes sense. But that second point... I don't know. I don't think I took much from others that I didn't put back out. Then again, my situation was a little different. Justice wasn't really our main focus. It was surviving.

Then that point doesn't apply to you, does it?

Maybe you could use "don't expect people to become friends if you just like them both and put them long enough with each other" instead.

Okay, this one makes sense. We had one guy on our team who hated teamwork and nearly got himself killed when he went off on his own. He did come around after a bit, but I'm not quite sure how thorough of a come-around that was. I lucked out and had a lot of people who were friendly, though.

The point is, don't force it unless you're prepared to be hated for it. You wouldn't want to be told how to feel either, do you?

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Death Clip 3 | Video (June 15th)

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