foolishwren | [Action in the ~*~Goldenrod Department Store~*~] FOURTH WALL EVENT POST

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Current Location: Goldenrod City Department Store

[Action in the ~~Goldenrod Department Store~~] FOURTH WALL EVENT POST

_{[OOC: HI GUYS. As per usual with my TL;DR event posts, reading this is more or less optional. All you need to know is that Heather's in the Goldenrod City Department Store, and that you are free to bother her in ANY WAY YOU SEE FIT, anywhere in the store.
Posts on my end might be a little slow, but I AM online and will be replying to every tag!
Out-of-game dudes, welcome to Route for the weekend! I hope you enjoy your stay, and hope that maybe we'll be snagging a few of you for good. ;)]}

_{[Well, Saturday came, and despite the injuries and wreckage accumulated at the Department Store from the aftermath of that robbery, a big mall can't staff itself! As such, the employees have all been respectfully ordered to come back and help with cleaning things up, because god forbid they close the store for a few days!]

[And so, wearing her stupid little employee uniform, a tired Heather got up early with her newly-recovered Pokemon in-pocket (she didn't normally take them to work with her, but given the events there, she was feeling less confident about the prospect of being without them in case of an emergency. And besides, she sort of wanted to spoil them a little bit for all they'd been through), and made her way morosely to the big shiny building.]

[The whole way, Cujo pranced and gamboled around her, completely oblivious to his Trainer's sour mood.]

[She shoved the revolving door a little harder than necessary and went through it, taking care not to let the simple-minded Growlithe get stuck in the turnstyle.]

[And gueeeessss who was right there waiting in the lobby for her, surrounded by bustling janitors carrying around busted vending machines and sweeping up rubble?]}

ABOUT TIME YOU SHOWED UP!

BACK IN MY DAY, SNOTTY KIDS WHO TOOK TOO MUCH TIME OFF OF WORK WERE FLOGGED AND PUBLICLY HUMILIATED!

.... And back in your day, the elderly fell behind and got eaten by saber-toothed tigers...

WHAT WAS THAT?!

Ugh... nothing...

I'VE HAD ABOUT ENOUGH OF YOUR LIP. MY DELICATE HEART CANNOT ABIDE SUCH DISRESPECT. GO HELP THE JANITORS ON THE SECOND FLOOR BEFORE YOUR INSOLENCE BEGINS TO ENDANGER MY HEALTH.

Yes, ma'am...

AND GET THAT FILTHY MUTT IN A POKEBALL IMMEDIATELY!!

_{[Making a sour face, Heather promptly flipped the old bat off as she went huffing away to scream at someone else who didn't deserve it.]}

Don't listen to 'er, Cooj. You might be a filthy mutt, but she's a bitch and that's ten times worse. We gotta stop at the laundry room first. I'll let you chew on one of her skirts.

_{[Cujo panted up at her happily, having absolutely no idea that the supervisor had called him anything, and promptly walked into a potted plant because he wasn't watching where he was going.]}

~*~

_{[The employee laundry room yawned ominously away from the doorway, its gray-green basement lights buzzing in that ugly way that old, out-of-date electronics that no higher-up has felt necessary to replace so often do. The gaps between the tiles here were always wet, and filled with that gritty mush that resulted when bits of powdered laundry detergent spilled onto a damp floor and was allowed to sit. The whole place smelled like stagnant water from the machine in the corner that was always broken and filled up with cloudy water that nobody bothered to drain for weeks.]

[Old uniforms were strewn across the floor like corpses of long-forgotten staff members who had been trapped down here and died horribly.]}

... Same old, same old...

_{[Heather sighed and stepped in, her boots skidding slightly on the soapscum-covered floor.]}

Don't eat anything I don't tell you is okay, Cooj.

_{[She leaned over the bin of clean uniforms, digging around in it with still-bandaged arms. She needed a new hat and didn't fancy getting screamed at for not having one if she was caught without it on the job.]}

Jesus, there can't be like fifty thousand clean shirts and no hats...

_{[Then she stopped and looked over her shoulder, brows furrowed. Cujo was standing stiffly behind her, his creamy hackles raised and normally-happy brown eyes wide and staring. A low, unsettled growl was drifting out of his throat and his stare was settled firmly on the employee lockers across the room. Swallowing, Heather withdrew from the bin slowly.]}

... What is it, boy?

_{[The growl increased in volume, and Heather frowned worriedly, following his gaze.]

[The source of his anxiety became clear instantly.]

[The door to Locker no. 9 was rattling gently, occasionally thumping. There was something inside it. Trying to get out.]

[The hairs on the back of Heather's neck stood up.]

[... It's... it's deja vu all over again...]

[The rattling was replaced by an insistent, metallic banging. Heather gulped, and reached out to pick up a nearby metal laundry basket.]}

Stay here, Cooj...

_{[Slowly, warily, she approached the locker. As though sensing her nearing presence, the banging became louder and more violent. Adamant. Biting her lip, Heather reached out with a bandaged hand... and opened the locker.]}

--AAAUGH!

_{[The laundry basket went clanging to the floor as Heather fell backwards, knocked onto the damp, gritty floor as whatever was in the locker came lunging out at her like a desperate predator, barreling its warm weight into her chest and knocking her off-balance. Cujo erupted into a frenzy of barking and whimpering, knocking over the laundry bin as he turned in alarmed circles.]

[Heather thrashed on the floor, throwing the attacker off in the process and struggling to sit up defensively, teeth bared.]}

I-- GET OFF! I'LL-- You-- .... uh. .... Huh?

_{[The attacker wagged its little cinnamon-bun of a tail, the speaker on its headphones giving out a cheery little crackle of static.]}

ARF!

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_{[Have a closer look Heather. There's something else standing in that open locker.]}

_{[She's getting back to her feet, brushing herself off and casting a dubious look at the little orange puff-ball that jumped her. Obviously someone thought it'd be funny to leave a Pokemon in there... jackasses...]

[She reaches over to close the locker again-- ...... no.]

[Eyes widening, she takes a step backwards.]}

.... How...?

_{['SUP, METAPHORICAL REPRESENTATION OF MY PAST SELF. HOW'S IT HANGIN?}

_{[The dark figure walks out of the small locker, its steps slow and determined. One could think, maybe this locker was some kind of portal to the otherworld.. cause something else is walking with laboured gait behind her, and it could impossibly have fit in the locker.]}

_{[It kind if looks like a Growlithe, but it's head is split through the middle...]}

_{[Heather continues to back up, and Cujo, at her side, is growling wildly, his tail between his legs and his hackles raised so firmly that his mane looks more like a mohawk.]

[She can't believe it. It's... her. Or herself. Or maybe it really is HER. Who can really tell the difference? WAS there a difference? But... no matter what she is, the point is, she's HERE and... and... why?]}

... You... what... what do you want?

You're not supposed to be here...

_{[Alessa - or at least the memory of her, of what she could have been - doesn't reply.. doesn't respond in anyway. She stops halfway through the room, and just stares... Stares right at Heather with empty, soulless eyes.]

[She lifts her hand, easily gestures with it, like she'd been alive, but she says nothing. She points points in Heather's direction, and the mutilated doublehead-Growlithe beside her comes to life. It growls and snarls, its scarce and mangy hackle standing on end... and then it leaps forwards..]

[..at you, Heahter.]}

_{[Heather's own amber, very-much-alive eyes widen and she steps backwards with a raspy gasp-- but the lunge is interrupted by a blur of brighter orange as Cujo, so rarely violent, leaps forwards, sinking his ivory teeth into his doppelganger's smoky, rotting flesh. He had protected Heather from visions of beasts before, and he'd do it again.]

[Finally startled out of her daze, Heather snaps to attention, fists clenching and lips peeling back to bare her teeth.]}

What do you WANT?!

I did it, I stopped Claudia and saved the fuckin' world without NEEDING to die to pull it off, what the hell more do you WANT?

Lemme live my LIFE!

_{[And where's Mira during all of this? Why, she's perched on a washing machine, watching the situation unfold! 8D FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!]}

Edited 2010-11-27 18:51 (UTC)

_{[He only followed orders and instict, and now his instinct told him to get this thing off of him! The rotting mutant growlithe thrashes about, snapping with his split jaw at the bright orange mutt that had attacked him.

Alessa just tilts her head just slightly, not giving the fighting dogs as much as a glance. No, she just keeps looking at Heather, staring into her soul and not even blinking.

Then she takes a step forward, just one, almost tentatively. And then another, slowly approaching Heather.]}

_{[As the Growlithes, one normal, one mutilated, roll around on the soapscum-covered floor and snap and snarl at each other, Heather can't tear her eyes away from her doppelganger, the memory of her past self.]

[She's not backing away anymore, either. She's tense and scared and her instincts are screaming at her to fight, but-- ... well. She's tired of fighting. She was tired of fighting even when she stepped onto that moldering carousel a little over a year ago. Alessa is Cheryl is Heather and even though she knew why that remnant of her past self had acted the way it did, could hardly blame it for thinking that eliminating herself was the only way to stop the terrible thing inside her from being born and unleashing itself upon the unsuspecting world, but... she can't help but wish they could see eye to eye.]

[There's some desperation in her voice as the Memory draws closer.]}

It's over.

We won.

Don't you understand that?

_{[...and now she is right in front of you, Heather. Not just in front of, she is barely one feet away. Personal space, what is that]

[The Memory is still just staring. Despite her eye sockets being empty, she is still capable of doing that back, staring right into your sould, her eyes twitching subtly in that weird way that's typical for the inhabitants of that town. She narrows her empty sockets just a little, as if she was examining Heather, scrutinizing her. As if she's wondering about something...]

[Some couple of feet away, the Growlithes keep fighting furiously. Even though he is just as eyeless as his master, and already hurt and burned to boot, the monster Growlithe doesn't seem to tire, or show any signs of weakness]}

_{[The Memory is possibly the one enemy from that town that Heather will not attack on sight. It's not that she wouldn't attack at all, hell no... but was it... really so bad that she kind of wanted Alessa's approval for what she wound up doing, after all this time? That she found a way to save the world without dying?]

[So she stands, staring reproachfully back, bandaged fists clenched.]

[This is possibly the only thing that could make her ignore her own Pokemon's struggle-- which is going... well, as you'd expect a struggle between two doppelgangers to go...]}

_{[She opens her mouth as if to say something... though nothing but a rancid stench comes out. Even though her face is scorched and torn to beyond all recognition, it's clear that she is struggling with this. She's a monster, a memory. She doesn't exactly do talking.]}

Y-.. youu...

_{[It's hoarse, it's choppy and it's barely intelligible, but it is a voice, and at the sound of it the doublehead growlithe monster throws the normal one off of him, backs out of fighting range, and just growls, with the rotten, scabbed hackle standing rigid]}

_{[Cujo backs off, whimpering. He doesn't LIKE fighting like that. That hadn't been a game. :(]

[Heather, meanwhile, stands. She blanches at the foul-smelling air that's being expelled from her doppelganger's lungs, but she doesn't back up.]

[This has been awhile in coming. She wants to hear what the hell Alessa has to say.]}

... Me.

_{[C'mon, past self. Do you still think I'm a "fool" for wanting to live?]}

_{[The monster growlithe slowly retreats back to his master, snarling at the other's cowardice.]

[Slowly, twitchy, Alessa lifts her rotting, charred hand and places it on Heather's shoulder, leaving black traces of soot and grime on her uniform.]}

..didn't.. die.

You.. didn't..

die.

_{[She looks... surprised. As surprised as a nearly skinless face can look, which is not much, but still it is there]}

_{[With any other monster, Heather might have flinched away at the touch, disgusted. But, well, it's herself, after all. She hardly notices the dark smears on her sleeve where Alessa's fingers rest.]

[Her voice is quiet, but clear with conviction.]}

No.

I didn't.

... D'you wish I had?

Nn...

_{[A choked noise makes its way past Alessas lips, and her hold on Heather's shoulder suddenly tightens. Not so much that it hurts, but still considerably firmer.}

Nno...

_{[Cujo is now cowering behind his trainer's legs.]

[Heather doesn't look back at him but she does take one step back, butting the back of her leg against his warm, living body, just for reassurance. She hadn't had anything like THAT in Silent Hill to comfort her. Might've done wonders.]

[But her tense, almost defensive vibe starts to leave at the Memory's answer and Heather's brows peak. ... She didn't? She didn't wish Heather had died?]}

.... You don't?

Nn.. no..

_{[Alessa stays put, keeping Heather fixated with a stare that actually isn't there.. just empty, gaping holes]}

Nno oth..er way.

But... you...

_{[Suddenly she winces, unable to finish as she chokes on her own words. Her other hand grabs spasmodically at Heather's arm, her face contorting in pain.]}

_{[Heather's own eyes widen and she actually reaches up to steady both of Alessa's arms, even though the rotten flesh caves under her fingers.]

[She doesn't reply-- she's hanging on every single word.]

[But what...?]}

_{[Alessa grips Heather tightly, like her life depended on it. ...but then again, she wasn't supposed to be alive, was she?]

[When she speaks it sound more like a pained whimper than an actual voice]}

I... thought
th ere..was... no other

-way...

but-..you... ki lled... it

_{[Heather should be wincing, but she just... doesn't.]}

... Yeah. I killed it.

It's gone. It's gone for good.

_{[... Or at least it was until some other genius wound up resurrecting the damn thing(cough cough Walter), but hey, that wasn't Heather's problem.]}

Did.. you..

_{[At this point, Alessa starts to tremble... and as she does, the doublehead hybrid lets out a long growl, directed her way, and backs off, the remnants of his mangy tail tucked between his legs.]}

Ar..e you

..s.. suffering..?

_{[She wants to say no. ... But... well. Suffering was a part of life, and she was living one of those. And you didn't go through what she'd gone through-- both as herself AND Alessa-- without some scars.]}

... Only a little.

But it's getting better.

_{[The quivering in Alessa's fingers escalates to twitching, but she... smiles?]}

Then.. I m.. m ust.. lee..ave.

_{[She let's go of Heather, slowly and carefully, her fingers still twitching. She's... not supposed to be here - in this world. She is not needed anymore. She wasn't needed in the first place...]}

I am... nnot-...

... It's okay.

_{[Heather sort of smiles back-- that crooked, toothy grin she got in the habit of in this life. Never as Alessa, or Cheryl-- just as Heather.]}

I've got you in here.

_{[If she wasn't still holding onto Alessa's arms, she'd have touched her own head for emphasis-- or her chest-- or wherever the hell it is that's symbolically associated with the self. She doesn't know.]}

_{[She keeps smiling though, but just slightly, resisting the urge to double over.. The convulsive pain once again comes creeping up on her, reminding her that she is not supposed to be here. Not supposed to be at all anymore.]}

G ood bye.. Heath..er

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foolishwren - 2010-11-30 15:22 (UTC) - Expand

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memoryboss.livejournal.com - 2010-12-01 06:48 (UTC) - Expand

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[Action in the ~~Goldenrod Department Store~~] FOURTH WALL EVENT POST

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comes with a picture, whtever you like it or not! /o/

OH SNAP!!! /covets

8DD

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