Lt. Carter Blake (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lieutenantantichrist) wrote2015-03-09 03:00 am
lieutenantantichrist) wrote2015-03-09 03:00 am
[21] Video/Action for Goldenrod - "I'm gonna rule this world."
[In a square in the center of Goldenrod City, a small crowd has gathered. A show is about to start.
There's a crude stage that's been freshly hammered together. Near the back, a little Snubbull is tapping in the last few nails. The platform wobbles but holds as a man climbs up it, then takes a place at a podium in the center. He's wearing a white button-up shirt and, in concession to his ambitions, a tie. He looks toward the camera.] Hey, Newt. You got that thing running?
[The camera's view nods up and down.]
All right.
[He holds his arms up for silence. Then, when no one quite pays attention, he barks,] Hey! All of you! Shut up!
[That's much more effective. When the eyes of the curious onlookers are on him, he plants his hands on the sides of the podium and clears his throat.]
All of you. Locals, people from the real world, people from the fuckin' moon. You know me. See, I've been here a long, long time. Two damn years, and I know some of you have been here longer. I was thinking about that, and you know what I realized?
[His voice gets louder and clearer as he finds his rhythm.]
I realized I'm not a fuckin' tourist. None of us are. This is our world as much as it is theirs-- and nobody is doing dick to run it.
Look around. Everybody does whatever they damn well please, and that's real nice right up until the minute some idiot starts planting bombs around. The closest thing to somebody in charge is the police, and they're a goddamn joke who give terrorists a week picking up garbage and then set them loose again. There's nobody calling the shots.
That changes today.
[His boots thud on plywood as he tramps back and forth along the stage, and his speech takes a turn toward harangue.]
When bees and sharks came crashing through people's windows, who smacked them right back out? Me. When some moron went around shooting lasers at the city, who knocked him out of the sky? Me. When a couple armies of fire and water idiots tried to wreck up the place with giant monsters, who went out to stop them? [He jerks his thumb to his chest.] Me.
[His voice is getting louder and louder. The cords stand out on his neck.]
And I'm not some jumped-up fourteen-year-old who thinks he's magic. I've been around the block in the real world. I have decades on the front lines. I haven't just lead people, I've lead them into tenements full of crackheads with shotguns. That has to mean something, even here.
Somebody around here has to get shit in order, and I'm done waiting.
[His tread takes him back to the podium. He grips the sides with his coarse-knuckled hands and leans over it to look straight into the Gear.]
I'm not asking you. I'm telling you.
From now on, I'm the head honcho around here.
[He jabs his finger at the camera.]
Stand with me or get out of my way.
There's a crude stage that's been freshly hammered together. Near the back, a little Snubbull is tapping in the last few nails. The platform wobbles but holds as a man climbs up it, then takes a place at a podium in the center. He's wearing a white button-up shirt and, in concession to his ambitions, a tie. He looks toward the camera.] Hey, Newt. You got that thing running?
[The camera's view nods up and down.]
All right.
[He holds his arms up for silence. Then, when no one quite pays attention, he barks,] Hey! All of you! Shut up!
[That's much more effective. When the eyes of the curious onlookers are on him, he plants his hands on the sides of the podium and clears his throat.]
All of you. Locals, people from the real world, people from the fuckin' moon. You know me. See, I've been here a long, long time. Two damn years, and I know some of you have been here longer. I was thinking about that, and you know what I realized?
[His voice gets louder and clearer as he finds his rhythm.]
I realized I'm not a fuckin' tourist. None of us are. This is our world as much as it is theirs-- and nobody is doing dick to run it.
Look around. Everybody does whatever they damn well please, and that's real nice right up until the minute some idiot starts planting bombs around. The closest thing to somebody in charge is the police, and they're a goddamn joke who give terrorists a week picking up garbage and then set them loose again. There's nobody calling the shots.
That changes today.
[His boots thud on plywood as he tramps back and forth along the stage, and his speech takes a turn toward harangue.]
When bees and sharks came crashing through people's windows, who smacked them right back out? Me. When some moron went around shooting lasers at the city, who knocked him out of the sky? Me. When a couple armies of fire and water idiots tried to wreck up the place with giant monsters, who went out to stop them? [He jerks his thumb to his chest.] Me.
[His voice is getting louder and louder. The cords stand out on his neck.]
And I'm not some jumped-up fourteen-year-old who thinks he's magic. I've been around the block in the real world. I have decades on the front lines. I haven't just lead people, I've lead them into tenements full of crackheads with shotguns. That has to mean something, even here.
Somebody around here has to get shit in order, and I'm done waiting.
[His tread takes him back to the podium. He grips the sides with his coarse-knuckled hands and leans over it to look straight into the Gear.]
I'm not asking you. I'm telling you.
From now on, I'm the head honcho around here.
[He jabs his finger at the camera.]
Stand with me or get out of my way.
video
Alas, with neither of the girls here and Tiz completely absent, it's up to Ringabel to respond.
And, well, he's certainly not going to charge in blindly. If anything, this merits investigation.
So, here we have a young man somewhere in his twenties with a ridiculous pompadour staring at the screen and tapping his chin.]
While I hate to interrupt such a rousing speech, I've a few questions. First, what do you mean when you say "real world"? Second, when you say you've been here for two years, are you referring to this city or this land as a whole?
Third, and while I mean no disrespect, how do you intend to make a difference?
video
He's almost gotten used to guys with stupid Elvis haircuts.]
When I say the real world, I mean the one with guns and cars and no magic fish. And I mean this land.
[Two years. Christ.
It's going to mean something, damn it. He stands up straight, chest stuck out.]
First thing, we're gonna have a police department. A real one.
video
[He chuckles.]
Though I'd argue that Luxendarc is as real as this realm.
[He waves his hand, then readjusts himself, folding his hands and resting his elbows on his desk.]
By the sound of it, the local law enforcement leaves a bit to be desired, so perhaps it could use a man with your experience and charisma. Still, do you believe the locals will accept such a change?
[Change is often frightening, after all.]
video
[That being the one he comes from. Hey, just working up to an admission that other worlds exist took him a good long time.
He likes having his qualifications acknowledged.]
What are the cops gonna do, toss me in jail for being better at their job? As for the powers that be, that's the whole point. There aren't any.
People in general, they'll complain, then they'll get used to it.
video
For the time being, he might as well focus on more immediate matters.]
None at all? You'd think there'd be at least some form of governing body. If not a king, then at least a general, a prime minister... Someone with credentials.
[If it's just the police, then who is in charge of them?]
video
[Blake is glad to hear this guy asking the right questions.]
That doesn't sound right to you either, does it.
video
[And moreover, bombings and... well, aerial assaults are hardly on the same level of petty theft.]
I'm surprised this world has managed to remain peaceful when there's so little structure. Freedom can be a blessing, but without limits, you're left with nothing but anarchy.
video
See, now you're somebody who knows what he's talking about. Any time you have more than two people together, somebody has to take charge. Anarchy doesn't do anybody any good.
You're thinking on the right track. Now, the question is, are you man enough to do something about it?
video
[And it seems a bit preemptive to act without learning a bit more about this world's social structure. What he's heard thus far is certainly troubling, but he knows better than to rush into a conflict without considering its complexities.
Well, while he deliberates, he'll take a quick glimpse at some of the other responses.]
Hmm, you may have to contend to opposing forces. Have you any plans to deal with the angry masses?
video
[He waves his hand dismissively.]
Let them bitch all they want. If they try to get in my way, hell, all you have to do to get people here to listen to you is win a damn magic animal fight. Then they go along with whatever you say.
video
I've heard that the locals have a certain... fixation with battles. And don't get me wrong, combat and competition are both thrilling in their own right. It's just baffling that it has such a large influence on the social structure.
[Really, don't they have any other hobbies, hopes, or desires?]
video
It's no wonder they never got around to making a government. That doesn't have anything at all to do with whose fish can punch harder.
video
What next? Shall they appoint one of these Pokémon as their governor?
[It's half a joke, but given what he's heard so far...]
video
Experience, that's important. I'd bet you my giant bat that I have more of that than anybody here.
[Blake grunts with some amusement, though it's tinged with an odd feeling, a faint memory of something with white fur and calm eyes that knew more than it should. The impression is gone fast.]
You know they'd let one be in charge if it asked. They almost worship the damn things.
video
[This guy seems to at least have some experience, as he stated. It's a step up from, oh, appointing ten year olds to positions of power.
He certainly hopes that isn't a common practice.]
I wonder why it is they revere them so extensively. They're remarkable creatures, to be sure, but their entire culture is strangely focused on them and little else.
video
[Experience has made Blake very skeptical about any protests of "I can't remember."]
It's the national goddamn pastime here. Life must be rough for any native who doesn't like animals. Maybe they gt shoved off on an islan somewhere.
video
[Here, he'll even hold up a black, leather-bound journal with a silver D on the front cover.]
Are there no occupations that don't require them? Librarians, tailors, chefs, and the like...
video
[That can't be good.]
That book yours, at least?
[He shrugs.] Sure, there's plenty of things you don't need a little animal for, but you can train them to help with about anything. Good labor.
video
[That's so... harsh, really. It makes it sound as though there's something wrong with him.]
The book is technically mine, as of now. It was with me when I woke, and I've made use of it, at any rate. As for the Pokémon, I can't imagine they'd be of much use for, say, cooking or writing books. Their fur and wool may be useful for creating clothes, but they don't strike me as the sorts to use a needle and thread.