westwhere | saying goodbye

[ Five eyes Allison, expression pained and questioning if he should bring this up now. She might disagree, but Ben deserves to know what they're up against. ]

Ben... that's not the only issue. [ Although he would argue it's an important one. The Ben that grew up in another timeline would be familiar, but practically a stranger to them. It's him, but it isn't their brother. ] ...We cause another apocalypse. We might just be leaving so we can all die together.

Depending on how the beacons work, if we all go back to the time we left, we won't be going to the same point. I could take the memory potion and know that I'll have ten days to change the timeline, but even then, Allison would know immediately if I failed. Then we'd be putting all of our faith in our father's promise to reset the universe.

You're from earlier, so maybe you could stop us from causing the paradox in the first place. [ Which would mean... passing a message on and hoping it stuck. ] It's risky no matter what we do. I don't know what's going to happen.

And new Ben isn't a substitution for you.

[She wants to make that clear. She grew to tolerate the new Number Two but she preferred the original Number Six.]

I don't know either. I don't want to make things worse at home, again. And I don't like the idea of just putting all our trust in Dad. But if we choose to do something else, it may mean that we never see any of the others again.

[The others being their siblings.]

Edited 2024-03-04 02:58 (UTC)

[ Ben closes his eyes and considers that for a moment. ]

Okay, but let's say I go back remembering. I can only tell Klaus, who might not even tell all of you. And if he does, are you going to believe Klaus? Because even knowing this? I wouldn't believe me, and I wouldn't believe Klaus.

[ Partially because they're all stubborn, and even if they go through the impossible on the regular, this is still out there enough to brush off as some sort of nightmare fuel breakdown. ]

[ Ben smiles at Allison's words, touched. ] I'm glad he's not a substitute. But we have no guarantees about my situation, and I hope you both are ready to be all right with that.

[ He shakes his head, growing far more solemn. ] We should never trust Dad. We trust us. For a reason. [ This whole thing seems fraught with possible outcomes that could just be worse than what originally happened. ]

[ No, he isn't ready to be all right with that. Five looks incredulous for a moment, then dour, then proceeds to down his drink and turns his head to the side as he fights to keep it from coming back up.

It passes quickly enough, and then he briefly glances at Allison before pointing at Ben. ]

So we all agree, dad can't be trusted. [ Not even to stay dead. He'll breeze by that to refocus on them. ]

Bringing you back is the one thing I couldn't do, so in that way, they've done the hard part for us. We just need to find out how to pull our family out of the end of the universe and tuck them safely somewhere with us until we can figure out the rest.

[ He says this like he hasn't been trying to figure this out for months, parts for years and/or decades depending on how you look at it. ]

...There's a few problems. If we assume that we'd be returning to three separate points in time, we'd see ripples. Meaning we could split into three separate splinters of the timeline and never meet up again to compare notes. Or the things that Allison remembers happening might be undone, and the reset never happens.

I'm not saying we shouldn't take the memory potion, but we have to be prepared for the consequences. We're only lucky they're moot when you're talking about the apocalypse.

So where does that leave us?

[Allison tips her head to the side curiously.]

Trying to sneak into another world behind someone else and take the memory potion just in case we can change something?

[ After everything they've done, and some of the weird shit Ben's witnessed - ]

Is that really the strangest thing we've ever done? That almost sounds normal, by this point.

Orrrrr.... [ He shrugs a little. ] We could just go somewhere else. See if we can find everyone else and drag them to a whole new world. One by one, if we have to. [ Press restart entirely, so to speak. ] Might be safer for our world, and us.

[ He really wishes he had a better solution waiting to share with them. All that time he spent scribbling on the walls, and he's got far too little to show for it. ]

It's an option. [ That seems to be the way he's leaning. Ben being open to it makes him lean all the more. ] The moment we decide to keep our memories, we change our timeline. That means we either keep the reset from happening, or we mess up and don't even get that chance.

Which leaves staying here, or taking our chances somewhere less horrible. Assuming we have a way to do that.

Going through the beacon is the gamble.

[She doesn't disagree with either of these ideas, they just need a way to execute them.]

We need a way to guarantee that we land in the world we want to go to. Personally my vote would be either Kamala's world or Emilia and Wrath's.

[But that's because Emilia and Kamala are important to her, and she doesn't want to cut Five off from anyone.]

I'm open to options though.

A huge gamble. I mean...what if I don't keep the body? [ He's thought about it, and he might not be able to remain at all. But...on the off chance Ben gets, yet, another lucky chance, he isn't going to not take it. It's worth the possible failure. ]

I don't know Emilia, or much about Kamala's world, but I did meet this cute blonde with a cat that invited me to their world.

[ Yeah, Ben doesn't realize that's the same world as Kamala's. ]

I'm open to options. Especially if that means I get longer with you both.

[ Five needs more to drink, so he goes back to pour himself another generous glass. Everything decision is imperfect, and he's someone who likes a lot more certainty before ultimately making a last-ditch call that potentially wrecks their lives.

He tells himself they're just brainstorming. There's no bad ideas when you're trying to think this through. ]

...Emilia and Wrath live in Hell. Granted, they make their version seem a lot less horrible than what we experienced here, but it's still Hell.

[ He has some very unfortunate memories associated with Ben and Hell in particular that makes him immediately push past it to pinpoint which 'cute blonde' Ben means. ]

You're talking about Kamala's friend with the tentacle-cat?

Can't be much worse than here.

[It's still Hell, Allison.

She blinks at that, before glancing over her shoulder at Ben.]

You mean Carol?

Oh! She's also from Kamala's world? Then I vote for Kamala's world.

Seems better than Hell, at least. [ Even a Hell better than where they are. ]

[ He smiles, looks down, then looks back to Allison and nods his head. ] Yes, Carol, and the tentacle cat. ...that explains a lot. The cat and I got on pretty quickly.

[ Five would argue about what he saw of this world's Hell, but he thankfully doesn't have to push the point when the other choice gets Ben's vote.

He opens and closes his mouth twice before he gets past the image of Ben getting along with that particular cat and what that looks like. Did he see them, or is it some kind of weird sixth sense for eldritch tentacles? ]

...Right. Well, that's an option. [ Not the worst one. Removing themselves from a timeline that's ending seems like a workable approach. ] If we can figure out a way to trick the beacon.

Do we know how the beacon knows who's going through it? It's not like they have designated beacons for specific locations.

[She wasn't asked which world they wanted to return to.]

Is there a way to obscure us from it?

Well, Goose does have tentacles. So...we might have an uncomfortable ride. I might have to ask [ he looks at Five and Allison, smile tightening ] Carol some questions to make sure it's even doable.

But maybe we can hitch a ride in the cat. [ Yeah, this plan is sketchy, at best, and he knows it. It's still worth trying, and shows their level of desperation. ]

[ Five was in the middle of debating who would be the best to ask about tricking the beacon, and how it could be anyone but Hatisse, when Ben says that. He stares at him for a few beats before he raises his voice. ]

Did you just say in the cat?

I am also concerned about that word choice there.

[In the cat is an odd choice of words, she too would like to know what Ben meant there.]

[ He is hardcore spitballing at the moment, and Ben mostly just smiles back to both of them. He's not completely serious. Or is he? ]

Well, if the cat's like me, there's an alternate dimension inside the cat. Where the tentacles come from. [ Not exactly the situation here, but he didn't ask for details. ]

Obviously, my tentacles are...dangerous, and us hitching a ride in me isn't going to work. Maybe the cat's tentacles aren't as violent.

[ Five keeps on staring. He has no words, so eventually he gestures to Allison, because what do they do with that? ...Drink. What they do is drink, and he forgoes the glass and takes a swig from the bottle.

It helps, and he sniffs and clears his throat. ]

And whatever is inside... that, isn't dangerous. [ He really wishes they had more time to not be talking about this, but their window for bright ideas is closing. ] We have anyone we can test that theory on?

Has Carol done something like this before?

[That seems like the best course of action. Ask the person who owns the cat whether or not they can hitch a ride in it.]

I wouldn't mind being the test subject. [ So Ben tells Five. ]

[ Then he turns to Allison and points at her. ] But that. It's already been done before.

Carol said the evacuated an entire space station using...those cats.

Edited 2024-04-15 23:58 (UTC)

[ His eyes narrow. Five, for one, is not happy about Ben being anyone's test subject. He'll get back to that later. ]

...Okay. So cats once swallowed a space station and kept them safely in some other dimension, where you think we could hide until we travel to yet another one.

[ If he could have only figured out the math before they take this very weird detour. Trouble is, once they're gone, they're left with wondering what might have saved them from living in this nightmare. ]

It won't be a real test until we go through a beacon. That's a lot of faith to put into an insane story from someone we barely know.

Kamala worships Carol, which I know is maybe not a ringing endorsement considering it's Kamala but from what I've experienced with Carol, I think we can trust her judgement that Carol is on the side of good.

[Meaning she's trying to help, not trying to play fast and loose with her tentacle cat.]

And at least we know what we're going back to if we're wrong. But trying to go anywhere that's not here is going to have risk regardless of what we do, so that's the wager. We either stay here and keep everything we have and figure this place out on our own, or we take the risk and go with Carol and Kamala.

[ Ben looks at Five to clarify. ] The people of a space station. Either way, I get it, we don't know Carol. But we do know Kamala [ he nods to Allison ] and while she's sweet and trusting, I get the feeling she's a good judge of character. She seems to figure a person out quickly, even if she just sees the good in them.

If she trusts Carol? I'm willing to take that chance. And I trust Goose. I know, [ Ben puts up a hand ] I technically just met the cat, but really [ he nods his head ] we connected.

[ He knows it sounds crazy, but it's true! ] I'm willing to go with them and give it a chance. But if you two stay here, I'll stay with you.

[ Five could go on, explaining what his siblings only barely touched on about the challenges each of these options create. The truth is, he did this to them. The second he screwed with time he put them on this path, and no matter what Ben or Allison says, he's got a responsibility to set it right.

He takes another swig from the bottle and considers. ]

I'm not saying they're good ones, but having options is better than not having any. [ That's about as optimistic as he's able to stomach. ] I need... I don't know how much longer to figure out how to get the others back. Maybe we can buy some if we can manage to avoid ending the world for more than a few months at a time.

[ His confidence in his abilities have shrunk considerably over the past three years, but he's nothing if not stubborn. Just maybe it shouldn't be his choice. He looks between the two of them. ]

We could put it to a vote.

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