Season 3 / Bow-Wow - "Take Me out to the Ball Game" [The Third Trial Projection]

Bow-wow

Chula - Suzune That said… oooh an old, clearly beloved and well-used seat. Suzune plops down contentedly into the seat!

Her behind hits the seat, and suddenly Akemi and Robert hear a distinct whoosh and the wind beside them is disturbed as a baseball suddenly flies toward Suzune. There was no sound or visual of it before the moment she sat down, and it’s so fast she doesn’t have a chance to react before.

CRACK!

It hits Suzune square in the face, her left eye socket making an eye-watering sound.

She’s sent flying backwards in the chair, the pain is intense, but it disappears quickly as she’s instead transported into a vision.

There’s voices and yelling, and Suzune finds herself being rushed down a hospital corridor. Searing pain, smeared blood, and the distinct fear that she can’t see, and might never see again, runs through her veins, as if it were happening for real.

You’ll never make it to the big leagues now. The one time you dared to dream, and this is how it ended up.

It shifts a little, and then Suzune is aware she’s only seeing from one eye. She’s in some kind of rehabilitation appointment, judging by the assortment of items in front of her. Cups, difficult to hold brick toys…

“Okay, try picking this up, Luca.” A kind woman sits across from you, and you reach out toward it, narrowing your eye in focus and finding yourself fumbling, having to adjust your angle a couple of times due to your suddenly different depth perception.

A sense of deep, intense frustration and hopelessness enters Suzune, as the door opens and a man walks in. A man who, upon seeing, makes you feel even worse.

“I’ve come to take my son home.” He grunts, “He doesn’t need all of this.”

Suzune would have protested, but her mouth opens, and nothing comes out. The woman quickly stands, trying to defend her, and make her father agree that this is necessary, but he doesn’t listen. He never does.

He would have if it was him in this room.

Suzune is shifted back to the projection, but the bitterness lingers for a moment.

For Robert and Akemi, they… see none of this vision.

Chula - Suzune

As Suzune comes back, she lets out a sharp, belated yellp, holding onto her eye and wincing, tears flowing from her still-working eye. Oourgh. Her pain tolerance was pretty high, but even then, this was a LOT. She reached around for something, ANYTHING to apply pressure to her face, some kind of soft absorbant fabric, but… pulled away her hand and found no blood at all. The wound was gone. She could see just fine, and the pain had faded. Just some kind of unfortunate stewing rumbled around in her gut.

“D-Did… you see all of that?” She finally asked, flashing a thumbs up to show she was alright? “I… honestly didn’t know his injury had… messed with his perception like that.”

It made sense now, though. Why he seemed to prefer the mascot position over being a player, based on their earlier conversations. That… was honestly heartbreaking.

Robert McCay

Robert’s eyebrows raise the more he listens to the Sylas gossip. He had a fiance? The playdoh guy? Mr. Choastie? And he broke into somebody’s house? He’s not sure how it all adds up just yet, except for one thing… that guy’s lying out his ass. To think that he had almost been convinced someone could wind up in the MILGRAM without blood on their hands–

The baseball slamming into Suzune’s face startles him out of his thoughts.

“Jesus, are ya okay?! I… no, I didn’t see anythin’…”

Was that how Luca had gotten that scar? Yipes!

Emmy | Akemi

“I am not sure if I would be the ideal person to back you up, considering how afraid of me Mr. Grey is. He certainly behaves as though I am moments away from biting his head off at any given moment. He never told me the name of his fiance, nor if said fiance had found a new lover, but…if a wedding is a significant part of his projection, it certainly tells me that relationships had something to do with whatever he did. Knowing he broke into a home at all feels far more insidious than anything he seemed to want us to believe him capable of. Him playing the part of a jester tells me as much that he prefers not to seem dangerous.”

She is quite happy to gossip, it seems. She gets to learn new things without needing to talk to Sylas about it!

Akemi quickly covers her mouth in a gasp as Suzune is directly nailed by an incoming baseball. She steps closer to help her up, visibly relieved to at least see that Suzune didn’t need to deal with a lasting injury in this projection.

“You’re not hurt, are you, Gikou-chan? We didn’t see anything beyond you getting hit.”

She pauses and takes a look around, to see if there are any other areas they’d missed investigating.

Chula - Suzune

Well… she did NOT want anyone else to have to go through that pain as well, so. “Don’t sit down.” She said, standing up to her feet and wobbling away from the seat.

“Bow-wow-san, he, um… like… his eyes was extremely injured after that and I don’t think he can see from it properly anymore. His depth perception seems like its gone so he… gave up on his dream of baseball. And… it seems like his father refused to let him get proper physical therapy after the injury, too.” She brushed her hand over her own eye again, the pain that was once there still fresh on the mind. “I think his father… treats him differently than his brother, if his brother had been in the same position. Sorry, I don’t um… know his brother’s name.”

She paused. Sylas, though, huh? “… Yeah, I… was thinking something similar. That he probably wanted to hide some of his darker thoughts. I don’t want to jump to the conclusion that it was his ex-fiance without asking what her name was, though. He also could have been taking out his frustration on some random newly married couple, too. Not that that’s… much better.” She shook her head. She gave this benefit of the doubt to Vincent, too. At least. At first. The answers she received just weren’t very uh… air-tight.

“I seem to be fine, though. I can still see and the pain is gone, so, like… I’m not the one to worry about here. I… hope it doesn’t still hurt him. Maybe I should have been more insistent about him taking the pain relief ointment I have, he might have found other uses for it.” Painkiller pills administered by wardens would be a lovely thing to have. Maybe she can ask a warden about that.

Robert McCay

“…His name’s Jordan. That’s… the impression I got too.” Robert scowls but doesn’t elaborate.

No comment on the Sylas stuff, but he’s glad Suzune’s not hurting now, at least.

Bow-wow

Suddenly, as the group is discussing amongst themselves–

“GIKOU! YOU’RE UP!” The coach bellows, a megaphone to his mouth. Seems its Suzune’s turn to try out!

The coach is waiting beside the batters box, holding out one of the standard-issue bats.

Chula - Suzune

Oh wow ok she’s up to bat before she’d even fully regained her bearings, huh? Suzune rubbed her temples and took a moment to stretch before anything else. “Sorry, we can continue chatting in a bit, but those are the basics of what I saw, so… I guess reconvene in a little bit?”

Once she felt limber enough, she trotted over to the batters box to take her bat. “Thank you sir!” If there was one thing she was DETERMINED to enjoy, it would be this. Suzune wanted to have some fun with it, if nothing else.

Once she had the bat, and fixed it into her hands, she strode on up to home plate. At the very least, she didn’t need an explanation on how baseball worked, so her posture was already… ROUGHLY where it needed to be. in theory. This wasn’t exactly her main sport.

“Let’s go!”

Suzune clutches the bat and keeps her eye on the pitcher, waiting for the ball to be thrown. The ball flies towards her, and with precision, strikes the ball with enough power to make it far into the outfield. It’s no home run, but for a sport she hadn’t tried in years, it was pretty good! Suzune beamed, watching the ball fly, before handing the bat back. “Thank you!”

Emmy | Akemi

Oh no. Do they expect Akemi to actually play this sport? She doesn’t even know how to play this sport. She watches Suzune, but honestly has no interest in either running nor swinging a bat with much effort.

Looking about as confident as a complete novice who does not want to be there, Akemi stands at the base, not even wielding the bat with correct posture.

When the pitcher throws the ball, Akemi instinctively holds the bat in front of her to shield herself from getting hit like Suzune had– only for the ball to miraculously make contact with the bat. The unintentional bunt sends the ball straight between the pitcher and the short-stop.

That kind of miracle simply will not happen again.

Robert McCay

“Hey-o, nice swing!” Robert cheers for Suzune. “And a solid bunt too, Miss Kuro!”

When he hears his last name called, he steps up to the plate fairly confidently. The uniform doesn’t let him stretch as much as he’d like, but the bat feels familiar in his hands and he recalls the stance from the depths of his high school memories.

The pitcher throws, he takes a swing… and hits the ball hard, knocking out a lightbulb in a streetlamp on the far side of the field. He does a double take and looks around frantically.

“Holy shit? I mean– Hah! Yeah, I still got it! That’s right!” he shouts, mercifully restraining himself from flipping off the coach and the wardens because of the children around.

Bow-wow

Suzune hits the ball, and a couple of the kids let out an ‘ooooh’, tracing the ball with their gaze. Seems she did pretty good! A green light dings, and it seems her score is added to the roster of tryouts that had been up since the beginning.

Akemi’s attempt to shield herself somehow managing to hit the ball is met with laughter, something that fills her with a deep sense of humiliation, and she gets the impression that it reflects Luca’s experience somewhat closely… Akemi’s score somehow seems to be near the bottom of the scoreboard…

Robert’s on the other hand? There’s an intense reaction. Cheering and celebrating, and the coach approaches him, giving him a hearty clap on the back.

“Ya got promise, kid! I’ll have ya in the big leagues by the time ya graduate!” Robert’s score easily tops all of the others on the board.

A new sheet appears, this time appearing to be a list of the successful tryouts. The teenagers that had been dotted around the field swarm the paper, the rest of you trailing behind.

Robert’s name sits at the top, with Suzune’s toward the middle, but there’s no sign of Akemi’s name…

What’s up with that, huh?

Robert McCay

As much as Robert’s gloating about the lucky hit, the physical contact from the coach makes him flinch and sours his mood. Maybe he will flip him off after all…

More importantly, seeing Akemi’s name not on the list gives him a bad feeling. Where did she go? Once he finds her in the crowd he’s gonna keep a close eye on her.

Chula - Suzune

Aw, well. Isn’t that nice? She beamed, looking at the tryout form. “… It’s funny, you know… I never really had the confidence to try out for a team for real in high school. Since, like… I guess the middle is pretty accurate to how things were for me? I had a hard time keeping up with other people, no matter how much I practiced.” She could live this little fantasy of having been accepted, though. The pathway that never could have been. She was better at cheering from the sidelines, anyway.

Oh well! That’s not important. Akemi likely isn’t too torn up since it didn’t seem like she wanted in on the team, anyway. Suzune, too scanned the crowd. “How are you feeling, Kuro-chan?” she called, awkwardly trying to scoot around to teens, many of which were already taller than her, honestly.

Emmy | Akemi

Akemi isn’t necessarily surprised to see that her attempt is met with such ridicule– after all, she was no athlete. Moreover, that her name did not appear on the list was expected.

To Suzune’s question, she shrugs noncommittally.

“It isn’t as though I tried, Gikou-chan, but I imagine this experience was meant to reflect what Luca-san’s attempts to join the team looked like, and the humiliation he felt for the lack of acknowledgement.”

Chula - Suzune

Yeah, that was about what she expected as far as Akemi’s reaction would go. It came as a relief, even if just for a bit, though, given it meant she could enjoy the sport for a moment with little guilt. “Yeah, that… makes sense. I get why it would be harder for him, now, too.” Brain and eye damage were a bitch, she understood. And baseball… well. The ball moved fast.

Bow-wow

The coach, now approaching Akemi, stood beside her, holding something in his hands, covered by a trash bag.

“Hey, kid… look, we ain’t got place on the team. But I can tell ya really tried. This meant a lot to ya. I got an offer. We been lookin’ for a mascot since Jerry graduated.” The coach removes the trash bag, holding up the bright yellow mascot head toward Akemi. It’s definitely the one Luca based his mask on. “Ya can play if we need a backup.”

They’d never need a backup. You couldn’t even hit the ball if you tried. Whilst Luca had recovered his vision by now, at the time he had definitely struggled.

Akemi is unable to stop the thoughts that spill into her mind as she looks at the mascot head being offered to her.

It’s only because he feels bad you got hurt. He doesn’t really want you on the team. Who cares about a stupid mascot costume?

If Jordan wasn’t here, I’d have made it.

Whoever told him I was trying out… I hate them.

This is all you’ll ever amount to.

Bitter resentment claws at her very being, and a vision of the boy who had brought Luca so much suffering flashes through her head. Baseball games, sitting in the bleachers with his father, whilst Luca was treated like a stranger even when he tried to talk. Over, and over, and over again.

Another vision, putting on the suit for the first time- this one is projected to everyone. Looking in the mirror and thinking how ridiculous you look. Your stomach churning as you head out onto the field for the first time. It felt… awful.

And yet, somehow Luca had become so reliant on that mask…

Emmy | Akemi

Akemi cannot help but glare at the coach as he approaches with the mascot costume. She certainly has no intention of taking it, even if Luca has. She keeps her arms firmly crossed and a deep frown on her face as if to communicate ‘put that mask on my head and there will be consequences.’

Still, those thoughts that slip through her mind are…foreign, yet carry some small lingering familiarity. The idea of never quite being enough. It was hardly a wonder that Luca had reacted so strongly to that phone in her previous projection. She cannot keep her expression from sinking ever so slightly, as the thoughts settle firmly in her mind.

Watching the memory of Luca in the mirror, donning the costume and feeling utterly ridiculous about it all, it wasn’t fair to the poor kid.

“His brother only tried out because he learned Luca-san was planning to. Merely to take away his chance.”

She shakes her head a bit. Perhaps if Luca had any other prospects, anything else he really wanted, something to lean on, things would have been different. But she knew how deep the sting was, to lose hold of a dream like that. Wearing that mask was the only way he could come close to touching that dream– the very outskirts of it, anyway. She, too, knew that feeling of settling for the ‘next best thing.’

“He was right to be angry, at least. It’s merely a shame that anger led to the outcome it did.”

Robert McCay

“Yeah… yeah,” Robert says quietly, the sensation of the claustrophobic suit and the sweat and the cheap paint still lingering on his senses. “Poor kid.”

He’d have to find something to do to get Luca’s mind off of things once this was all over.

Chula - Suzune

“Oh, I… see.” Jordan was his name. Luca had never voiced to her that she should use the name Luca, but there was no other name for Jordan, now, was there? She frowned. “… What a spiteful choice. I just…” Man, she would’ve loved to have a little sibling. To HAVE a sibling and to treat him so horribly… it was a feeling she couldn’t really understand, half-siblings be damned.

“… I’m so sorry he had to go through with all that. Maybe… its for the best that he’s taken off the mask now, huh?” What was it that Luca had said? Wearing the costume, he felt approved of, or something like that in one of their earliest conversations. That what he was doing was entertaining people. She understood that core desire. Just… wouldn’t it have been nice to receive that appreciation through better means? “… I should try to make him something. I think he deserves some unconditional appreciation and approval in times like these.” She’ll make him a nice pie later, poor kid.

MILGRAM

Just as you’re beginning to wonder what takes to end this projection, everything around you shutters into darkness. A breath, a blink, the shadow of a laugh, and then you’re once again standing in the relatively empty courtroom. Any injuries or other strangeness incurred during the projection has vanished in like fashion. It’s all finished, it seems, though the wardens still have to release the prisoner from the pathetic remaining restraints on the chair themselves. You wouldn’t want to risk undoing them anymore, would you?

As you’re all shooed away, down the long hallway and back to the core of the prison and your daily life there, all that’s left is for you to ponder what on earth all of that meant.

« Previous Page Next Page »