The Man With No Name (Post-Projection 009)

Robert McCay

Even in your cell with the door closed, you might have still heard the scream from the courtroom. And if you opened that door, you definitely would've heard the yelling and commotion that followed... Robert had been the last person you saw the wardens take into the courtroom for a projection, right? He'd shown himself plenty capable of pitching a fit before, but...

Something was different this time, though it was difficult to pin down what, exactly. Maybe it was his voice, which even at its most aggressive had had a melodic waver to it, that now vanished into a growl. Maybe it was the way he carried himself, that made him look an inch or two taller than normal...

Or maybe, you saw as you got closer, it was the fact that he had one of the wardens in a near chokehold, pinned against the side of the projection chair.

"--I said, what the hell is goin' on?!" he snarled, watching Ei like a hawk as he struggled in his grip.

MILGRAM

"Whoa whoa whoa! Get your hands off me!"

"Th-this isn't supposed to happen..."

"That rabbit's got some explaining to do!"

Of all people, Bea looked like she was getting ready to tackle the man...

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

Yeah, the moment they're going FLYING off this thing in the projection, and the moment a door is suddenly manifesting, it sure IS time to go now. So without a word, Vincent listens to the two statues and promptly books it to the door, opening it and-

Robert. Robert is screaming, like he's actually in pain from all of this, and Vincent is once again on high, HIGH alert as he sorts himself out after all that. His heartbeat is quick in his chest and his eyes are wide, but his body is very tense and very still as he watches the situation unfold in front of him. Is this all really happening? After everything he had just seen, it's almost hard for him to adjust to the fact that this is real life again now. Robert was actually doing this, right?

Except… once Vincent's brain catches back up with the reality of what's happening after Robert passes out, with the way that 'Robert' is talking here now, demanding an explanation to what's happening and attacking(!??) Ei, Vincent realizes who it's actually probably more likely to be, right now. And while truly, it actually didn't matter to Vincent who was fronting right now for what he'd do next, that recognition is enough to make the situation suddenly make much more sense and get his brain and body into gear.

Vincent stalks forward right up to the confrontation, very pointedly getting In The Way of any incoming tackle Bea might actually have planned, and also certainly Attempting to begin to wedge himself between the chokehold that was currently happening too. If that puts HIM in the line of any kind of fire, so be it, because being a brick house of a man meant being an Obstacle that wasn't easily pushed aside.

"Hey, Sheriff. I can do some explaining again for what I know of the situation, I know as much as they do," Vincent says as evenly and seriously as possible, despite how loudly he can still hear his heartbeat in his ears. The hope is both to deescalate the situation and also refocus the Sheriff's attention onto himself.

Kaoru Naito

“Nah, you know more than ‘em Belladonna, cause we ain’t believin’ whatever lies a fuckin’ rabbit tells us!”

Kaoru yells the last part of that sentence, never hiding his frustration with the wardens; it vastly overshadows any anger he’s shown with his peers, that’s for sure. He just wouldn’t believe the rabbit, skill issue. Having tagged along for the projection, he seems pretty happy with the way this scene is unfolding as he wakes up.

“Why the death grip, Triple A? Yer stupid tricks don’t work on him ‘er what? C’mon, just let go and show us that big ol’ punishment you were waving around before, gehahah!!”

He’s bouncing in place like he’s about to jump in too anyway, despite the rules; he’s very much not a good agent to have around if one were in favor of peace and love on planet earth.

Robert McCay

The man gives Vincent a look, tightening his grip on Ei's collar.

"The hell are you doin' backin' these guys up? You a cop?"

His eyes drift from Vincent to Kaoru and back, taking in the situation. Tricks? Punishment? What did they mean?

"No… no, I remember whatcha said, big guy. Y'all got in here 'cuz of a machine…"

He taps his forehead with a scowl.

"…Saw some shit y'weren't s'posed t'see… And now these bozos get t'decide if my good friend Robert gets 'fergiven' or not, like I'm s'posed t'care what they think. Did I get all that right?"

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

…Well, Vincent supposes he deserves to be called that at least in this situation, but at the very least the whole 'focusing on him (and Kaoru) instead of the Wardens' thing was succeeding, so he couldn't be too upset about it anyways.

"No, I'm not a cop, I'm a criminal. …Though I suppose you're right that the two aren't mutually exclusive." Womp womp- But that wasn't what was important right now.

As for what Kaoru has begun spouting off, Vincent is both once more impressed by how brazen this guy was and also put in perhaps a slightly more dangerous position because of it, seeing as he's 100% planning to try to Block any retaliation from the Wardens towards the Sheriff as well. But it probably wasn't going to be anything he couldn't handle if they did, anyways. Yeah, fuck it, he'll back Kaoru up on that.

"Yes, well… perhaps let this be a lesson to you three that following your own orders without question isn't always for the best either. I did overhear Robert give some sort of warning to you that he didn't think this was a good idea," Vincent says with a side-eye to the Wardens. What did THEY have to lose for refusing to participate, huh? But his eyes flick back to the main man at hand.

"Regardless, yes, they're going to get to decide that, and it's currently unknown what repercussions a verdict will have. This process is something all 14 of us prisoners here are being made to do." Counting the sisters separately, of course, why would he consider them just one prisoner- "…I do apologize for my part in attending what happened. It seems like whoever's in the room when it starts gets brought in, and I didn't get out fast enough once I realized what was happening. I have no intention of sharing what I saw with anyone unless Robert himself wants to know."

Vincent isn't trying to force Ei out of the man's hands exactly right now (as long as Ei can still breath, anyways), but he IS standing ready to get even MORE fully in the way if either party does anything Else to each other to inflict harm, be it a tackle, a punch, or worse. If there IS a big punishment coming, Vincent does Not want to just watch it happen to this guy.

Kaoru Naito

"Ya forgot the part where they keep saying a motherfuckin' rabbit's in charge!!!"

He sounds incredulous as he laughs at his own words. He isn't saying the rabbit isn't in charge, he's just pissed off they seem so accepting of everything going on when they keep saying they don't know anything. 'That rabbit's got some explaining to do' >me when I'm Alice and I've fallen into a rather frightful wonderland TBFH. happens all the time. He makes up that text post in his head and doesn't say it because he's prioritizing deciding the best angle to non-violently get in the way of things if he sees an opportunity to, circling the wardens and their hostage like a wolf.

MILGRAM

"Oh I'm sorry is there literally anyone you'd be HAPPY to have in charge here?! Stop acting like standing there mocking and whining is going to fix the situation and don't fucking bother me unless you have some actionable alternative and ALSO CAN YOU LET ME BREATHE PLEASE SIR??"

Ei wriggles some more, managing to wedge his knee against the stomach of the man with no name-- but he remains overpowered.

"How is this even happening??" Bea hisses to the less-occupied warden.

"I-- I guess if this technically isn't Robert then maybe he's technically not a prisoner, but--"

"What kinda bullshit loophole is THAT?! They're all in the same physical body, they should be affected by the same rules--"

"D-don't ask me, I didn't write them! Or if I did, I don't remember it..."

Bea sighs exasperatedly, almost a scream, and marches up to the impending chaos.

"You two at least should know you can't fight back, now step the hell off or I'll have to…"

She's winding up some kind of kick...

Robert McCay

"This lil' piggy sure likes t'squeal, huh..."

Ei's knee to the stomach winds the man a little bit, but he keeps his grip. He nods slowly at the rest of Vincent's explanation, snorts at Kaoru's addendum, and listens to the wardens' bickering with interest. Ma had always said lil' Robert was special, huh? Maybe this wasn't how she meant it, but...

"...Can't fight back, huh? Y'mean like this?"

The man punches Ei in the jaw, not too hard, but hard enough to knock his glasses askew, make his point, and start the room's descent into madness.

Kaoru Naito

He can’t hide his grin and cackle when the punch actually makes contact. It’s so satisfying to see them get double crossed by whatever rules they decided to hide behind. Hah! Still, seeing that makes him want to hop in too, and that makes him think of the weird sensation from before that made him stop before he could do anything—and that makes his skin crawl and grips him with an unsatisfied feeling he needs to get out of his system as soon as possible. This whole set up pisses him off, he feels like he can’t do anything, and hearing any of these three act like they’re still in charge is really pissing him off.

He doesn’t hesitate to run up in front of Bea, bumping into her as much as he can without it being “violent” (where the cutoff lies is up to momentum and intent, truly, he’s hoping to get his body as far as blindly hurdling it can get away with) before fanning his arms and sleeves like the gangly, long limbed freak he is. Great for blocking. He really should play basketball (maybe he already does).

“Nah, have t’ what? Go on, kick me, yer sick fuckin’ machine already killed me, only up from there, geheheh—or what, worse, y’ ain’t gonna fowgive me? Aww, I weally thought I had a chance! Gehahahah!”

He’d rather be hurt than just fold, it’s how he’s been his whole life, he’s not changing now. He feels like the wardens dismissed him the second they saw him, and that makes him want to get louder and louder any chance he gets.

“Oii, get th’ fuck outta here Bobby, ‘nless yer gonna take the little bitch out cold, we don’t win this.”

*A Bobby is like a Robby but a sheriff that’s a cop (but cool). It makes total sense in his head. He loves to assign extremely whimsical nicknames. He’d really hate to see their new friend get ganged up on just for having a damn spine, best case to him is the wardens don’t get their hands on him, at least for right now.

Erin | Vincent Churchwell

To condense thoughts about quite a bit that's happening right now: Uh oh.

Vincent unfortunately isn't in position enough to stop either the knee to Robert or the punch to Ei, it would seem, but he can at least block the attempted kick from- Oh God damn it Kaoru.

Cursing under his breath, Vincent decides to do the next best thing he can think of as he's unfortunately forced to trust that Kaoru will Not Die with Bea there, namely taking advantage of the fact that the Sheriff has had to let go with at least one hand in order to punch Ei and forcibly wedging himself in between them. Rather than JUST stand there though, he's also notably attempting to backkk the Sheriff up to put space between him and the wardens, while still trying to shield the Sheriff from direct access from the wardens too. Vincent's back is towards the Sheriff and his eyes are firmly fixed ahead on the wardens and what They might do too. If the Sheriff himself has any physical complaint about that, Vincent's just going to have to deal with the chance he'll get punched in the back as well.

"This is a completely sealed prison with limited space and no exit, you aren't going to be breaking out of here any time soon either," he hisses out for the sake of the Sheriff. There was nothing really Good to come from trying to beat the warden's up here. And, looking towards the Wardens themselves… Vincent's eyes flick between them.

"I know I'm not in a position to ask this, but I think it'd be best if the three of you left now like you usually do. A person needs time to come to terms with things. You gave the rest of us hours before you even introduced yourselves." As if things were so simple now, of course, but by god he was still TRYING to deescalate despite the Kaoru-Sheriff combo.

Bow-wow

After he'd heard what had definitely sounded like Robert screaming, Bow-Wow had shot up from his bed almost immediately. He'd heard it from the direction of the projection room-- he hesitated, whatever had made Robert scream like that…

He stared at the gun on his cell bed. He looked out of his cell. He stared back at the gun again. Should he take it…? No, no, it would… probably be a bad idea, huh…

He scuttled out of his cell, hurrying as fast as his legs could carry him toward the direction of all of the commotion. As he approached, he heard the sounds of fists hitting faces, knees and kicks and…

"What is goin' on in here?!" He sounds far angrier than you've ever heard him up until now. Bow-Wow had his fists clenched as he observed what was happening in front of him. Robert and Ei attacking each other, Vincent shoving his way between them, Kaoru and Bea… it was like he had suddenly grown a spine in all of about five minutes.

"Everyone please stop hittin' and kickin' each other!" Bow-Wow bristles a little, defensively- he may not know who started it, but seeing those he'd already come to care about being hurt, as well as doing the hurting… well, it really, kinda pissed him off. It was an anger he hadn't felt since… since the day he killed him, a feeling so ugly he tried so hard to push it down, but…

Robert had screamed, that had got his guard up enough, and he'd not known what to expect, but it certainly wasn't a goddamn free-for-all. He'd let the anger out if he thought it would protect the ones who mattered most to him here.

"I dunno, an' I don't care who started it, but y'all need ta stop!"

Robert McCay

"Hey okay fine, I'm backin' off, big guy…"

So there was no way out of here, if the goth feller was to be believed, and he'd proven the most upfront and honest about their situation thus far. Maybe punching the warden hadn't been such a good idea after all... It sure felt good, though, and the lanky feller's reaction told him it had been a long time coming.

But then a shrill, cracking teenager's voice cut through the courtroom and set him on high alert again.

"Wh--what's a goddamn kid doin' here?" he stammered to Vincent. "What kinda prison is this?!"

Maybe he should've listened to Kaoru and gotten out of dodge, but-- even if he didn't recognize him, he couldn't just leave this strange lil' guy in the dog mask to fend for himself. Protecting strange lil' guys was kind of the whole reason he existed in the first place.

So before he made a break for it himself, he bellowed out a warning, and in those few moments of hesitation…

"You, get outta here before someone gets hurt-- FUCK!"

MILGRAM

Ei slumped to the floor, sputtering furiously as he caught his breath.

Kaoru's attempted assault ended in Bea getting...lightly bumped, though the basketball blocking strategy was pretty effective. She briefly considered the logistics of kicking this gangly a-hole in the nuts, but decided the shin was a much easier target. Her foot connected with Kaoru's leg easily, and she whipped around to see where the primary target had gotten to. But she might not have to do much of anything, after all...

Sie had been standing towards the back, looking like they didn't want to get involved-- but then they saw their chance. While the man in Robert's body was caught off-guard by Bow-Wow's arrival, Sie slipped around and grabbed a loose strap on the back of his jacket. Now that both of the man's hands were free, nothing obstructed the jacket from folding in on itself, trapping the prisoner's arms against his chest, buckles clicking and straps pulling taut, like a trick at a magic show.

The other wardens-- and even Sie themself-- looked a bit terrified, but they tried to keep their composure.

"Until we know more... this will be safer for everyone..."

Tatsuko Onizuka

Tatsuko is a very simple woman. She hears screaming and fighting, she runs right over to see what's going on. And possibly join in.

"What's going on? Who're we fighting? Who's winning?"

She spies Robert(?) at the center of it all and Ei on the floor, and lets out an impressed whistle.

"Whew! Gotta say, partner, I didn't know you had it in you! I'm impressed! Get his ass!"

Ellie Carter

Ellie has been here ever since the vision ended, watching with a slightly alarmed and slightly amused face. She's not surprised the noise is drawing in more people. Aw, fuck, she was actually kind of rooting for Robert there. But with a quick yank the trick to the jackets are revealed and she's taken aback. What the hell? They can just do that? After witnessing the wardens just silently watch and take notes inside the projection and then do this, Ellie is thinking maybe these wardens really are just creeps on a power trip. Her reaction to a creep has always been to bite back.

"Well, you can't be surprised he lashed out after you bolted him into a chair to get brain-fuck tortured. Said this would happen. Startin' to think you 'wardens' are children just playin' a game where ya lost the rulebook! Vincent is right. You ought to give us some space."

MILGRAM

Kaoru Naito “Don’t look so pathetic, we know you were just waitin’ fer an openin’. Fuck off, why dontcha go beg yer bunny t’ make ‘im nice ‘n obedient like th’ rest of us, huh? That what comes next?”

"I-I don't want to have to do anything else..." Sie was back to their usual flighty self, though it might not seem too convincing after what had just happened…

Erin | Vincent Churchwell Alright, you’ve gotten what you wanted, that’s enough now from you three.

Ellie Carter Vincent is right. You ought to give us some space.

"If you want space you can go to your cells which is where I was going to take him in the first place before he punched me in the face--"

Robert McCay “Y’sure? Y’all get me outta this thing and I’ll deck the other two! It’s equality.”

"I HEARD THAT!!"

"Jeez, just ignore him..."

Bea unceremoniously hefted Ei up to his feet and led the Wardens out of the courtroom to lick their wounds. At least the projection itself had been a success, mostly… But they were definitely going to confront the Jackalope about this guy before they tried putting him in that machine again.

Kaoru Naito

The kick from Bea hurts like hell, though it’s hard to tell from the way he stumbles and laughs, not oblivious to the irony this is the closest he’s going to be useful in a situation like this so long as whatever it is has these thorns in his head. He hoped this’d make him feel better, but as the situation resolves he just feels more useless.

If anything, it’s the reprimand from Bow-wow that pulls the wind from his sails. He hops a bit as he gets space between him and Bea before straightening up his balance, standing on one leg to shake out the one that got kicked.

“Tch. Too late fer th’ fun, Firecracker, they’re scared.”

He shoots Sie a glare.

“Don’t look so pathetic, we know you were just waitin’ fer an openin’. Fuck off, why dontcha go beg yer bunny t’ make ‘im nice ‘n obedient like th’ rest of us, huh? That what comes next?”

Robert McCay

The man struggled against the bindings with all his considerable might, but not one strap budged. He almost lost his balance, but regained it just as quickly and slammed his leg down in a last attempt at asserting dominance.

"Safer?! If you assholes cared about that I wouldn't fuckin' be here! He ain't needed me like this since..."

...He decided not to finish that sentence. Maybe some of them had seen inside Robert's head already-- what the hell was up with THAT?-- but that didn't mean they'd earned his trust yet. The gal with the eyepatch and the lanky feller were scoring points with him, though. What were their names? And now there was some gal with devil horns… His head was starting to hurt again.

"It's... been a while. Ain't quite sure what year it is, even..."

He looked around at the slowly growing crowd of strangers.

"...You folks all know Robert?"