[ He does, though, even if he can't see it. As long as he's alive...
Hanako doesn't step back. He clings to Ryuki's arm like a child, not wanting to let him go. If Ryuki's going to do something stupid, he'll have to drag Hanako along with them. ]
[ well. when they press the button, the box begins to unfurl even more, expanding from a fully solid cube to a collection of black-and-green pipes forming the outline of a larger cube. The top layer of the cube alights with a pane of sizzling green energy--ectoplasm--that begins to drop down onto them. It makes quite a lot of sound.
Which is how Vlad knows something is going on. He rushes into the lab. ]
Boys, wait--! That's--it's not complete, I haven't even tested it yet--!!
[ Vlad runs forward to fiddle with some of the piping, trying to cancel the process immediately. But no luck--the ecto-pane lowers further and further, passing over all three of them. It's unimaginably painful. Every muscle locks into place as if electrocuted. It's like being ripped apart atom by atom, molecule by molecule. It feels like what you imagine the Nasty Sauce must have felt like to Rita, to Date and Tama, to Tsukasa and Nene.
When it's over...Ryuki and Hanako will feel just fine! Which is odd, because Vlad is collapsed in a smoking heap on the floor. Looking at each other, and around themselves, though, will show that they are also collapsed on the floor. They are out of their own bodies, looking at their own corpses, and they themselves are just as unnaturally translucent and glowing as Rita.
looks like ryuki did, indeed, fucking die trying. as did hanako. and vlad (but who gives a shit about him).
[ To Hanako, the pain is just like being exorcised, the feeling of the spirit itself being torn asunder, held together only by a scrap of consciousness— and then, all of a sudden, he is free from the agony of a meat prison. He's light now, empty. Only mildly inconvenienced as he looks from Ryuki's body on the ground to his own, then back. ]
Okay... Let's get you back in there.
[ He takes Ryuki's ghost arm, tries to stuff him back into his corpse. ]
[ bitch he's DEAD, you can't just shove him back into the corpse!!! the stuffing simply does not work. ryuki will either end up phasing straight through his body like it's not there, or he'll just bonk into it ]
[ HE FEELS TOO BAD TO LIKE THROW HANAKO'S ARM OFF BUT LIKE. This is harrowing for MULTIPLE reasons even beyond the fact that looking at your own corpse is bad from any angle for a normie.
I guess since we're both dead now as well can we also see that portal Rita went through? ]
[ He squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, so he doesn't have to look at the bodies on the floor. But with his corpse's eyes closed and head turned away to hide the white seal on his cheek, he really does look just like...
No. He shakes his head hard. Don't. ]
... You're right. We need to get out of here.
[ Run away from the scene of the crime, he's good at that. Just phase right through the wall and hope they aren't bound to this place. ]
[ no one's going anywhere, actually, because suddenly a voice yells-- ]
TIME OUT!
[ everything in the world seems to still. nothing in this room was particularly moving, what with everyone but the two boys being dead anyway, but now even the dust motes hang motionless in the air.
In a flourish of purple, Rita returns! Along with another ghost, one who shifts at random between various ages. He looks over at the two new ghosts, and then his gaze sweeps over Vlad's corpse. ]
I see Vlad Masters has been playing with things beyond his understanding again. Of course.
[ turning his attention back to our other newborn ghosts: ] I am Clockwork, the ghost of time. I have been...persuaded by your friend here to undo the past and give you all another chance. If only to get her out of my hair.
But I warn you: your own fates are sealed. You may go back, you may change the past if you wish, but whatever changes you make, you yourselves will not reap the rewards of the new timeline. You will forever exist outside of time, orphaned ghosts born of your own poor decisions.
Hanako didn't do anything, I thought I could fix things and un-do what I did to you with the cube, because there was a piece of paper that said so and it was our only lead...
[ The power of CYOA said he had to press the big red button. Anyway if he can't save Hanako from explosions then he's going to absolve him of the blame here. ]
Um... where did you go, and where did you find this guy...?
[ Hanako didn't do anything, but that's also part of the problem of why the two (three...) of them are dead. But "A piece of paper said so" ooooooooohh my god, Ryuki makes it so hard to defend him ]
Never mind what happened with us. This is what you were hoping for, isn't it, Ryuki? [ gestures vaguely at Clockwork, who didn't say anything Hanako already knew. You can change the past, yeah, but what's done is done, you can't fix your mistakes so easily. He knows, he knows, he knows. ]
As I said--whatever changes you make to the timeline will apply only to that version of Rita, Ryuki, and Hanako, and them alone. You will never get your lives back. You will never see your friends again. Your lives are over, and will remain over no matter what you do.
You thought... what? [ Fine, it's hard to stay mad when he says they tried to un-kill her. ]
I went to some screwed-up creepy place called the "Ghost Zone." This guy's a time ghost. [ As the words come out of her mouth, she quickly realizes how absurd it sounds. ] Look -- you heard the guy. So are we doing this or not?
Personally, I vote yes. It's not like we can make this any worse.
[ That caveat should give her pause. This won't give Rita her life back. And now these two are going to share the same fate...
But whatever the cost... If it means Estelle will have a future, it's worth it. She can figure out what to do about herself after. ]
[ STOP HE TRIED TO LOOK FOR THINGS IN RESPECTABLE PLACES LIKE THE COMPUTER BUT IT WAS ONLY FULL OF BAD HOBBY MILF STALKERY. If it was a document folder I would've said so but I think it was just instructions on a piece of paper.
Also just love the unhinged energy of 'I went to the Ghost Zone and I met the Time Ghost'. This may as well happen.
Anyway this seems fine to him, at least on a personal basis -- he can cease to exist if it meant everyone else was fine and he was able to un-do everything. Through the warp and weft, past the seam... outside of reality in a perfect world that he doesn't belong in.
That's fine. That's okay. The problem is just that Rita and Hanako would be included in their unreality. ]
I'm sorry you got dragged into this.
[ But he does nod too. Maybe there'd be another way down the line to fix them too. ]
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[ He doesn't want to. He doesn't want Ryuki to. He likes Ryuki more, so Rita can stay dead for all he cares.
But that's not going to convince Ryuki, is it... ]
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...
No. I don't.
[ It haunts him often, those exact words. He doesn't have a future, not until he can fix it all. ]
Step back, Hanako.
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Hanako doesn't step back. He clings to Ryuki's arm like a child, not wanting to let him go. If Ryuki's going to do something stupid, he'll have to drag Hanako along with them. ]
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[ Or by God, he'll fucking die trying.
Box go beep boop? Wha happen. ]
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Which is how Vlad knows something is going on. He rushes into the lab. ]
Boys, wait--! That's--it's not complete, I haven't even tested it yet--!!
[ Vlad runs forward to fiddle with some of the piping, trying to cancel the process immediately. But no luck--the ecto-pane lowers further and further, passing over all three of them. It's unimaginably painful. Every muscle locks into place as if electrocuted. It's like being ripped apart atom by atom, molecule by molecule. It feels like what you imagine the Nasty Sauce must have felt like to Rita, to Date and Tama, to Tsukasa and Nene.
When it's over...Ryuki and Hanako will feel just fine! Which is odd, because Vlad is collapsed in a smoking heap on the floor. Looking at each other, and around themselves, though, will show that they are also collapsed on the floor. They are out of their own bodies, looking at their own corpses, and they themselves are just as unnaturally translucent and glowing as Rita.
looks like ryuki did, indeed, fucking die trying. as did hanako. and vlad (but who gives a shit about him).
kuruto ryuki is dead.
hanako is dead. (again) ]
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[ As soon as he's like. Conscious again. Wheezing. ]
Oh my God. I'm so sorry.
[ WHAT THE FUCK VLAD YOUR PRODUCT DIDN'T DELIVER. HE LOOKS AT THE OLD MAN'S CORPSE LIKE HOLY SHIT!! ]
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Okay... Let's get you back in there.
[ He takes Ryuki's ghost arm, tries to stuff him back into his corpse. ]
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[ HE FEELS TOO BAD TO LIKE THROW HANAKO'S ARM OFF BUT LIKE. This is harrowing for MULTIPLE reasons even beyond the fact that looking at your own corpse is bad from any angle for a normie.
I guess since we're both dead now as well can we also see that portal Rita went through? ]
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[ bro, it's your own corpse, nothing weird about it ]
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It's not that -- I'm not opposed to living, but it's -- I lost my twin brother in a freak accident and...
[ He REALLY doesn't want to be looking at his own corpse, or be super near it. ]
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I—- ...
[ he what? it wasn't an accident in his case. it was his fault. by his own hand. ]
That's not him... It's not your...
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L-let's just figure out a way out and -- we'll figure out --
[ Let's go ANYWHERE BUT HERE. ]
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No. He shakes his head hard. Don't. ]
... You're right. We need to get out of here.
[ Run away from the scene of the crime, he's good at that. Just phase right through the wall and hope they aren't bound to this place. ]
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TIME OUT!
[ everything in the world seems to still. nothing in this room was particularly moving, what with everyone but the two boys being dead anyway, but now even the dust motes hang motionless in the air.
In a flourish of purple, Rita returns! Along with another ghost, one who shifts at random between various ages. He looks over at the two new ghosts, and then his gaze sweeps over Vlad's corpse. ]
I see Vlad Masters has been playing with things beyond his understanding again. Of course.
[ turning his attention back to our other newborn ghosts: ] I am Clockwork, the ghost of time. I have been...persuaded by your friend here to undo the past and give you all another chance. If only to get her out of my hair.
But I warn you: your own fates are sealed. You may go back, you may change the past if you wish, but whatever changes you make, you yourselves will not reap the rewards of the new timeline. You will forever exist outside of time, orphaned ghosts born of your own poor decisions.
Do you still wish to undo the past?
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What the hell did you two do!?
[ look. they're gonna answer this ghost but first of all: what the fuck. ]
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[ The power of CYOA said he had to press the big red button. Anyway if he can't save Hanako from explosions then he's going to absolve him of the blame here. ]
Um... where did you go, and where did you find this guy...?
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Never mind what happened with us. This is what you were hoping for, isn't it, Ryuki? [ gestures vaguely at Clockwork, who didn't say anything Hanako already knew. You can change the past, yeah, but what's done is done, you can't fix your mistakes so easily. He knows, he knows, he knows. ]
Clockwork, what's our price for undoing the past?
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As I said--whatever changes you make to the timeline will apply only to that version of Rita, Ryuki, and Hanako, and them alone. You will never get your lives back. You will never see your friends again. Your lives are over, and will remain over no matter what you do.
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I went to some screwed-up creepy place called the "Ghost Zone." This guy's a time ghost. [ As the words come out of her mouth, she quickly realizes how absurd it sounds. ] Look -- you heard the guy. So are we doing this or not?
Personally, I vote yes. It's not like we can make this any worse.
[ That caveat should give her pause. This won't give Rita her life back. And now these two are going to share the same fate...
But whatever the cost... If it means Estelle will have a future, it's worth it. She can figure out what to do about herself after. ]
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Also just love the unhinged energy of 'I went to the Ghost Zone and I met the Time Ghost'. This may as well happen.
Anyway this seems fine to him, at least on a personal basis -- he can cease to exist if it meant everyone else was fine and he was able to un-do everything. Through the warp and weft, past the seam... outside of reality in a perfect world that he doesn't belong in.
That's fine. That's okay. The problem is just that Rita and Hanako would be included in their unreality. ]
I'm sorry you got dragged into this.
[ But he does nod too. Maybe there'd be another way down the line to fix them too. ]
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Being pulled out of the timeline is the default in these sorts of cases. What's the price?
[ There's got to be something that makes this worse. He knows it. ]
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[ gestures at Rita ]
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