Be Careful How You Treat Your Characters (MPC 41 Azure/Bone)

Azure wasn't the only one to receive this strange chat program. I, too, found a new tab blinking constantly while trying to go about my daily business. Naturally, there was only one way to respond to such suspicious circumstances;

Read at 1:49 AM by Bonetrousled

Ignoring the hell out of it.

Unfortunately, while before the program was making no sound, now it was making a very harsh beep to herald a new message coming in. It must not have been happy to be given the cold shoulder like that.

Emerald Sun: ... Bone... I know you're there. Get over here.
Azure_Ghidorah: How do you know?
Azure_Ghidorah: ... Oh, right... *face palm*

If I wasn't responding before, I wasn't responding now that I knew this Emerald_Sun was hacking my computer. What if he had a keylogger registered or something? Much like many of my problems, I knew the only solution was to ignore it all the harder. I unplugged my headphones, turned off my speakers, and made a point of switching all browsing to my phone. Once I got Avast running in the background, this pest would have become a thing of the past.

Read at 1:52 AM by Bonetrousled

Or, at least, it should have been. Why can't life ever be that easy?

Emerald Sun: ... *sigh* Okay... this is becoming minorly problematic... One second Azure, gonna do some minor hacking.
Azure_Ghidorah: Hacking!?
Emerald Sun: Yes yes, stop panicking. HEY! BONEHEAD! PAY ATTENTION!

The speakers, which were supposed to be off, were beeping even more harshly than before. At this point, I was pretty sure ignoring it further would get my computer blown to bits. If this hacker wanted to talk, I guess I had no choice but to talk.

Bonetrousled: Okay, seriously. I had those off! Who are you, and what the heck are you doing to my computer?
Emerald Sun: About bloody time... And seriously not going to take a guess? Not even going to wonder how a program you never installed is currently running? Nothing?
Bonetrousled: That's not my job to figure out. It's Avast's.
Bonetrousled: I was hoping to, you know, not have to poke the suspicious program that came out of nowhere.
Azure_Ghidorah: I've got Norton and it's not picking anything up, buddy. Whatever's going on here is way above the heads of normal people.

Wait, what? Azure was damn right something was going above the heads of normal people. He was using Norton, for crying out loud! At this point I didn't care about the hacker trapping us in a private room. I had to deal with the real problem here.

Bonetrousled: Seriously, Norton? Still?
Emerald Sun: Haha, Indeed, anti-virus doesn't even know what to classify this as. Considering I am tapping on the Fourth Wall right now *grin*
Azure_Ghidorah; Shush, that's what came with the computer.
Azure_Ghidorah: ... Fourth Wall...?
Bonetrousled: So did Internet Explorer!
Azure_Ghidorah: It's free to replace IE with something that's not crap!
Emerald Sun: ... Ah... hello?

Right. He was still here. Still, priorities.

Bonetrousled: Avast is free too! Man, I thought we've been over this.
Bonetrousled: Although I don't think it's got a single bead on this
Bonetrousled: I'd switch back to chat if this tab wasn't refusing to shrink on me anymore.
Azure_Ghidorah: What do you mean, we've never gone over this! And yeah that seems pretty obvious.
Emerald Sun: Ha, you two do manage to distract yourselves so easily. Azure, surely you know who I am by now.
Azure_Ghidorah: …
Azure_Ghidorah: ... YOU CHEEKY GECKO
Bonetrousled: Gecko, what?
Bonetrousled: I'm lost here
Emerald Sun: *anger cross* I. AM NOT. A GECKO..
Bonetrousled: . . . Did you just type *anger cross* . . .
Bonetrousled: Seriously, this hacker's weirding me out.
Emerald Sun: Shush.
Azure_Ghidorah: So... why are messaging us in the middle of the night. Solranous.
Solranous: Ah, final I can ditch the fake name

And now, everything made sense.

Bonetrousled: Ohhh.
Bonetrousled: Wait, no, I'm still confused.
Solranous: finally* and I'm stuck as a spirit advisor, if that helps you
Azure_Ghidorah: Bone? Meet Sol in the metaphorical flesh....

At this point, I let my guard down. After all, I hadn't written with Az in a while, and I was really starting to miss him. I figured this was just some sort of game he cooked up to get some writing in on off hours. Hell, I'm not one for chat RP, but who am I to judge?

Bonetrousled: Oh, I get it
Bonetrousled: Man, that's thoughtful of you
Bonetrousled: Although next time I say I want to try some quicker RPing, can you not hack my computer?
Azure_Ghidorah: I ain't in charge of any of this. I was just as caught off guard as you were...
Bonetrousled: Yeah, yeah, I know how the bit goes. Don't worry, I'll play along.
Azure_Ghidorah: No, seriously, I'm not behind this.
Solranous: You see, I found a weakness in the dimensional barriers. So... I decided why don't you guys get to meet your characters in person? I already contacted Elliot and Isaac about a 'surprise.' Azure, you're coming first.
Bonetrousled: So you're telling me that one of your characters literally came to life and started messaging us in a chat client neither of us had downloaded before.
Bonetrousled: . . . Wait what

What did he mean by Azure coming first? This prank was starting to seem a lot less funny. Especially when Azure started to get a little . . . panicky.

Azure_Ghidorah: HOLY FU- DRAGON A-
Azure_Ghidorah has signed out
Bonetrousled: . . . Wait, what?
Solranous: Your turn, Mr.

Now, I was suspicious. After all, Azure logged out at an annoyingly perfect time. It could've still just been a setup, albeit more creepypasta than fun RP game at this point. However, once my screen started rippling like a disturbed pond, I started to figure that Azure may have been telling the truth. Once a giant dragon arm tore through the screen, though? Oh yeah, I became a believer.

I'd like to say I left a very eloquent message on my way out. I pride myself on my writing talent and ability to keep my composure, after all. Unfortunately, those talents are both very hard to tap into when being hoisted in the air by a draconic hand bigger than my head. I tried to type something, anything, up, and I can only hope that the result was suitably witty.

Bonetrousled: Holy shhhhhhhtyyt65

It probably wasn't.

Regardless, I didn't have time to think of that. I was far too busy being dragged through my screen, blacking out as my body careened into the depths that lied below.

I let out a soft groan as I slammed into the grass. The good news is that I have a surprisingly high pain tolerance, and therefore wasn't in complete agony as I touched down. The bad news was that I did not touch into my chair. That disqualified "horrible party hangover gone wrong" from the list of possibilities about what went wrong. I was outside now, and judging by everything that was being discussed I was in a parallel dimension created in part due to my own writing. How absolutely bizarre.

But for a parallel dimension that may or may not have actually been real, it sure felt nice. The grass was softer than most of the pillows in my house, and the sun was so warm this morning. Yes, apparently it had become morning. It was a parallel dimension. Who was I to ask questions? Regardless, in such nice conditions, what else could I really do but drift off to sleep?

Maybe that wasn't the best idea, considering the whole stranded in another universe thing. However, when in such a nice, soft bed of grass, I'm positive you would have done the same.

It was really hard to drift off when everyone kept talking, though. For a while it was just the same few voices, debating back and forth over what was going on and who everyone else was. The oldest-sounding voice, which I figured had to be Sol, just kept talking about how a few more guests were coming. For a while, I wondered just how many other people were being spirited away to this world. Was it just Azure and I, or were the other "guests" being mentioned also imports from our world?

Two sets of footsteps, one uneven and paired with the sound of a walking stick brushing against the glass, answered my question. I only needed to hear the sound of the walking stick to realize just what was going on.

"Wait, why did you call us over here, again?" the younger of the pair said. Really, both of their voices were fairly high, but it was obvious who was who over here.

"Not sure," the older one commented. "To look at a dead guy, at least?

"I . . . don't think he's dead, Isaac," Elliot said. He must have leaned slightly forward, because his voice sounded both louder and closer. "Hey! Are you okay?"

I just squeezed my eyes shut tighter and nestled more closely the grass. Don't judge me, it was really soft! "Can we do this later?" I asked, voice quiet. "I didn't get much sleep . . ."

That was when I felt the sharp jab of a walking stick to my side. I creaked an eye open in irritation, noticing Isaac had "borrowed" his brother's stick. I tried to roll away, but it turned out sleepy rolling was an awful escape technique even in the best of circumstances. My options had been drastically diminished; either wake up or endure a death by a thousand pokes.

Compared to enduring a minor annoyance, foregoing sleep seemed like a perfectly reasonable choice. I grumbled as I stood up, blinking as I took in the assembled company. Elliot, Isaac, Alicia, Sol, Kisara. They were all right there. "Huh. They look exactly as I imagined them," I said offhandedly, shooting a look to who I could only assume to be Azure. "Well, except you, of course."

"Wait, imagined? The heck does he mean?" Isaac asked, passing the walking stick back to Elliot.

"Yeah, I'm kinda lost here too," Elliot said, looking towards Sol for help. "What's going on?"

"Nah, no worries," I said. "We can always get to that part, you know, when we're not lost in a parallel dimension." Part of me figured it wouldn't be a great idea to bring my name out into the open when dealing with an ancient, immortal spirit. I'm not usually superstitious, but then again I wasn't usually face to face with a reason to be superstitious. True names would have to be off of the table until I was sure that information couldn't be turned against me.

That said, I was thankful I didn't really have much burden to shoulder when it came to explaining what was going on. Azure was more than happy to take the lead here, and all I had to do was stand back and nod my head along. That said, did he have to mention the part where we were responsible for every hardship that these guys had suffered? Mentioning that in the same breath as mentioning that this world was just a game couldn't have possibly been a good idea. It was either that or lying, though, and breaking the revelation now would probably be better than having it revealed later down the line. "He basically covered everything," I added, figuring that I might as well put the lack of cards I currently held on the table. "And I know, that kind of thing's tricky to believe. But think about it. Is Sol really one for pulling pranks?"

"I think he's right," Elliot said, looking towards Alicia. "I mean, this is really hard to believe. But isn't it also hard to believe that we're capable of shape-shifting into ancient spirits from a computer dimension? I've just kind of been putting my belief on hold for the past year or so, really."

I couldn't blame Elliot on that regard. If I was in his shoes, I'd probably believe anything someone told me right now. "Trust me, this has been a lot for me to take in too," I assured him. "I had no idea this was even possible until Sol dragged me through the computer. I'm still half convinced this is just some kind of fever dream."

"Well, at least we're not the only ones lost," Elliot admitted. "Alicia? Isaac? What do you guys think?"

Whatever he was thinking, Isaac didn't seem to be saying much. He looked to the floor, seeming even more lost than Elliot was at a glance.

"Gee, when you put it that way, it sounds great," I said. Az sure had a way of making things sound comforting. Or, you know, the opposite. "I think you could've left that off at the 'we can be sent home any time' part." Maybe it was just me, but I really didn't want to think about the part where we were at the mercy of an ancient dragon god. At least Sol was the calmer of the two, though. If we were at Kisara's mercy, things could have gotten very interesting, very fast.

"At least one of us is," I added as Alicia mentioned how well Az was taking this situation. "I'm just going with this because I don't really have any other choice. I mean, I could just try to pretend all of this isn't happening, but then I'd be both lost and wasting my time. So I might as well try and have fun with it, right?" My tone of voice was surprisingly light for someone who had just been dragged across the fabric of dimensions. Even if I wasn't necessarily thrilled about this, at least I seemed fine to roll with it.

Less fine about rolling with it was Kisara, who seemed to break immediately at the mention of some 'Machinima incident.' I couldn't help but snicker as she wailed like a banshee, but once Sol was made into a popsicle for telling her she was on her own I quickly hushed up. Considering I was far more fragile and far less prone to cartoon logic, I didn't want to get flash frozen today. "If it helps, you're far from the only one with embarrassing stories under your belt," I said, taking a quick glance in Elliot and Isaac's direction. "I swear, I've got enough for these two to fill a book."

"Don't," Isaac warned, piping up for the first time since meeting the two of us. He didn't exactly sound happy to be here, so I just made sure to nod and drop the topic as quickly as possible.

That said, names were in order, it seemed. "Mine's Joseph," I said, offering a hand for handshakes to follow Az's lead. "It's nice to finally meet you guys. Even if in kind of a weird way," I added.

Elliot gleefully shook my hand, smiling. "Nice to meet you!" he chirped before turning to shake Az's as well.

Isaac didn't quite make eye contact, but he shook my hand nonetheless. "Same," he said, voice still sounding kind of lost. I thought about saying something, but I knew firsthand that Isaac wasn't much for being poked about his problems. Besides, part of me was a little worried to hear just what was bugging him right now.

"So, does Sol do these kinds of surprises often?" I asked. This certainly didn't seem like the kind of event that ended up happening on a regular basis, but then again I had no idea that it would end up happening the first time either. Who knew what these characters apparently got up to when we weren't writing them?

Shit. He could read my mind. In retrospect, that was probably obvious, but it was still a really annoying thing to spring on someone. "Eh, god, immensely powerful and ancient being who can casually drag me between dimensions and read my mind. For all practical purposes, same thing," I figured, shrugging. "Still, don't worry, won't say it again." Even if Sol was relaxed and down to earth, it was probably better not to be a stubborn butt on a topic that he was rather insistent about.

I just nodded at Az's response. He had a point. It was better to know an all-powerful being was relatively chill and reasonable rather than a capricious madman. "I'll take that explanation," I said, smiling a bit. "Besides, are we really ones to talk in this case? I mean, just think about the situation we're in right now." It was a thought that I regretted as soon as I had it. If Az wrote Sol, and Sol was near all-powerful, did that mean they were both all-powerful compared to each other? If push came to shove, which of the two would be more all-powerful?

I shook the thought. I had to. The chicken and egg problem it created was starting to get really confusing, really quickly.

Consolation quickly changed from me to Isaac, as Sol started explaining the nature of the multiverse and all of our potential roles in it. Frankly, the second a potential third layer was added to this mess of all-powerful relativity, my brain wanted to jump out of a window. However, I understood the point that Sol wanted to make. The lives of those portrayed here weren't any less meaningful just because they were authored. Heck, they could have even been the ones influencing our thoughts, rather than vice-versa. It was one I was certainly hoping would be reassuring to Isaac, who seemed to be taking this the worst of everyone involved so far. I looked over to gauge him for a response, but his expression remained shadowy and unreadable.

Thankfully, at least somebody wanted to bring up a bit of positivity. Elliot turned to Azure, who was currently floored by the eloquence his own character was displaying. "I mean, you wrote him, right?" Elliot asked, tilting his head a little bit curiously. "So that means all that eloquence has to come from you too, doesn't it? Maybe you're just thinking too hard about it or something. Just try not to worry about it so much and I'm sure you're gonna be able to talk just like that!"

I swear, I wrote him too nice.

Of course, positivity may have been coming from one brother, but it certainly wasn't coming from the other. He kept his eyes to the ground as he mulled over Sol's words, and once the plain fell quiet again he finally found the strength to look back up. "But why?" he asked, a direct accusation underlying the hurt tone in his voice. "If you have so much say in everything that happens in all our lives, why the hell would you put us through so much bullshit? Why would you have a man like that raise me? Why would you ruin Elliot's life with a busted leg? Why would you have us run into certain death time and time again? Or let the D-Reaper happen? You could've made this so much easier for us, and instead you've just made us suffer. And all for what you guys just called a game! Am I the only one wondering how the hell any of this is okay?

I . . . I . . . " Isaac trailed off. It was clear he was running out of words, but his fists were balled up tight and tears were stinging at the corners his eyes. "I could have been tall, you jackass!" he blurted, voice deflating as a mix of anger, sadness, and existential weight pressed down all the harder against his chest.

The worst part was, I didn't even know what to say.

Elliot's smile remained undaunted, even as Az modestly slid the compliment away. "That just means even more," he insisted. "I mean, when I don't know what my characters are gonna do next, a lot of times I just kinda freeze up. If you can go with their changes so smoothly, that just shows you're really flexible as a writer, doesn't it?" I had to admit, he had a good point. Uncertainty as a writer could really suck, and the fact that Az could both handle it and freely admit to having it was really admirable. I had scrapped, or at least been confused by, my own work on many an occasion. That said, I also knew how Az felt. The bros had come far past my initial expectations for them, and growing in ways I never saw coming.

Although, were they growing, or simply naturally showing facets of themselves that I hadn't asked myself about before? One of the first things I learned about Isaac that he was way dorkier than I envisioned him as, but that might have just been his history being too somber for that side of himself to show off. It was an interesting question, and one that I would love to consider more heavily when certain emotional crises had passed.

At the very least, it made me happy to see all of the support coming Isaac's way. As much as I wanted to put him to the fires of character development, I didn't mean to leave him that badly scarred. He seemed to stiffen up in surprise as Alicia and Az hugged him, naturally snuggling a bit more into the former's arms. I don't think Isaac really felt comfortable enough around Az to fully embrace his hug, but at least the gesture was appreciated.

"It's true," I said, finding myself at a loss for words but desperately trying to bring some out. "And even when it was, there was only one endgame through it all. One way or another, I just wanted you to find happiness. Growth. Become the best you that you could ever be, and then settle into a good life that you worked your butt off for."

"Oh, bullcrap," Isaac muttered under his breath. His unyielding rage had died down, giving way to soft sniffles and shudder, but he still wasn't very pleased. "If you wanted to do that, you could've just done all that with a wave of your hands. You could've given me direction in life instead of telling me that I had none. Or helped me through my challenges instead of smashing against them. Or helped pick me up when I was down instead of leaving me to crawl my way out. Why couldn't you just make all of those go away?"

It seemed like Isaac was receiving the same advice from all parties involved here. Life was a process, and circumventing that whole process would just leave a hollow shell of what could have been behind. "We've had our hardships in our world, too," I added. "Trust me, it isn't like we're these beings who never know suffering besides what we take out on our creations-"

"Not helping," Isaac interjected.

"Right, sorry. But still. We may not have known the same life or death struggles as you, but we've had a lot on our plates as well. Disappointments, anxieties over the future, relationship worries. And yet I think all of these have made us both stronger in the end," I explained. "I know, some of the troubles we put on you guys can be way larger than life. But that just means the successes are going to be larger than life too, I hope. There's still so much waiting for you in your future. I'm so excited to see how it all turns out."

I paused for a bit, wondering if it was the right thing to say, before finally throwing caution to the wind and going with it. "And I'm so proud of how far you've come already."

A quiet hung over the plains. Isaac remained silently seething in Alicia's arms, but with one heavy sigh the tension in his shoulders seemed to drift away. "I get it now, I guess," he said, still not fully convinced but at least in a better way than he was before. Still, at least for the time being, he decided to keep close to Alicia. He still looked quite tired, sadly enough.

"How did you come to terms with it?" Elliot asked Alicia, eyes wide and full of hope. Was that a touch of worry in his voice?