paradisa | 1 ⓢ walkout

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1 ⓢ walkout

---- Jr ----
[written neatly]

Hey -- sorry for leaving abruptly.

I'm still listening in, but I didn't think it was worth the effort.

---- Brock ----
[dictated]

We don't talk often, but I just wanted to drop a line to say I appreciate what you said tonight.

I'm effectively done with the Peace Patrol and won't be lending them any more support, no matter what legal system they decide to impose, but if I can ever be of assistance, please let me know.

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Nah, whatever. I left, too. You shouldn't listen in like that, though. It's definitely cheating if they think you've gone.

[ Written...slightly less neatly, only because he's walking. And trying not to step on a tiny dog at his heels. ]

What do you want?

[With dry amusement, switching to dictation.] Well, couldn't miss whatever witty quips they threw in on my heels, could I?

I want your thoughts, I guess. You and I don't always see eye to eye, but the Peace Patrol's taken quite a turn since Riful...

Give me a break, this has been going on way longer than that. And it's our fault as much as anybody else's.

Damn right we don't see eye-to-eye. I'm pissed you've been sitting on information like that. How are we supposed to be effective if nobody trusts anybody else in the group?

And I mean jeez, Zelman was there! Did anybody think that maybe he had some hand in it? He's always causing trouble that can't be directly linked to him!

There are a lot of things people could have said earlier, myself included. I shouldn't have sat on that information, no, but I feel like I was justified in doing it. Who was I supposed to trust with it? [pointedly] People immediately wanted to point fingers at everyone but the Peace Patrol members. The ongoing theme with these talks is that the Patrol can do no wrong –– it just chronically falls short.

Zelman? I don't think I've spoken to him in a year, but sure, it's possible. Would anyone still in that room put that together?

Hell, like I don't know that! But even if I know how likely it is the Patrol's got spies, I know which ones I can trust, and I definitely never suspected you. Your worst crime is being too wet behind the ears to know any better.

[ And you've got miles of attitude... Okay he dropped Alby off with 'someone', and is heading to his car now. Gosh he loves his new car. It's going to come in such handy right now. ]

Anyway, I'm not really sure, but sitting around and waiting for everyone to agree just isn't working right now. I'll do some detective work the old-fashioned way.

You just make sure that you're up to playing liaison for a crazy person. Trust me, it is not easy, and if he's got any friends, I'd talk to them if I were you.

'Course, Maladict said practically nobody visited him.

[Skeptically.] I'm not a spy. I just don't trust the Peace Patrol anymore.

I don't have a problem with standing up for Joshua, either. The way I see it, he's a kid in an awful position. The Joshua being controlled by those horns doesn't deserve to be vilified for something he can't control. I'll be sure to drop a line to Zelman.

Don't bother; Zelman's mine.

Just remember that...there may not be an ideal solution for this. Whether or not he's aware of what the hell he's doing, the public's safety comes first. I'm not interested in standing up for every misunderstood super villain.

[ That's your..job... Jr. dun' want it. ]

But if there's a chance someone's brain was screwed around with, then I want to know.

I'm not going to let him rampage around hurting people just because he's not in control of himself. I'm just appalled that they would dismiss a potential brainwashing as "lying", and that he's supposed to go to them himself when he doesn't trust them. It'd be like telling a victim to prove to the people who allowed them to come to harm that they're a victim. Like you, I want to get to the bottom of this.

Well I was the one to ask if he was lying, and you can't blame anyone for asking! A 'gut feeling' isn't always enough in this place, you know!

[ Jr. isn't surprised that the kid didn't come to them as a group... What escapee would do that?! Jr. definitely would have been the first to attack him on sight. Just sayin' B| ]

That's why I'm saying to talk to his friends. Get a better feel for it.

Why you, though?

Yet Eleven accused him of lying after I explained why he wasn't.

[Clark has no idea what that argument was all about.]

Why would Joshua come to me, you mean?

Yeah.

[He pauses, to consider.]

I guess I've given him a chance and see him as more than just the threat of the week, I guess.

[ Hm, that's nice, like an after-school special. Jr.'s touched and all.

...No okay, he is. MOMO being like that with Albedo helped a lot, even if he will never really understand it. ]

Know anyone else who sees him that way? I know Colette has a history with him, but that's about it.

Abel Nightroad, maybe. I don't know if he remembers the altercation years back.

Not really my area. I don't know the guy personally.

I'll talk to him, then. It's been a while, but we always worked together when it came to Joshua. Yuan, too, possibly...

Well, good luck.

I'm still not sure what I think of this. But I'll find out if Zelman knows anything about...anything.

Alright. Let me know what you find out –– I'll let you know what I get from Abel.

Sounds good.

Good.

Tonight turned out interesting.

[Now he's gotta put his kid to bed and catch up with his soon-to-be-wife and then he'll be right down to the church.]

[ Jr. doesn't respond, just smirks and shuts the journal. Yeah, and it's about to get a lot more interesting. ]

[Oh, he hadn't been expecting that! Dictated in turn]

Yeah, I don't blame you, man. I'm gonna try to stay on as long as I can, but I guess I'll see if it's actually worth it.

I'll keep in touch.

I listened in for a bit after I left, but I'm curious to see if they actually do bring anything to the rest of the castle.

Thanks.

["listened in" ... what ........ a. pause. -- oh right, the superpowers thing. sure. makes sense.

Brock snorts a little derisively.] Yeah. I wouldn't hold your breath. I hope they prove me wrong, but -- I'm not counting on it.

Well, they opened up a meeting to people outside the Peace Patrol. It's a start, even if it doesn't justify what the Peace Patrol has become since I first got here.

What was it like before?

I was about fourteen years old when I first came to Paradisa, and back then, the Peace Patrol was relatively new, and it certainly didn't do much. That was back when it was common for the resident jerks to say things like "I've set up six bombs in the city, but only one is real! See if you can find it!" and we'd all run trying to find it and stop it. Comparatively speaking, I guess it was the same was it was now in some respects: people would get hurt, we'd catch the perpetrator, and then he'd sit in house arrest for months.

But largely, it's a difference in attitude. Back then, the Peace Patrol was more a way of organizing people for times of crisis, a group that people could turn to if they needed help. They were volunteer firemen, you know? They certainly didn't eradicate evil and people got frustrated with them for not always having the answer to everything, but it was a lot more casual. They knew they had no experience with governing or lawmaking or law enforcement, so they didn't meddle in those things. They stuck to what they knew best: residents just looking out for each other.

[What... fourteen ... then Clark must have left and come back a lot of times. Something to keep in mind.]

Right ... I think probably people are, uh, trying to make it more into something they're used to. A lot of us have been here a long time. Maybe we feel useless, fighting against some dumb thing that doesn't even notice we're here -- but making it into something more familiar might make guys feel more ... secure, I guess. Or whatever.

'cause it's not like all the jackass evil dudes have gotten worse or anything. If anything, they're heading home en masse. So, I don't know. Might just be people are restless and wanna put that energy into something like, productive. Even if it's not something that'll work in an impossible magic prison.

Right, something they're used to at home, but it isn't something they know how to make themselves. I mean, there are plenty of us here who can use guns, know how they work, know all the basic parts... but that doesn't mean we know how to build a gun from raw materials and memory of how a gun is built. If we tried, the odds of getting it right off the bat are pretty much nil.

People have been trying to make a perfectly fair democratic system for thousands of Earth years and I still haven't heard of a country that has a perfect, uncorrupted system. Not even 900-year-old aliens and super geniuses have figured it out.

It seems unproductive when you could be putting the same kind of effort into something that doesn't stress people out or freak them out.

Yeah, that's the problem. Even if we get like the president in here, we're still gonna get guys who don't want to follow those kind of laws. I mean ... if the president was really the president anyway, and not just a figurehead. [Has Brock ever mentioned that he was in a secret government organization for half his life, that's a thing]

I dunno, man. I just hope people chill out and stick to things they're good at, you know?

And presidents don't always care what's best for the general public.

[Lex Luthor, for one.]

I hope so, too. I think we'd all be happier for it.

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1 ⓢ walkout

Kent

Jr.

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no subject

Clark

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