[Wordlessly, the gun snaps up as Wolfwood lets loose a barrage of bullets into the cloud of bugs congregating there, no doubt taking out a good handful of them before they disperse.]
Shut up. You KNEW I wanted you to keep your god damn mouth shut, but you didn't. I told you what'd happen, and you crossed the line.
[The Punisher is smoking as he lifts it back up onto his shoulder, empty shells falling to the sand around his ankles, both real and metallic.]
The Eye ain't here. Knives ain't here. I answer to no one, and you don't have your protection.
I know I can't kill you, but that don't mean I don't plan on makin' a dent.
[ The man is the Punisher for a reason, and despite them instantly taking off every which way as that weapon comes swinging around, those bullets take out quite a few of their bugs in a splatter of green goo. This is why they didn't bother. ]
Oh please.
[ Around Wolfwood there is no child-like pretense. No innocence, no jokes. The Punisher and the Beast. They are the worms. So while there's still that touch of merriment, their tone shifts. ]
You're just mad because you couldn't figure out how to nicely drop the information, and ended up chasing your poor Plant away. Maybe if you knew the right words to say, knew how to act human and not like a rough attack hound who only knows how to bite, you'd still be beside him.
[ The words are coming from everyone, every bug, with the vibrating of wings. But it's not just the familiar ones. Zazie's networked with the local as well. Ladybugs turn, preying mantises with too many wings flutter them, stare at Wolfwood, watch, vibrate and speak. ]
Besides, it's not like we were wrong to want to tell him. A warning from the future, to prevent a tragedy.
[Wolfwood doesn’t even try to hold back his anger. He grits his teeth, his shoulders and entire upper torso trembling before he lets out a guttural roar of rage, one that continues over the sound of the Punisher firing another barrage of bullets at whatever bugs he can see. Wolfwood may not be able to hit every single one, but the ones he does lock onto will not survive. He can hit a bullseye from nearly a mile away; Zazie knows this, and is doing well to keep their form hidden, lest Wolfwood blast a hole straight through them.
He knows well how inconvenient and slow it would be for them to have to form a new body. He just wishes he could force them to. He wants them to struggle like he now has to struggle, knowing he had no other choice in the matter. The moment Zazie realized this was new information, even they knew…
And now, neither of them are playing games. The way Zazie’s tone has shifted indicates as much.]
He didn’t need to know!! You can’t fucking change the future! Not a future like that!
[His voice rings out over the echo of bullets as more casings fall to the ground around him, his chest heaving from the exertion even though keeping the Punisher lifted barely winds him anymore. No, it’s the emotions pouring out of him that are taking his breath away, making him feel hollowed out and broken.
The fact Zazie is able to speak as if from all around him doesn’t help his nerves, either. It’s a true breakdown if ever there was one, against a creature who knows only what they’ve been taught by humanity, about humanity.]
What good is there in actin’ human anyway!? You should now that better than I do, you piece of SHIT!!!
[ Oh yeah, there's no escaping that weapon. Not entirely. Zazie may cackle and laugh, but quite a few bugs get splattered by the hail of gunfire. Taking out by precision aim and deadly intent.
Oh, Zazie wishes they had their older forms. To swallow and swarm Wolfwood up.
... Though, they can swarm, get in close, get around the distance of the gun. They have to be silent, distract. A few bugs zip by, their voice on every single one, close by Wolfwood's head. Getting in past the main body of the gun one by one is easy enough. ]
Good ol' Punisher. Is that what you told yourself as you walked him towards his brother? There is no changing the future, so why bother to struggle against it at all? I thought you learned. You sure seemed to struggle aboard the sand ship.
[ Get in, cling to hard to reach spots on the mans back. The weapon itself. Distract, so they can come in closer. The mass of them. Fast. They're not here to hurt, but to rile up, to piss Wolfwood off, to get his anger out so it's safe to exist again without becoming yesterdays footnote. ]
You sure struggled to save your little orphanage. To save your lil brother. But I suppose you don't care, do you? I see it in your eyes~ Only what you care about matters. Yourself. Those you've marked as worthy of your affections? You survived. The girl survived. Your orphans are all well and taken care of. So who cares about the others? Those who called JuLai home?
[Wolfwood is a calculated, merciless killer. This is what he was raised for, molded into by careful, meticulous hands. He knows that he’s become exactly what Conrad and Knives always wanted him to be, and he hates himself for it, but it’s been baked into who he is as a person. He is The Punisher, and that’s something he’ll never escape. Not even in death.
Despite his injury, keeping him leaning on the back foot so he can maintain his balance in the sand, Wolfwood hasn’t lost any of his skill during his time in the Grove. When his eyes land on a bug, it’s gone half a second later, blown into bits by his bullets. Zazie is lucky he’s holding on to his lasers, a precious commodity that takes a whole month to recharge when he does use it. Maybe he hasn’t yet deemed this situation worthy enough for it.
…yet.
When he feels a bug or two clinging to the sleeves of his blazer, he throws his arm back to try to shake it off. It makes him stumble, grinding out a frustrated bark of a sound as he picks off another, another, another- all while Zazie whispers, buzzing awful things between his ears.
Though he doesn’t respond verbally (yet), he sure does become more aggressive in his movements. He even pulls out his pistol, firing off a couple haphazard shots as those bugs fly past his ears. If he weren’t packing heat, he might have snatched a couple out of the air just so he could rip them apart with his bare hands.]
Is the entire world my responsibility?!
[He finally breaks, he shouts, sweat dripping from his forehead and down the back of his neck. There’s another voice in the back of his head- his own- that’s warning him not to overdo it. Because you can overdo it, you’re not so invincible anymore…you don’t have your vials to keep you alive. If you were to get hurt, if Zazie really were to decide to fight back…
Well. He’s prepared to deal with the consequences. He’s not sure he cares, at the moment.]
[ Oop, there a few more go. Splat splat POP. It's worth it, however, to let a few get pistoled so they can creep in closer, surprised he doesn't just go for squishing them with his hands.
And they bite, when they land. Those large pincers clamping hard onto skin, hair, clothing. Strong enough to tear flesh from bone, scavengers that they are, but they don't. They bite, and cling. If he rips them off, he will be the one injuring himself. Mostly they cling to places he has to focus on. A bite to his ear, one to his finger to stop the trigger, to the back of his good calf. Distractions.
And when he finally answers them? Breaks down and screams like that, they scoff. ]
Who said it was? Do you have that much of a complex you think the entire world rests on your shoulders alone? Should I start calling you Million Bullets?
[ One bug lands on the punisher, crawling around it to look at Wolfwood, face to face, wings buzzing. ]
Why are you so upset? He knows, he can take action accordingly. If it doesn't change the future, then it's simply how it is. Wash your hands of it, as you always do.
[ Zazie finally manifests in front of him, close enough the punisher can't hit them with bullets, but if Wolfwood wanted he could still swing the heavy thing around. They're aware. ]
After all, you just said it. Why must it be your responsibility? Do your part, and don't get upset when others do theirs.
[Zazie might not be the kind of direct fighter that Wolfwood is, but they sure do know how to exploit his every weakness. It’s hard to fight back against the bugs landing on and latching onto him, grabbing him in places he can’t easily reach with his arms occupied by his guns. It isn’t long though before the pistol goes back to his side in favor of two-handing the Punisher, knowing that the ammo in it isn’t infinite. He’s going to run out eventually, and that will be it. Maybe he’ll have burnt himself out, maybe not.
He’s still shooting regardless. Anything that moves, nothing gets spared when he knows it’s part of Zazie’s collective, all coming at him at once.
And when Zazie finally coalesces in front of him, he levels the Punisher right at their chest, using the heel of his hand to turn the dial at the center, changing the gun’s configuration. Suddenly, the barrel of the machine gun has pulled back, giving way to the laser he used to split the grand worm in half.
That is what he levels at Zazie now, and when he speaks again, it’s through gritted teeth. Every breath he takes is harsh sounding and painful, his knees shaking now from the exertion of standing that he’s been trying to ignore this entire time. The sand isn’t doing him any favors.]
This ain’t about the fuckin’ future!
[It’s…about Vash.
Vash, who doesn’t want anything to do with him now. He won’t speak to him, won’t come near him. He hasn’t even seen him since their fight, and he doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen, and that is driving him over the edge more than anything.
He hates, HATES, how vulnerable it makes him feel.]
Everythin’ woulda’ been FINE if you’d stayed gone! We woulda’ been FINE!!!
[ They don't flinch. Why would they. There's enough of them in other places they can reform. It will take a while, sure, but it won't be the end for them. It's never the end for them. So instead they just let that weapon of destruction be aimed, knowing it'll do far more damage to the area behind them and around them, than actually them.
And they tilt their head as Wolfwood finally admits that he doesn't care about the future. Hm? Because- ]
Ohhhh. You think your boyfriend broke up with you!
[ You don't need to say it, Zazie gets it. They can figure it out when they're not pretending. The why makes them shrug, arms moving to rest behind their head, their mask snapping up. ]
Don't ask me, I'm not the one that brought us here. Point the blame at me all you want. Do you really think you two would remain here, idyllic and carefree forever? That Vash wouldn't go back and face down all the things he has to? You should be mad at him, for being so blind in his ways of saving humanity that he'd willingly walk straight into a trap.
[ The bugs on Wolfwood tighten their grip, biting into his hands, while Zazie thinks, scratching the back of their neck gently. ]
You should also be angry at yourself for being so stupid you don't get how Vash really feels. You really think he ran away cause he's angry at you? Do you really know the plant? He's probably somewhere moping, face down in a puddle of his own tears, because he can't comprehend that he failed again.
[ To be fair Zazie doesn't know Vash personally but they've watched. It's hard not to, when that's the very thing they were sent to do. ]
[Wolfwood keeps the smoking barrel of the Punisher trained on the Beast, and though he's shaking uncontrollably, it never wavers. He does not miss. It's the only thing in the world that he's good at. Shooting. Killing. Passing the blame, running from responsibility, trying and trying to make up excuses for why he does the things he does, only to come to the same conclusion every time.
He's a coward. He knows he is. He doesn't like having to live his life like this, struggling. He would give anything to not be that scared kid they scooped up from the orphanage, but to regain his freedom would be to give up everything, and that would be the same as trading his own life away. So he won't. He can't. He grits his teeth and bears it not because he wants to, but because he's been left with no other alternative.
But deep down, he never really got the chance to grow out of being that scared little kid who was never given a choice. He's turned into a petulant excuse for an adult, unable to properly regulate his emotions because he never learned how. He's angry and bitter over things others can't control, he only knows how to cope by lashing out until he burns himself to smoldering ashes.
He's breathing heavily now, not even realizing that he's been crying this entire time. Not openly, but there's wetness on his cheeks now that causes the wind whipping his face to feel even colder and more unforgiving than normal. And the unfortunate truth is that Zazie has been watching over him for many, many years. He's seen how Wolfwood acts and knows every last tick he has, all of his most intimate struggles and the things that truly upset him. They're hitting every single one, digging their claws in and flaying him open bare for the world to see in the same sort of cruel fascination of a child focusing the light of the sun on ants through a magnifying glass.
He has no rebuttal. No response, knowing that Zazie has said nothing so far that isn't true.
Instead, he just revs the gun, and fires a laser at Zazie point-blank. It will light up the entire beachfront in a massive blue glow for a few seconds before dissipating over the distant water.]
[ The tears are fascinating. Of course Zazie has seen humans cry for many reasons. Anger, pain, joy, frustration. Which one is these? Anger seems too on the nose. Frustration? A little bit of everything? They tilt their head like a curious dog, as if waiting for Wolfwood to dispute their claims.
But of course he can't. Because Zazie isn't wrong.
The gun revving is the only warning Zazie gets and though they quickly disperse, the laser still vaporizes quite a few of them. Point blank and the weapon doesn't need that much of a rev up.
There's an angry pained buzzing from the ones that escape and they quickly head in every which direction, Zazies voice fading with them. There's definitely a pout there. ]
Spoilsport.
[ And then Wolfwood will be left alone, not a bug - not even the local ones - remaining with him. They have to heal, regroup, repopulate. Away from the Punisher. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2024-06-26 10:17 pm (UTC)Shut up. You KNEW I wanted you to keep your god damn mouth shut, but you didn't. I told you what'd happen, and you crossed the line.
[The Punisher is smoking as he lifts it back up onto his shoulder, empty shells falling to the sand around his ankles, both real and metallic.]
The Eye ain't here. Knives ain't here. I answer to no one, and you don't have your protection.
I know I can't kill you, but that don't mean I don't plan on makin' a dent.
no subject
Date: 2024-06-26 10:30 pm (UTC)Oh please.
[ Around Wolfwood there is no child-like pretense. No innocence, no jokes. The Punisher and the Beast. They are the worms. So while there's still that touch of merriment, their tone shifts. ]
You're just mad because you couldn't figure out how to nicely drop the information, and ended up chasing your poor Plant away. Maybe if you knew the right words to say, knew how to act human and not like a rough attack hound who only knows how to bite, you'd still be beside him.
[ The words are coming from everyone, every bug, with the vibrating of wings. But it's not just the familiar ones. Zazie's networked with the local as well. Ladybugs turn, preying mantises with too many wings flutter them, stare at Wolfwood, watch, vibrate and speak. ]
Besides, it's not like we were wrong to want to tell him. A warning from the future, to prevent a tragedy.
no subject
Date: 2024-06-26 11:04 pm (UTC)He knows well how inconvenient and slow it would be for them to have to form a new body. He just wishes he could force them to. He wants them to struggle like he now has to struggle, knowing he had no other choice in the matter. The moment Zazie realized this was new information, even they knew…
And now, neither of them are playing games. The way Zazie’s tone has shifted indicates as much.]
He didn’t need to know!! You can’t fucking change the future! Not a future like that!
[His voice rings out over the echo of bullets as more casings fall to the ground around him, his chest heaving from the exertion even though keeping the Punisher lifted barely winds him anymore. No, it’s the emotions pouring out of him that are taking his breath away, making him feel hollowed out and broken.
The fact Zazie is able to speak as if from all around him doesn’t help his nerves, either. It’s a true breakdown if ever there was one, against a creature who knows only what they’ve been taught by humanity, about humanity.]
What good is there in actin’ human anyway!? You should now that better than I do, you piece of SHIT!!!
no subject
Date: 2024-06-27 01:54 am (UTC)Oh, Zazie wishes they had their older forms. To swallow and swarm Wolfwood up.
... Though, they can swarm, get in close, get around the distance of the gun. They have to be silent, distract. A few bugs zip by, their voice on every single one, close by Wolfwood's head. Getting in past the main body of the gun one by one is easy enough. ]
Good ol' Punisher. Is that what you told yourself as you walked him towards his brother? There is no changing the future, so why bother to struggle against it at all? I thought you learned. You sure seemed to struggle aboard the sand ship.
[ Get in, cling to hard to reach spots on the mans back. The weapon itself. Distract, so they can come in closer. The mass of them. Fast. They're not here to hurt, but to rile up, to piss Wolfwood off, to get his anger out so it's safe to exist again without becoming yesterdays footnote. ]
You sure struggled to save your little orphanage. To save your lil brother. But I suppose you don't care, do you? I see it in your eyes~ Only what you care about matters. Yourself. Those you've marked as worthy of your affections? You survived. The girl survived. Your orphans are all well and taken care of. So who cares about the others? Those who called JuLai home?
no subject
Date: 2024-06-27 02:19 am (UTC)Despite his injury, keeping him leaning on the back foot so he can maintain his balance in the sand, Wolfwood hasn’t lost any of his skill during his time in the Grove. When his eyes land on a bug, it’s gone half a second later, blown into bits by his bullets. Zazie is lucky he’s holding on to his lasers, a precious commodity that takes a whole month to recharge when he does use it. Maybe he hasn’t yet deemed this situation worthy enough for it.
…yet.
When he feels a bug or two clinging to the sleeves of his blazer, he throws his arm back to try to shake it off. It makes him stumble, grinding out a frustrated bark of a sound as he picks off another, another, another- all while Zazie whispers, buzzing awful things between his ears.
Though he doesn’t respond verbally (yet), he sure does become more aggressive in his movements. He even pulls out his pistol, firing off a couple haphazard shots as those bugs fly past his ears. If he weren’t packing heat, he might have snatched a couple out of the air just so he could rip them apart with his bare hands.]
Is the entire world my responsibility?!
[He finally breaks, he shouts, sweat dripping from his forehead and down the back of his neck. There’s another voice in the back of his head- his own- that’s warning him not to overdo it. Because you can overdo it, you’re not so invincible anymore…you don’t have your vials to keep you alive. If you were to get hurt, if Zazie really were to decide to fight back…
Well. He’s prepared to deal with the consequences. He’s not sure he cares, at the moment.]
no subject
Date: 2024-06-27 03:10 am (UTC)And they bite, when they land. Those large pincers clamping hard onto skin, hair, clothing. Strong enough to tear flesh from bone, scavengers that they are, but they don't. They bite, and cling. If he rips them off, he will be the one injuring himself. Mostly they cling to places he has to focus on. A bite to his ear, one to his finger to stop the trigger, to the back of his good calf. Distractions.
And when he finally answers them? Breaks down and screams like that, they scoff. ]
Who said it was? Do you have that much of a complex you think the entire world rests on your shoulders alone? Should I start calling you Million Bullets?
[ One bug lands on the punisher, crawling around it to look at Wolfwood, face to face, wings buzzing. ]
Why are you so upset? He knows, he can take action accordingly. If it doesn't change the future, then it's simply how it is. Wash your hands of it, as you always do.
[ Zazie finally manifests in front of him, close enough the punisher can't hit them with bullets, but if Wolfwood wanted he could still swing the heavy thing around. They're aware. ]
After all, you just said it. Why must it be your responsibility? Do your part, and don't get upset when others do theirs.
no subject
Date: 2024-06-27 03:31 am (UTC)He’s still shooting regardless. Anything that moves, nothing gets spared when he knows it’s part of Zazie’s collective, all coming at him at once.
And when Zazie finally coalesces in front of him, he levels the Punisher right at their chest, using the heel of his hand to turn the dial at the center, changing the gun’s configuration. Suddenly, the barrel of the machine gun has pulled back, giving way to the laser he used to split the grand worm in half.
That is what he levels at Zazie now, and when he speaks again, it’s through gritted teeth. Every breath he takes is harsh sounding and painful, his knees shaking now from the exertion of standing that he’s been trying to ignore this entire time. The sand isn’t doing him any favors.]
This ain’t about the fuckin’ future!
[It’s…about Vash.
Vash, who doesn’t want anything to do with him now. He won’t speak to him, won’t come near him. He hasn’t even seen him since their fight, and he doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen, and that is driving him over the edge more than anything.
He hates, HATES, how vulnerable it makes him feel.]
Everythin’ woulda’ been FINE if you’d stayed gone! We woulda’ been FINE!!!
Why?!
no subject
Date: 2024-06-27 03:50 am (UTC)And they tilt their head as Wolfwood finally admits that he doesn't care about the future. Hm? Because- ]
Ohhhh. You think your boyfriend broke up with you!
[ You don't need to say it, Zazie gets it. They can figure it out when they're not pretending. The why makes them shrug, arms moving to rest behind their head, their mask snapping up. ]
Don't ask me, I'm not the one that brought us here. Point the blame at me all you want. Do you really think you two would remain here, idyllic and carefree forever? That Vash wouldn't go back and face down all the things he has to? You should be mad at him, for being so blind in his ways of saving humanity that he'd willingly walk straight into a trap.
[ The bugs on Wolfwood tighten their grip, biting into his hands, while Zazie thinks, scratching the back of their neck gently. ]
You should also be angry at yourself for being so stupid you don't get how Vash really feels. You really think he ran away cause he's angry at you? Do you really know the plant? He's probably somewhere moping, face down in a puddle of his own tears, because he can't comprehend that he failed again.
[ To be fair Zazie doesn't know Vash personally but they've watched. It's hard not to, when that's the very thing they were sent to do. ]
no subject
Date: 2024-06-27 11:12 pm (UTC)He's a coward. He knows he is. He doesn't like having to live his life like this, struggling. He would give anything to not be that scared kid they scooped up from the orphanage, but to regain his freedom would be to give up everything, and that would be the same as trading his own life away. So he won't. He can't. He grits his teeth and bears it not because he wants to, but because he's been left with no other alternative.
But deep down, he never really got the chance to grow out of being that scared little kid who was never given a choice. He's turned into a petulant excuse for an adult, unable to properly regulate his emotions because he never learned how. He's angry and bitter over things others can't control, he only knows how to cope by lashing out until he burns himself to smoldering ashes.
He's breathing heavily now, not even realizing that he's been crying this entire time. Not openly, but there's wetness on his cheeks now that causes the wind whipping his face to feel even colder and more unforgiving than normal. And the unfortunate truth is that Zazie has been watching over him for many, many years. He's seen how Wolfwood acts and knows every last tick he has, all of his most intimate struggles and the things that truly upset him. They're hitting every single one, digging their claws in and flaying him open bare for the world to see in the same sort of cruel fascination of a child focusing the light of the sun on ants through a magnifying glass.
He has no rebuttal. No response, knowing that Zazie has said nothing so far that isn't true.
Instead, he just revs the gun, and fires a laser at Zazie point-blank. It will light up the entire beachfront in a massive blue glow for a few seconds before dissipating over the distant water.]
no subject
Date: 2024-06-27 11:37 pm (UTC)But of course he can't. Because Zazie isn't wrong.
The gun revving is the only warning Zazie gets and though they quickly disperse, the laser still vaporizes quite a few of them. Point blank and the weapon doesn't need that much of a rev up.
There's an angry pained buzzing from the ones that escape and they quickly head in every which direction, Zazies voice fading with them. There's definitely a pout there. ]
Spoilsport.
[ And then Wolfwood will be left alone, not a bug - not even the local ones - remaining with him. They have to heal, regroup, repopulate. Away from the Punisher. ]