part 188 double rainbows

[aphanon_meme]

Umm... hi? Not dead, relatively okay. I'm sorry to make people worry - there are days, like everyone, where I am very busy or unable to get online a lot or at all. It hasn't even been 24 hours - trust me, unless I'm gone for 5 day+ then I am okay, relatively.

I love you guys, enjoy part 188!

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*There is a rules page here. Please read it before

Comments

[maple_sickles]

[stalks around him predatorily, fingering the fishing wire in his pocket...]

[what a fantastic opportunity]

[his grin is manic and terrifying]

/had to do it~

[timesa_changing]

[SQUIRMS, too distracted by his current predicament to notice that expression. It's a miracle he noticed him at all actually.]

H-hey Matt...you wanna do me a big, huge favor right about now?

Hey buddy!!

[maple_sickles]

[the grin only widens]

What kind of favour would a bloated, amoral, hypocritical, money-grubbing pig brave hero like yourself want from me?

\o/

[timesa_changing]

[faintly disturbed by that, enough to stop squirming as much and squint]

Just a little one, swear! I'm sorta stuck over here and uh, it would be real awesome if you could untie me. Please?

Re: \o/

[maple_sickles]

[chuckles softly and steps closer, polished boots clicking against the floor]

Very "awesome", I expect.

[doesn't so much as look at the ropes, preferring to trace America's cheek with one leather-gloved finger, then snag him by the jaw]

I'll let you free, but on one condition.

[timesa_changing]

Yeah, ver--

[freezes, forgetting to finish that sentence and any other pleading that might go along with it]

[swallows hard while looking up at him, definitely rattled and unsure of this situation now. This isn't the Canada he's used to...]

Yeah? What's that?

[maple_sickles]

[tilts his head to a disturbing angle]

It's a minor request really, Al.

Abandon your flawed capitalist ideals and allow the people to unite. Elevate the common man. Become one with us.

[timesa_changing]

Woah...

[shudders and tries to pull back out of his grip]

Woah, I dunno what you're talking about, man. My people are united! [tries not to cringe at what it takes to force this out] T-they're there for each other! Maybe not all the time, but when times are rough, they pull together...they help each other.

What d'you mean us?

lose yourself in the collective! resistance is futile! we will add your uniqueness to our own!

[maple_sickles]

Ah, but wouldn't life be easier if they pulled together all the time? No excess wealth in the ruling class? No abject poverty for those whose labour affords them such luxury?

Peace?

Unity?

Do you not yourself say that all are created equal? Your system is hypocritical; it doesn't uphold those beliefs. Ours does.

[leans in closer, oh is the mighty eagle cracking? Delicious...]

Us. We. The people. The Family.

You could be so much more.

Re: lose yourself in the collective! resistance is futile! we will add your uniqueness to our own!

[timesa_changing]

What are you talking about?! You can't expect everyone in the world to always get along, Matt. And tryin' to force people to see things from your point of view isn't gonna create peace! It's...it's just gonna make them feel trapped! People have a right to choose their own paths!

[stops trying to struggle back and scowls, irritated]

Don't quote the Declaration back at me if you don't get it in the first place. 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.' My system tries to help people with all three of those.

Y-you sound like Ivan. All your family wants to do is take all that away!

[maple_sickles]

[Dissent. This is new. Poor deluded Alfred...]

There's no force involved, dear brother. We liberate. We unify. In the fullness of time, the world will be classless, stateless. Everyone's needs will be met, and that happiness will be the greatest the world has ever known.

[tilts head more, frowning now]

Why would you stand in the way of that? I'm pursuing the greatest Happiness there is! Long life, complete liberty from an evil, predatory system that crushes the common man underfoot...

Can you not see how your thinking is flawed? Your system is broken and your people cry out for want of something more. You are a nation divided. I am merely offering you our help.

[you comparing him to his most revered Motherland gives him a delightful tickle]

[timesa_changing]

Classless and stateless? Are you even listening to yourself? It would fall apart!

My system...my system is flawed, I'll admit. Mistakes were made but we're learning from them! We're repairing things, not looking for some new radical realignment! We're making things better for them, trying to make things easier. It's just...it's a long process.

You're talking about crushing them with an unfair system. It's totalitarian, not freedom. Let me up. This is crazy.

[maple_sickles]

[Ahh such fire in this one...]

[grips him very firmly by the hair and gets in his face]

How are you so certain it would fall apart, hm?

How long are you willing to wait while your own needy citizens languish and the fat cats keep getting fatter? You haven't fixed anything. Things keep getting worse.

We are the most fair society you could hope to find.

[Nasty smile]

And no, I don't think I'll be letting you up.

[timesa_changing]

[winces, jaw tightening at the slight pain]

Because it's happened before. Don't tell you don't remember 1989. You oughta, if you're so hard up on communism now. Those revolutions are proof enough that your system is an oppressive failure.

Things always get worse before they get better. Save for your crap. That never improves.

Fair? You're deluded.

[maple_sickles]

[grits teeth and scowls, features twisting in the sudden upsurge of rage--this insect dares mention that great shame?!]

[YANKS on America's hair]

The World Revolution would be worth nothing without struggle and setbacks. Where will you go, I wonder, when all but you have joined us? When we live in perfect equality and yours are dying, starving in the streets?

There's no way out for you.

Everything you've built is breaking as we speak.

Soon enough you will be broken, starving, and cowed. You'll destroy yourself from within.

[timesa_changing]

[bites a yelp back into a swear, but the discomfort's evident enough on his face]

You're an idiot if you think you'll get your people to fall for that. You're Canada, not some idiot satellite sockpuppet Ivan can pull out and dance around when he gets tired of pokin' dead shit with a stick. He's got you brainwashed or some shit. My brother wouldn't fall for this crap.

[grins up at him, but it's more of a cruel smirk than anything]

You're underestimating my people. In the words of one of our best, freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

So uh...lemme put that to you in a way you'll understand: fuck that. We'll fight for our freedom. Like always.