[video - for the good of all of us (except the ones who are dead).]

[purpleknee]

Oh Abeegail, what am I to do? I need to help five people and fill them with hope so I can get something that makes me feel like I have a heart again! Because I don't have a heart inside my body, which apparently means far more to me than it does for most of the people in this stupid cave. Hmn? What's that Beeatrice, this trade is basically impossible for me without the thing I'm trading for? Right you are! How smart, and how quickly you realized it, you smart little bee.

[His faux enthusiasm drops and he glares flatly at the camera.]

Come help a witch help you to help himself help us all. I have healing magic and a temper. If you think this is cheating, I don't want to hear it, and I only want things that will actually help. I'm serious, I'm trying to be good, here.

...Oh, and it goes against everything else I'm trying to do here, but I should let you know that the bees I found can't make honey. Maybe if you tell Delight or someone they can, she'll believe you and the copies will be able to, I don't know. I don't really care.

[He's screwed.]

Comments

[infinite1up]

[So pleasantly that if the words weren't these specific words he might sound like a reasonable man:]

I'm sure that it would make me feel so much more hopeful for my chances with the rest of the city. And isn't that what you're after, really?

[purpleknee]

[squints]

It needs to be very real hope.

[infinite1up]

Very real hope, hmmm.

[Sato laughs -- it starts off his usual avuncular chortle, but goes on just a little too long as his face twists into a much less pleasant smile.]

If nothing changes, if I don't get my possessions back very soon... eventually, I'm sure you'll meet Hope's requirements and get your heart back.

When you do, I will hunt you down and carve it right back out of your chest while you watch. You might think that your healing will help you if you can get it back from me. But I'll tell you now that for each day that I've been kept waiting, I'll chop a piece off and feed it to the monsters in the tunnels until there's nothing left.

And that's not a hope, that's a promise.

[purpleknee]

...What is wrong with you?

[WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS... Also he's still pretty sure he'd survive that, and he'd rather not get a physical heart as a replacement since his exists out there somewhere, but, uh. Yeah, still not great.]

The games are fun and all, but not that fun! Why can't you just get a new one from, I don't know, Delight?

[asking for a friend]

[infinite1up]

I'm not in the habit of asking the gods for favors.

I'll be seeing you around, Warrick, one way or another.

[purpleknee]

-- Okay, okay!

[ S T O P ]

You'll be able to find it, ugh fates be damned, in theeee...

[...]

I don't actually know where the best place for a hostage negotiation would be.

[infinite1up]

The abandoned temple near the generator.

[It should be empty and quiet, with most of the recent arrivals at the party or other actually interesting locations in the city by now, which is how Sato would rather have this play out.]

I'll see you there.

[purpleknee]

[Abandoned temples... Oh, this will go great.

Which is why he already looks like a dead man walking -- flying? -- when he floats his way over. Vocaloid music may or may not be blasting through the speakers, but his score's not too high up there, with how he fervently scans the area and misses the button prompts.]

O-kay, if you're here, remember I'm still holding it so you shouldn't do anything drastic...

[infinite1up]

[Sato steps out from the ruins, squinting up at Warrick. Although he isn't holding any weapons, he still has the usual machete and semiautomatic pistol at his side, though he seems to have traded in the axe for a morning star as his extra melee weapon.]

Flying? That's a new one.

[purpleknee]

[why]

Yeah, well.

[Not really. Still, it just seems like a bad idea to share too much information. Somehow. Somehow.]

It isn't like you haven't been without surprises of your own. You're sick, you know that?

[infinite1up]

[People aren't usually that blunt about it but it isn't the first time he's heard the general sentiment. Unfazed, he doesn't touch his weapons, simply ignoring the remark and holding out his empty hand, palm up.

Generally, he doesn't like it when things end too easily. It's not as much fun. This is a bit of a special case, though.]

Are you going to return it or not?

[purpleknee]

[He sighs, glancing at the screen so he can lower the volume and quit out of his game before slooooowly drifting down and holding it out. He's still a little too high up, but it's almost home...]

Where did you get this?

[infinite1up]

I brought it here with me.

[Of course he might not have bought it in his world by traditional means - Nekozawa was always willing to trade for whatever he might need - but there's no point in getting into that. He reaches up, still waiting.]

[purpleknee]

Oh.

[Disappointing... His hand pauses again, like that news makes him reconsider, but after a beat he taps the vita into Sato's palm and jerks back to keep his arms out of range.]

Are there any others? You can play some of those games with more than one person, can't you? [Can he steal one from someone who won't threaten to kill him all the time, basically...]

[infinite1up]

[If Sato wasn't already basically squinting all the time, that little tap would deserve narrowing his eyes. As it is, he pulls back his hand a little bit and concentrates briefly...]

I don't know of any others. And you'd need someone to use the phone network to let them connect.

[It's at about that point that something pulls the Vita out of Warrick's hand, leaving it floating in midair for a moment before being dropped in Sato's hand.

That same monster as before, a couple feet taller than Sato himself and with reach to match, is invisible without that surge of delighted murderous intent behind it. Unseen, it stands off to the side again now that its work is done.]

I hope you looked after it.

[Sato frowns, checking for new scratches.]

[purpleknee]

[Ugh, still not what he wants to hear -- and he flinches away as soon as he feels the tug of something pulling the vita from him. Now that he knows it exists, he thinks he could keep things under control if that...shadow-thing came for him again, but he'd rather not test it. So he's just going to cross his legs and sit far, far away from Sato, still in the air.]

Of course I did! I didn't just steal it to get back at you. I was careful. Breaking it wouldn't do me any good.

[infinite1up]

[Satisfied with his game console's condition, Sato looks back up at Warrick, contemplative even as his free hand slowly, casually drops to the hilt of his machete.]

You didn't? It's good to know I'm not the only one who appreciates a good game.

[purpleknee]

Most of them were bad games.

[He narrows his eyes at that hand. Fuckin...stop...]

I mostly played the diva one.

[infinite1up]

[Although it's basically impossible to tell the difference between this and his earlier 'irate' act, Sato's reply seems a little bluntly cranky in response.]

Spelunker is a classic of its time.

[purpleknee]

Yes, well, I'm certain you are, too. Look at those wrinkles.

[Warrick also needs to stop. Sassing is inevitable, though.]

[infinite1up]

[That's about the point at which, in one quick and smooth motion, the machete is out and Sato throws it. It's no throwing knife, but it's still an unpleasantly sharp object flying directly at Warrick.]

[purpleknee]

[Well, that wasn't a very masculine scream just now, was it? As much as he'd hate to admit it, he hasn't had quite the same grasp on his shield-making since the last scare Sato gave him -- and he was never really all that great at making them in the first place. He manages to use the coat's magic to move enough to not take a direct hit to the vitals or anything, but...]

Ow! What the hell is wrong with you? [On the bright side, digging the machete out of himself means that Sato can't just go and get it. Ugh!!! Now he has to heal himself, this man is such a waste on his magical resources.] I gave it back, you creep!

[infinite1up]

[Sato laughs when he hits Warrick, an abrupt change from his irritated look not moments ago. This is fun, especially when the monsters in the tunnels were starting to get boring -- either too easy or just unkillable at his level. This is a happy, challenging medium.]

How long did it take you to return it? I think I'm owed compensation.

[Sato's 'black ghost' shimmers very faintly into visibility, semi-translucent for a moment before becoming completely opaque as it crouches down like an Olympic runner waiting for the starter pistol -- or in this case, getting ready to launch itself up into the air like a dog after a green, meaty frisbee.]

[purpleknee]

[He really needs to stop associating with this maniac...especially since the sight of the shadow thing makes him swallow hard and shift into a ready stance. The machete is bigger than his knife, at least, and lighter than his axe. Still having flashbacks to the time a card soldier child kicked his ass.

...Then again, Fred kicked everyone's ass except Selva's, and she hadn't given him a fair chance.]

It was an eye for an eye.

[infinite1up]

Old-fashioned vengeance? I wouldn't have figured you for the type... but it suits me just fine.

[Get ready to move, Warrick, because the creature can really jump, reaching up with one clawed hand to try pulling him out of the air. Sato, on the other hand, is still cradling his precious Vita in one hand, not too inclined to enter an actual fight himself.]