chickensinacademy

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trustfell

crimson

[ It was so quiet anymore.

Before the string of murders started, it seemed like the Academy had been bursting with energy. Petitions for chicken rooms, men to run around shirtless. There had been parties to help strangers become friends, rather than to boost morale because there had been another murder and a following execution. Things were so light compared to how they were now.

With Logan gone and the sleepovers taking place, Marty could hardly keep his head on straight anymore. It was like this place was slowly driving you crazy, not knowing whether you'd make it to see the next day or not. Whether it was because of someone you knew or a weird shadow thing, your existence was always questionable here.

He wanders through the building, but eventually he gravitates back up to the bar. After seeing his mother cling to alcohol for every answer through the years, Marty swore he would never do the same and turn to the can when he was in doubt. Her life was never in question though, not like his here. Not like anybody's, for that manner. One little beer wouldn't hurt him, age be damned.

Up the stairs he goes, through the pool room and into the bar. Marty'll look around once, twice. And if the coast is clear, he'll try and hit himself up with a can or two, just for today. ]

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[With news of the ghosts of their department comrades, things were starting to look up. They had help from the other side, Mordecai remembered he had the power to resurrect the dead. This week's memory only cemented that he was capable of more than he imagined, and as Cactoid Jim told him, the universe was his place, and it was his responsibly to see that there was no more trouble in it.

That meant looking after everyone trapped in the Academy, Marty included. Mordecai had grown fond of the poor boy during the past few weeks. First bonding over worrying what may happen to them, then chatting about their lives back home. But the events that transpired were taking a visible toll on Marty, and Logan's death only made matters worse.

Mordecai was cleaning up in the dining hall late at night when he heard someone go by. With no motive this week - unless someone here particularly hated chickens - there wasn't a real reason to be afraid of everyone anymore. Besides, it was Marty. He looked like he needed someone to talk to again.

With one last inspection of the table, Mordecai calmly walks to the stairs and looked up, seeing Marty exit on the fourth floor. Of course. The bar. He already got drunk once, but that was only because Youko bent her rules. Mordecai's not letting him develop a bad habit.

His footsteps make no noise on the carpeted floors as he approached the bar room. He knocks on the door frame a few times to announce his presence.]

Edited 2015-12-09 03:32 (UTC)

[ A simple tapping against the wooden frame is enough to make Marty jump. Could you blame him? The only good thing that's happened here in the past six weeks is that there was a sudden increase in chickens...which was questionable, depending on who you were. In this place, surprises weren't so much a good thing lately.

Guilt settles in his gut when he sees Mordecai standing there. Somehow, despite everything that's happened, Mordecai seemed to be the only one who really kept his head above level. People could die, be decapitated, torn from limb, and he managed to keep his head about him. It was amazing, and in a way, kind of sad. Hopefully he was just really good at keeping calm under pressure, instead of living and learning solely from Mars. That idea was a little more than heartbreaking.

...maybe it was a little less, when you were trying to get a hold of some beer. Life or death situation or not, Marty wasn't allowed to have one single drop while the Barkeep was around. He wouldn't ever admit it, especially when he was trying to get something to drink, but having some law (literally) and order around the place wasn't all that bad of a thing. That didn't mean he was going to leave it all for nothing, though!

He swallows, backing away from the booze that lined the walls. It's pretty damn obvious what he was after, but he attempts to at least play dumb anyway. ] H-hey. How's it going?

[It's difficult to keep calm when death could have come at any moment. When shadow monsters lived in the basement. But when you run a business on Mars, you have to learn how to live and keep some semblance of order no matter the situation and no matter how terrified you are. Seeing death isn't much of a surprise anymore for him, but when it involves the people he's grown to care for, he has more cause to worry.

Some of the people here are from peaceful Earths. They have never seen something die in front of them. Mordecai can't begin to imagine how Marty must have felt after Dio's execution. To him, it was a shocking display of postmortem abilities with more gore than necessary. To Marty, well, his reaction to it said everything.

That act does not fool the Barkeep one bit.]

I thought I saw you come up here. Can't sleep?

[He instinctively walks to the area behind the counter. Customer with his sorrows on one side, bartender on the other. It's a familiar setup, once that Mordecai has been practicing all his life for.]

[ Marty shakes his head, muttering nothing but a simple 'hmm-nnn' as an answer. Sleep usually brings nightmares, either incorporating corpses of friends and family, or writhing heads and corpses of those who should have been dead. Since the sleepover, he figures it's best to just try and stay awake. Why sleep and have nightmares when your entire experience here is a gigantic nightmare to begin with?

He watches as Mordecai takes his place behind the bar, like he's guarding the stuff Marty can't have. He's not stupid; Marty's constantly comparing the barkeep to his parents, and this is a great example. He looks down to his feet, knowing damn well it'll be brought up, if he doesn't first. ]

Sorry. For tryin' to take it. [ Nods over to the booze. ]

[He stands at the counter, arms spread and hands flat on the surface and looks at Marty for a good minute. Perhaps having sleepover in their rooms was a good idea to follow. There's no reason for Mordecai to be afraid of this particular person sharing a room with him.

But first, some comfort. He leaves for another shelf, the one where carbonated water and various fizzy drinks are kept. Ever since he introduced soda to Jean, Mordecai had been looking into non-alcoholic mixes for the teens, and he knew just the kind for now. Something not too sweet, to help him fall asleep. If he had access to the kitchen, he could try mixing tea into that, but that was an experiment for later.

He comes back with a beer glass and a few bottles.]

You need somethin' before you go back down, just tell me.

[ The beer glass catches his eye. He wouldn't actually make something for him with a little bit of booze in there, would he? That seemed kind of weird...but Marty really didn't care right now. It wasn't like he was going to turn into his mom who was a raging alcoholic in a matter of a few days. Marty liked to think he had more sense than that.

But curiosity gets the better of him. You know something is wrong when the Barkeep is willing to break a few rules. Maybe the pressure is getting to him, too? ] ...Maybe something'll be okay. Nothing too fancy.

[ He sits upon the stool, frowning. ] I don't think I'm goin' anywhere too quick tonight.

[Marty's curiosity shouldn't last long, because the Barkeep pours in a good portion of carbonated water with some raspberry syrup, then adds a pinch of lemon juice, and there you go.]

Once fizzy cocktail, just for you. [He even added a napkin to Marty's free order.]

...There somethin' you wanna talk about? I'll be here all evenin'.

[What better place to talk than in a bar? The building is quiet, there's no one around, and most people have gone to bed by now. Mordecai believes that the majority are still terrified from...everything that happened on Monday. He doesn't blame them. He remembers seeing a man torn limb from limb, and watching a living shadow kill one of their own ~~too stupid to~~ brave enough to fight it have him a good shaking.

But despite how horrifying that was, Mordecai can't afford to stay in his room and hope things turn out alright anymore.]

Edited 2015-12-10 00:26 (UTC)

[ Well, there you go! It kind of reminds Marty of when he was younger and couldn't have wine at fancy parties...if they went to any. He smiles and lifts up the glass as a toast, giving the Barkeep a smile. ] Here's to ya. [ He takes a sip, and...it's not all that bad, actually. He can get used to this. ]

Is there? Nah. I just...[ He pauses. ] Just the usual stuff, I guess.

[ He rubs the back of his neck, shaking his head. ] How'd we get sucked into this?

[Mordecai grew up on the alcohol-free drinks his father made, and those were his first mixes he learned before taking over the Space Saloon. Even if he preferred to sneak some of the real stuff when his parents weren't looking, it's hard to forget his first recipes.

He takes out an empty shot glass and holds it up.] To the future.

[And sets it down, looking at the grain of the wood.]

I'm afraid I got no answer to that. We're interestin', accordin' to the Conductor, but why they'd go after us specifically is a mystery. But we can worry about that later. For now, we gotta get through this and learn more about that shadow thing. Logan wouldn't have wanted us to do nothin'.

[Even if Mordecai didn't care much for Logan until recently, many of the others did. He was a figurehead, someone they could rally around. No wonder things felt more hopeless without the king around.]

Marty, we'll find a way outta here, don't worry. I'll get my powers back, and everythin' will be back to normal, you'll see.

Right, right. [ Jesus, poor Logan. He frowns, looking down to his bubbling drink. ] And the ghosts?

[ Oh shit, that's right! Marty pretty much forgot the entire powers thing. As if living on Mars wasn't enough, holy shit. Now he's got powers. A bartender who lives on Mars, serves aliens and robots drinks and stuff, has powers on the side. Marty wasn't sure if he'd last in outer space, but man. If superpowers came with the deal, maybe he'd consider it!

He takes another sip of his drink, looking to Mordecai curiously. A part of him wants to ask more about the ghosts and the shadows and whatever the hell happened to Logan, but it's nice for a change of topic. It helps to get his mind off of stuff. ]

What were these powers thing you had?

Right, the ghosts. They're gonna be helpin' us from the other side, figurin' out how to outsmart that thing.

[His eyes focus on Marty.] Fightin' it ain't doin' anything, so we gotta move to other methods.

[What, he doesn't know. There's no cosmic power here to aid them, no idea how the shadow's power works. Just that hitting it does nothing and it travels fast. But there has to be a way, there always is.]

Force Galactic. Power of the universe. Hence, "Universal". [The meaning behind his title.] I got it from a cosmic space bein' called V'Stalu while it called me to fight off an evil future alternate timeline version of someone I knew. Everyone else that was called there ran off to fight him and his giant robot usin' their talents, but I stayed back, watchin' them as Jim killed them all.

Then I asked V'Stalu why he could use his omnipotence to help, but it turns out members of the Galaxium can't interfere directly when mortals are involved, so I asked him to transfer his power to me to fight Jim. Then I took aaaall his powers away, made sure the good version of him was alright, and saved the universe.

And then I brought all those who died back to life, even the ones who were trapped in a wormhole. Don't remember how that part happened, but it did, and then they were all safe when I teleported them to Mars and resurrected my old saloon.

[He smiles proudly at his achievement. Mordecai Benmont Jiminy: barkeep, mayor, and hero of the universe.]

I think I can do pretty much anythin' I want with them, so long as I think of a use. The Conductor and the other scientists ain't gonna stand no chance once I'm back to full power, be sure of it!

Right. However that's gonna happen. [ He sounds...doubtful, kind of? ] Do you think they could do somethin' that we couldn't?

[ His eyes are wide when he listens to the Barkeep tell his tale. As if living on Mars wasn't cool enough! The fact that maybe, if everything tied together well for him, Mordecai would be the savior of the universe. This guy could literally do anything, and he handled himself so well! And other's! Marty just realized that he could probably blast him off of the face of the earth for drinking underage if he wanted to. ]

Jesus... I, I mean, that's...heavy! Yyou can do anything if you put your mind to it! [ Those are pretty dang familiar words for some reason. He states his thoughts, a smile breaking on his face. ]

...You can't use those here, can ya?

Well, they're ghosts. They got special ghost-y powers we don't, and the more variety we got on our side, the better.

[He watches Marty's reaction to the story carefully. It's just what he expected: a mixture of amazement and shock. However, Marty doesn't have to worry about Mordecai blasting him; murder feels too distasteful, especially in a place like this.]

...Nope. Just like Tabby, I'm stripped of my powers. But it doesn't mean I can't do nothin'. [He puts the shot glass away.] I'm thinkin' of talkin' with the Conductor again tomorrow mornin'. He might let out a few more things about himself.

[But for now, he'll wait for Marty to finish his drink and clean up. Can't leave this room a mess before he goes to bed.]

I'd think they're all on our side, right? [ Half of the stuff that happened in the past concerning ghosts went...right past him, to be honest. Forgive him! ] Why wouldn't they be?

[ He takes a few more swigs of his drink. Maybe the way Mordecai made a really good drink without any alcohol in it was by his universe powers? He knew the exact amount of this and that to put in a drink, and maybe some of whatever to really give it a kick. How cool would that be?

Except for the part where Mordecai didn't have them anymore. ] Jesus.

You think if you tell him about your powers, he'll tell a bit more about himself? [ Marty quickly finishes off the last of his drink, setting it gently upon the bar. ] What's the harm in asking?

[SHSL Bartender, pal.]

I'm sure they are. They wanna get outta here, and the sooner we're free, the sooner I can use my powers to bring them back.

[He pushes the glass to the side and leans on the bar.] I dunno. He might not care all that much about what I can do, unless I can turn it around so that he has to explain himself to me. You know he's not the type to give a straight answer.

Good. All we need's a gameplan, right?

[ He wrinkles his nose at the answer, but Marty knows that it's way beyond true. ] Right. But there's gotta be a way. I mean, he's gotta have his limits. Far as we know he's someone just like us, right? Least he's human or something.

[ Marty raises his eyebrows. ] Right?

[Mordecai picks up the empty glass in one hand.] Right. We're gonna wear him down somehow. It's all a matter of workin' together. We have the Inspector and Susan to put things together, and then you have kids like Jean that are good at investigatin'. We can always use more folks talkin' to the Conductor.

[He steps back, thinking about those roles. Then there's people like Sukuyo who bring everyone together. People like Tabby who come up with subversive - if criminal - ideas. Logan was the figure that made them feel united in their goal, and with him gone, it will be difficult to continue.

But they can't give up now. Things are different than they were a month ago. They know more than they did before. They have to stick together from here on out. Mordecai has to do his part to help.

...He's been standing there for a good minute in silence and doesn't realize the glass is slipping through his fingers until it shatters on the floor.]

[ Mordecai just kind of...trails off after a while. Marty can't say he blames him. With all the shit that's going on, maybe it was just hard to process. Or silence was the best thing, even with the presence of a friend. He wants to say something, but doesn't. Out of two of them, Mordecai was the closest to everybody.

He lets his head rest on the bar, until the sound of glass breaking catches his attention. Marty jumps, his head snapping up to shoot the barkeep a concerned look. That was pretty dang unusual, actually. With everything going on, Marty was almost sure he would see a sword through his belly or something. ]

J-Jesus! You okay?

[Modecai jumps at the noise and his hand twitches before he notices the glass on the floor.]

Wh- [What was he thinking? Or not thinking, in this case?] Well, now I got a perfectly good glass broken. This won't do.

[Like hell he's going to leave this pointy mess on the floor. He sidesteps the glass and walks across the length of the bar, looking for a dustpan or anything to sweep it up.]

Sorry about that. [He takes out the dustpan and brush and pulls the wastebasket over to the mess.] Lemme clean this up real quick.

[He kneels on the floor and begins carefully sweeping it up.]

[ Marty watches Mordecai gather a dustpan, starting to sweep the little pieces of glass into a pile. He breathed out the air he just realized he had been holding, before slipping out of his chair and onto the floor. ]

Hang on. Glass is kinda tricky. Least that's what my mom always said. [ Then something about cleaning the area with a wet paper towel, so you wouldn't leave any fragments lying around. Didn't want people getting their feet cut up, anyway. ] Glass is always a pain in the ass.

[ Poetry.

He looks around for a trash bin when the glass is swept up. ] Is that it?

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