April Fools

[tickingheart]

[FAIL!FILTERED TO AOKO AND KUROBA]

Aoko? Kuroba? Tell me you're both back to normal.

[END FAIL!FILTER]

So, did the town just bring a bunch of new people in at once, or is something else going on?

Comments

[tickingheart]

Trust me, I'm not Dark.

[pandorabox]

[a thoughtful pause]

... universal multiples virus?

[tickingheart]

I'm not an alternate you.

[pandorabox]

-- eh?

[tickingheart]

Three guesses.

[He's quiet for a moment, shifts the phone closer to his chest. The sound of a steady ticking and whirring.]

First two don't count.

1/2

[pandorabox]

[-- HOLY SHIT HE DROPS HIS PHONE.

Robo can probably hear a lot of banging and scrambling around as he does so.]

2/2

[pandorabox]

[And finally, when Kaito picks up his phone again and speaks, he doesn't sound so amused anymore]

How'd you survive?

[tickingheart]

[MUSIC TO HIS EARS.

While Kuroba might not sound amused, the robot certainly does.]

The town pulled me from before I broke.

[pandorabox]

[suddenly, the voice on the other end of the line, so similar to his almost to the very tone of his voice, grates on Kaito's every last nerve]

What do you mean the town pulled you?

[tickingheart]

[As much as he might dislike Kuroba, as much as he knows this isn't even the Kuroba he knows, it's almost a relief to hear him sounding like himself. The robot was getting tired of ignoring the drone and his baseball obsession.]

Mayfield, a wonderful town in a fake 1950s America. It pulls people from different times, places, and universes and then doesn't let anyone leave.

[pandorabox]

[a snort, almost amused yet somewhat bitter]

Sounds like the perfect place for you.

[tickingheart]

I guess it's better than the alternative.

[pandorabox]

It keeps you out of my hair.

[tickingheart]

There's a version of you here.

[pandorabox]

[a pause]

I'm sure he can handle you just fine.

[tickingheart]

Sometimes.

[pandorabox]

If I did it, then he can.

[tickingheart]

The score's one to one.

[pandorabox]

You're keeping score? It's not a game.

[tickingheart]

I know that.

[pandorabox]

Has he figured out how to leave yet?

[tickingheart]

[A pause.]

He and Aoko are gone. But that doesn't mean he managed to leave. The town pulls people back in some times.

[pandorabox]

[ohgeez, Aoko was there too? He decides not to comment]

Gone? What do you mean gone? That means they left, right?

[tickingheart]

Mentally, yeah. Their bodies are still here, wandering around, proclaiming the wonders of this amazing town of Mayfield.

[pandorabox]

... [silence as he absorbs this information]