victory_road | 026 // Closed Log

Entry tags:

026 // Closed Log

Who: Joker and Ralph

Where: Goldenrod

When: Forward dated to the 17th

Summary: That awkward moment when you try to mug your boss...

Rating: PG probably

Log:

Normally, for all this world's fascinating little marvels, Joker still keeps his wardrobe as close to his old one as he possible can even years later now. Button up shirts, flashy suits, that kind of thing. It's just as much for his image as his own comfort, besides- people remember you if your appearance stands out. But he has more somber clothes, too, and a few things more casual because some days you just want to shrug something on and not have to worry on how you're going to do it up with one hand.

Tonight, it's a bit of a mix. With his face clean of makeup and his dyed black hair only loosely tied into a ponytail, he could be anyone hustling through the dark streets. In his backpack, there's a napping Mime Jr. and some rope he'd had to pick up for the circus. He still carries a certain cane, too, just because old habits die hard. Johto is peaceful more often than not, but he remembers the kind of things that can lurk in dark corners in darker cities. He used to be one of them.

Still, he's not expecting any trouble as he goes along streets and ducks through allies back to the Circus. It's just a night like any other, isn't it?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

In the back of his mind, like a far off ripple, he can feel Angel’s distress intermingled with his own alarm and it only takes that for him to step away from the wall. As she scrambles out of the backpack, Joker lowers his cane sword. A tumult of thoughts are raging through his head as he looks at the familiar large figure. Finally, however, he settles on one thing.

“Lord above, Ralph, coulda skewered ya. Ya gotta tell me when yer doin’ things like this.” Kneeling down, he tries to get the sword back in the cane best he can. When Angel plops down to the ground, her tiny hands help a lot more. A sigh whistles out from between his teeth.

“But… I think we better save this conversation for back at the Circus.”

Ralph remained frozen, expecting to be yelled at, fired, turned in...but none of that happened. The only thing Joker seemed wound up about was his safety. His whole brain stutterd to a stop.

What what?

"Boss...? But I uh--"

The Circus. Ralph cringed and looked out at the streets. He was going to have to walk out into the open in his uniform to get there.

"Can I meet you later?"

“Yeah, I can understand how that might be a bit tricky considerin’ certain situational factors and the like.” You know, like an all black uniform with a big fat red R on the front. Straightening up, Joker twirls the cane expertly in his hand before sharply catching it to point at Ralph’s face. “But don’t you try and run outta this! Me and Angel’ll hunt ya down back ta that base and drag ya out if we have ta. Don’t test us on this, we know where ta go.”

...At least, he thinks they do. It’s been ages since he’s last talked to Snake or Crocker, so his memories on any Rocket information might be a little rusty. But, hell with it, if it comes to that, he can always talk with Jack. Either way it’s a bit of a bluff.

A bluff that doesn’t show on either his or Angel’s face, the Mime Jr. merely crossing her arms and nodding her head with an agreeing huff.

The wrecker looked down at his boss right in time to have the end of the cane hover right between his eyes. Ralph was not used to feeling so...small. This was a different small than the small he'd felt when he first experienced HD rain.

Ralph's breath caught in his throat as he looked between his boss and his equally stern-looking Pokemon. Another pang of guilt as he realized Angel had been in the backpack. He wondered if she'd ever forgive him.

"R-right...Right." Of course Joker would know how to find him. He was just...that kind of guy.

Ralph drew away from Joker, one step at a time, then turned and lumbered off into the dark without looking back. Oh jeez. Oh jeez.

Hours passed and for a while it looked like Wreck-It Ralph was going to be a no-show at the bigtop. But finally, heavy footfalls sounded on the sawdust and Ralph appeared on the grounds with Blanca at his heels lighting the way with the orb on his tail.

By the time the sound of Ralph starts to fill the large tent, Joker has done himself back up well enough. Not the full ringleader regalia, of course- it was far too late in the night for that. But he always feels better and more prepared to handle things when he’s dressed up well and in the center of the ring. There are a lot of things in his life he can’t control- god there’s far too much, both back home in England and here in Johto- but in the circus ring? It feels like he can control anything.

He’s running the Pyroar of the Lion Horde through their runs when Angel tugs on his pants leg and he lowers his hand. Glancing back to the entrance, he calls out to the familiar broad figure.

“Oi, Ralph! Y’get through town alright?” As much as tonight has certainly… happened, Joker won’t stop being concerned. It’s always a risk for anyone to wander through a dark city, and Ralph has entirely different ones to be concerned about.

Ralph paused at the edge of the ring.

This was all so normal-looking.

Like it was just another day at the bigtop. Was Ralph over-reacting? He pushed his hair back and stepped into the ring, watching the lions in their paces.

"Yeah, just fine."

He couldn't help but send a guilty glance toward Angel. He'd almost squashed the little critter!

“Good, good.” That’s his main worry out of the way, then. Whistling the Litleo and Pyroars to scatter, Joker goes to find a chair nearby. Flopping into it, he gestures for Ralph to do the same wherever he likes. He knows it’ll be tough and that he’ll probably have to sit on the edge of the ring. There’s just not a lot of benches that do a guy right when he’s that size. While they wait, Angel hops up onto his laugh and wiggles around to contemplate Ralph quietly. It’s not a judging or upset stare, at any rate. Simply thoughtful.

Well, might as well cut to the point. “Ya ain’t the first Rocket that’s been in the circus, ya know.”

The edge of the ring is just where Ralph chose to sit--not too close but not so far away from Joker to give the impression that he might bail. Shame pushed his shoulders down like a load of bricks.

When Joker drops that little nugget of knowledge, Ralph can't help but be surprised--even though he knows he shouldn't be. It was a circus. Circuses were just....that was where people like Ralph ended up.

It still didn't make him feel any better about lying to his boss. His real boss. The one that gave a shit about him.

"I guess not..."

Well, that’s not the show of relief Joker was sort of hoping for. Angel frowns up to him, just as worried as he is, and Joker strokes her head. It’s fine. He’s sure it will be, anyway. They just have to work this out.

“I ain’t gonna lie, I’m a bit worried. If ya do stuff so close ta where ya work- both ways- it’ll get ya in trouble a lot quicker. Ya ain’t particularly lackin’ in common sense, so… Is there any reason ya were stickin’ in Goldenrod ta jump a fella?”

Ralph ducked his head and dragged his fingers through his hair.

"I'm late on my quota...haven't been able to sleep a wink this weekend." He didn't really think it would help to add that he didn't know it was Joker when he'd initially decided to mug somebody. If it hadn't been Joker, it would have been some poor sucker. "I don't know where to start."

He stared at the sawdust between his feet.

"Back when you asked me to join, I wasn't stealing. I was still tryin' to be a Good Guy. I was just the laundry boy. But I couldn't take it anymore. It wasn't what I was made to do, so I sucked it up and started doing the job. And I'm good at it." He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Naturally."

Well, that’s not going to do at all. Joker glances down at his partner, quirking up an eyebrow. “Angel, darlin’, could ya-” Of course, she’s practically reading his intentions before the words are even forming in his mouth. That’s what happens when you’ve psychically bonded with a Pokemon for years. She’s already picking up a small hoop with her mind, bouncing it lightly but notable on the side of Ralph’s head with a stern frown on her adorable little face. “Thank ya, that’s good.” Letting her keep it hovering nearby, Joker turns his attention fully back to Ralph.

“As for you- stop with that rubbish right now. Take a look at yerself. Yer sayin’ it’s what yer made for, but if that’s the case, I feel like ya would be a damn bit more happy about the whole thing. Instead, yer sittin’ here, miserable as all hell and practically chokin’ on yer own guilt.” This is starting to remind him of a lot of things, actually, and a sigh rattles out of him. He really wishes he could run from his own past here. A whole new world feels like it would be the perfect place to do just that. However, he guesses you can’t run from your own memories of what you’ve done. Damn shame.

“Y’know, that kind of thinkin’ is what I heard way too much from people about my own family.”

Ralph winces when suddenly there's a ring bopping against the side of his noggin. He lifts an arm defensivly an blinks in surprise when he finds that the source is Angel. His best guess is that Joker isn't really wild about his whole refusing eye-contact thing.

"But it's true." He holds up his big hands to explain. "Back home...I was made to do one thing--wreck the building. Felix was made to do one thing--fix the building. Every day, all day, for thirty years. Quarter alert after quarter alert."

He pauses, clenching his fists.

"It was different. Everyone...knew they were part of a video game. But here? They don't. Something's happened to them. Everyone thinks they're real. It's just so--"

Ralph brings his fists down on the edge of the ring, leaving huge pits in the sawdust, but nothing like the damage he would have done if he were in the arcade.

"What's that like? Having a family?"

Unfortunately, in this area… Joker supposes he’s more than a bit useless. Ever since being brought into Johto, his whole world has been turned upside down, including the introduction of so much technology. The idea that things are a video game when he’d only been introduced to the concept at all a few years ago is sort of a bizarre one.

...But then again, he can communicate with a small furry purple cat using only the cat’s mind, so he’s not going to discount that.
However, that means he’s mostly quiet for that particular bit of despair, fingers tapping into empty air. It’s only at Ralph’s question that he stops, blinking.

“Ah…” Well, that’s certainly something he has to answer. At least this time his silence is more contemplative as he tilts his head to the side in thought. “When it’s at its best…. It’s havin’ a place ya can return ta at the end of the day. Somewhere comfortable, not really in the, ah, physical sense, but emotionally, y’know. Knowin’ they’ll have yer back, even if it might not seem that way sometimes, and so ya won’t be alone…” He drifts off, gaze directed elsewhere and a bit far off, before he shakes his head.

“S’what I’ve always considered the Circus’ troupe ta be like, frankly.”

Ralph's frown grows thoughtful.

That sounded a lot like--the Circus! What he already had. No wonder he liked it so much. And no wonder he felt so terrible about all of this.

"I tried to be a Good Guy once. That's how I wound up here. I left my old game and tried to win a medal in another one to prove I was somethin' more...but then I wound up here and they stuck me right back into my old role and I guess I let it get to me."

He grabs up a fistful of the sawdust and lets it sprinkle out, making a little pile between his feet.

"I'd like to try again."

Without him needing to say anything, Angel hops off of his lap allowing Joker to push himself up onto his feet. Walking over, he immediately nudges away Angel’s hoop so that there’s room for his hand to ruffle into Ralph’s hair.

“Ya ain’t the only one.”

A faint hint of wistfulness is in his own grin, but it’s banished like it was never there by a wide grin.

“Shoulda come ta me in the first place! We’ll figure out how ta get ya outta this. Might take a bit, but never say never, eh?”

A head-ruffling is the last thing Ralph expects. His shoulders hunch up in surprise before he finally lifts his head to look his boss in the eye again. This time, the wrecker is smiling--it's a weak smile and a little lopsided, but it's clear how grateful he is.

Joker was good people. He thinks back to the day Joker found him discouraged in the streets. And to think he thought Joker was sketchy at first.

"Thanks." Ralph's smile quickly dies though because there is A Problem. "I've actually talked to an ex-rocket about leaving before--and it's not that I'm afraid of what they'd do to me for bailing...but what they might do to the kid. You...you know Wrath's part of the team, don't you?"

“Well, considerin’ we first met when he was tryin’ ta pick pockets…” Yeah. Although, in Joker’s case, that’s also something he’s more than used to seeing from small children just because the England of his time is that shitty. It doesn’t mean he’s happy about it, as he goes to take a seat besides Ralph this time. Angel mimics the way he leans back and eve his frown.

“He probably doesn’t see much wrong with it, young as he is. Still, he has folks like Envy watchin’ after him, so it’s not too bad yet... “ Jack’s words are rolling around in his head. “Hey, Ralph, how long have ya been stuck with the Rockets, then?”

"Yeah...but th' thing is, if I try to leave, I'm afraid the Rockets my try and use him as leverage or somethin'. I've got a couple of assets I'm sure they don't wanna lose."

He holds his fists up again. Why would they ever waste time picking locks when they had a one-man wrecking crew on their team? He props his elbows on his knees and looks back at the sawdust.

"Since day one...so...jeez, three or four years now I guess. It all runs together after a while."

Four years, huh? That’s quite a bit of time. Certainly longer than Joker has ever been in Johto, although he supposes he’s not too shabby either. He curls his fist near his mouth, shifting his weight from one leg to the other, and Angel mimics him 100% perfectly right by his side.

“So has anyone ever… tried ta sneak into the Rockets?”

Ralph lifts his head so he can look at Joker properly--as though he has lobsters coming out of his ears.

"Not that I know of...why would they?"

Best he can, Joker puts on his best wide eyed innocent look. It’s never been particularly good, unfortunately. Something about him is just too sly, as if he’s a fox that’s been given a human face. Friendly, sure, but innocent? Nope.

“Oh, well, I’m sure there’s tons of reasons… For example, payin’ what goes around comes around, or tryin’ ta make it so that they wouldn’t be able ta chase after anyone tryin’ ta leave…”

It takes a good long beat for Ralph to puzzle out what Joker means. At first his face is blank--then it cycles through shock, annoyance at himself for not being able to pick out interlopers himself, what a lousy badguy he is! And then there is...tentative excitement. Hope.

"You'd do that..."

“Frankly, that team has been robbin’ me of too many workers and too many friends. You’re, what, the fourth one? A man can only take so much!”

He finishes with a laugh, because that’s just in his nature- easing up on the serious with a smile or a chuckle or something. When he has to act serious, it’s a bad time. Besides… Treating it as a relaxed thing makes it seem more possible. Doable. Like it’ll all go off without a hitch. Joker knows it’ll probably be a basket of vipers, but what can you do?

Thinking a bit more about it does make him somber, however, a grimace twisting his face a bit as he rubs the back of his neck.

“Ah, but… It might take a bit. That sort of thing, I can’t be reckless about. So… might take a while.”

Ralph is quick to nod. He doesn't want Joker to rush into anything. Joker is his friend and boss and such an incredible influence even if he might not know it.

"Right, right..." The wrecker's mouth becomes a grim line. "Alright. I'm...I'm done, boss. I'm quitting. But I'm gonna have to do some time."

Immediately, Joker straightens up and even Angel starts to more noticeably frown with her tiny little brow crumpled. Without thinking, he’s more worried than he rationally knows he should be. Back in London, prisons were the worst lot at times. He knows- he has people who’ve fled from them and couldn’t find work elsewhere except in a traveling circus that already had its fair share of misfits. Guards don’t care, half rotten slop for food, he’s sure the list goes on. It’s a place he’s worked to avoid for some time.

Johto isn’t like England. Ha, that much is apparent right out the gate, but even in this area, he’s sure it’s different although he’s never gone looking. Still. There’s worry on his face.

“Ralph, are ya sure ya want ta do that? I mean, if ya don't want ta wait, but...”

The wrecker looked thoughtful again.

"I don't mean tomorrow. I gotta tie up some things and talk to th' kid. See if he'll jump ship with me. But after that...heck, I dunno, maybe instead of turning myself in I'll run. Run all the way to New Bark town and Reset." He drew himself up, face stern. "As a Good Guy."

“Good.” That’s a weight off of his shoulders- almost literally, with the way Joker’s slump. This sort of thing is a big deal, and he’d rather not have it happen unprepared. “Let me know when ya think you’ll make a run for it, however way ya wanna do that. I’ll help with whatever ya need, no question about it.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

026 // Closed Log

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject