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megamanrecut · 3 months

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Return to the Night, Part 6 (Now on Ao3!)

After ushering Elec Man back up the creaking, rotted stairs, they returned to Elec Man and Top Man's apartment without much difficulty by calling a cab (the driver had questioned if they were sure they didn't want to go to a hospital, but Elec Man had glared so fiercely at this suggestion that the driver just shrugged and muttered that they could do what they wanted, he didn't care anyway. Elec Man was sullen and embarrassed the entire trip, and no one talked, though Top Man had gotten over his previous indignation and had warmed up to Proto considerably, occasionally catching his eye and giving him a small smile).

Winston, Top Man's valet-drone, let out a startled beep when they first entered the small apartment, then quickly began fussing over Elec Man with a microfiber cloth and lint roller until Elec Man pushed him away impatiently. He sat slumped on the edge of his bed like an angry, flightless bird, sipping dismally at an energy can while Proto carefully inspected his injuries.

"Well, you're real lucky this time, ya know? Your damage isn't too bad," Proto pronounced finally after performing a few spot repairs. "Nothing internal. I think you can skip a trip to the repair shop this time around."

"Good, because I have a full agenda of tasks I must catch up on," muttered Elec Man, slipping down to the floor and teetering unsteadily.

Top Man looked aghast, but Proto only snickered, pushing Elec Man back onto his bed.

"Some things don't change—sit back down, hot shot, before you hurt yourself," Proto told Elec Man in a mock-sanctimonious voice, reaching toward Elec Man's hair and ruffling it until it no longer swept backward in its usual neat lines. "You're not going anywhere."

"You're messing up my hair—"

"Yes, I am. Because today, you're not playing the role of 'big bad mobster' or the intimidating 'Mr. Smith' —today you're just Elec Man, who never takes a day off and sorely needs to rest."

Catching Proto's eye again, Top Man let out a small laugh, amused at Elec Man's discomfort (seeing the critical, 'never a thread or hair out of place' Elec Man being grounded was a rare sight indeed, for few had the nerve to boss Elec Man around). Proto smiled back. He had finally gotten Top Man to laugh after all; mission accomplished.

…The fact that Elec Man needed to rest was of course obvious to everyone (including Elec Man), still, Elec Man wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"Why?" he demanded.

Proto smirked. "Uh, because of what you went through? Because you're damaged? Because you never take a break? …Because you want me to help you keep this quiet?" Proto added the last one in a warning undertone. "Pick one. Now, let's get you undressed—" he said, unbuttoning Elec Man's suit jacket.

Elec Man gave an involuntary jerk, flustered. "Thank you, but that's unnecessary—"

But Proto had tugged off Elec Man's ruined suit jacket and tossed it carelessly to a heap on the floor. From its perch on Top Man's vanity, Winston gave a scandalized beep. Proto went for the tie next, then the buttons of Elec Man's black dress shirt, Winston trilling like a police car toy—

"Really! That's unnecessary!" snapped Elec Man quickly, squirming away when Proto reached for his belt. Glaring reproachfully, Elec Man pointedly gestured with his eyes toward Top Man, who was still in the room watching them.

At this, Top Man had hastily turned his back on the scene, his gaze averted toward the ceiling, though Proto could see him shaking with silent laughter.

Finally, Elec Man was dressed in a pair of black silk pajamas embroidered with small lightning bolts that Winston had presented him from the bottom of Elec Man's dresser. Elec Man sank back into his small, uncomfortable bed. Save for his pale piercing eyes (which by now could have incinerated concrete) there was nothing even remotely mobster or even intimidating about him, his short black hair sticking wildly out in every direction. "There…happy?"

"Actually, yeah. Thanks for the assist, Winston," said Proto pleasantly, pulling the covers up over Elec Man's shoulders and smoothing out his collar (Winston, who had cleared away the ruined suit and was now hovering by Top Man, gave Proto a cold, tut-like beep). "Nice PJs. They look comfortable."

"Shut up."

Top Man stood at the foot of Elec Man's bed, beaming down at him. He appeared to be thoroughly enjoying this and cast a regretful glance over at the clock on his nightstand. "I have to go to the theater—I've missed three performances already, they'll be worried. Will you be alright?" he asked Elec Man anxiously.

"Don't worry, Top Man, I'll stay and make sure he takes it easy tonight," Proto assured him. Elec Man shook his head and muttered something under his breath on how unnecessary this all was, but his eyes were already drooping and the protest seemed perfunctory.

Top Man gave Proto a large grin. It really looked more sincere and attractive on his face than any of his closed-off Syndicate sneers or haughty looks had. Finally, Top Man tore himself away, grabbing a duffle bag filled with ballet gear.

"Be careful—watch out for anyone suspicious, and take a laser pistol just in case!" Elec Man called after Top Man.

"I know!" replied Top Man, rolling his eyes as he stepped out the door with Winston hovering dutifully behind him. He looked over at Proto. "I'll be back later, okay?"

Still grinning, Top Man shut the door, leaving Elec Man and Proto alone.

It was quiet in the apartment—Proto suspected the walls were soundproofed. He rolled Elec Man's office chair over to the bed and sat down, taking off his aviators and sticking them in his pocket.

"So, you two share a room?" Proto asked to break the ice. He was both amused and interested in the situation, for neither Elec Man nor Top Man were very much alike.

"Top Man insisted," Elec Man responded wearily. "A scrapper ambushed us one night when we were walking home. I dispatched it quickly of course, but ever since then Top Man doesn't like to sleep alone, he wants me for protection…so now we share a room."

"I can't imagine what that's like for you."

"It's been a bit of an adjustment."

"Not to mention your new human-like programming?"

"…It's a nuisance, all part of the upgrades my creator made to my programming to protect me from becoming reprogrammed—I guess I have you to thank for that, he was inspired by your systems."

With a heavy sigh, Elec Man rested his head deeper into his silk pillow, staring up into the ceiling.

"You weren't supposed to be here," he said finally.

"But I am here. And you're stuck with me again, at least for a little while."

...A small smile flickered across Elec Man's face, though he quickly banished it, making his face as blank and unreadable as pavement. "Thanks for everything. Though I still think this is a bit overkill, Top Man will feel much better knowing you're keeping me safe tonight."

"Well, I dunno if you're ever safe with me, pal," Proto said mischievously. He leaned forward to whisper into Elec Man's ear. "Say…I have a crazy idea. What if I were to capture you like you did to me a year ago? …For your own good."

"Proto…"

"—Have Light reprogram you as a lab assistant, force you to live in the lab like a human…to always have messy hair and wear the same baggy polyester clothes from the mall most humans wear, to spend your afternoons playing video games in the family room, to sleep through every night in a proper bed with cotton sheets, to act like a normal brother to Top Man instead of his strict Syndicate mentor…"

Elec Man wrinkled his nose. "Well, Top Man would like that. Is this supposed to be revenge for me telling Dr. Light where you were and forcing you to go back home?"

"No…but I am livid you almost died and wouldn't even call me."

"You shouldn't be involved. …You were supposed to be happy."

"You should have called me." Proto leaned back in his chair, surveying Elec Man for a moment. "…I can't possibly tell you how irresponsible this is. Not just for you, but how you left Top Man completely in the dark."

Elec Man winced. "I thought I could do it, I didn't want him to get involved either."

"He was freaking out when you went missing, didn't even know who to call, suspected the worst—with good reason. I know Syndicate matters are secretive, but if you're going to pull a stunt like that you should have at least left him some sort of emergency contact!"

"I know," Elec Man admitted feebly. He seemed to be shrinking deeper into the sheets.

"Speaking of which…How did Top Man know to find me? Pretty sure you were supposed to keep quiet about me…seeing as I'm not in the Syndicate anymore."

"Yes, I was…" It was a moment before Elec Man elaborated, and when he did, his voice was very soft, as though afraid of being overheard, yet direct. "A few weeks ago, Top Man had something going on with one of the human dancers in his ballet troop that he had to break off because, well, Top Man's not human, he's Syndicate, and some worlds shouldn't mix." Elec Man swallowed. "He was feeling really down about it, so I told him about you."

"…Oh."

Elec Man's eyes darted away from Proto's again, and neither said anything for a while.

Finally, Proto cricked his neck restlessly, glancing over at Top Man's vanity and the vase packed with slightly wilted white roses, and said, "I don't think Top Man wants to be Syndicate, he only pretends to play the part to please you, ya know?"

Elec Man nodded. "I know. He wants to be human." He gave a small shrug. "I don't get it."

"Rock's like that…I don't get it either. But you should be happy at least about how much Top Man looks up to you."

"I get that even less," Elec Man responded gruffly.

Proto chuckled softly, and began slowly ruffling Elec Man's already disheveled hair again, his thumb massaging Elec Man's temple. "Well, some things are softer than they look."

The small beginning of a smile softened Elec Man's face, and he closed his eyes.

"You make yourself miserable with all this self-discipline you impose on yourself—" Proto added. "Maybe you should take up my offer, come back to Light's lab with me."

"It'd never work. Like I said, some worlds shouldn't mix. Nice suburban families don't like dangerous robots like me."

"You don't know that…they tolerate me, after all." Proto smiled softly to himself. "…Who am I kidding, you'd hate domestic life as much as I do, too boring. Still, kinda hoping you'll drop by some night. I know you're busy, but it's been what…another five months since I last saw you? I started working on this jet in Light's garage. Ever been flying? It's incredible. You should come flying with me. I'll take you somewhere you've never been. You won't believe how freeing it feels when you can just hop in a jet and get far away from it all…"

Elec Man didn't respond. He looked relaxed and appeared to be listening, a small, unconscious smile on his face—but then a few moments later he had finally drifted off to sleep, his breathing light and even. Yet as he slept, his guard completely down, a sadness had settled into his face—he seemed exhausted beyond what even a good night's rest would cure.

After watching Elec Man for a moment longer, Proto's hands fell into his lap again as he leaned back in his chair again and sighed.

Later that night, Proto heard the soft creaking of stairs as Top Man returned to the apartment. Quickly, he replaced his aviators, stood up, stretched, then walked out the door.

"Hey, how was your performance?" he asked as he met Top Man in the landing outside.

"Excellent as always," grinned Top Man, but then he frowned, casting Proto a sharp look. "…Where are you going? Surely you're not thinking of leaving so soon after all this! It's late. Please, spend the night with us. It's not much, perhaps not up to the human standards you're used to, but we will try to make it comfortable for you. You can sleep in my bed, I'll sleep on the floor—"

"Whoa whoa whoa, kiddo…I can't stay here. Elec Man doesn't want me to."

"Oh." Top Man's face closed back up into the cold Syndicate facade like a door locking. "Well, when will we see each other again?"

"Up to your older brother. Here are my digits—" Proto handed Top Man a slip of paper with the laboratory's home phone number on it. "Call me if Elec Man does that disappearing trick again, I guarantee he's up to no good. Oh, and feel free to visit anytime."

Though Top Man seemed pleased at this, he gave Proto a curt nod, returning to unnatural formalities, almost like how a prince might treat a foreign ambassador. Proto waved goodbye, then chuckled to himself as walked down the dirty creaking stairs.

The lights at Dr. Light's laboratory were dark when Proto returned to New York. Proto brightened. Hopefully everyone had gone to bed, yet as he crept silently in through the window to his room, a light clicked on and two faces were staring disappointedly from the edge of his bed.

"I am going to kick your ass so hard you won't need a jet to go flying around the world, mister!" said Roll, standing up with her hands on her hips. Though she kept her voice low, it was as scolding as a shout. "Where were you? The air raider was gone, no note, no phone call, you could have been kidnapped by gangsters for all we knew!"

By her side, Rock was also frowning. Both were dressed in their pajamas, Roll's a creamy yellow, Rock's a true blue.

"Uh, sorry if I worried you, but you see this troubled ballet star showed up on our doorstep and I had to help him rescue his brother from a botched assassination mission."

"Shut up! Your stupid-sounding stories get old after a while, ya know?"

"…Where's Dr. Light? Was he worried?"

Proto had a slight sinking feeling. Dr. Light disapproved of Proto going on secret adventures. It wasn't that Proto was worried about getting into trouble, but he hated Dr. Light's gentle lectures about roles and responsibilities. It made living here all the more…suffocating.

Roll rolled her eyes. "No, I covered for you, as usual. But seriously this has to be the last time, I hate lying to Dad for you when he trusts you so much. I swear if you ever get into serious trouble, don't expect me to come rescue you! You're not supposed to sneak off on your own like this!"

"…Are you mad because I didn't invite you?"

"Yes!"

"You wouldn't have liked it, I didn't even bring my armor, and didn't get into any fights."

"…Really?"

"Really."

"Oh. Huh."

Roll's anger seemed to abate a bit, though she still cocked a brow skeptically at Proto. Meanwhile Rock stared at Proto in grave silence. It always surprised Proto that Rock never tattled on either of them. Perhaps Rock was hoping he could guilt Proto into coming clean with his silent, accusing stares. So far, his strategy had no effect.

"Well, I'm home now, and all's well that ends well, right?" said Proto with a careless shrug and a winning grin.

Roll just glared.

"I'm glad you're alright," Rock said finally, looking tentatively from Roll to Proto and resigning himself to the fact that Proto wasn't going to be properly remorseful for his mysterious disappearance tonight. He crossed over to Proto's door. "It's late and I'm going to bed. Night, Proto."

"Yeah, night Proto," said Roll, sticking out her tongue at him as she followed Rock out.

"Night guys," Proto called softly after them, cringing internally. Great, they were annoyed with him. Again. He got it, he'd have to make it up to them tomorrow—being a responsible older brother was a lot of work!

Sighing, Proto closed his window which had been left open behind him, shutting out the tempting night breeze.

A/N: this mostly concludes this little interlude but there will be a final chapter I’ll post eventually

#fic updates #return to the night #become the night #proto man #top man #elec man #roll #mega man #syndicate #recut au #Syndicate!Proto AU #good!Proto AU #this installment gets a little silly and shippy territory #…it's been a long couple weeks lol #early V-day if ya want it?#anyway hopefully back to s3 soon #edit: ack forgot the read more #sorry!

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astraystayyh · 3 months

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Israel doesn't want to repopulate Gaza, you loveable dummy

Seriously, find one Israeli on this site who'll say otherwise. And no, quoting Ben Gvir doesn't count (assuming you even know who that is) anymore than quoting, say, Rudy Giuliani would count for anything, even though he supposedly spoke for the president of the USA for a time.

Hamas has 136 hostages. Including women, and actual literal babies, assuming they're still alive, that is. This could all have ended weeks ago if they'd fucking returned them. Israeli society would physically march on Benjamin Netanyahu's home and remove him in a coup if the hostages were returned tonight. But as long as they have Israeli people, and are unwilling to negotiate their return, that's an ongoing war crime. Is Israel evil for being a bull in a China shop trying to get back a "mere" 136 innocent civilians? Maybe. But Hamas started this and they can end it, they just don't want to. Please, justify that.

Hello, since you asked for one Israeli, here, I'll give you multiple statements:

Hundreds of activists at an Ashdod gathering in late November called for the reestablishing of Jewish settlements. “Let it be known that you support the appeal to renew Jewish settlement throughout all of the Gaza Strip. The nation is waiting for you”— Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council.

Israel “should fully occupy the Gaza Strip”— Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party.

An Israeli real estate firm pushes to build settlements for Israelis in Gaza. “Wake up, a beach house is not a dream” reads the ad.

Israeli Knesset member Limor Son Har Melech posted a video of herself in a boat with other settlers off the coast of Gaza. “Settlement in every part of the Gaza Strip … A large, extensive settlement without fear, without hesitation, without humiliation. This land is the land that the creator of the world gave to us.”

Israeli Settler, Daniella Weiss says Palestinians who live in Gaza, have no right to stay in Gaza.

An Israeli soldier saying that Israelis should start “investing” in Khan Younis.

Also why would the words of Ben Gvir not count? He is an elected minister, his words hold weight and they expose Israel’s clear intent to make Gaza inhabitable for Palestinians so that Israelis could settle in there— by destroying the infrastructures, making the health system collapse entirely, bombing entire residential neighborhood, Israel is trying to ensure that Palestinians wouldn't be able to return back to their land, because there is nothing livable left there.

And I'm glad you bring up all of this ending if the hostages were returned— Hamas tried to strike up a deal for the return of ALL the hostages, in exchange of the release of all Palestinian prisoners. Israel refused. You know why? Because this has never been about hostages and their safety for Israel.

There is a reason why Israel shot its own hostages when it mistook them for Palestinian civilians, waving a white cloth. There is a reason why the IDF called to shoot indiscriminately on Oct. 7, knowing that it could kill some of the hostages too. Because Israel wants to kill Palestinians, to "thin out its population" (or maybe we shouldn't take into account the says and actions of Netanyahu too ://). This is why it targets schools and mosques and hospitals and ambulances and refugee camps. Israel knows that if it does get all its hostages back, then there would be nothing to “justify” its genocide in Gaza (although, as UN Secretary-General said : "Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is beyond words")

Israel is the only reason why the hostages aren't fred yet. THEY are unwilling to negotiate the return because they don't want to stop this genocide. What good is a five days ceasefire only for the bombings to return? Do you even realize how psychologically traumatizing it is to have a countdown of when your massacre would resume? The only acceptable deal is for Israel to establish a permanent ceasefire, something that it refuses to do. The only one to blame is Israel.

And you say Israelis would instigate a coup to oust Netanyahu, that's nice, then what? Will you return the land to its rightful people? Will you give back Palestinians their rights unequivocally? Will you call for the dismantlement of Israel that was built on massacres? The reason why Israelis are angry at Netanyahu is rooted in the unresolved hostage situation. Just because you don't support Netanyahu doesn't mean that you aren't a zionist who finds the murder of more than twenty thousands Palestinians justifiable. A young girl had her leg amputated with no anesthesia on the kitchen counter of her home and you talk about “Israel being a bull in a China shop”? You consider the targeted attacks on civilians as careless actions by Israel? It actually astonishes me how inhumane some of you can be.

And here is what Dr. Refaat, who was targeted and murdered by the IDF btw, had to say about this matter:

Whether it's Netanyahu or someone else, it does not matter because Israel as a whole is an occupation, one built on the bloodshed of palestinians.

And it is funny how you choose to distort history whichever way you like it, to regard October 7th as an isolated instance that happened out of the blue. Hamas didn't start anything, Hamas was created in response to the indiscriminate and careless shooting of palestinian civilians in the first Intifada, that was decades ago. October 7th was a resistance to an ongoing colonization, Israel started this when it displaced and murdered palestinians on 1948. None of this would've happened if Israel did not colonize Palestine. It has been 100 days of this ongoing genocide, wake up and stop deluding yourself into a reality where Israel is the victim.

#dismissing Ben Gvir's statements #(yes i know who it is thank you for your concern)#then diluting this genocide into a mere matter of “hamas should return the hostages”#it must feel nice to change up the narrative so you'd be able to sleep nicely at night #and not take into account the statements that disturb you #but thanks for thinking im loveable! you are right on that point #maybe there is still hope left for you then #free palestine #palestine #gaza #free gaza

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