retrospec | (no subject)

[He grins for a moment before it fades with understanding. Those superhero memories had seemed to good to be true for a while now. He'd been almost tempted to question if they really were from the same place, except now... That's not the kind of reassurance Cutter would have wanted.

Pulling back he leans back against his arms and sighs. Long and unhappy.]

World why are you doing this...

[Cutter gazes at the sky as if it holds the answers and just doesn't want to share before he turns his attention back to Shouto.]

You can tell me if you want to vent. I'm losing touch with reality anyway.

[Keeping one more weird secret won't hurt him.]

[His family life is probably cursed or something, he doesn't know. But it would at least explain why his father is constantly awful.

Still, he follows Cutter's line of sight...] You're not going to find answers up there.

... I told Mr. Aizawa a little bit about it. My double's family.

His shitty old man had a flaming beard, and when my double was five, he pushed him into "training" until he threw up. Then his mom tried to stop it, and his father hit her for trying to protect her son.

[It sounds awfully similar to something Shouto went through, but he was never pushed until he threw up.

This wasn't the part he told Mr. Aizawa though.]

Heh! I can try!

[He snorts before letting out an amused laugh, feeling better the moment Shouto's observing bluntness returns.]

You told Aizawa? That's-

[Oh. Ouch! Cutter flinches, his mind refusing to wrap properly around what he just heard just because of how awful that'd be if it were reality. Of how awful it IS, since it's part of Shouto's memories now and thus most likely part of some twisted past or reality.]

Dude, what the hell?! I hope your other you froze his beard off once you were old enough!! What did Aizawa say to that?!

Aizawa's a good teacher. I like him.

[He looks out into the distance for another moment.]

I... don't know what I did. But Aizawa asked if I had a similar family situation here.

It's not the same. My shitty old man's never hit me. Or made me throw up.

Mom's never hurt me either.

That's good at last.

[Cutter goes back to staring at the sky, wondering what the hell he is supposed to say.]

We're quite a pair, huh? You've got all the awesome powers but for that your family life's in ruins and I got an okay patchwork of a family life and the only 'perks' I got out of this mess are turning into a mutant.

Speaking of with, I met a nice old guy. I think we could go to him if we need help.

I'd trade you... I don't think that's possible though. At least you still have friends...? The mutants in M-Men just had each other.

[He perks up a little and focuses his gaze on Cutter.]

What's the guy's name?

Yeah, I think everybody who has Retrospec is at least a little weird in some sense. And trust me, you don't wanna have my past. A shitty family life isn't worth it. Iwai. He runs a paintball and airguns supply shop.

It's hard to tell.

[Everybody has a very different life and a different kind of struggle.

Though... he thinks he'd rather have somebody else's over his own.]

Iwai? ... I don't think I've met him yet. I'll have to go see him.

I'm sure he won't mind. He seems like a pretty chill dude, just-

[Trailing off, Cutter shakes his head.]

Tell him I said hi and than I'm keeping my word. That should be enough.

... If you say so.

If you trust him, so do I.

Good. By the way, are you still training? I might have found another training partner for you if you do.

To fight?

A little, I don't really like it. But it's useful.

Good. You gotta keep it up if you want to keep being able to make a move in the future. Who knows when retrospec quits playing around.

Yeah, to spar but maybe you two can also help each other out with that powers thing. Ever heard of Dave Strider? He's got a speed ability.

... Yeah, we're friends. I thought he had time stuff? Like time travel?

What? He insisted to me that he's just moving really fast.

Huh?

I definitely saw him with a double of himself.

And you're sure that wasn't just some afterimage weirdness going on?

He said time travel.

And you believe him?

I make ice and fire. It's hard not to believe that too.

Fire and ice are still something fairly natural.

Skipping through time is casually messing with the whole space n' time continuum - the same thing Retrospec supposedly does.

Creating it out of nothing isn't.

It doesn't seem impossible, right? If Retrospec can do it, why can't a person?

I thought you're pulling all you need out of the air. Like condensation for the water for ice and oxygen for the burning of the fire? What else do you need for those elements?

Why would they risk having somebody run around with the power to interfere with all their precious hard work, though?

... I don't know if that's how it works? I haven't really tested it.

It's not like they knew who they were taking.

"Taking him"? What do you mean, "they took somebody"?

[His voice has grown a bit sharp although Cutter doesn't mean to. It's the first time he has heard their predication being described like that and it throws it into a light that's quite different than usual.]