Oh no it's a fanfic OC!

[dehipster]

[Benny's used to having a certain amount of logic in his life. A simple formula of waking up in his own bed, feeding the cat, tending to his other responsibilities and going to sleep in his own bed at the end of the day. With the occasional break to do something fun, of course. That's just common sense.

Imagine his surprise when he does not wake up in his own bed for once. Or even his own house. ...Or even his own city, by the looks of it. It's really quite disturbing. Even more so because he can't remember how he even got here.

A nice picturesque village surrounded by forest. There's very little forest in- or even near Los Angeles, these days. He encounters a sign that says Wankerville, but he's not sure how seriously to take it. Why is this place abandoned? It's like he walked straight into the setting for an M. Night Shyamalan movie. ...The most recent kind that are lousy, not the golden oldies.

Well, at least he's got his treasured belongings with him. His phone, his wallet and his watch. Now he just needs to find another person to ask for help.]

Comments

[skirtcladgunner]

[Tori sits up and rubs her head, looking around and groaning once she realizes that she's in the little apartment she set up for herself in Wankerville. Talk about somewhere she never wanted to see again...

She tries to remember what happened before she showed up here, but to her horror she realizes the last memory she has is being in that hellhole restaurant with those creepy as hell animatronics. Any fears of that creepy Yuan are shoved aside to make way for fears of Bobby's safety. If she's gone--no, no, calm down. Maybe he's here too--!

Eventually, she'll be on the streets shouting Bobby's name. Come on, come on, please be okay, she doesn't want to lose anyone else...!]

[dehipster]

[Benny was just about to wander into one of the houses when he hears an unfamiliar voice shouting a familiar name. Bobby... He turns back to peer up and down the street, but the young woman he spots isn't familiar to him at all. It's probably just a coincidence she's searching for someone called Bobby.

What's more important is that she's the first actual live person he's seen since waking up here. He can't just let her get away.]

Excuse me, miss? [Pleasant smile because he is not confused or disturbed by the situation at all. Nope.]

[skirtcladgunner]

[Tori whips her head to look at whoever seems to be talking to her. Oh... it doesn't seem to be anyone she knows. She tries how disturbed she is in the situation herself in light of this. Even if it's a pretty ridiculous idea, since he just saw her calling out for someone...]

Yeah? Do you need something?

[dehipster]

[He takes a moment to sort out his next words carefully. No matter how he approaches the query, he's going to sound like an idiot. That much is unavoidable.]

... I seem to have... gotten myself lost. I was hoping you could tell me where this place is.

[skirtcladgunner]

[Fortunately, he doesn't sound like an idiot at all to Tori. That's probably only due to all of her experience with nexus bullshit, however.]

This place? It's Wankerville. ...yeah, I know. Pretty unfortunate nickname, huh~? [A short laugh, which she is unable to keep the strain out of.] Regardless of the stupid name, you're a far way from home.

[She hesitates to say worlds away, after dealing with Prosecutor McHomicidalAsshole.]

[dehipster]

[The sign was real? Or is this woman the one who put it there in the first place? Professional trickster or honest to a fault? It's hard to tell.]

I... can see that. A place like this would usually not be found near Los Angeles.

[skirtcladgunner]

Los Angeles, eh? So you're from California? I'd be in Massachusetts if I were home, myself... [But she tries not to think about that too much, because she hasn't been home in her own world for years now. Hopefully this guy won't end up like her where that's concerned. Or where... a lot of things are concerned, for that matter.] But neither of us are even in the same country now, you know? Or even the same continent.

[She frowns.]

If I tell you the whole truth, you promise not to think I'm crazy? Unless it's something you've gone through a lot--like I have--it's a lot to take in and even harder to believe.

[dehipster]

[Not the same continent? Last he checked, teleportation hadn't been invented yet. Unless someone drugged him and shipped him off on a plane- ...No, that's ridiculous.]

Crazy? I'd prefer not to use words like that altogether. Depending on what you're about to say, I may opt for 'troubled'. [He's smiling even as he says it.]

[skirtcladgunner]

You're in luck, because I couldn't even argue an accusation of being troubled. [And then she laughs it off, even if it's true. She's been feeling closer to herself lately, however. That's good, right?] Anyway, sorry to be the one who tells you this, but you're not even in your world anymore. And depending on what your world's like, I can prove that I'm not troubled in this particular case~

[dehipster]

[... Hm. Not in his own world anymore. 'Troubled' is starting to sound like a rather appealing term. Or perhaps delusional. Then again, if she says she has proof... He slides his glasses further up his nose before responding.]

I'm listening.

[skirtcladgunner]

Before I move on to proving that we're likely from two entirely different worlds, let me ask you two things. First, how would you describe your world's relationship with magic? Second, how opposed are you to being lifted?

[These are important things to know...]

[dehipster]

[This girl is really doing her best to earn that title of 'crazy', isn't she?]

... I beg your pardon?

[skirtcladgunner]

[She crosses her arms, narrowing her eyes.]

Please just answer the questions. While I can understand you being skeptical, dealing with an asshole convict who is somehow allowed to still be a prosecutor has worn down on my patience on explaining this.

[You know, because it's not just the things that do make her a little crazy that have done just that...]

dusts off DDD Shelly for this glorious occasion

[dekillerqueen]

[A certain someone recently got tired of staring at the "Wankerville" sign and is now wandering around the area, staring at the fancy-schmancy GPS on his phone instead.

He can't help but wonder if the community is up to its old tricks again. It has been... a long time, it feels like. And wouldn't it be just like it to bring him straight into the middle of a virus? Something that transports people into places with oddly childish-sounding names, perhaps.

It seems his old worldhopping device isn't working... but does that mean that this is a virus, or that the community has nothing to do with it? Maybe he'll find the answer if he runs into someone. Part of him hopes for a familiar face. The rest dreads the thought of facing Mr. Greed again - or, worse yet, any of the people he found himself growing far too attached to.

Terribly unprofessional.]

eeeee

[dehipster]

[To spot a familiar figure would usually be a good thing. Usually. That is, if that figure would still be alive. As it stands, the sight of someone who looks suspiciously like Shelly de Killer causes Benny to freeze in his tracks.

There's no way. That man died over two years ago. He died at the hands of the Phantom. Not Lex, of course- there is a difference. Benny would know better than anyone that there's a difference. Either way, the facts were irrefutable back then. Benny had already accepted it. He'd already moved on. There's no way it could be him, but the more Benny stares, the greater the resemblance grows. If there's anyone who would recognize Shelly de Killer, regardless of disguises, it would be his own son.

How is that possible? Is he dead? He's dead, isn't he? This is the afterlife. That must be it.]

... [Give him a second, he needs to overcome the numbing shock. This is also terribly unprofessional, but he can't help himself. It's not every day you see dead loved ones walking down a street.]

slowly realises this thread is going to destroy me

[dekillerqueen]

[When Shelly looks up from his phone, he sees... someone. Certainly not a familiar face, although that alone isn't enough to guarantee that the community has nothing to do with this. Either way, it's nice that he's run into a man who knows how to dress himself, at the very least.

... Is something wrong, though?]

May I help you, young man?

[The look on Shelly's face is in no way different from the courteous smile he carries at all times. It doesn't show recognition, for sure.]

What have I done?!

[dehipster]

[That voice. That smile. The effect is instantaneous. Enough to have Benny feel like he's ten years old again. Just a young, insignificant boy in the face of something much grander. Or someone much grander.

The lack of recognition is painful, but not entirely unexpected. In the middle of a public street, neither of them are de Killer.]

... Why are you here? [That's the only question he can think to ask.]

shot through the heart

[dekillerqueen]

[Of course, Shelly has no idea what Benny may be thinking. To him, this young man is just a stranger, albeit one with a sense of style that he overwhelmingly approves of.

As such, the stranger's question strikes him as incredibly odd. There's a short pause before he replies.]

As a matter of fact, I would like to know the answer to this question as well.

[dehipster]

[Ah. That's a bit cryptic. Is Shelly's situation the same as Benny's own? Did he just suddenly awaken here with no recollection of how he got here? If that's the case, what would be the last thing he would remember before getting here? Does he know he died?

... Did he even die at all?

Of course he died. Lex and Bobby both confirmed it. Considering the date of the John Doe's death, it could only have been Shelly. Considering his father never returned to the house, it could only have been him who died that day.

So maybe it is true that Benny is now also dead.]

Do you... not remember what happened to you?

[dekillerqueen]

[The questions keep getting odder and odder, don't they? Does this stranger know something?]

... Before I arrived here, you mean?

[It is true that he doesn't remember exactly what he was doing, no.]

The last thing I remember is falling asleep.

[dehipster]

[Falling asleep. That's definitely not the last thing he should remember. What if that was how the afterlife worked, though? What if it removed the memories to help ease the burden? What if whatever semblance of subconsciousness remained suppressed them out of instinct? If that was the cause, it was possible Benny had forgotten how he'd died as well.]

It's the same for me. [As he talks, his hand starts to fiddle with his watch. He barely realizes he's doing it. It's just one of his nervous quirks.]

i feel like there is a terrible misunderstanding in the making

[dekillerqueen]

[Shelly, observant as he has always been, can't help but take notice.]

That is a very nice watch. That model, is it...?

Bwahahaha!

[dehipster]

[Huh? Oh. The watch. Of course Shelly would notice the watch. Benny still wears it with pride to this day, even if it did betray his identity at one point. He doubts he'll ever find himself in another situation where he'd need to hide that sort of thing.]

Cohlex, yes. The same one I received for my twenty fifth birthday. [He manages a wry smile. That day seems like decades ago, but it was not even five years.]

[dekillerqueen]

[Curious. Now that Shelly thinks of it, he can't remember seeing anyone in the community with a Cohlex watch even once. He can't remember seeing a mention of Cohdopia even once; it seems that country only existed in his world.

Which either means that this stranger is from his world, or... that he HASN'T left his world at all. That would be the simplest explanation.

Perhaps both facts are true. But most importantly...]

... The first question you asked me... Something seemed unusual about it.

[dehipster]

[To the untrained eye, it might seem like nothing about Shelly's attitude had changed, but Benny knows better. He can tell from the little gestures, the tone of voice, the feel in the air. A sort of cold, forceful undertone. It's rather like the times when his father would scold him.

The first question... What was his first question again? He blurted it out in a bit of a haze.]

Ah... Was it? My apologies, I don't... remember what it was.