video; [KINGOFHEROES]

[babbylon]

[The feed opens to Gilgamesh lounging on a couch, wine in hand, smirking faintly at nothing in particular. A snowy white lion which some of you may recognize lies curled on the floor, napping away; as for Gilgamesh himself, he's as relaxed as could be. Quite a far cry from his time in imprisonment.

And indeed, when he speaks, he sounds confident as ever—albeit in a lazy sort of way, words flowing like syrup.]

What does "heroism" mean to you?

[An open-ended question he allows to hang, for a moment or so, before continuing on.]

Would you consider what we're doing here to fall along those lines? Or, perhaps... yes, I'm aware some of you are new to this little group activity of ours, regarding the sun. And doubtful that you're all as sincerely invested as ALASTAIR wishes us to be. It does seem a bit trifling.

[Only Gilgamesh could consider the death of light itself to be trifling. He yawns, then rolls over, kicking his feet impatiently like a child awaiting entertainment.]

If they all died, it wouldn't really matter, would it? ALASTAIR would spirit us away to the next grand adventure and the cycle starts anew.

[In his obstinance, Gilgamesh dumps his wine right on the floor. He seems to revel in it, in the mess he's made. In the mess he intends to make.]

So I suppose what I'm asking is [smile blossoming into a grin] do you believe it's possible to save everyone, at the expense of yourself? Is that the proper way of a hero, or just someone naive enough to pursue "goodness"? To those we put atop pedestals, were they ever worth admiring at all?

[His eyes narrow at his jewelry. To call them serpentine would be an understatement.]

To those who believe firmly in the principles of justice—do you earnestly think you were doing the right thing all along? I wonder.

Comments

[babbylon]

[Gilgamesh looks genuinely thoughtful, reading this. Change defined him at his core; he was change, the necessary sort designed to keep humanity in line. Ea itself wielded the power of creation and destruction, the direst sort of change imaginable.

So to speak of change... Leonardo may not realize it, but he's speaking of Gilgamesh himself.]

Change is the guiding force of humanity. They are nothing without it, and it applies just as much to other creatures, as well.

[It's not always bad, but it can be. In his case, it shattered his world. Still...]

No hero ever accomplished anything without battling such a foe, that much is for certain. And we will face it, undoubtedly, moving forward.

[kamiizumi]

[Leo would be the last person to think of himself as a hero - worrying about heroics was more Mikey's thing. But battling change...well.]

It's what we make of it.

[They'd saved the world. They'd almost lost - might still lose - a brother in the process. But no matter how much part of him might want to get as pissed off at himself about it as Raph, he knows damned well that it would be pointless. They could've saved Donnie and then they and everyone else in their world would be dead, instead.

He can wallow, or he can pick himself up and deal with the consequences.]

[babbylon]

What a comfortable way of saying so.

[And briefly Gilgamesh does smile. It looks pleasant. It looks almost innocent if not for everything that preceded it... and everything that follows after, uttered with a sharp tongue and behind a sneer cut like a sickle across his face.]

But often enough, that isn't the case. That change comes and it ruins everything. It distorts your world, and desecrates it, and leaves only pieces behind. That is the true nature of change: unpredictable at best, and destructive at worst. It is a force of nature, simply put.

[kamiizumi]

Maybe not. But I don't do myself any good by dwelling on how miserable it might be.

[babbylon]

Maybe you should. That's the way of the world, I'm afraid.

[kamiizumi]

Yeah, well, the last thing my family needs is another cynic.

[babbylon]

Is it cynical to consider things as they are, rather than how you prefer them to be?

[kamiizumi]

It's cynical to decide life's a losing game before you're halfway through playing.

[babbylon]

[His smile fades to something much less snide. Coy, in a sense.]

Some of us are a bit more than halfway through.

[kamiizumi]

And some of us are a long ways off.

Maybe I'll change my mind when I get there. But maybe I won't.

[babbylon]

"Won't" seems more likely. Call it King's intuition.

[kamiizumi]

That much we can agree on, then.