The Systems Challenge

"Sure, I'll do that," Sonya said, looking a little alarmed, but clearly trying to keep it from consuming her. "Only if by 'assisting' you mean just giving you guys a lift there. Otherwise, I don't have that kind of strength."

"Sorry, we're going to need you to help cut through it. We don't have the strength to pierce its skin far enough," Stanley replied, as if that settled the matter.

"If you can't pierce the skin, then I'm gonna have to say that I'm not going to be able to pierce it's skin," Sonya said flatly, sounding like she might not be keep from getting overwhelmed by the weight of what she was being 'asked' to do.

"She does have a point, you know," Jonas said.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Stanley complained.

Jonas merely shrugged. "Maybe because she wasn't here to have made that response before?"

While he was willing to acknowledge that he didn't really say anything against the plan when it was 'decided,' he wasn't going to say that Sonya had actually agreed to the 'plan' as she hadn't been there at that time. He wasn't sure where she'd disappeared to, just that when the idea had been brought up, she wasn't there to even weigh in on the matter.

"Then she should have said something before the plan was agreed on," Frank argued.

"How could she when she wasn't here?" Jonas asked, enjoying the surprised expressions from Stanley. Although, he couldn't help but wonder why he seemed so surprised. As he himself hadn't really voted in support of the idea. He just merely didn't vote against it, not that it would have mattered, given the fact that the majority of those present had agreed with it.

"Why wasn't she then?" Frank shot back, making it sound like she should have known she was supposed to have been there.

"I went for a walk," Sonya replied, trying to sound bored, though it came across as a little forced to Jonas. "I didn't expect the 'discussion' to actually make any progress. Especially with how it kept going on and on last night."

"You should have known when we were voting on the plan and been here for it, regardless of any of that," Stanley argued.

"If that's the case, why don't we take a vote on it now?" Kim asked, sounding rather bored. "We just got back from our walk, so why not see how many agree? If it remains the majority, then Sonya has to help, if not, then she'll just give those a ride to the bear's head."

"But we already voted," Thomas complained, sounding pretty tired. Which Jonas knew wasn't an act. Whether it was still from the effects of the sudden teleportation from the battle the day before, given he would have been at the epicenter of it, or if Stanley and Frank were able to recover faster, Jonas couldn't decide. Not with the limited information about them that he currently had.

"What'll another vote hurt?" Bart asked. "I mean, it kind of is your guys' fault for not even noticing not everyone was here in the first place."

Jonas noticed Stanley's eye twitch as Bart spoke. He wasn't sure if there was a specific reason, although he did suspect that Stanley had used a skill or ability from his system to have gotten the majority present to agree to his idea. He didn't say anything earlier, since he didn't see the point in doing so. Especially since it seemed to help get them through the deadlock that they'd been in. Which had been getting on Jonas' nerves.

"Why should we?" Frank demanded, looking like he might be itching for a fight. "Seven of us voted in favor of it. So, that's still a majority, even if everyone else voted against it."

Jonas looked around himself. If Stanley hadn't convinced Harold to got 'forage' for a 'while,' then maybe they'd have a majority, but otherwise he could see that they could at least get a tie.

"Really?" Kim asked, sounding rather intrigued. "If seven voted in favor, then we could still tie. I mean, there's fourteen of us here, after all."

Frank looked confused and did a quick look around himself before turning to Kim. "There's only thirteen here who can vote. Which means we hold the majority, no matter what."

"Just because Elwin's brother died, doesn't mean he doesn't get a vote," Kim replied, sounding confused, although Jonas had a suspicion she was merely trying to draw something out of Frank.

"We're not talking about Elwin," Stanley snapped, looking like he was losing patience.

Though Jonas couldn't help but notice how much he seemed to be sweating. Which didn't make sense, since no one else was. Including Frank, who seemed even more outraged than Stanley.

"Then who're you talking about?" Jonas asked. "I mean, I agree with Kim that there's fourteen possible votes."

Stanley gaped at Jonas as Frank glared at him. Which also made Jonas wonder if it might come to blows between Stanley's and Jonas' groups somewhere down the road. At least with how they seemed to be looking at them right then.

"We don't know what you mean," Thomas said, sounding like he was trying to be the peacemaker of everyone. "You were the only one who didn't vote in favor of the plan, Jonas. You might not have voted against it, but even if you did vote against it, that would only give them six votes against it at most."

Jonas nodded, seeing who they were overlooking. Bart hadn't voted himself, and since he was in this competition, Jonas felt that fact alone ought to entitle a vote to Bart. Although, on the other hand, since this wasn't anything that they could be certain would directly involve the competition, he could see an argument being made not to giving Bart a vote in this. Despite how he'd been helping them fight against the bear since the first skirmish with it.

"I didn't vote for it, either," Bart voiced his complaint. "I wasn't sure about it myself and so I didn't vote for it."

Stanley nodded, as if he fully understood now. "I see where the confusion is. The fact is, that Bart's too young to get a vote. He's not old enough to know the full consequences of his actions or decisions, so he really doesn't get a vote."

"So, if he gets hurt based on that logic, you'll take responsibility for his injuries?" Jonas asked quietly.

Stanley shook his head like Jonas just didn't understand. "He shouldn't even be getting put in the fight in the first place. He's too young to be fighting."

Jonas nodded, in full agreement with his statement. If only it was up to them, really. "If that's the case, you should have a talk with the people running the competition. As he was brought in on that, so it's not like he was even given a choice as to whether or not he fights."

"That has nothing to do with this," Frank snapped, only stopping when Stanley held up a hand.

"If what you say is true, then why shouldn't we be responsible for keeping him out of danger as much as possible? He is still just a child, so he needs responsible adults to keep his best interests in mind."

"I don't disagree, but at the same time, you'd sentence him to remain on this world?" Jonas asked, glancing at Sonya and Kim, who seemed to be letting him take the lead in this discussion. Not that he really understood why that was. Especially since Jonas wasn't confident that he'd be able to 'win' this argument.

"How would keeping him out of this fight sentence him to remaining on this world?" Stanley retorted.

"Because if we defeat the bear, which from the sounds of how the announcer had put it, doesn't sound like they expect that it can be defeated. Which would mean that if we can beat it, then we'd likely get an extra completed challenge," Jonas answered calmly. "Therefore, this decision very well affects him. As such, he should be entitled to a vote, since there isn't anyone who can take responsibility for him if he'd not able to get back to his own world."

Stanley looked like he wasn't sure how to respond, and Frank didn't look any better at the moment. Yet, it seemed that it was Thomas who came to their rescue.

"We could always ask Tina and Murdock about if they could take responsibility for him," he said. "I mean, they did say they don't plan on returning to their own worlds, so they could take responsibility for him if he ends up staying here."

Jonas smirked. It was a good try, but he was confident that they weren't interested in actually doing anything about that. "In that case, let me know what they say when you find them. Until you do, then I can't accept that as a factor," he replied calmly. He recognized what they were trying to do, and was pretty sure that Thomas didn't have any intention of doing any follow up on his suggestion if he'd given in to them.

"So, what're you suggesting then?" Thomas asked, as if Jonas was the one being difficult.

"Just that until you can get Murdock and Tina to accept responsibility for him, then he gets a vote. If they do take responsibility for him, then they each get a vote. Aright?"

Thomas' expression said it all for Jonas. About how much he didn't like the implications of what Jonas' stance was about it all. Which let Jonas know that he'd won. Although, until he really knew exactly what Stanley was up to, he wasn't sure that he'd won himself just yet.