It's funny how reflections change

Build a barricade, you said. It will work great, you said. Well, sorry to rain on your parade, but plan: barricade is a no go, especially because you just said it out loud, and now the lion knows and he's talking in your head again and, man, maybe you should listen to the giant murderous cat. Give up. Let it go. Let it go. You can't hold him back anymore. Turn around. Close the door. Except there is no door. But you get it. This is not working out. Your plan is bad, and you should feel bad. Luckily your new friend is here, and he definitely has a better plan, so maybe you should just step back and let him - - I'm sorry, what was that? Your new friend's plan is to.... punch the lion? I take it back. You're both idiots. You're fucked. The lion lunges at you again, and maybe you would leap back except that Ronin is lunging forward and you can suddenly see very clearly how things are about to play out. "'No!" you exclaim, "'Don't hurt him!", though whether it's in response to Remi's lunge or Ronin's fist is lost in the chaos. In your naive idealism, you have decided two things: 1) nobody needs to get hurt, and 2) if someone is gonna get hurt, it should be you for sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. But what are you to do? How do you fix this new disaster? With half the arms of the other two there is little you can really contribute to the fight. The fight you started, by the way. Unbidden, tears sting at the corners of your eyes; you blink against them, but it's hard to swallow the lump of unhappy anxiety and anger that rises in your throat, hot and high and heavy and choking until finally you can't hold it in, you don't know what to do, so fuck it, you just kinda... explode. "Alright that's ENOUGH!" you bellow, in a voice usually reserved for your particularly difficult siblings. It's impressive; you can practically feel your parents flanking you, their firestorm personality electrifying your brain. "'You hear me? ENOUGH. Remi, get your fucking shit together. You don't wanna hurt someone? DON'T. You are being a CHILD and letting an ANIMAL win." And then, really stupid, carried by your passion, you take a big step into the room with the lion and hold up your arms. "If you - YOU - wanna hurt someone, you can hurt me. But remember that you aren't the lion. The lion is you. So whatever you do... make sure you do it.'" Yeah, Zero, you gon' die. Z E R O don't care what it cost - no ray of sunlight's ever lost!