[the arena and the roars of the demons in the crowd blur and fade away. the blood splattered on the ground, the paint spilled, the cheers and boos and chants are all gone.
everything around you is a deep blue and desolate. barren trees grow from the cracked, dead ground. it's silent here, except for the call of carrion birds, who swoop and dive nearby you. this is a place of death and emptiness.
but here you are. you have your weapons, still. your color also feels sapped, overextended, but there is something you can still do. because you are not alone. while the blue mist swirls around, there is someone else you can see here, nearby. with you.
[garou, you find yourself holding a chainsaw, standing over ryunosuke's crumpled form. the chainsaw is still dripping with blood. his neck wound seems to have stabilized, and he's stirring, coming back to consciousness.
you're both pretty hurt, but chainsaw probably beats doctor's kit. then again, you could still probably make use of your color if you really needed to.
garou, this little punk turned into a monster truck and ran you over several times. maybe you're still sore about that? or maybe you're a little sore after watching the way he and vin teamed up to take down a certain old man martial artist. or it could just be that you don't need a reason? maybe you're just still angry. that rage from earlier is still thrumming through you. do you even want to resist it? you said you'd be pissed he survived that chainsaw until you died. well?
ryunosuke, you're weak and barely awake, but you have so much left to do. are you really going to die to him? you watched garou wield a chainsaw, bisect a young girl with a spellbook right through while she screamed. he didn't show any mercy then. a cold, eerie calm has come over you. she deserves justice, doesn't she?
the air is still and silent, but a voice rings out in your head. finish it.]
[hot pants, you find yourself holding a bat with nails, standing over kumon's crumpled form. the bat is splattered with gore, dripping. kumon is weak, slowly regaining consciousness but it would be easy to end it. he does have his knives, jagged glass, also dripping with blood. one looks on the verge of shattering, though. then again, you could still probably make use of your color if you really needed to.
hot pants, look at this kid. he's weak, he's a wimp, playing dead, running away. but you saw what he's capable of. that blood on those knives, that's yours, and that's vin's. and before that, you watched those knives drive into the chest of a man who had fallen off his horse, on the ground, helpless. a dinosaur, bringing it down. kumon might have spent most of the last fight unconscious, but between those two and vin, he probably has the highest kill count here. you feel a calm certainty, an awareness that your feelings are guiding you to the right course of action.
kumon, you're weak and barely awake, but you see hot pants standing above her, and you see the gore on her bat. you remember watching her beat a purple-haired kid with that bat, bashing his head in, until you couldn't take it anymore and passed out. she didn't show any mercy then. a fierce protectiveness comes over you. you were too weak to protect your friends and too weak to protect him, but someone has to stop her, don't they?
the air is still and silent, but a voice rings out in your head. finish it.]
[marceline, you find yourself holding your guitar, standing over vin's crumpled form. she's stirring slowly, coming back to consciousness, though she looks badly hurt. she does have her knives, sharp and angry and still shimmering with chrome and dripping with blood. one looks on the verge of shattering, though. then again, you could probably make use of your color if you really needed to.
marceline, this girl is dangerous. she's angry and vindictive and you've watched what she can do with knives. you watched her protect hot pants while hot pants beat the head in of a warrior wearing an animal mask. he may be tough, but she's just a kid. you watched as she drove her knives into the heart of the old spellcaster with the crown-like helmet, killing him. and you watched her as she spent all of her own energy on sending a knife flying at kumon. kumon, who was unconscious, lying on the ground, bleeding out. if you hadn't healed him, he would have died then and there. a sudden spike of fear courses through you. if you let her go, you can only imagine all of the many ways she could hurt others you care about. you can imagine her and her knives carving through bonnie so clearly. you already wanted to double tap vin, right?
vin, this woman is the worst, isn't she? you watched her shoot flames at a spellcaster in a leather coat, setting him on fire, distracting him so garou could carve him in half with a chainsaw. you watched her leave her own teammate bleeding on the ground while she set you on fire. a protective fury washes over you. you couldn't protect anyone this time. you tried so hard, but you watched as the other three hurt the people you care about one by one. someone has to stop her, don't they?
the air is still and silent, but a voice rings out in your head. finish it.]
[ she DID want to double tap vin! thank you! and since there's no one else around, might as well!
she's a little taken aback by the change of scenery, but not nearly that much. sure, teleported mid battle. that happens. whatever. she's not going to wait for vin to come back to consciousness fully, wasting no time. you how moving is a free action? (it's not) shush
she's going to start by walking closer and giving playing HERSELF an inspiration song while she moves. next, she's aiming to VICIOUSLY kick vin straight in the ribs or at least the knives out of her grasp if she can't reach that while she does this. is this petty. yes! does she absolutely need to give herself a boost before going mortal kombat? no! but she wants to! she is being a little vindictive. at least it's not fire?
it means that the kick to her ribs lands pretty solidly while she's still trying to rouse herself, and there's a solid crack as the blow lands. she wheezes immediately, the air knocked out of her, and it's hard to focus on everything that's changed about the place they're in when her first waking moment consists of getting attacked.
even without the voice in her head telling her to finish it, she moves on instinct, pulling one arm over her face to protect her head, and trying to slam one of her knives into marceline's leg.
[ It is kind of infuriating that this kid is still alive. Garou might not normally be in the habit of killing people, but the fact that after all his efforts Ryunosuke's still breathing irks his pride. He might be nerfed, but to the point that he can't even handle this limp noodle?
Unacceptable.
He jams his foot into Ryunosuke's neck as he steadily comes back, deciding that he might not kill him, but that he'll take a little flesh. ]
Tired of your shit.
[ He brings the chainsaw down to rend Ryunosuke's arm from his body.
the knife lands in turn and marceline screams in outrage and pain both. luckily she finished her spell before this though, and the color magic of which i have forgotten the color of but i think was purple swirls around her as she jumps back out of immediate reach.
do you know what's better than one fire spell? TWO fire spells, back to back, one fireball aimed at her knife wielding arm ([dog owner voice] drop it. drooooop it. DROP it.) and the other at her general body, just to rub salt in the wound. or in this case fire in the body. i guess.
[nice! both of them land and she screams in pain, letting go of the knives with her dominant hand. it's getting difficult to move or stand with her injuries, but she just kind of rolls over a few times to try and extinguish the flames before standing up. she looks around the area for the first time, and—]
The crowd is gone...?
[interesting. well, anyways, she's very fucked up at this point, but she's still going to try to charge marceline and attempt to tear the guitar out of her hands. no real attack right now because everything hurts.
[ it's not even her bass, it's a guitar. she is maybe still a little drunk off of the red anger. it's fine. but she's offended vin is going for it, because it is messing up her groove? it's hard to play with someone trying to wrestle you?
so she's just swinging wide with it to hit her upside the head instead. this is a bad choice because marceline has forgotten this guitar is far too unwieldy compared to her usual, and it is only giving vin a better range to wrestle it out of her hands. it's wrenched away into the dirt :(
I wouldn't touch it if you didn't try to burn me alive—
[she says as if she did not stab her in the leg beforehand
anyways, off the guitar goes into the dirt!! it smacks into her shoulder as it goes, missing her head. she pauses for a moment, torn between running for it or using her fists - but she's moving slowly enough right now that she thinks if she did, marceline would probably beat her there.
so instead, she's trying to aim a blow with her elbow upwards at marceline's head, intending to knock her out or at least throw her off balance if it isn't strong enough to do that.
[ they have been trying to kill each other all day, why are they keeping score. marceline does want to run for it-- she was indeed stabbed in the leg, so running isn't great? instead she dives for the guitar. unfortunately for marcy, the elbow hit lands, and she kind of lands in a heap next to the guitar, head ringing.
she puts a hand a on it anyway. nice save. perfect. on the ground is a great place to be like this.
I would not have stabbed you if you didn't attack me! There isn't anyone else here!
[farewell guards and weird audience of weird people...... though it is very hard to ignore the persistent voice in her head and feeling that she's dealing with a threat that she needs to eliminate, even as she says that. she's trying to hurry over and kick the guitar away from marceline, though she's still slower as she goes, bleeding and burned.
[Ah. At least...she has a chance. That's what she thought, even through the anger, when she woke up in the Prism. I have a chance. I have to make things right. And here, now, with Kumon in front of her, well, that chance is clear as crystal, isn't it?]
[She's an angry person, she knows. But deep down, she wants to believe it's a rightful, just anger. This young man killed Johnny, killed Diego. Maybe not her Johnny, her Diego, but the point is moot. He did wrong. He killed many. He hurt Vin, too, and that, she won't show mercy for.]
[It has to end like this.]
Tch. I see you wanted to take your murder mystery to the big stage. [She says, calmly.] Regardless, I don't want to draw this out any longer. This has to end now. Die peacefully, for everything you did.
[Her body is still shaken by what happened earlier, so her strength isn't all there - regardless, she's slamming down the nail bat down at his general form, at least aiming to try to keep him down, if it won't strike true.]
she doesn't care about the voice in her head but she is too busy arguing and so, sadly, despite her hold on it vin does manage to kick the guitar a little further away. ]
Ughhhh!!!
[ she grabs a handful of dirt and throws it at her as she tries to scramble back up again.
[well. she probably did do that, even though she has no idea who finn and simon are, so that's fair!! the battle royale continues.
she has nothing to say to that either way, so she just holds up her hand against the small cloud of dirt and dust coming her way. maybe a tiny bit of it gets into her mouth. since marceline is trying to get up, vin's aiming a kick at her face to try and stop her progress with that. regardless of whether it lands, she's then trying to move forward in an attempt to grab the guitar from where it rests on the ground.
[It's happening all over again, again, again. He's never been able to make it count when it mattered. Every time he thinks he's going to make it he falters at the last moment. His body's always worked against him, the stress and pressure forcing a fever.
But... She killed Juza. The guts on her bat, the way Juza looked when Kumon finally managed to regain consciousness and immediately wished he hadn't. It feels like a failure on his part, even though he doesn't know how to help- he's never known. Fighting, especially like this, was never something he was interested in.
He shudders violently and rolls away. Just get away, find the others. Protect them, how is he supposed to protect them? He doesn't even know where they are. Doesn't he have to find them first?
Mira ⚾ 9mon Hyodo Roll: [18] Result: 18]
I'm sorry- I'm sorry, who did I- [He can't even manage the words. There's a nausea he's desperately trying to fend off.]
the kick lands, but it is probably a bad idea to aim a kick near a vampire's face. because despite the bruise and pain and how little she wants to get up right now, she immediately chomps down with all her might on vin's ankle. she is probably wearing pants or shoes but she has fangs so she is trying?? she's also flail grabbing at her to stop her from getting to the guitar in the dirt further away.
One, he tries to raise a barrier, and that doesn't work. Two, he thinks maybe he should try that car thing again, but no dice.
Three, Garou is hitting him with a chainsaw. The sound it makes is much worse when it's up close, on flesh, and not scraping through metal, also he's pretty sure he screams, but the pain is so white-hot and blinding he's not really sure what his voice is doing anymore. It's like listening to a separate person entirely.
But, there's a steely calm in his mind, too, still working in feverish motion even as the chainsaw bears down on him and his own blood splatters against the side of his face. Susato was killed. She's even younger than Garou is, and she'd looked afraid. She screamed and he cut her down in one stroke.
Susato didn't deserve this.
nu 👉 ryunosuke Roll: [14] Result: 14
As soon as his arm's been shredded off his body and the resistance of it is gone, he knocks at Garou's leg as a vibrant, rose color raises over his wounds, healing them just enough that he can stay conscious, just for one more minute to make things right, and rears up and tackles Garou as hard as he humanly can, hitting him with all the color he can manage. ]
her pants do indeed block some of the damage, but it still does not feel great as marcie's fangs sink into her ankle. she shrieks again, trying to shake her off, and when that doesn't work immediately, she's just letting her continue to bite while throwing herself towards the guitar to try and grab it. this is so stupid. bring her back her op parkour powers.
[Again, anger rises like bile in her throat - its acidic, it burns, her body hurts - but this isn't the first time its hurt. This isn't the last time. Her body is a machine, pushing forward, no matter what.]
[He rolls away, and she just steps forward after him, unrelenting.]
You killed two people I knew. You hurt Vin. Would you like to say that again, to my face?
[She's advancing now, her hands adjusting their grip on the bat.]
Would you like to say that again? "I'm sorry"? Don't do this. [No mercy, no mercy, no mercy. Just end it quickly, that's the only mercy she'll give him. It isn't even about revenge, she thinks. He has blood on his hands. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. Retribution, plain and simple. His own knives have metaphorically come back to him.] Open your eyes to your sin. And die as you are, in all that you've wrought.
[May the Lord forgive you for all you've done.]
[She raises the bat, staring him down, eyes like steel, and hardens her heart, as she has always done.]
[ bring powers back and let them fight in ridiculous op ways :/ smh
marceline is holding on to one leg with the full force of her teeth and zero logic. she's trying to gnaw through the pants to get to her skin. while she does this she makes herself a limp weight as she grabs onto the other leg with both hands to try to impede vin even more. incredibly stupid 0 stars 0 thoughts
[He did. He killed two people, and he still has no idea who they are. Hot Pants killed Juza, and had no idea who he was. He was in the ring, and didn't know who he was against.
But he killed them. That doesn't erase anything.
He has to live with it, for all the time he has left. He killed. There is no coming back from that. Kumon hurt somebody he lives with because... because he didn't want to die. The man on the horse shot him, he wanted to live- isn't that normal? Isn't that natural? If somebody tries to kill you then you fight for your life.
In a panicked, desperate haze he takes his knives, one last time, and throws them at her arm at the same time he gets hit.
[as she tries to move forward to the guitar and marceline grabs her other leg, it puts her just off balance enough that she falls. and - despite the voices in her head, despite her very fresh anger, she's been trying not to do anything debilitating. even a stab to the leg can heal. she's amber, after all - when she hurts people, it's usually to help other people, and there's nobody else in this arena with them right now to protect, despite the overwhelming feeling that marceline is a threat.
but between that feeling, along with how exhausted and hurt and grieving she is, and the way that marceline is fighting back seriously enough that she believes the other girl will absolutely kill her if given a chance... they're at close enough range that she grabs one of her throwing knives and tries to shove it into one of marceline's eyes. unfortunately, given how burned her dominant hand is, she's using her other hand, which means her aim isn't as strong as it would normally be. she stops reaching for the guitar for a moment to do this.
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