House of M

[Crow]

Continued from here.

Mid-Chapter Update
"Three x Three"

When Kyoko tried to turn on the laptop, she found that it wouldn't work. Either it was broken or needed power, but it seemed odd for a broken laptop to be left for them to find. There was nothing left to do in the attic or kid's room, so it was time to return tot he Main Hall.

---

The click sounded so resolute. So loud. It seemed to echo throughout the bathroom. Bullet's breath caught in her throat, her mind reeling from what just happened. Klein was not dead, and neither was she. The glass door of the shower opened, letting Bullet free just as flames erupted behind her. A rush of emotion overtook her and she walked over to Nancy without thinking, throwing her hands around the other girl.

"Thank you," she whispered. Even if it had been statistically the better option, Nancy had made an impossible decision to save her life. Bullet would be forever grateful.

She backed off from Nancy aimed two middle fingers upward. "Fuck you, Lucas!"

As the metal clasps on the chair released, Lucas seemed to chuckle. "Kind of a shit bet, wasn't it? I think you'll find none of y'all needed those two extra HP once you get back to the Main Hall."

A statuette of a dog's head dropped from the ceiling. Bullet picked it up and led her group back to where everyone was waiting. The fire had died out and, at some point, either Makoto or Agatha had put a sheet over the dead bodies.

Bullet took notice of how fewer their numbers were, but as Owen explained again the explosion that occurred, she knew she couldn't linger on that tragedy long. She set the dog's head into the door where the others had already done so.

The group waited, but the door didn't open.

"Nice job, but you have a biiiit of a problem." Lucas sounded just about giddy now. "Some of you already know, but you're not leavin' this house with that many of y'all still alive. Lessee, there's about... eighteen of you now. That door's not unlocking until only fifteen of you remain. So, I'm gonna need y'all to remove about three of you before we can move on. Sound good?"

"You son of a bitch." Bullet shook her head and turned to the others.

"I'm not dying here. Not after the bullshit I just went through."

A tense moment followed, broken eventually by Makoto speaking up.

"I can die."

He swallowed roughly and clasped his hands together out of worry. His finger rubbed at his wedding ring. "It's okay. I'm only a liability to everyone."

Noot Noot shook his head rapidly and moved to grab a hold of Makoto's leg. The penguin didn't like that idea one bit.

"Before we even consider that," Teddy interjected, "we need to talk about something. Any of you notice a sudden change in our HP levels? Owen, you say Adam caused the explosion when his codex his zero, wanna know why that is?" Teddy pointed right at Phil. "Him. In our room, Lucas gave us a choice of moving HP around, even lowering some people to zero. Under our noses, Phil killed six people."

It was just then that Phil started to feel a familiar feeling. A vision was coming on, one that only he could see. An image flashed in his head of the Main Hall where they all stood. The upper stairwell was coming undone from the damage done to it in the earlier fight. The middle par of the structure came down, crashing down to the floor below.

But then the vision ended, and Phil saw the angry looks from Bullet, Teddy, and Captain America.

---

Billy considered all that was said, though it was Noembelu that he responded to. "There was no doubt in my mind that was not the real Teddy. It was an illusion, just like that other guy's. Makoto was his name, right? I don't know if Mother relates to the whole family deal that's taken over Wanda. It seemed to me, back at the wedding, that Wanda was very angry to see Mother. Much different than how she was with that daddy guy. Either way, Wanda probably created those illusions to make us happy... to make us have an ideal family situation. Or, well, I think so..."

It was a lot to consider, but Billy knew they simply didn't have all the answers yet. He was scared to find out, really.

"The curtains seem to be a barrier, but I think I might be special here. Mother wants me after all, so she'll want me to fall further into this realm." He turned to the curtains and started to walk toward them. "... I'll get back to you, Teddy. I promise," he whispered.

Billy tossed aside a curtain, and a white light enveloped everyone.

***

When the light dissipated, the group was assaulted with sounds from all sides. A buzz of chatter was all-consuming as the group came to the realization they were surrounded by crowds of people. They were now deep in the middle of an African Metropolis.

Billy's eyes went wide with wonder. "Are we...?"

Inexplicably, both Raven and Zenyatta were missing from the group now, nowhere to be seen amidst the crowds. Troy and Josephine had traveled with them, the former still dazed and being held up by Josephine.

---

Cast List
@Takumi as Amir Halgal [Otoyomegatari] →
@Cromartie Sarkissian as Arno Victor Dorian [Assassin's Creed] →
@Kaykay as Beatrice Waltrud von Kircheisen [Dies Irae] ⇝
@Midnight Maiden as Belle French [Once Upon a Time] →
@dalecOoOoOoOoOper as Dale Bartholomew Cooper [Twin Peaks] →
@Gummi Bunnies as Kiyohime [Fate/Grand Order] →
@ShiroKiyoshi as Klein Ullyr Green [OC] ⇝
@Ryu Keiko as Koriand'r [DC Comics] →
@Verite as Kyoko Kirigiri [Danganronpa] ⇝
@Leon Moretti as Leon Moretti [OC] ⇝
@Bomb as Lola [Fairy Fencer F] →
@dark as Marcus Wright [Terminator] →
@Mason Moretti as Mason Travis Moretti [OC] →
@Krieg as Nancy Wheeler [Stranger Things] ⇝
@Yun Lee as Noembelu [Street Fighter] →
@Crow as Nono Morikubo [The Idolmaster] ⇝
@Archmage Jeremiah as Percival of the Round Table [Sonic and the Black Knight] →
@LuckycoolHawk9 as Phil Connors [Groundhog Day The Musical] ⇝
@ShiroKiyoshi as Rant T. Mouse [OC] →
@Gands as Raven Darkholme [X-Men Cinematic Universe] →
@York as Reiner Braun [Attack on Titan] →
@Klutzy Ninja Kitty as Rumpelstiltskin [Once Upon a Time] →
@Minerva as Saeko Busujima [Highschool of the Dead] →
@Otto as Shen [League of Legends] ⇝
@Glostechk as Six [Little Nightmares] ⇝
@Seishin Ryuu as Spartan-B312 [Halo] →
@Jeremi as T'Challa [Marvel Comics] →
@CrunchyCHEEZIT as Tekhartha Zenyatta [Overwatch] →
@J A Y F R OM T H E 6 I X as Teth Adam [DC Comics] →
@The Batter as The Batter [OFF] ⇝
@thatguyinthestore as Toffee [Star vs the Forces of Evil] →​

Phil Connors- This is Not An Exit

Phil had grown immune to angry looks. When you have been punched in the face and disappointed people, you were used to all the ire you were given. " Yes, I did kill those people. I'm not going to deny that. What Captain America and Teddy neglected to mention was one of those people, mr. blow everything up had killed seven of ours before. If you want to kill me, just do it already. But whatever you do, hurry up and do it." He wasn't about to explain why, but he had a feeling that if they didn't hurry up, they would all die. That was something his vision guaranteed.

@Kaykay @Atomyk @Verite @Jeremi @Otto @Crow @The Batter @Josh M @ShiroKiyoshi @Leon Moretti @Glostechk @Krieg @Main Hall

"Don't be so eager, Makoto," Kyoko said in response to the boy's volunteering to die, as though she didn't consider the prospect of Makoto sacrificing himself to be viable at all. Crossing her arms among the group, she continued to muse over her situation. A familiar setting where she was forced to send a person or two... or in this case, three, to death. She didn't want to consider it a habit to condemn people to their deaths, but she had become all too familiar with the idea, regardless. And though she was hard-pressed to call those she had condemned back in her Killing School Life "justice" just because they themselves had killed, it was a matter of survival.

Just like now.

On the outside, she hardly reacted when Phil announced he had killed more people in the wake of the angry glances from people who had accompanied him wherever he went. But on the inside, as natural for a human to, it made her judgment just a tad clearer. If he had no qualms with it, then there shouldn't have been any problem, right? Kyoko took no pleasure in the prospect, but looking at the pragmatic truth, if the man was going to kill more and more to preserve his own survival, then the best solution would be to put an end to that need. It was only logical.

Such logic was something Kyoko found herself bouncing on and off of every now and then... just like the Coalition Civil War. The Ultimate Detective idly wondered from time to time if she could have handled it better, but alas, the result is out of her hands now, and all she could do was live with it, its consequences, and those who had left her because of it.

Letting out a sigh, she cleared her throat. "Fine, then. If you're so eager, then I'll nominate you, Phil," Kyoko said, but that wasn't the end of it. On top of him, there'd have to be two more to sacrifice.

But who?

@Atomyk @LuckycoolHawk9 @Everybody​

Teddy avoided Phil's gaze. "Yeah, and? Look at him. He can't walk. He's not moving from this spot. Does anyone here really think we're going to get a rescue? This guy is going to die, regardless. And you... for murdering all those people--"

Bullet pointed to Klein. "Anyone have any idea what the fuck he just said?"

Lucas was intrigued by Nancy's request. "Girlie, I know they're trying to talk ya out of it, but if you did kill three people, I'll totally reward ya with even more bullets!"

"Just forget about it, Nancy," Bullet growled. She didn't want Lucas to start taking a shine to Nancy. Who knew what that would entail.

"Perhaps it would be fair to simply allow those who wish to make the sacrifice to do what must be done," Agatha said, trying to give honest counsel. "Or, you face a potential bloodbath in murdering one another."

"So, myself, the captain, and Leon?" Makoto said.

"Or, Phil and Shane," Teddy countered. He shot a wary gaze Shen's way. "And what do we know about this guy? He's the only one still alive who went to the Pantry." Where Billy died, he wanted to add, but held his tongue.

@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @Jeremi @The Batter @MainHall
​

Phil Connors

Phil looked over at Teddy. " I know my words mean nothing to you, but he helped me to defeat one of those monsters down in the basement. Beatrice can confirm that if you don't believe me. I have no qualms with dying as I said before, so it doesn't matter to me. Though a fair warning, we should hurry this up... I feel if we don't- something bad might happen," he said, not being any more direct. If he directly told them the upper level was going to collaspe, he would have to explain his vision and he doubted anyone would believe him, not after what he did.

@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @Atomyk @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @Jeremi @The Batter@MainHall

"Kyoko-san, are you sure about this? Remember back then, when you wanted to give that Detective another chance in life, even though all of us might've ended up in the Dark Place? Even though he, too, killed others?"

Nono's eyes began to water.

"Phil, what happened to moving on for Noembelu? Are you just going to accept that your time is up? Do you really want to go about this? Morikubo finds this... impossible."​

@Verite @LuckycoolHawk9 @Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @Atomyk @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @Jeremi @The Batter@MainHall

 

[Atomyk]

"..."

"I killed that man. Black Panther. I dropped the car on him, so I--" Noot Noot jumped up and down, hitting Makoto in the legs.

Owen backed off to the side of the room and leaned back against the wall. "I can't deal with this, man..."

Bullet stepped toward Shane and reached for the waist the man's pants to pull his gun free. "Fuck... Fuck! Look, I barely know shit about guns, but..." She turned and aimed it toward Phil. Her gaze shifted between him and Makoto. "I don't know what you're talking about with the car, but fuck, I will not chance either of you murdering me just so you can get ahead!"

Cap stepped between Bullet and Phil. He was too focused on Phil to do much about what was going on between Klein and Leon. "I don't want to turn a kid into a killer, but thankfully we already have one." He looked to Phil. "Do it, son. Lucas gave you that shotgun. I'm right here."

@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @Jeremi @The Batter @MainHall​

 

[Leon Moretti]

"Oh, fuck this shit." Klein said as he brandished his sword and dashed at Leon. He tried to cut off his hand, for there was no possible way he could get a killing blow on an individual he had to sprint across a room for, but if he made him flinch in pain for a second he could finish him off. "Talking is fucking stupid! Someone has to die for us to continue, either stab yourself or come and fight me. I fought my urge for the sake of this group." Klein said as he took out a knife ready to parry off incoming attackers. He was actually enticing people to stop him, he'd kill three and then they could move on, very simple plan. "For you strangers I have undergone great mental stress, suppressing my own urges, my body trembled as I sat alone in that room with those girls. The demon inside me raged, but now, the lot of you know that if we don't kill each other, something else will. So step the fuck up or I am coming to you. Stop making this so complicated."

@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @Jeremi @The Batter @MainHall

Although he didn't hear Kein's words, he did hear the sound of someone's footsteps rushing towards someone. Leon came to his senses and saw the boy rushing towards him with a sword, he does his best to dodge out the way. Although he was willing to take the fall for the group, he wasn't going to let it happen from someone on a complete breakdown.

"Listen, kid, I get it. you want to get out. Well, news flash so does almost everyone else. However acting rash and on impulse is what's going to get you killed first." He glances at Phil, hoping that on Fortuna's Luck that Phil can put two and two together.

@Verite @LuckycoolHawk9 @Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @Atomyk @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @Jeremi @The Batter@MainHall

 

[Verite]

"Kyoko-san, are you sure about this? Remember back then, when you wanted to give that Detective another chance in life, even though all of us might've ended up in the Dark Place? Even though he, too, killed others?"

Nono's eyes began to water.

"Phil, what happened to moving on for Noembelu? Are you just going to accept that your time is up? Do you really want to go about this? Morikubo finds this... impossible."​

"..."

Kyoko remained silent, her back turned to Morikubo, as though mulling over her words. She was still, like a statue, unblinking, unflinching, and then, finally, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Even if others would not want to believe it, Morikubo-san, the concept of "justice" is often weighed on a scale by others. I could tell you that the circumstances are different here, that Holder only killed one. One life that doesn't weigh as heavily as the many lives that Mister Connors over there has snuffed out, as he so freely admits, and even though the stakes are similar in both, the circumstances are certainly not," the young woman spoke, her expression and tone as stoic as ever.

"Or, I could also tell you that back then, it was a test that I was able to read through. Junko Enoshima's trial was an ideological one, a tribulation that one needed to look beyond in order to spring. Not like Lucas Baker's, whose own brand of despair works rather differently from anyone else's. In other words, Junko Enoshima orchestrated a puzzle she wanted us to solve, while Lucas Baker has orchestrated a game that he is continuously cranking up the difficulty for. A game that, like others, forces the player to improvise and adapt to new tactics."

"If that doesn't work, I could also tell you that it's a matter of survival. Phil here has the same sentiment, and he'd put others down for himself, wouldn't he? At least, for as long as possible. Maybe that's the setting Lucas wanted to draw up; a lawless jungle. And it's quite clear what the one law of the jungle is. It would not be pragmatic to let the situation keep getting more and more tense as it is. It isn't as though this is my first experience with this kind of setup; lots of people, at least one person gunning entirely for self-preservation," Kyoko continued, thinking briefly of how a certain Ultimate Affluent Progeny had come off as when they had first met, "And as such, I'm also no stranger to incidentally investigating many a case where the endgame inevitably results in someone dying. I've had to go on and leave behind many I considered friends in the past as a result, see them driven to despair and jeopardize everything that we had built up to, and be forced to determine that it had to end before it got any worse."

"Alternatively, how about this? For better or for worse, maybe I'm not the same person as I was during Bright Falls. A lot has happened since the last time we met, Morikubo. I've made mistakes. I've acted brashly. I've jumped to conclusions. And now, as a result, the very ground I stand on wavers with every step I take, because from there on, every step I take vibrates into the lives of others, impacts them. And from these mistakes, this new position I'm in, I'm forced to weigh my choices more carefully."

"You can take any of those explanations in stride as you'd like. Or none of them. It doesn't really matter to me. Actions speak louder than words after all. Don't they?" She asked to no one in particular at this point, eyeing Phil as she crossed her arms, before clearing her throat and continuing.

"A detective works in the shadows to help reveal the truth for all, neither good nor evil. Neither self-serving, nor hopelessly altruistic," she said, speaking words that she had once said before to Makoto in the distant past, "That's why... I guess I was never cut out to be a detective. That's why I'll put my own life on the table as well, if need be."

"After all, when you've spent so much time being the judge, jury, executioner, and detective for so long, maybe there has to come a point where I face my own retribution. After all, in the end, my hands aren't completely clean, nor have they ever," Kyoko breathed, holding up a gloved hand to look at it for a brief moment, before stopping.

@Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Krieg @Atomyk @Everybody​

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

Phil Connors

Phil had never used a shot gun, but he did hear both what Captain America and Leon had said. Despite Captain America being literally in front of him, he moved the gun to be in the path of Klein, as he was trying to kill them right now. Death was death to him and he was numb. That other man was clearly not stable enough to live, and coming from him, that made the choice clear to him. He hoped he had lined that up right and he fired the shot.


@Verite @LuckycoolHawk9 @Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @Atomyk @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @Jeremi @The Batter@MainHall

 

[ShiroKiyoshi]

Although he didn't hear Kein's words, he did hear the sound of someone's footsteps rushing towards someone. Leon came to his senses and saw the boy rushing towards him with a sword, he does his best to dodge out the way. Although he was willing to take the fall for the group, he wasn't going to let it happen from someone on a complete breakdown.

"Listen, kid, I get it. you want to get out. Well, news flash so does almost everyone else. However acting rash and on impulse is what's going to get you killed first." He glances at Phil, hoping that on Fortuna's Luck that Phil can put two and two together.

@Verite @LuckycoolHawk9 @Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @Atomyk @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @Jeremi @The Batter@MainHall

Phil Connors

Phil had never used a shot gun, but he did hear both what Captain America and Leon had said. Despite Captain America being literally in front of him, he moved the gun to be in the path of Klein, as he was trying to kill them right now. Death was death to him and he was numb. That other man was clearly not stable enough to live, and coming from him, that made the choice clear to him. He hoped he had lined that up right and he fired the shot.


@Verite @LuckycoolHawk9 @Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @Atomyk @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @Jeremi @The Batter@MainHall

Leon would have indeed dodged, but he made a fatal mistake giving Klein so many hints to the sneak attack. The assassin watched as Leon's eyes moved off of him and he payed attention to the small comment he made. Klein dropped with great speed and threw himself into Leon's legs, this tackle would bend the man forward on hit before he flexed backwards like a pen being launched. If that shot was aimed at Klein it was aimed at Leon now as the man flew backwards, whether it hit him was out of Klein's control, he merely tried to get the man off of him as he was adept enough to pick up Klein coming at him. Klein then stood up and launched his dirk with incredible accuracy at Phil, though Captain America was in front of him Klein could hit him if the Captain didn't move to block it or Phil move closer to the Captain. Klein then took out his other dirk and prepared for the next opponent. "You talk too much." Klein said, his breath staggered from his chuckle. Klein started walking, closing his distance to Phil. His walk quickly turned into a run as he hid behind bodies, to protect himself from the shot, but Phil would only have time for one more shot, and this time Klein was severely aware of it. By the time he cocked it and fired again, if unhindered, Klein would be on top of him. It could be seen that Klein was smiling, his cheeks were defined behind the cloth on his face and his eyes were squinted, indicating his lip was raised. He was enjoying this.

Klein's shadow laughed maniacally as he went on the hunt. It was filled the height of the hall now as it egged Klein on. "Hunt! HUNT! Kill! Do what you are bred to do!"

@Verite @LuckycoolHawk9 @Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @Atomyk @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @Jeremi @The Batter@MainHall

 

[Bomb]

The cough and the throat clearing made T'Challa snap out of it and made him take a few steps back. "Ah, yes, Ororo, I would like you to meet some guests of mine. They are travelers from different universes, excluding a few like Wiccan who I am sure you are familiar with." The way T'Challa spoke about the concept of multiple universes, like some talk about having a friend over for dinner.

Ororo meanwhile didn't seem too nonplussed by it either. "Is this things you should keep secret from your wife?" The way she said it made it sound like she was teasing T'Challa more than being angry with him.

"Even in this climate of peace I have always been keeping...busy," Came his reply. "I have studied other worlds, perhaps an opportunity to spread the gift of peace to more than one world?"

"Certainly sounds like you. When there isn't a problem you go and make one. Even so I welcome you all to Wakanda." She replied bowing her head towards the others. "I am Queen Ororo of Wakanda, but I hope that you prefer to just call me Ororo."​

@Atomyk @Yun Lee @Jeremi @thatguyinthestore @J A Y F R OM T H E 6 I X @York @Minerva @Bomb @dark @Mason Moretti @Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @afterlife

@all the other posters that i missed

"My precious jewels..."

Was Lola really lamenting over her lost property after all this time, just blindly following the group??

Whatever, it seemed like Lola snapped out of her trance after a long time.

"Oh, my name is Lola. It's please to meet you."

@Atomyk @Yun Lee @Jeremi @thatguyinthestore @J A Y F R OM T H E 6 I X @York @Minerva @dark @Mason Moretti @Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @Jeremi @afterlife​

 

[Atomyk]

Captain America wasn't having it. He knew where this was going, and jumped in front of Phil as the shotgun fired, taking the buckshot in the chest. The blast was enough to knock him right off his feet to die on the floor.

"Jesus Christ!" Own yelled, dropping to the ground and holding his arms over his head.

Bullet fired her pistol upward, gasping at the sound. The bullet flew into the balcony above. "Stop! Stop fucking moving!" Her hand shook as she lowered the gun in Klein and Phil's direction. "O-One more move a-and I'll shoot, so don't... fucking... test me!"

Makoto was at a loss for what to do. He didn't think he had it in him to do what Cap did and run into the fray. "Kyoko, I... I don't know what to do..."

@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter @MainHall​

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

Phil Connors

Phil looked up at where the bullet was without moving. Well, fuck. If they kept firing. " I'm not moving, but I had a vision that thing above us is going to collapse. I don't know when it is happening, but I have a feeling that bullet didn't help the structural integrity of this place."

@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter @MainHall

 

[Leon Moretti]

Captain America wasn't having it. He knew where this was going, and jumped in front of Phil as the shotgun fired, taking the buckshot in the chest. The blast was enough to knock him right off his feet to die on the floor.

"Jesus Christ!" Own yelled, dropping to the ground and holding his arms over his head.

Bullet fired her pistol upward, gasping at the sound. The bullet flew into the balcony above. "Stop! Stop fucking moving!" Her hand shook as she lowered the gun in Klein and Phil's direction. "O-One more move a-and I'll shoot, so don't... fucking... test me!"

Makoto was at a loss for what to do. He didn't think he had it in him to do what Cap did and run into the fray. "Kyoko, I... I don't know what to do..."

@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter @MainHall​

Phil Connors

Phil looked up at where the bullet was without moving. Well, fuck. If they kept firing. " I'm not moving, but I had a vision that thing above us is going to collapse. I don't know when it is happening, but I have a feeling that bullet didn't help the structural integrity of this place."

@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter @MainHall

Not really sure what the hell was happening anymore, Leon did what he could. Through an older brotherly reaction, he stood up and took Phil's advice. He grabbed the attention of whoever was close to him and proceeded to get them, and himself, out of harm's way of things.

@Atomyk @Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter @MainHall

 

[Atomyk]

Bullet gave Phil a confused look. She lowered her gun slightly, wondering if that was total bullshit, before deciding to look up. Turned out, Phil was right. A crack in the balcony was suddenly expanding, threatening to drop the entire second floor of the center of the Main Hall. Bullet swore out loud, moving quickly to grab Nancy and drag her away. Agatha retreated as well, moving quickly for an old woman.

All that was left under the balcony was Shane, Makoto, and Noot Noot. Makoto, still wrapped in indecision, couldn't move. The penguin pushed at his leg desperately, but it was no use. Makoto looked around himself as if in a daze. He knew he wouldn't be able to move Shane in time, so he did all he could.

"Go!"

Makoto picked up Noot Noot and tossed him aside. The penguin chirped loudly as if angered by this.

"Kyoko! I'm sorry! Please, live for--"

The balcony then collapsed, drowning out the rest of what Makoto said. He and Shane were buried.

@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter @MainHall
​

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

Phil Connors

Phil didn't understand. He didn't understand this at all. He had killed six people and he wasn't dead. He had murdered six people and he wasn't dead. It wasn't a shock as much as he was numb. There was so many people who deserved to be alive besides him. Noemblu, Amir, Raven, Arno, Billy, Captain America, Makoto, Shane, Mason. God, everybody around him who he cared about was dead and those who weren't.... well, he wasn't exactly in the favor of. He had done something and muttered something under his breath. " I'm here and I'm fine." He didn't believe those words, but it was all he had to comfort himself as he didn't move unless told too.


@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @Atomyk @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter @MainHall

 

[ShiroKiyoshi]

Captain America wasn't having it. He knew where this was going, and jumped in front of Phil as the shotgun fired, taking the buckshot in the chest. The blast was enough to knock him right off his feet to die on the floor.

"Jesus Christ!" Own yelled, dropping to the ground and holding his arms over his head.

Bullet fired her pistol upward, gasping at the sound. The bullet flew into the balcony above. "Stop! Stop fucking moving!" Her hand shook as she lowered the gun in Klein and Phil's direction. "O-One more move a-and I'll shoot, so don't... fucking... test me!"

Makoto was at a loss for what to do. He didn't think he had it in him to do what Cap did and run into the fray. "Kyoko, I... I don't know what to do..."

@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter @MainHall​

Klein gave in inaudible grunt as he heard Bullet's voice. He now trembled with fear, for every moment that he could have been scared and shown it this was truly the worst. He had never intended to show the children this side of him and her voice had reawakened him. The shouts and roars of his shadow were drowned out by the cries of his childlike self and his shadow shrunk while the child came and hugged Klein. Klein was too embarrassed to show his face to the girls now and looked angrily at Phil. He breathed heavy as he stood up and sheathed his sword. Captain America meant nothing to him, just a man to fill the quota to move on. It was then that he heard the crack and lunged forward, stumbling back as he watched the roof fall down. Klein picked up the knife out of Captain America's back and wiped it off on the soldier's clothes as he sheathed the thing.

"I think I found a new rule to this game..." Klein said as he looked to Phil. "So, you ready to continue?" Klein asked, leaving a moment of silence for Phil to think about it. "Kidding. I'm not going to kill you, but I am going to warn you about something, that the girls here, touch them? You'll wish you had killed me. Also, give me the gun." Klein said as he held his blade to his throat.


@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter@MainHall

 

[Krieg]

By the time Nancy could gauge the response to her paradoxical predisposition on civil executions, madness and chaos crept in the main hall. Paranoia and old demons awaken, the Wheeler stunned as a series of events played themselves out before her eyes. A man grew agitated, a man lunged at another, one took the blow of a shotgun and found himself dead. The names ringed in her head- Phil, Captain, Klein. In one fell swoop, the bright young woman found herself dragged away by bullet, watching two men crushed to death by falling debris.

A gasp of air cried out, Nancy holding her breath the entire time. Frozen in her stance, the young woman slowly drew away from Bullet's warm grasp. Dust and grime kicked up against her, a face of imperfect beauty becoming ridden with soot. With her gaze ethereal, the red-jacketed girl turned around, her baseball bat brushing against the cold floor. Turning her attention to gaze around all those around her, looking them all in the eyes, Nancy looked down. Underneath her feet, splotches of crimson could be seen. Maybe from the Captain. Maybe from the two young men crushed underneath stone and wood.

"Let's go..."

A horrible feeling crept up Nancy, and that feeling was apathy. She could not bring herself to cry or weep or get mad. Exhausted and bewildered at everything around her, surrounded by pain and sorrow wherever she went, the Wheeler felt nothing more than a husk walking through a valley of death. A pawn of this board game of mortality.

@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Atomyk @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter​

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

Phil Connors

" Do you honestly think I want to keep this thing? Take it whatever, no need to point a fucking knife to my throat. I don't plan on hurting anyone, so please get out of my fucking face and take the fucking shot gun with you," he said, not caring what Klein did. He just wanted to be left alone for a moment. The guilt mixed with anxiety and fear was not good... and it wasn't the thing that scared him the most. It was the fact that he didn't care somebody had died. He didn't care. He looked at Bullet to see if she was still pointing the gun at him before he moved.


@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Atomyk @Crow @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter @Krieg @Those left alive

 

[Crow]

"..."

Kyoko remained silent, her back turned to Morikubo, as though mulling over her words. She was still, like a statue, unblinking, unflinching, and then, finally, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Even if others would not want to believe it, Morikubo-san, the concept of "justice" is often weighed on a scale by others. I could tell you that the circumstances are different here, that Holder only killed one. One life that doesn't weigh as heavily as the many lives that Mister Connors over there has snuffed out, as he so freely admits, and even though the stakes are similar in both, the circumstances are certainly not," the young woman spoke, her expression and tone as stoic as ever.

"Or, I could also tell you that back then, it was a test that I was able to read through. Junko Enoshima's trial was an ideological one, a tribulation that one needed to look beyond in order to spring. Not like Lucas Baker's, whose own brand of despair works rather differently from anyone else's. In other words, Junko Enoshima orchestrated a puzzle she wanted us to solve, while Lucas Baker has orchestrated a game that he is continuously cranking up the difficulty for. A game that, like others, forces the player to improvise and adapt to new tactics."

"If that doesn't work, I could also tell you that it's a matter of survival. Phil here has the same sentiment, and he'd put others down for himself, wouldn't he? At least, for as long as possible. Maybe that's the setting Lucas wanted to draw up; a lawless jungle. And it's quite clear what the one law of the jungle is. It would not be pragmatic to let the situation keep getting more and more tense as it is. It isn't as though this is my first experience with this kind of setup; lots of people, at least one person gunning entirely for self-preservation," Kyoko continued, thinking briefly of how a certain Ultimate Affluent Progeny had come off as when they had first met, "And as such, I'm also no stranger to incidentally investigating many a case where the endgame inevitably results in someone dying. I've had to go on and leave behind many I considered friends in the past as a result, see them driven to despair and jeopardize everything that we had built up to, and be forced to determine that it had to end before it got any worse."

"Alternatively, how about this? For better or for worse, maybe I'm not the same person as I was during Bright Falls. A lot has happened since the last time we met, Morikubo. I've made mistakes. I've acted brashly. I've jumped to conclusions. And now, as a result, the very ground I stand on wavers with every step I take, because from there on, every step I take vibrates into the lives of others, impacts them. And from these mistakes, this new position I'm in, I'm forced to weigh my choices more carefully."

"You can take any of those explanations in stride as you'd like. Or none of them. It doesn't really matter to me. Actions speak louder than words after all. Don't they?" She asked to no one in particular at this point, eyeing Phil as she crossed her arms, before clearing her throat and continuing.

"A detective works in the shadows to help reveal the truth for all, neither good nor evil. Neither self-serving, nor hopelessly altruistic," she said, speaking words that she had once said before to Makoto in the distant past, "That's why... I guess I was never cut out to be a detective. That's why I'll put my own life on the table as well, if need be."

"After all, when you've spent so much time being the judge, jury, executioner, and detective for so long, maybe there has to come a point where I face my own retribution. After all, in the end, my hands aren't completely clean, nor have they ever," Kyoko breathed, holding up a gloved hand to look at it for a brief moment, before stopping.

@Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Krieg @Atomyk @Everybody​

Phil Connors

Phil had never used a shot gun, but he did hear both what Captain America and Leon had said. Despite Captain America being literally in front of him, he moved the gun to be in the path of Klein, as he was trying to kill them right now. Death was death to him and he was numb. That other man was clearly not stable enough to live, and coming from him, that made the choice clear to him. He hoped he had lined that up right and he fired the shot.


@Verite @LuckycoolHawk9 @Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @Atomyk @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @Jeremi @The Batter@MainHall

Captain America wasn't having it. He knew where this was going, and jumped in front of Phil as the shotgun fired, taking the buckshot in the chest. The blast was enough to knock him right off his feet to die on the floor.

"Jesus Christ!" Own yelled, dropping to the ground and holding his arms over his head.

Bullet fired her pistol upward, gasping at the sound. The bullet flew into the balcony above. "Stop! Stop fucking moving!" Her hand shook as she lowered the gun in Klein and Phil's direction. "O-One more move a-and I'll shoot, so don't... fucking... test me!"

Makoto was at a loss for what to do. He didn't think he had it in him to do what Cap did and run into the fray. "Kyoko, I... I don't know what to do..."

@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter @MainHall​

Bullet gave Phil a confused look. She lowered her gun slightly, wondering if that was total bullshit, before deciding to look up. Turned out, Phil was right. A crack in the balcony was suddenly expanding, threatening to drop the entire second floor of the center of the Main Hall. Bullet swore out loud, moving quickly to grab Nancy and drag her away. Agatha retreated as well, moving quickly for n old woman.

All that was left under the balcony was Shane, Makoto, and Noot Noot. Makoto, still wrapped in indecision, couldn't move. The penguin pushed at his leg desperately, but it was no use. Makoto looked around himself as if in a daze. He knew he wouldn't be able to move Shane in time, so he did all he could.

"Go!"

Makoto picked up Noot Noot and tossed him aside. The penguin chirped loudly as if angered by this.

"Kyoko! I'm sorry! Please, live for--"

The balcony then collapsed, drowning out the rest of what Makoto said. He and Shane were buried.

@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Krieg @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter @MainHall
​

"..."

It was Nono's turn to be silent as she spoke not a word. She had no way to retaliate, and neither did Phil.

"If that's the way it is, and there's no changing your view, then there's nothing else that can be done, it se-"

Before the sentence could be completed, Captain America was slain and the entire ceiling collapsed, taking Shane and Makoto with it. Everyone ran away from the zone.

"Utterly impossible..." Nono's eyes widened as she looked back for a bit, with a bit of shock.

"Let's just move forward then."

@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Atomyk @Crow @ShiroKiyoshi @LuckycoolHawk9 @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter @Krieg​

 

[Verite]

All that was left under the balcony was Shane, Makoto, and Noot Noot. Makoto, still wrapped in indecision, couldn't move. The penguin pushed at his leg desperately, but it was no use. Makoto looked around himself as if in a daze. He knew he wouldn't be able to move Shane in time, so he did all he could.

"Go!"

Makoto picked up Noot Noot and tossed him aside. The penguin chirped loudly as if angered by this.

"Kyoko! I'm sorry! Please, live for--"

The balcony then collapsed, drowning out the rest of what Makoto said. He and Shane were buried.​

"Makoto!" Kyoko called out in alarm as the balcony fell on top of him and Shane.

Running over to the ruins, she placed her hands on the debris, as though trying to remove them, but alas, they were far too heavy for the young woman to even hope to budge, and it didn't take very long for her to yield, sinking in defeat against the ruins.

Death had always been something that both she and Makoto was no stranger to. Always being at the brink of it, avoiding its grasp by a hair... One would think that when its hand finally hit its mark, it would have a softer impact. But when it was someone as close to Kyoko as Makoto Naegi was, she wondered if there was anything she could have done to even be able to bear it.

She bit her lip in frustration, helplessness, anguish. Her hands balled up into fists as she slammed them ineffectually against the hard stone, like a petulant child throwing a fit.

"Dammit... Dammit all..."

It was all she could do.

But Makoto had asked her to keep living. So if that's what his dying wish was, then she had no choice but to take his hope and make it become a part of hers.

As though she were to become one with him.

@Atomyk @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Leon Moretti @Everybody​

 

[ShiroKiyoshi]

Phil Connors

" Do you honestly think I want to keep this thing? Take it whatever, no need to point a fucking knife to my throat. I don't plan on hurting anyone, so please get out of my fucking face and take the fucking shot gun with you," he said, not caring what Klein did. He just wanted to be left alone for a moment. The guilt mixed with anxiety and fear was not good... and it wasn't the thing that scared him the most. It was the fact that he didn't care somebody had died. He didn't care. He looked at Bullet to see if she was still pointing the gun at him before he moved.


@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Atomyk @Crow @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter @Krieg @Those left alive

By the time Nancy could gauge the response to her paradoxical predisposition on civil executions, madness and chaos crept in the main hall. Paranoia and old demons awaken, the Wheeler stunned as a series of events played themselves out before her eyes. A man grew agitated, a man lunged at another, one took the blow of a shotgun and found himself dead. The names ringed in her head- Phil, Captain, Klein. In one fell swoop, the bright young woman found herself dragged away by bullet, watching two men crushed to death by falling debris.

A gasp of air cried out, Nancy holding her breath the entire time. Frozen in her stance, the young woman slowly drew away from Bullet's warm grasp. Dust and grime kicked up against her, a face of imperfect beauty becoming ridden with soot. With her gaze ethereal, the red-jacketed girl turned around, her baseball bat brushing against the cold floor. Turning her attention to gaze around all those around her, looking them all in the eyes, Nancy looked down. Underneath her feet, splotches of crimson could be seen. Maybe from the Captain. Maybe from the two young men crushed underneath stone and wood.

"Let's go..."

A horrible feeling crept up Nancy, and that feeling was apathy. She could not bring herself to cry or weep or get mad. Exhausted and bewildered at everything around her, surrounded by pain and sorrow wherever she went, the Wheeler felt nothing more than a husk walking through a valley of death. A pawn of this board game of mortality.

@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Atomyk @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter​

"Thanks." Klein however did not leave. "You know I don't think you're a bad person. You're just a spineless coward who deserves nothing other than to die, but you're not a bad guy."

Klein watched as Nancy trudged along. "It's Phil, right? You know I was a psychotic killer, but one job changed me, or limited me anyway. I think you need a job like that one. Something to give you a whole new perspective on life." Klein was quiet for a second as he sheathed the rest of his weapons and fiddled with the gun, accidentally aiming the barrel at Phil once. "Still pretty psychotic I guess. Doc calls the kid and demon hallucinations, imaginary friends, but they've seemed so real to me for so long, I don't think I care if they are. So, I get the whole pain of being alone, she says that's why I see 'em. I had a home, but I was different and they cast me out. I found a new one, but I was different and they kept me at a distance. Had a bad habit for killing for the hell of it." Klein just kept talking as if what he was saying was normal conversation, but he hoped it clicked something in Phil's mind to stop beating himself up, even if it was just that there are people worse than him in the universe. "Yeah, me and death are well acquainted..." Klein then looked to Nono and Kyoko as they moved on somberly. "Why do you think I am still talking to you? The guy that tried to kill me and the guy I tried to kill."


@Kaykay @Verite @Leon Moretti @Atomyk @Crow @LuckycoolHawk9 @ShiroKiyoshi @Otto @Glostechk @The Batter

 

[Jeremi]

@Atomyk @Yun Lee @Jeremi @thatguyinthestore @J A Y F R OM T H E 6 I X @York @Minerva @Bomb @dark @Mason Moretti @Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @afterlife

Noembelu recovered from her cough, and gave a small bow to Ororo. "An honor to meet you. My name is Noembelu. I represent the Thunderfoot tribe of Mexico." A lie, but she was pretty good at telling them as of late. "Pardon my cough...I'm *cough* getting over a cold."​

"Yes I remember when the common cold was still a nuisance. Until Wakanda delivered their vaccine to the world. Confidentially, I find this peace to be a bit of a bore."

"Fighting for what was right is as much in my nature as it is in yours," T'Challa responded to Ororo.

"Yes, I suppose it is." She looked over the group once more before speaking to T'Challa again. "Also let me guess, you haven't informed the kitchen about our guests?"

T'Challa chuckled. "You know me too well, It was not my plan to bring them here today."

"Even so they must be starving. I know how dimensional travel can work up an appetite. I'll inform the kitchen of our guests so that they can leave full and happy."​

@Atomyk @Yun Lee @Jeremi @thatguyinthestore @J A Y F R OM T H E 6 I X @York @Minerva @Bomb @dark @Mason Moretti @Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @afterlife​

 

[Yun Lee]

@Atomyk @Yun Lee @Jeremi @thatguyinthestore @J A Y F R OM T H E 6 I X @York @Minerva @Bomb @dark @Mason Moretti @Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @afterlife

"That's very kind of you, Ororo. No wonder T'Challa sings your praises often." She smiled a bit before looking at the man in question. "Speaking of cold vaccine. I hope to discuss trade with the king. My tribe has a root that could prove useful to prolonging life." It was still scary, how easily she could lie with a straight face. But it proved useful in staying under the radar in these illusions, so it maybe wasn't entirely bad.​