With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility

[Fiori]

Oh no. Nononononono, that did NOT just happen. No fucking way...

It was times like this that Marty wished that life was more like a video game. That way, he could just reload a previous save so that he wouldn't have to deal with the fact that he just seriously fucked up.

As it happened, that was not even remotely possible.

Barely seconds after he'd cocked the gun, the people who he was meant to be hiding from were already beginning to scramble about in panic, one of them even going as far as telling everyone to get down before Marty shot someone. Luckily, none of them seemed to know were he was just yet, but it wouldn't be long until someone figured out where he was hiding. Hell, Paige had already noticed him, so all she had to do was tell everyone that and and Marty would be completely screwed.

Wait... Why the hell would I be screwed? Everyone's scared of ME because I'm the only one who has a gun! Hell, maybe if I just showed myself and convinced them that I'm harmless, then maybe they'll calm down?

...Or, maybe they'll just take the opportunity to jump you whilst your guard's down. Fuck this shit, I'm getting out of here!

However, just as Marty got onto his feet and started running, he almost instantly tripped over a root and fell onto his face. After quickly wiping the dirt off his face, he turned over onto and tried to get back up, only to find himself making eye contact with a very scared looking Maria Graham.

Who, at this very moment of time, was also holding a gun.

FUCK!!!

On impulse, Marty lifted his own gun and aimed it in Maria's direction, his heart beating at a phenomenal rate as he began to pant uncontrollably. This was it. He was done for. He'd been on this island for, what, an hour or something? Typical that he would end up being the first one to go, killed by Maria Graham of all people. All because he cocked a stupid gun.

God damnit Marty, calm the fuck down! Look at her! She's just as scared of you as you are of her! Just put the fucking gun down and tell her that you don't mean any harm before someone gets shot...

It was at that point that Maria's gun went off.

Almost immediately, Marty reacted by screaming at the top of his lungs and pulling his own gun's trigger.

[Solitair*]

Even in the most normal of settings, Quincy didn’t have much faith in his fellow students to resolve disputes amongst themselves. Wherever in school he turned, it seemed he heard another conversation about who fucked who and how someone in school was a slut or a faggot or a retard. And it always turned into the same old song and dance, talking about what A said to B about C and getting D involved with LMNOP. Cheerleaders and queen bees talking behind people’s backs and manipulating opinions, jocks getting into fisticuffs over which of their shapely fucking muscles (and by implication their cocks) were the biggest.

So really, this whole plan of Danya’s was bloody brilliant. Every kid on this island to a man was too stupid to respect the gun. Fear it, yes; they would probably run like headless chickens when they heard it go off. But judging by the fact that Maria was in the middle of talking when a shot went off, then a different-sounding shot, some trigger fingers were pulled in haste or completely by accident. Or maybe that best-case scenario didn’t come to pass after all. Maybe one of the shooters cracked and got desperate, or went fully cold-blooded on someone’s ass. Quincy didn’t blame them. If he had an actual, factual gun he might have joined them.

But he didn’t, and none of the possibilities indicated that he should risk his hide for trigger-happy hoodlums like these. He got up and ran in the opposite direction, focusing on getting as much distance as he could from nutters like them.

((Quincy Archer continued in The Natural Advantage))

[Super Llama*]

"Oh crap! Oh crap, sorry!" Maria called out, trying to defuse the situation. But unfortunately, it did nothing of the sort as the boy pulled the trigger and...

Ow.

Maria felt like she'd been punched in the chest, wincing as she took a step back. It wasn't until she tried to take a breath that the pain REALLY registered.

Oh God. Oh God, I got shot.

Maria's mind was racing. What could she do? There had to be something right? Some kind of first aid thing? Hell, whatever it was, she didn't know. She really should've payed more attention in health class. Maybe the big guy would know. She looked over to the aforementioned big guy and...

Hey, wait a minute...

The big guy was lying on the ground, unmoving. Don't tell her HE got hit too. But wait, there was only one shot, right?

No...no wait, don't tell me I...

Maria opened her mouth to try and speak, but instead ended up doubling over in a wet, phlegmy coughing fit as red flecks hit the ground beneath her. Why the hell was it so hard to breathe? Every time she tried to take a breath felt like agony, except nothing was coming in. She found it harder and harder to concentrate as panic overtook her.

gottagetoutofheregottagetoutofheregottagetoutofheregottagetoutofhere

She had to get up. She had to get up and run. She didn't even know where, she just had to do it. Just get up and run, and maybe she could somehow even run away from the bullet currently lodged in her lung. Her legs refused to function properly, though, as she just flailed helplessly on the ground as everything got fuzzier.

How...

How did everything...

go to hell so fast...

G20: MARIA GRAHAM - DECEASED

[Laurels]

Paige's mouth was open. It wasn't until she got to the grass that she was able to assess what just happened. Maria accidentally fired her gun. Paige was already bolting away when she heard the second shot. It was silent when she dove in the grass.

Paige blinked as she tried to focus on the area she was in. She couldn't see Maria and Craig anymore. Quincy didn't appear to be around either. Was Marty still around?

Wait, wasn't Marty behind some tree? He never did come out to speak to us. So..................fuck.

Marty. Paige did see him earlier. Was he responsible for that clicking sound? What if he was the one who fired that first shot? What's to say he didn't fire the second?

Hold on, maybe Marty didn't kill anyone. Maria, Craig, and Quincy could have fled. Fleeing is the right thing to do in this kind of situation. Maybe it's all okay.

Paige slowly stood up. She then stopped moving.

Two shots. Two victims.

Now that she was higher up, she could see Maria and Craig. They were lying on the ground, completely motionless.

Holy crap. People are actually killing. Looks like the game is really going to play out like that bastard wanted. Congrats Maria. You fired the shot heard 'round the world. Way to start the massacre.

Paige then scanned the area. She hoped Marty was gone.

[Fiori]

Well, this was it. The moment Marty knew would come the moment he'd woken up. He'd barely been on the island for an hour or so before being picked off, by Maria Graham no less. Who'd of though SHE would end up being the one who killed him?

Why did he have to go and reveal himself? What else did he expect to happen! Now here he is, lying back against the ground with a bullet wound in his chest, and he had nobody but himself to blame...

...Only, hang on. Something's not right here. He couldn't feel any bullets lodged in his chest, or even any blood for that matter. Heck, the only pain he could feel was from the rock poking his back after he'd fallen over. He hadn't been shot at all! In which case, why did he fall over? Oh right, because the gun's recoil had caught him off balance. Come to think of it, Maria hadn't been pointing her gun in his direction when it went off. Maybe it really was just an accident? Like that scene from Pulp Fiction. Just a stupid mistake. Thank god he...

Wait... Oh no. Oh god, no!

Marty immediately scrambled up onto his feet, praying that his suspicions were wrong. After all, whilst Maria's gun hadn't been pointed at him when it opened fire, his WAS pointed at her. And seeing as she had yet to say anything...

Oh shit!

Sure enough, there she was, lying on the ground with a bloody bullet wound in her chest.

For a brief moment, Marty wasn't sure what to say. Or even what to think for that matter. It was such an unbelievable sight that he wasn't entirely sure whether or not it was even real. It couldn't be. There's no way he just shot Maria Graham, there just wasn't!

As scared as he was, he knew that he couldn't just stand there and wallow in self pity. In desperation he ran over to her body, tear streaming down his face as he took a closer look at her wound.

"Maria? MARIA! Wake up! Oh god, please don't die on me, PLEASE!"

He wanted to help her, he really did. But, for all his knowledge, Marty hadn't the slightest clue about how to treat a bullet wound. Hell, he barely knew what to do about simple things like splinters, let along serious life threatening injuries. Beside, deep down he knew that even if he did know what to do it was far too late for him to do anything. He could only watch as Maria took her last few breaths before finally laying still, blood still pouring from her fatal injury.

Oh god, I... I just killed someone. Shot someone in cold blood... What have I done?!? I-I-I didn't mean to, it was an accident! I.....

It was only then that Marty realised that Paige Strand was still there, watching him. It was also only then that he realised that he still had a gun on him.

"I... I didn't mean to, I... I....." he said, his body shivering as he resisted the urge to empty the contents of his stomach.

Got to get out of here. Got to get out of here. GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!

And so, without uttering another word, Marty turned around and ran as fast as he could.

((Marty J. Lovett continued in No One Checks in Unless Their Name is Smith))

[Laurels]

Paige stared at the bodies on the ground. That's when she realized she wasn't alone. She turned and saw Marty rushing over to Maria's body, shaking her and crying.

"Marty....." Paige quietly said.

Her grip tightened on the rock. He still had a gun. He killed Maria because she accidentally shot Craig. What's to say he wouldn't turn that gun on her for standing there?

That's when Marty turned towards her. Paige saw how red his face and eyes were becoming as tears fell down his face.

I... I didn't mean to, I... I.....

That's when he ran. Paige simply watched as he ran far away from the area before disappearing into the trees.

"Holy shit," she gasped.

Paige began to turn in place, trying to see if anyone else was around. Quincy must have fled the area. She was alone, with her only companions being the lifeless bodies on the jungle floor.

Paige felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. She nearly died. Maria and Craig were killed. That fat bastard won. He did it. He got them to kill each other. Maria and Craig would just be the first ones to go. Surely, her classmates heard the gunshots, aware that someone is playing. That would just give them reason to kill each other.

Wait, those gunshots might alert others to where she is. Paige realized that she could be ambushed at any moment. She needed to leave. She needed to find somewhere else to go and find a plan. She could go to the hotel, but then again, where was it? Paige realized that her sense of direction has been completely thrown off from the chaos.

Paige adjusted the bags on her shoulders and began to walk away. She took one last look at the two on the ground and began to move.

That's when she noticed the object in Maria's hand. The very device that killed Craig. A gun. Paige looked around her. It didn't look like anyone was around her.

Maybe this was all to help me.

Paige kneeled on the ground and tried to pry the gun out of Maria's hands. Rigor Mortis had set in, ensuring that Maria's finger were clamped tightly around the device. Paige had to spend a few minutes prying each finger off, but finally clasped the Beretta in her hands.

Thank you Maria. Hey, what about the big guy?

Paige moved over to Craig and grabbed his bag. She opened it up and began to search through, eventually finding the sheathed machete near the bottom of the bag.

Holy fuck. Craig, thank you very much. Hey, I better check what else they have on them.

Paige spent the next few minutes searching through Maria and Craig's bags, searching through clothes and packs for anything useful. Paige began to reorganize her own bags, tossing out possessions she might not need anymore. Finally, she had her new bag, filled with four loaves of bread, three bottles of water, a first aid kit stuffed with extra supplies, a spare change of clothes, the lipstick, and the rock. Paige had to admit she felt somewhat sentimental about the rock and lipstick, and felt it was worth taking.

The machete was tucked into her front pocket where she could easily pull it out if needed. Her other pocket was filled with a few bullets for the Beretta and the map, the rest of the ammo was in the bag. Her Beretta was tucked into the back of her pants

Okay, I am all ready to go. Looks like I'm finally going to be capable of surviving. Alright, time to move on.

Paige began to walk away when she stepped on something solid, unlike the dirt on the floor. She realized she stepped on a sketchpad. She picked it up, dusted the dirt off the cover, and began to flip through it. Sketches of superheroes, superheroines, supervillains, and other characters graced the pages. At the bottom of each sketch was the signature "Craig Hoyle".

Goddammit, he's real. He's a dead corpse, but he was a person. Jesus Christ, so was Maria.

Paige looked back at the two bodies on the ground. She realized she couldn't exactly leave them as they were. She moved close to them and closed their eyes. She picked up a few of the shirts on the ground and placed them over their bodies, covering the faces and wounded areas of both Maria and Craig. She packed Craig's sketchpad into her bag as well. His parents might want it. He might get some posthumous fame as a result.

"Okay guys, you better help me win. Your deaths can't be completely useless," she said to the covered bodies on the ground.

She wiped her eyes as she moved away from the area. Paige Strand just had her first encounter with death, and she knew that this wouldn't be the last one.

((Paige Strand continued in Thin Line Between Heaven and Here))

((Thread Concluded))