In Dreams You Will Lose Your Heartaches...

[Polybius]

((Alyssa Tibbett continued Help))

"Oh... uh... okay?"

She wanted to say something else, but she couldn't think of what else. The stuff she was saying made sense. Objectively, they really couldn't stay together. They were on different teams. They couldn't both survive. At some point the game would catch up to them. Still... Alyssa didn't want to leave Verity. Alyssa had relied on her so far, and it had worked. She liked being with her. But, clearly Verity didn't feel the same way. Alyssa understood and respected that. She had to.

Alyssa followed her into the banquet hall, but stopped short in the doorway. Two people were already there. She knew James. She liked James. He was a bit of a womanizer but a good guy in general. She didn't know Bacchia. She'd heard bad things about her. And she was holding a sword. Neither of them were on her team, or Verity's.

"H-hi. Hope we're not interrupting anything."

...Why would she say that?

"Uh, sorry."

[Primrosette]

Bacchia should have known that the two of them would be interrupted by other people sooner or later. She glanced at the two girls who seemed to be possibly on edge and well, she couldn't really blame them. Verity was someone she didn't really care for and Alyssa was just... Bacchia wasn't sure what to think about her. The worst thing right now was not Alyssa speaking up really. If Alyssa wanted to talk, it would have been fine if Bacchia had been playing this a lot differently.

The fact that she and James were not wearing their masks to input fear into their potential victims. She had to squint slightly to check out the bandannas' that the two were wearing and it was more of a good thing that they were not on either hers or James' former teams. Ivan could have been a useful lackey to Fisk's team but it was too late for that now. He was gone and she didn't feel much for it right then.

She leaned closer to James and she was speaking softly so that the two girls (possible allies?) wouldn't hear her. "Make sure to get the grenade ready. Just as a distraction. We can't let them go as they have both seen our faces and I don't want people to know about us as a stand-alone group. We have to kill them, James."

She glanced over at Alyssa and Verity with one of her classic polite-looking smiles and she had the sword pointed towards the ground to show that she was non-threatening for the time-being. She had to watch for an opportunity to show that she was good potential for Fisk and the others. She also wanted James to show that he could do better than taking some dead guy's shoe and trying and failing to give it to her as an odd gift.

"No need to apologize, Alyssa. James and I were just having some time to bond." She said simply and she was wondering if Keegan was around to hear what was going on. Wait, wasn't he friends with Verity? Well, she guessed that it was too late to think that over. "You two look like you're been through something. Are you two alright?"

Bacchia knew when she could show her nicer side, but this time she had to make sure that it was a good act.

[Catche Jagger]

“Shit…” James let out a panicked whisper.

Almost as soon as the pair of newcomers arrived, James’s hand almost reflexively reached for the mask, thinking he might manage to cover his face in a hurry. However, Bacchia made no such move. They’d already been caught and throwing the masks on now would only make things worse.

James didn’t really know shit about Verity, since they really didn’t swim in the same circles or anything like that, just sort of a weird girl. Alyssa, on the other hand, he did know through a few friends and he’d seen her around a few parties. She seemed nice.

While he was still trying to piece together exactly what he was supposed to do here, Bacchia had to go and throw him a fucking curveball.

Holy fuck, Bacchia! Like, he knew she could get pretty intense from how excited she seemed about beating the shit out of Ivan, but the whole “they’ve seen us, they must die right now” was kind of a bit hasty for, like, a few reasons.

Maybe he could just maybe scare them off? Like pull out the grenade and be like “you’re not welcome here” and then when Bacchia got upset he could just say they ran too fast, right? That could totally work.

No, that definitely wouldn’t fly.

Maybe if he just delayed long enough Keegan would finally show up and fix this mess for him. Yeah, that made the most sense. Good plan, James.

“Yeah,” James said, making his way over to his bag where he’d stashed the grenade, “we were just chilling, about to share a bit of the rum they gave us.” He laughed nervously.

James sifted through the bag, passing over the grenade and the rum several trying very hard to look like he was trying very hard to find something.

[backslash]

A voice speaks from Verity's collar, quietly but just loud enough for Alyssa to possibly catch the words as well:

"Miss Stewart, this is your mentor speaking. This group is armed, hostile, and has allies elsewhere on the cruise ship. I am advising that you and your friend should leave immediately."

[Wham Yubeesling]

For a moment, Verity wasn’t quite sure what to do. There was something wrong with this. There was something wrong with this but Verity had no idea how to deal with this. How to get herself out of this room without making things go even more wrong. How to get Alyssa to come along. How to make sure James and Bacchia wouldn’t. How to find out whether this situation was actually bad or not. She was stuck. Frozen. Not really capable of opening her mouth. There was something wrong with this. Something wrong was going to happen. Just like with Timothy. Something bad would happen then that would cause something else bad to happen and by the end of it all she would be what this game thought she was. She was on the path it wanted her to take.

So when Elon Musk started talking from her neck and confirmed everything her brain already knew, things were made clear. There was something wrong with this. Verity needed to make sure it didn’t get worse. For her. Or Alyssa.

“We’re fine.” She said. “We were just- we were just passing through here. We… um. We won’t bother you. If you’ll let us.”

She thought about the guns in her bag.

She thought about the guns in her bag.

And she took her bag off of her left shoulder. Let it swing around and tap against her right arm. Grabbed it with her hand, left it there, left her eyes on James and Bacchia. They were still a couple metres away. That was fine. There was nothing wrong with that. If they stayed there, didn’t try to pull anything quick, then this could stay fine. Verity would not have to think about the guns in her bag. This wouldn’t have to go wrong. Not yet.

[backslash]

The voice continues, quietly but urgently:

"These two aren't alone. You have the advantage of range and firepower, so if you have to defend yourself with force, don't hesitate. Avoid the pool area outside if you can. And in this instance, ignore team designations - they have already attacked teammates."

[Polybius]

Alyssa laughed nervously

"Oh, rum. That's sounds really good about now."

Bacchia was being too nice. James was ruffling through his bag for too long. Verity's collar was murmuring something that she couldn't make out. She didn't know what was happening, but she could tell. Something was going wrong.

"We're... fine. Are you two alright?"

Alyssa looked to Verity for guidance.

[Primrosette]

Bacchia was not an athletic person which would be a huge problem for her trying to get over to where Verity and Alyssa were standing and she cursed herself for not being a bit of a gym freak. Alyssa was just being as kind and deary as she could in this situation and Verity just wanted to leave. But that couldn't happen right now. If only she had been quick enough with her mask....

Bacchia was just thankful that James was going along with her plan and she had been worried for nothing. Keegan was the one that she was more worried about. It likely would be a "Don't kill my friend!" or "Have them join the group!" situation. And she didn't want to admit that Keegan would make her cave in, as much as she would hate to admit that aloud. Like how she would tell the group not to hurt Mary if she was around somewhere. God, Mari-Mari. What the hell would she think of Bacchia doing this?!

Bacchia shook her head a little to get rid of any unnecessary thoughts.

"Ah, I'm glad to see that you two are just doing alright. It would be worrying if you two didn't have clear heads right now."

She took a step forward behind one of the tables and she lightly tapped the sword against it.

"However, you came at a bad time honestly. It's really, really too bad, Verity, Alyssa. Apologies for what I am about to do."

She turned her head and nodded at James, smiling coldly.

She moved as quickly as she could around some of the tables in a zig-zag way as a distraction. She was making her way to Verity as she wanted to take her out first and then she would deal with Alyssa afterwards.

No turning back time now.

[Catche Jagger]

James just stood frozen in place, absolutely stupefied.

What in the actual fuck was Bacchia doing? Wasn’t he supposed to be the one doing the shit here with the grenade? Of course, James wasn’t planning on actually using the grenade, but that had been the idea, right?

But now Bacchia was fucking charging in like a fucking maniac and giving him this smile and he couldn’t even use the grenade because then she might get blown up and holy shit what the fuck was he supposed to do?

Panicking, James quickly snatched the grenade from out of the bag and held it up for all to see.

“Hey! I have a grenade! I have a fucking grenade right here!” He began to shout at the others, not sure exactly what the fuck he was actually trying to do in that moment. For some reason, it seemed that the mere threat of the explosive’s existence might bring everything to a halt, at least for a moment.

[Wham Yubeesling]

Bacchia did not manage to make it to Verity, on account of the bag that had slammed her in the face and thrown her to the ground. The bag that stayed in Verity’s hand as it swung back towards her. The bag that forced her to take a couple steps back as she caught it. As it hit her chest. As she moved her hands to start opening it.

“Alyssa! Run!”

She took a couple more steps back. Poked her head out from behind the bag so she could see more. Saw Bacchia on the ground a metre or two in front of her, getting up. Saw Alyssa beside her in the corner of her eye. Saw the other guy further behind Bacchia, waving and prancing and shouting something Verity couldn’t make out.

Felt her arm enter her bag through the opening pulling her zipper had created. Felt clothes. Felt paper.

She thought about the guns in her bag.

She thought about the guns in her bag.

[Polybius]

The horror played out in slow motion. Every step, every word, every act of violence was a like a knife plunging into her skin. She imagined Bacchia's sword ripping her flesh apart. Blood pouring out and seeping into the expensive carpet. The pain was unrelenting. She screamed.

Alyssa leaned against the doorway. In reality, Verity was the one in danger. Alyssa was just scared. Stupid, selfish brat. As Bacchia regained her footing and James threatened them, Verity told her to run. It made sense. Alyssa wouldn't be able to do anything here. She could still survive, even if Verity was doomed. She could run into the hall and leave them all behind. Then she'd be alone again. Just wandering the arena by herself, until...

"Verity! Let's run! We can both make it!"

...She couldn't do it.

Alyssa took a few shaky steps towards Verity. She kept her eyes on the aggressors, pointing the trident out in front of her.

"C-come on!"

[Primrosette]

Bacchia had been careless but she couldn't stop now and she was scowling as she was getting back up to her feet, stumbling slightly over her poor balance. It was a bit embarrassing to get knocked down like that. She then smirked behind a strand of her dark hair when James started his spiral about the grenade as a distraction and she held the sword pointed up by her side. Noticing the trident in Alyssa's hands and thinking about how useful it would be for someone else in the Respects.

"Ah.... that was so careless of me. However, I am being serious about this. I can't let you both go."

She took a step forward. Smiling at the girl politely.

"You shouldn't move either. My partner could blow you up to smithereens!"

That was a lie. A fake grenade seemed very helpful in this situation. But they didn't know that and she wanted to insert more of that fear and hesitation into the both of them.

She giggled suddenly.

"Don't even think that you can run, you cowards."

[Cactus]

"No, he's not Darth Vader," the voice in Keegan's collar responded back after an exasperated sigh. "But if he's recruited you all to this inane cause, what is it that he's going to be able to convince your 'friends' of the second that he gets tired of you? Besides—"

The mentor on the collar speaker starts to say something else, but he interrupts himself.

"Oh, what the hell—?"

Keegan's collar suddenly falls silent.

---

Alyssa's collar speaker crackles to life, the voice on the other end sounding almost panicked.

"Alyssa, it's Malcolm — you need to get the fuck out of here, now! Don't wait, don't try and talk them down, just go. You're in real danger, several of your team members are here but they've gone rogue — you can't trust anyone. Don't think, don't wait — RUN!"

Point made, the speaker makes no more noise.

[backslash]

The voice from Verity's collar speaks up one last time. The smooth, neutral English accent from before has slipped into something noticeably more regional:

"Verity, you can get out of this, but you are going to have to defend yourself. You know what to do. I can't tell you anything else. Hurry."

Verity's collar also falls silent.

[Catche Jagger]

“Hey! I said everyone- I still have a grenade! Is no one paying attention to that?” James began to shout in louder, more panicked toned as Bacchia was knocked to the ground, not sure what the fuck he was going to do now.

He still held the grenade above his head, but did not move any further, anxious about what the fuck was going on.

But then Bacchia got up and started doing the talking,. That might be for the best, even though her words weren't exactly diplomatic, since it meant she wasn’t slicing at everyone and that things might be able to slow down. Hell, Alyssa might even run off like Verity told her to. That’d be nice.

Still, James didn’t lower the grenade, gaze fixed on Verity, who seemed keen to stand her ground for whatever reason.

Wait, was James sweating right now?

Where the fucking fuck was Keegan???