ES10: AKENO KUDO CONTINUED FROM Alligator Arms
Akeno stepped into the banquet hall for the first time, leaving behind the carnage of the pool for something not much better. It was probably a nice place at one point, the hall had that kind of fancy look to it, but the various events that had taken place in it had left their marks, just like they had everywhere else. She hadn’t been present for any of it, she’d made her messes elsewhere; the ferry, the corridors, the bowels. It felt like most of her time here had been spent bouncing between those three areas, plus the spaces in between. A side effect of the show’s final stages being confined to the cruise ship meant Akeno was seeing a lot of areas she had never visited before.
It seems she had missed quite a lot.
As the season progressed it was inevitable that the areas and locations it took place in would… deteriorate to an extent; bullet holes, smashed furniture, blood stains, maybe even burn marks if any of the contestants were feeling pyromanical. The various rooms and areas of the cruise ship were no exception of course; there were dead bodies in and around the pool, several more she knew of in the bowels and though she hadn’t seen any, probably a few strewn around the corridors as well. Another side effect of closing the arena in was that the bodies would start to pile up in those specific areas, if they hadn’t already.
A lot of bodies. Probably sixty-plus by now, right? Maybe more, if they were lucky.
They’d started with eighty. They were close to the end.
Just a little further.
“We need to talk about what we do next.” Akeno walked past one of the tables and held out a hand to brush it across the linen tablecloth. She stopped moving, placed her gloved hand flat on the table and twisted her head to look back at the others; Ivan, Lucia, Olivia. “Whether we go on the offensive or not. I think we’re in a good enough position that we don’t have to take any risks; we can just camp somewhere and wait until people come to us, or until they take care of each other.”
She glanced at Ivan, knowing he would likely be the hardest to sell on that part. He wanted Fisk dead, no doubt; it was just a question of if he’d be fine with someone else being the one to do it. Her eyes moved over to Lucia, the cleaver in her hand, then to Olivia. “Or we go hunting. We’ve got enough firepower to take the initiative and we end this ourselves, if we wanted to.”
They’d said themselves they hadn’t participated in things much up to this point. Were they ready to now?
Hotline Miami
Do You Like Hurting Other People? Private
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The Honeless Beard
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Ivan blinked.
Owlish, bloodshot eyes attached to a diseased brain took in the wreckage of the banquet hall, tenga in one hand and otto in the other. He surveyed the hall, a frown etching deep into his features, wrinkling his forehead.
"Fortune doesn't favor the bold," he said, hesitatingly, locking eyes with Akeno. He figured that was what she wanted him to say, but he still snapped Tenga open, checked her shells, snapped her closed. Fully loaded, and the safety switch was always on Fisk now, would be on Fisk until the end of the game.
"But," Ivan continued, "I think it comes down to team numbers. If we've got three, that's- that's usually good enough to have a numbers advantage. Unless we get surprised."
As he said the words, his voice trailed off, eyes going bleary. He stared, standing at the end of a long table, equidistant from three doorways. He glanced towards the table, locked eyes with it, stared blearily.
Owlish, bloodshot eyes attached to a diseased brain took in the wreckage of the banquet hall, tenga in one hand and otto in the other. He surveyed the hall, a frown etching deep into his features, wrinkling his forehead.
"Fortune doesn't favor the bold," he said, hesitatingly, locking eyes with Akeno. He figured that was what she wanted him to say, but he still snapped Tenga open, checked her shells, snapped her closed. Fully loaded, and the safety switch was always on Fisk now, would be on Fisk until the end of the game.
"But," Ivan continued, "I think it comes down to team numbers. If we've got three, that's- that's usually good enough to have a numbers advantage. Unless we get surprised."
As he said the words, his voice trailed off, eyes going bleary. He stared, standing at the end of a long table, equidistant from three doorways. He glanced towards the table, locked eyes with it, stared blearily.
"Yeah," said the last Kraken alive.
"It's nice to have teammates."
Hunting is such a way to put it. It sounded so predatory, so inhumane. Nobody else here felt as self aware as she felt, right now. Left out, the way, before, she really wasn't. Sure's nice to have teammates, right? People to rely on? It's not really that much of a team game anymore, when statistically it's more of a partner game now.
She didn't have a gun. They won't give her a gun. Maybe she didn't want a gun. Maybe she could still pull through this. Without Olivia, at least. Without anyone else. Everybody who dies here is a step closer to survival, and wasn't that the worst way to put it? She had nobody left now. So at least she knew that everyone is an enemy, that every death benefits her. She didn't want to be that sort of person. She didn't want it to have to end like this.
"It's nice to have teammates."
Hunting is such a way to put it. It sounded so predatory, so inhumane. Nobody else here felt as self aware as she felt, right now. Left out, the way, before, she really wasn't. Sure's nice to have teammates, right? People to rely on? It's not really that much of a team game anymore, when statistically it's more of a partner game now.
She didn't have a gun. They won't give her a gun. Maybe she didn't want a gun. Maybe she could still pull through this. Without Olivia, at least. Without anyone else. Everybody who dies here is a step closer to survival, and wasn't that the worst way to put it? She had nobody left now. So at least she knew that everyone is an enemy, that every death benefits her. She didn't want to be that sort of person. She didn't want it to have to end like this.
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carduinal-cyn
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(Olivia del Rio continued from Alligator Arms.)
"No way we're gonna get surprised in here," Olivia replied breezily. "Sure, it's a big room, but that dead guy from a few minutes ago dropped from the top of the ship. If anything's happening right now, it's gonna be way over our heads. Literally!"
Of course, she had no earthly way of knowing that. Every square foot of the cruise ship, from the pool to this once-lavish parlor, was festooned with death. The stench of blood and guts, foul and metallic, was already growing familiar. A commercial for Febreze — the phrase "nose-blind" in particular — intruded on her thought process. A reminder. A stupid little thing to look forward to, when she and the Selkies managed to escape this hell. Something she could watch on the ratty den couch with Holly perched on her shoulder.
Liv shook her head, banishing those thoughts. She'd survived four days. Reminiscing, even if she wasn't airing her thoughts to the world, was an easy ticket to death on this show. After all, she was a Selkie — the winning team — and she wanted to act like it!
When her head stilled, she realized she'd been staring at Ivan's guns: not his arms (though they were quite impressive, she noticed), but his weapons. How she longed to borrow one.
"No way we're gonna get surprised in here," Olivia replied breezily. "Sure, it's a big room, but that dead guy from a few minutes ago dropped from the top of the ship. If anything's happening right now, it's gonna be way over our heads. Literally!"
Of course, she had no earthly way of knowing that. Every square foot of the cruise ship, from the pool to this once-lavish parlor, was festooned with death. The stench of blood and guts, foul and metallic, was already growing familiar. A commercial for Febreze — the phrase "nose-blind" in particular — intruded on her thought process. A reminder. A stupid little thing to look forward to, when she and the Selkies managed to escape this hell. Something she could watch on the ratty den couch with Holly perched on her shoulder.
Liv shook her head, banishing those thoughts. She'd survived four days. Reminiscing, even if she wasn't airing her thoughts to the world, was an easy ticket to death on this show. After all, she was a Selkie — the winning team — and she wanted to act like it!
When her head stilled, she realized she'd been staring at Ivan's guns: not his arms (though they were quite impressive, she noticed), but his weapons. How she longed to borrow one.
Three doorways. Three fates, three endings. Three crazy motherfuckers ready to deal it all out. Pick your poison, it all ends the same way regardless. In a perfect world, whichever door they chose, the other two would open up and lay down a barrage of fire. Of course, this wasn’t a perfect world. The targets in the banquet hall outnumbered their betters, and though that didn’t mean much, the fact of the matter is they’d have help beyond themselves.
It wasn’t the first time a mentor butted in to assist a lost cause, and Fisk knew this time it wouldn’t be any different. That was okay, he planned for this. The fact that his quarry had moved into the banquet hall was more than enough. They were already trapped, though they didn’t know it yet. Every avenue of escape, blocked off by an armed and dangerous Respect, the main entrance blocked off by yours truly.
Of course, the mentors expected that Ivan’s little group would be caught off in a doorway, someone, Ben, Stephanie, Shiva, Emmy... would pipe in. ‘Don’t go there, it’s a trap!’ They’d say.
Unfortunately for them, Fisk saw it coming, and laid his own trap with one simple phrase. In between setting up the kill zones, telling who to go to where, and how to hide and where to lie low, when to shoot if the doors open, and adjusting even the placement of the tables to their advantage, Fisk has a simple ultimatum for plan B.
“When you hear the music, open fire.” He said back then. That one rule overlapped every other step of the plan.
Now, here stood Fisk, just behind door number two, grinning garishly at the camera watching him. He shook his head. He listened to his targets speak their last. He had enough of them, and he wanted to go home. He wouldn’t give their collars the chance to warn them this time.
He stepped through the door, or more realistically, kicked. On his right shoulder, rested the boom box, right arm tied around it. On his left shoulder rested the machine gun, hand wrapped around the pistol grip, finger just resting along the trigger. His head was leaned back, though his eyes watched the group in front of him.
“Now there’s an idea...” Fisk purred in reply to the conversation he’d butted into. Left arm dropped to his side, barrel of the gun pointing from his hip, buttstock pinned between elbow and waist. Right hand stretched over the boombox. He began to laugh madly.
He turned on the boombox. His right finger pressed play.
“SUPRISE!”
His left finger then pressed ‘play’.
It wasn’t the first time a mentor butted in to assist a lost cause, and Fisk knew this time it wouldn’t be any different. That was okay, he planned for this. The fact that his quarry had moved into the banquet hall was more than enough. They were already trapped, though they didn’t know it yet. Every avenue of escape, blocked off by an armed and dangerous Respect, the main entrance blocked off by yours truly.
Of course, the mentors expected that Ivan’s little group would be caught off in a doorway, someone, Ben, Stephanie, Shiva, Emmy... would pipe in. ‘Don’t go there, it’s a trap!’ They’d say.
Unfortunately for them, Fisk saw it coming, and laid his own trap with one simple phrase. In between setting up the kill zones, telling who to go to where, and how to hide and where to lie low, when to shoot if the doors open, and adjusting even the placement of the tables to their advantage, Fisk has a simple ultimatum for plan B.
“When you hear the music, open fire.” He said back then. That one rule overlapped every other step of the plan.
Now, here stood Fisk, just behind door number two, grinning garishly at the camera watching him. He shook his head. He listened to his targets speak their last. He had enough of them, and he wanted to go home. He wouldn’t give their collars the chance to warn them this time.
He stepped through the door, or more realistically, kicked. On his right shoulder, rested the boom box, right arm tied around it. On his left shoulder rested the machine gun, hand wrapped around the pistol grip, finger just resting along the trigger. His head was leaned back, though his eyes watched the group in front of him.
“Now there’s an idea...” Fisk purred in reply to the conversation he’d butted into. Left arm dropped to his side, barrel of the gun pointing from his hip, buttstock pinned between elbow and waist. Right hand stretched over the boombox. He began to laugh madly.
He turned on the boombox. His right finger pressed play.
“SUPRISE!”
His left finger then pressed ‘play’.
Catche thinks my squirrel is Fisk so here's my daily reminder that he is not.
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MurderWeasel
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((Mandy Gross continued from Take The Curve At 95))
It was a cliché that the waiting was the worst part of bad things, but Mandy understood why now. She'd had what felt like a lot of time to think about it as she leaned against the wall in the sterile tiled access corridor, gun in right hand but hand sort of drifting purposelessly down around her waist as she scratched her itchy scalp with the fingers of her left.
This would make the third time she went for the pincer on somebody in this same exact room, so she mostly figured she knew what she was doing by now, but it was still scary. The targets could head her way at any moment. They could open the door and find her, and then, well, actually there was a decent chance nothing much would happen because it seemed like these people weren't going around shooting on sight and Mandy had no personal quarrel with them yet, but the prospect of having to look them in the eyes and talk to them and then be right there when the fighting started was profoundly unappealing for a host of reasons.
It was probably bad, but she missed Seo-yun and wished the girl was giving the directions. Fisk knew what he was doing too, but with Seo-yun there was just always this feeling like things were going to somehow work out. And in the end they had, even after all the pain and setbacks.
Maybe Mandy was just nervous because this room was where the worst of those setbacks had occurred. She knew there was a fork lying on the carpet somewhere with eye juice probably dried onto its tines. She knew the room was scorched and soaked, full of debris and corpses, and if she had to pick a place to maybe die this definitely wouldn't be it.
But there weren't many people left, now, and if what she'd gleaned from Fisk was correct, they were probably closing in on the most dangerous remaining collection of fellow survivors. This had to happen, and so it would.
Mandy scuffed her shredded Uggs against the tile, listening to the voices without allowing herself to comprehend them, and for just a moment she let herself wonder if it might be best to hang back and be a few seconds late, let Verity draw the bulk of the attention. But it wouldn't be right. Mandy had signed on with the team, had been trusted, and she wouldn't betray that trust.
She did wish she'd gotten to actually fire the gun before, though, to understand how it worked. That would've been a good idea.
And then, all too soon, the worst part ended and the moment arrived. There was a burst of noise, an electronic sound she nearly mistook for the announcements that seemed like they should be coming on any moment, but it was music, and so Mandy slammed through the door shoulder-first, ignoring how that sparked pain from her burns, and found herself just where she'd been a couple days ago, popping out of the kitchen corridor with Fisk in Seo-yun's place and bullets already flying.
Mandy opened her mouth and let out what was supposed to be a battle cry, but actually was just screaming.
Then she brought the pistol up and started shooting.
It was a cliché that the waiting was the worst part of bad things, but Mandy understood why now. She'd had what felt like a lot of time to think about it as she leaned against the wall in the sterile tiled access corridor, gun in right hand but hand sort of drifting purposelessly down around her waist as she scratched her itchy scalp with the fingers of her left.
This would make the third time she went for the pincer on somebody in this same exact room, so she mostly figured she knew what she was doing by now, but it was still scary. The targets could head her way at any moment. They could open the door and find her, and then, well, actually there was a decent chance nothing much would happen because it seemed like these people weren't going around shooting on sight and Mandy had no personal quarrel with them yet, but the prospect of having to look them in the eyes and talk to them and then be right there when the fighting started was profoundly unappealing for a host of reasons.
It was probably bad, but she missed Seo-yun and wished the girl was giving the directions. Fisk knew what he was doing too, but with Seo-yun there was just always this feeling like things were going to somehow work out. And in the end they had, even after all the pain and setbacks.
Maybe Mandy was just nervous because this room was where the worst of those setbacks had occurred. She knew there was a fork lying on the carpet somewhere with eye juice probably dried onto its tines. She knew the room was scorched and soaked, full of debris and corpses, and if she had to pick a place to maybe die this definitely wouldn't be it.
But there weren't many people left, now, and if what she'd gleaned from Fisk was correct, they were probably closing in on the most dangerous remaining collection of fellow survivors. This had to happen, and so it would.
Mandy scuffed her shredded Uggs against the tile, listening to the voices without allowing herself to comprehend them, and for just a moment she let herself wonder if it might be best to hang back and be a few seconds late, let Verity draw the bulk of the attention. But it wouldn't be right. Mandy had signed on with the team, had been trusted, and she wouldn't betray that trust.
She did wish she'd gotten to actually fire the gun before, though, to understand how it worked. That would've been a good idea.
And then, all too soon, the worst part ended and the moment arrived. There was a burst of noise, an electronic sound she nearly mistook for the announcements that seemed like they should be coming on any moment, but it was music, and so Mandy slammed through the door shoulder-first, ignoring how that sparked pain from her burns, and found herself just where she'd been a couple days ago, popping out of the kitchen corridor with Fisk in Seo-yun's place and bullets already flying.
Mandy opened her mouth and let out what was supposed to be a battle cry, but actually was just screaming.
Then she brought the pistol up and started shooting.
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Wham Yubeesling
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And from the door to the pool came a third figure. She raised her gun, pointed, and sprayed at the group for a few seconds, before bullets stopped coming out and she moved — still in the open — to reload.
“Get down!”
Akeno dropped to the ground as the banquet hall exploded into chaos; her own voice was almost lost in the cacophony as music, multiple sources of gunshots and voices other than her own all rang out at once as three people, three enemies, burst into the room from three directions at once, effectively pinning their group in the middle as they rained bullets down on them. The sounds of china shattering and wood cracking was added to the mix over time as more and more the tables around then were torn apart by the assault, though the furniture at least seemed sturdy enough to stop most of the bullets from reaching them for the time being.
It was a brief reprieve and nothing else however; their location gave them a few seconds to react, whereas if this had happened at the pool then they’d all be dead by now. As it was they might still all be dead; their attackers, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out who they might be even with all of the confusion, had the drop on them and that was not a good situation to be in. This was exactly why she had wanted to leave the pool as quickly as they could.
Akeno flinched as a bullet struck the table over her head, sending chips of broken porcelain raining down over her.
Dropping down further, Akeno peered between the legs of the tables and chair surrounding them to try and spot where their attackers were positioned. She saw one, most likely Fisk, over by where the music was coming from, a second over towards the opposite corner of the room and a third behind them, back towards the pool area they had just come from. A triangle, though thankfully not one they were perfectly in the centre of.
They needed to break it.
Akeno turned to where she had seen Ivan last, hoping he was still there and not gone or bleeding out; luckily he was neither, still just as bloodied as before but not any worse. The other two were still there as well; in the mess she’d forgotten to think about either of their wellbeing, but they were alive though, which was good. She focused in on Ivan, trying to get his attention over the noise so she could coordinate a way out of this.
If they survived the opening moments of this ambush then they would have a chance to strike back and turn this around, they just had to find or create the right moment to do so. She raised a hand and pointed at the shotgun in Ivan’s hands, then pointed back over her shoulder towards where she had seen Fisk standing. “Shoot that way when I give the signal.” Fisk was providing most of the fire that was keeping their heads down right now, from the sounds of it; if they focused on him first and forced him to take cover them it would free her up to do something about the others. Akeno looked past Ivan towards the other set of legs she had recognised, the ones back towards the pool; she gestured in that direction with her harpoon gun. “I’ll go that way and take one of them out.”
Breaking one of the corners of their formation would hopefully mean that this little pincer ambush of theirs would be over, not to mention swinging the numbers even more in their favour if she could kill Verity quickly; they could retreat or push forward or whatever else they wanted once they weren’t surrounded on all sides like this. Assuming it all worked the way she wanted it to.
Her eyes flicked towards Olivia and Lucia and she nodded her head in their direction. “Give one of them a gun as well.”
With everything she needed to say out of the way, Akeno waited a couple seconds more before she nodded towards Ivan and began to stand up. She popped up over the edge of the table, brought her harpoon gun around to point it at Fisk and pulled the trigger; then, without even waiting to see if it hit, as the spear flew across the banquet hall Akeno turned and ran the other direction. Running in a half crouch, Akeno moved so that her head was below the level of the tables around her towards the opposite edge of the hall, towards the other pair of legs she had seen.
As she neared her target she slowed, ducking further down to check where the shooter was she that she could adjust her course if need be. She reached the last table in the hall, the last bit of cover she had before she would need to run into the open and paused; one last time she checked Verity’s position and sprang out from behind the table into a dash to try and take the other girl by surprise. Akeno lowered her head and turned so her shoulder was in front as she collided with them, tackling her around the middle and pushing them both back towards the doors to the pool area.
ES10: AKENO KUDO AND SS01: VERITY STEWART CONTINUED IN Thunderdome
Akeno dropped to the ground as the banquet hall exploded into chaos; her own voice was almost lost in the cacophony as music, multiple sources of gunshots and voices other than her own all rang out at once as three people, three enemies, burst into the room from three directions at once, effectively pinning their group in the middle as they rained bullets down on them. The sounds of china shattering and wood cracking was added to the mix over time as more and more the tables around then were torn apart by the assault, though the furniture at least seemed sturdy enough to stop most of the bullets from reaching them for the time being.
It was a brief reprieve and nothing else however; their location gave them a few seconds to react, whereas if this had happened at the pool then they’d all be dead by now. As it was they might still all be dead; their attackers, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out who they might be even with all of the confusion, had the drop on them and that was not a good situation to be in. This was exactly why she had wanted to leave the pool as quickly as they could.
Akeno flinched as a bullet struck the table over her head, sending chips of broken porcelain raining down over her.
Dropping down further, Akeno peered between the legs of the tables and chair surrounding them to try and spot where their attackers were positioned. She saw one, most likely Fisk, over by where the music was coming from, a second over towards the opposite corner of the room and a third behind them, back towards the pool area they had just come from. A triangle, though thankfully not one they were perfectly in the centre of.
They needed to break it.
Akeno turned to where she had seen Ivan last, hoping he was still there and not gone or bleeding out; luckily he was neither, still just as bloodied as before but not any worse. The other two were still there as well; in the mess she’d forgotten to think about either of their wellbeing, but they were alive though, which was good. She focused in on Ivan, trying to get his attention over the noise so she could coordinate a way out of this.
If they survived the opening moments of this ambush then they would have a chance to strike back and turn this around, they just had to find or create the right moment to do so. She raised a hand and pointed at the shotgun in Ivan’s hands, then pointed back over her shoulder towards where she had seen Fisk standing. “Shoot that way when I give the signal.” Fisk was providing most of the fire that was keeping their heads down right now, from the sounds of it; if they focused on him first and forced him to take cover them it would free her up to do something about the others. Akeno looked past Ivan towards the other set of legs she had recognised, the ones back towards the pool; she gestured in that direction with her harpoon gun. “I’ll go that way and take one of them out.”
Breaking one of the corners of their formation would hopefully mean that this little pincer ambush of theirs would be over, not to mention swinging the numbers even more in their favour if she could kill Verity quickly; they could retreat or push forward or whatever else they wanted once they weren’t surrounded on all sides like this. Assuming it all worked the way she wanted it to.
Her eyes flicked towards Olivia and Lucia and she nodded her head in their direction. “Give one of them a gun as well.”
With everything she needed to say out of the way, Akeno waited a couple seconds more before she nodded towards Ivan and began to stand up. She popped up over the edge of the table, brought her harpoon gun around to point it at Fisk and pulled the trigger; then, without even waiting to see if it hit, as the spear flew across the banquet hall Akeno turned and ran the other direction. Running in a half crouch, Akeno moved so that her head was below the level of the tables around her towards the opposite edge of the hall, towards the other pair of legs she had seen.
As she neared her target she slowed, ducking further down to check where the shooter was she that she could adjust her course if need be. She reached the last table in the hall, the last bit of cover she had before she would need to run into the open and paused; one last time she checked Verity’s position and sprang out from behind the table into a dash to try and take the other girl by surprise. Akeno lowered her head and turned so her shoulder was in front as she collided with them, tackling her around the middle and pushing them both back towards the doors to the pool area.
ES10: AKENO KUDO AND SS01: VERITY STEWART CONTINUED IN Thunderdome
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The Honeless Beard
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The doors burst open, and Ivan hit the deck in tandem with Akeno, muscling a table ass-over tea kettle, sending fine china and glassware smashing to the floor as he blocked off two of the three doorways. Immediately the wood was chewed to bits as he slammed down the new shotgun, cradled Tenga, made himself as small as possible. Akeno barked something - had Ivan looking at her, the invisible leash she held.
Akeno's voice was a dull warbling undercurrent, surrounded by staccato gunfire. Ivan got the gist, nodding his head, a fresh little spurt of blood emptying out of his left ear as his chin wagged. He nodded again, turned towards Olivia with the new shotgun.
"Heads up, seven up," he roared, flinging the weapon towards her in a high lob. A bullet grazed its handle, sending the throw spinning wildly. He didn't check on the catch, just waited with Tenga raised, eyes locked on Akeno.
When Akeno raised up, so too did Ivan. Two trigger pulls of buckshot, right at the scarred boy's mug. He snarled through it, grabbed the scalding barrel to release the empties.
His face was blank as he dropped back below the table, shook out emptied shells, and slapped fresh ones in.
"Hey, Fisk," Ivan hollered, "you want to know what colour Vasily was at the end?"
Akeno's voice was a dull warbling undercurrent, surrounded by staccato gunfire. Ivan got the gist, nodding his head, a fresh little spurt of blood emptying out of his left ear as his chin wagged. He nodded again, turned towards Olivia with the new shotgun.
"Heads up, seven up," he roared, flinging the weapon towards her in a high lob. A bullet grazed its handle, sending the throw spinning wildly. He didn't check on the catch, just waited with Tenga raised, eyes locked on Akeno.
When Akeno raised up, so too did Ivan. Two trigger pulls of buckshot, right at the scarred boy's mug. He snarled through it, grabbed the scalding barrel to release the empties.
His face was blank as he dropped back below the table, shook out emptied shells, and slapped fresh ones in.
"Hey, Fisk," Ivan hollered, "you want to know what colour Vasily was at the end?"
"Aw, shit."
She is not getting dragged into this bullshit. Swear to god.
They all had guns. She had a large knife. The weakest gun, she knew, would beat the best martial artist in the world. And that's kind of it, isn't it?
On the one hand, she really, really, really didn't want to hear what happened to Vasily. On the other hand, Ivan and Akeno are kind of like her only chance at survival.
But she never said she was a creature aimed by logic, right? She'd built a little team, a little heaven, just her and 'Livia. She had it easy. And she knew it was going to crash, eventually- and crash she did.
"I'd let y'all motherfuckers know to stop FLIRTING-"
And then Lucia grabbed her cleaver, aimed, and chucked it right at Fisk's head.
"AND ACTUALLY FOCUS!"
She is not getting dragged into this bullshit. Swear to god.
They all had guns. She had a large knife. The weakest gun, she knew, would beat the best martial artist in the world. And that's kind of it, isn't it?
On the one hand, she really, really, really didn't want to hear what happened to Vasily. On the other hand, Ivan and Akeno are kind of like her only chance at survival.
But she never said she was a creature aimed by logic, right? She'd built a little team, a little heaven, just her and 'Livia. She had it easy. And she knew it was going to crash, eventually- and crash she did.
"I'd let y'all motherfuckers know to stop FLIRTING-"
And then Lucia grabbed her cleaver, aimed, and chucked it right at Fisk's head.
"AND ACTUALLY FOCUS!"
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carduinal-cyn
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Of course she'd fucking jinxed it.
A bombastic classical piece filled the banquet hall, followed almost immediately by a storm of gunfire. She ducked and covered beneath a table, the way her grandparents did during the Cold War. Orders flew around like the pellets of metal death currently ricocheting around the room.
GET DOWN!
HEADS UP!
STOP SHOUTING AND FUCKING FOCUS!
The Selkies were screaming. Lucia, too. From what little she could parse, the one who'd unleashed the gates of bullet hell upon them was none other than Fisk Bateman. Madman. Corpse-defiler. Carver of the letter F.
"...Is this where I die?" Olivia murmured to herself, crouched beneath a tucked-away table.
Porcelain shrapnel rained down by her knees.
Legs thundered past her.
An axe hurtled through the air.
Then, like a blessing from God, a shotgun bounced, whirling, onto the floor.
Liv gazed upon the bounty set before her. One of the most vicious weapons in all SOTF, capable of blowing a hole clean through even Ivan and his bulging muscles with the pull of a trigger. A guaranteed victory. And it could be hers and hers alone, if only she could muster the courage...! She didn't care whether or not it was loaded. This was a hell of a step up from dinky Little Joe!
Sloooowly now. Crawling out from beneath the table. Shards of china stabbed into her arms and legs, piercing the lucky jacket and drawing a little blood. She winced. Her hands closed around the barrel...
Immediately, Olivia darted back beneath the table. Her rump hit the floor. A few more shards dug into her feet. She growled in pain, and she kicked a few more shards away on instinct. The cuts across her body started to throb, but the shotgun was hers.
She cradled her ticket to victory tight against her chest.
"Thank you," she whispered to it.
"Now, you and me... we're playing to win."
A bombastic classical piece filled the banquet hall, followed almost immediately by a storm of gunfire. She ducked and covered beneath a table, the way her grandparents did during the Cold War. Orders flew around like the pellets of metal death currently ricocheting around the room.
GET DOWN!
HEADS UP!
STOP SHOUTING AND FUCKING FOCUS!
The Selkies were screaming. Lucia, too. From what little she could parse, the one who'd unleashed the gates of bullet hell upon them was none other than Fisk Bateman. Madman. Corpse-defiler. Carver of the letter F.
"...Is this where I die?" Olivia murmured to herself, crouched beneath a tucked-away table.
Porcelain shrapnel rained down by her knees.
Legs thundered past her.
An axe hurtled through the air.
Then, like a blessing from God, a shotgun bounced, whirling, onto the floor.
Liv gazed upon the bounty set before her. One of the most vicious weapons in all SOTF, capable of blowing a hole clean through even Ivan and his bulging muscles with the pull of a trigger. A guaranteed victory. And it could be hers and hers alone, if only she could muster the courage...! She didn't care whether or not it was loaded. This was a hell of a step up from dinky Little Joe!
Sloooowly now. Crawling out from beneath the table. Shards of china stabbed into her arms and legs, piercing the lucky jacket and drawing a little blood. She winced. Her hands closed around the barrel...
Immediately, Olivia darted back beneath the table. Her rump hit the floor. A few more shards dug into her feet. She growled in pain, and she kicked a few more shards away on instinct. The cuts across her body started to throb, but the shotgun was hers.
She cradled her ticket to victory tight against her chest.
"Thank you," she whispered to it.
"Now, you and me... we're playing to win."
Sweeping bullets along the room Fisk laughed. Now this was just like old times. To see the look on all of their faces as they scream and hide. Bravissimo!
Fisk didn’t even have to hit them just keep them cowering, Verity was the better shot anyways, and Mandy herself had a decent vantage point of popping one in the back.
A harpoon whizzed by him, wide. As if on cue, Akeno left cover and bolted, abandoning even more of her ‘friends’ as were the usual. Would be fitting to leave a few rounds in her back, hopefully paralyzing her and giving her the cowards death she deserved as she choked out on blood. Lips peeled apart in a manic smile as he extended his arm to do Sofia some justice, before movement in the corner of his eye distracted him.
First shotgun blast caused Fisk to drop the boom box and duck, even if it were wide. Second would’ve hit him if he didn’t decide to start moving from his spot, son of a bitch! Fisk skidded on his knees and flipped his own table, blind firing above it at Akeno’s last known location before Ivan said something that Fisk shouldn’t have heard.
His face twitched. He wasn’t smiling or laughing now. “Oh I saw! Just like you saw what happened to the last bitch that pissed me off; what’s gonna happen to you! Get your kicks from it while you can you sick fuck!” Fisk stood up and started blasting at Ivan’s table. He moved between the alley ways, squeezing the trigger and stopping, then starting again zigzagging, sending manic bursts to and fro. “KEEP TALKING SHIT WHILE YOU STILL GOT THE LIPS TO, YOU MOTHERFUCKER YOU, COZ I’M GONNA MAKE YOU SUFFER! GONNA KEEP YOU ALIVE TILL THE VERY END,” he continued blasting. “GONNA CUT YOUR ARMS AND LEGS OFF AND WEAR YOU LIKE A BACKPACK! GONNA LEAVE YOUR EYES SO YOU SEE EVERYTHING I TOOK, AND WATCH ME WIN!” His barrel was smoking, turning red and white. “WHEN IT’S DOWN TO YOU, ME, AND THE REST OF THE RESPECTS I’M GONNA DROP YOU IN THE FUCKIN’ OCEAN, WATCH YOU SINK LIKE A ROCK; BUT BY THEN YOU’LL BE BEGGING FOR IT, LIKE THE LAST MOTHERFUCKER I DEGLOVED AND DROPPED FROM FOUR STORIES UP!”
He moved closer, hip firing and screaming, spittle flying out his mouth. “I KNOW YOU SAW THAT ONE MOTHERFUCKER! I MADE SURE YOU SAW! HE WASN’T A THREAT! HE’S A PREMONITION, YOUR GHOST OF CHRISTMAS FUTURE YOU BELLIGERENT PRICK! GONNA PAY YOU BACK FOR EVERY FRIEND YOU TOOK! GONNA MAKE YOU BEG, GONNA MAKE YOU BLEED!”
Another movement. Fisk turned his barrel to it, only for a meat cleaver to fly end over end into his face with a wet *SHUNK!* and stick, as he rolled backwards over a table.
Fisk didn’t even have to hit them just keep them cowering, Verity was the better shot anyways, and Mandy herself had a decent vantage point of popping one in the back.
A harpoon whizzed by him, wide. As if on cue, Akeno left cover and bolted, abandoning even more of her ‘friends’ as were the usual. Would be fitting to leave a few rounds in her back, hopefully paralyzing her and giving her the cowards death she deserved as she choked out on blood. Lips peeled apart in a manic smile as he extended his arm to do Sofia some justice, before movement in the corner of his eye distracted him.
First shotgun blast caused Fisk to drop the boom box and duck, even if it were wide. Second would’ve hit him if he didn’t decide to start moving from his spot, son of a bitch! Fisk skidded on his knees and flipped his own table, blind firing above it at Akeno’s last known location before Ivan said something that Fisk shouldn’t have heard.
His face twitched. He wasn’t smiling or laughing now. “Oh I saw! Just like you saw what happened to the last bitch that pissed me off; what’s gonna happen to you! Get your kicks from it while you can you sick fuck!” Fisk stood up and started blasting at Ivan’s table. He moved between the alley ways, squeezing the trigger and stopping, then starting again zigzagging, sending manic bursts to and fro. “KEEP TALKING SHIT WHILE YOU STILL GOT THE LIPS TO, YOU MOTHERFUCKER YOU, COZ I’M GONNA MAKE YOU SUFFER! GONNA KEEP YOU ALIVE TILL THE VERY END,” he continued blasting. “GONNA CUT YOUR ARMS AND LEGS OFF AND WEAR YOU LIKE A BACKPACK! GONNA LEAVE YOUR EYES SO YOU SEE EVERYTHING I TOOK, AND WATCH ME WIN!” His barrel was smoking, turning red and white. “WHEN IT’S DOWN TO YOU, ME, AND THE REST OF THE RESPECTS I’M GONNA DROP YOU IN THE FUCKIN’ OCEAN, WATCH YOU SINK LIKE A ROCK; BUT BY THEN YOU’LL BE BEGGING FOR IT, LIKE THE LAST MOTHERFUCKER I DEGLOVED AND DROPPED FROM FOUR STORIES UP!”
He moved closer, hip firing and screaming, spittle flying out his mouth. “I KNOW YOU SAW THAT ONE MOTHERFUCKER! I MADE SURE YOU SAW! HE WASN’T A THREAT! HE’S A PREMONITION, YOUR GHOST OF CHRISTMAS FUTURE YOU BELLIGERENT PRICK! GONNA PAY YOU BACK FOR EVERY FRIEND YOU TOOK! GONNA MAKE YOU BEG, GONNA MAKE YOU BLEED!”
Another movement. Fisk turned his barrel to it, only for a meat cleaver to fly end over end into his face with a wet *SHUNK!* and stick, as he rolled backwards over a table.
Catche thinks my squirrel is Fisk so here's my daily reminder that he is not.
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MurderWeasel
- Posts: 3432
- Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 9:56 am
- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
Mandy didn't hit anyone with her wild firing. Only the first shot was even close to being aimed, and after that it was the pistol in control, jerking Mandy's hands all over as she held on and squeezed the trigger again and again. She pressed her eyes closed, then realized that was bad and opened them again, just in time to see a spear of some kind go flying towards Fisk.
It missed, and Mandy tried to bring her breath under control even though she could feel her heartbeat slamming in her ears and toes. At least she seemed to be adjusting to the gun, because it was no longer pulling her around like her mom had when she was eight years old.
It took Mandy a few more tugs of the trigger to realize that was because the gun wasn't shooting anymore. She was out of bullets.
Now there was no holding back the hyperventilation. Reloading was the one thing with the gun she had actually done before, but it hadn't occurred to her that ammunition might go dry during a fight, and her clothes had no pockets so the extra clips were in her backpack. They were on the top, at least she was pretty sure she'd had that much foresight, but that still felt an impossible distance away.
She couldn't freeze. Nobody was attacking her for some reason. The targets were huddled behind a cluster of tables, just like how Matias and the others had been before, and as Mandy dropped to her knees and clawed at the zipper—it stuck for a moment, of course—she saw history repeat. Akeno, who she could recognize anywhere probably, broke from cover and darted to the door to the deck, dragging Verity with her outside.
Mandy was the farthest from the others, and her gun was the quietest, and she wasn't carrying a boombox or silhouetted against the light, and so nobody was paying attention to her, and she felt sort of awful about that as she got the extra ammunition out and fumbled the old clip loose. Everyone was yelling at each other to the point she couldn't make out a word, but Mandy had stopped shrieking. She wasn't sure when. She was supposed to be better, more useful. She was supposed to help, but she didn't even know what to do. Run in to assist Fisk? He was dealing with three people, shooting at him. Chase after Verity and Akeno? Akeno was only one, but she was definitely scary enough to count for at least two.
Then something flew and smacked into FIsk and he went down, and Mandy couldn't tell if he was alive or not, and she clicked the new clip into place and tried to pretend he was Seo-yun as she lurched into a stumbling run forwards, raising the gun once more.
It missed, and Mandy tried to bring her breath under control even though she could feel her heartbeat slamming in her ears and toes. At least she seemed to be adjusting to the gun, because it was no longer pulling her around like her mom had when she was eight years old.
It took Mandy a few more tugs of the trigger to realize that was because the gun wasn't shooting anymore. She was out of bullets.
Now there was no holding back the hyperventilation. Reloading was the one thing with the gun she had actually done before, but it hadn't occurred to her that ammunition might go dry during a fight, and her clothes had no pockets so the extra clips were in her backpack. They were on the top, at least she was pretty sure she'd had that much foresight, but that still felt an impossible distance away.
She couldn't freeze. Nobody was attacking her for some reason. The targets were huddled behind a cluster of tables, just like how Matias and the others had been before, and as Mandy dropped to her knees and clawed at the zipper—it stuck for a moment, of course—she saw history repeat. Akeno, who she could recognize anywhere probably, broke from cover and darted to the door to the deck, dragging Verity with her outside.
Mandy was the farthest from the others, and her gun was the quietest, and she wasn't carrying a boombox or silhouetted against the light, and so nobody was paying attention to her, and she felt sort of awful about that as she got the extra ammunition out and fumbled the old clip loose. Everyone was yelling at each other to the point she couldn't make out a word, but Mandy had stopped shrieking. She wasn't sure when. She was supposed to be better, more useful. She was supposed to help, but she didn't even know what to do. Run in to assist Fisk? He was dealing with three people, shooting at him. Chase after Verity and Akeno? Akeno was only one, but she was definitely scary enough to count for at least two.
Then something flew and smacked into FIsk and he went down, and Mandy couldn't tell if he was alive or not, and she clicked the new clip into place and tried to pretend he was Seo-yun as she lurched into a stumbling run forwards, raising the gun once more.
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The Honeless Beard
- Posts: 892
- Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2018 4:47 am
- Location: Got it? Good, now get inside.
- Team Affiliation: Emmy's Selkies
As soon as Fisk began to scream, Ivan began to roadie run around the two upturned tables, thighs and calves screaming, feet cut deep on shards of ceramic and glass and leaving instant half-formed footprints of bright red on the already gore filled banquet hall. As the machine gun continued to reply, the table he once called his cover was reduced to splinter and ash, sawdust that collapsed inwards with a slumping crack.
As Ivan's former cover totally collapsed, he curled his hands around his new cover.
As Ivan's former cover totally collapsed, he curled his hands around his new cover.
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DerArknight
- Posts: 682
- Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2021 9:47 pm
- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
The table Ivan now used as cover harrumphed to get his attention.
"Hello, my name is Thomas. Maybe you have heard of Cammie, my girlfriend? She is a camera hanging somewhere on one of the smaller ships. For some reason, she is not answering my calls since some time. Do you know if something happened?"
"Hello, my name is Thomas. Maybe you have heard of Cammie, my girlfriend? She is a camera hanging somewhere on one of the smaller ships. For some reason, she is not answering my calls since some time. Do you know if something happened?"