((Mercedes Guenther continued from Now I know that hello is a show for a sweet goodbye))
She was awake now. Had been for a good few minutes.
She had moved once in that span of time, just to scrabble a few feet down the corridor to scoop up her gun, knocked out of her hands in her explosion and coated in dust and plaster. She hoped it would still work. She hadn’t tried yet. After all she’d just dragged herself through, she didn’t particularly fucking fancy ricocheting a bullet between her goddamn eyes.
She would only have one hand to steady herself with, after all. She’d broken two of her fingers on her left hand in the fall, crushed between her own weight and the concrete floor. Moving them was impossible, and forcing them to do so with her good hand felt like they were being wrenched from their joints, so she’d given them a quick and dirty bandage job, gauze haphazardly wrapped around them both. At least it had something in place. The wound on her head hadn’t even been wiped clean before it had started to scab over. Mercy didn’t know what had caused it - the fall to the floor, or a loose piece of rubble, if she had to hazard a guess - but she’d been left with a gash to her temple, and streaks of dried blood down the side of her face.
That summer day at the quarry, a memory that refused to leave her mind, had never seemed further away than now.
Mercedes tipped her head back against one of the myriad spiderweb cracks in the plaster, and took a deep, long breath. It was all over, then. She was still here. And August wasn’t. She’d missed her chance to turn back, and it would never, ever appear again. It was for the best, she knew it was. She had no intention of giving up, not now. She’d made too many resolutions, realised too many truths. It was for the best.
She just wished it didn’t cause her heart to ache, and for an emptiness to crawl through her body and threaten to snuff out the light inside of her in an instant.
“Well,” she murmured, attempting to convince herself as much as anything else. “At least that’s… the worst case scenario over with… right?”
She gave a weak, mirthless laugh. She paused.
“Oh… oh, fuck…”
Lincoln was still out there, wasn’t he? Or, at least, the thing that was calling itself Lincoln. The orb, that without trace of its owner, was now talking just like him, sounding almost like him, acting as though it had grown up alongside her, a vessel that contained almost everything that made up Lincoln Guenther, but that could not, would not ever be him.
Right?
She shook her head. Slapped her palm, then slammed her fist, against the wall, a little shower of plaster sprinkling down as her reward. There was still too much doubt in her mind, still too much uncertainty, a fog that she’d attempted to dispel by coming in here; that plan had worked out perfectly, hadn’t it? She couldn’t see it, him, Link, again, not just yet. It was still too much like him to make a call, and trying to do so while her body was still in mourning simply wasn’t happening. If it was just the two of them left, bodies of their classmates surrounding them, would she be able to pull the trigger, shatter that faceless, featureless orb for good?
She didn’t have a definite answer. Which meant she still needed room to think, space between the two of them until she was tethered back to the ground once more.
Lucky for her, if you could really call it that, she did have something else she could do to assist with that, along with another tool in her arsenal, locked away inside her mind. She would walk. Not outside, not while it was still daylight, but she would roam these halls and corridors, maybe down into the basement like she’d planned minutes before, and look for people who had hunkered down and tried to ride out the shock blast, or who had just turned up to investigate the extent of the damages. If they were willing and not immediately hostile, she would talk to them. She would ask them what the plan was from here on out. She would ask what their end goal was.
She would tell them what August had whispered into her ear during their final embrace.
And if that didn’t spur them into action, if they still thought the best thing to do would be to merely survive and wait for rescue that would never arrive, then she knew what she would do. If they attempted to attack her, then she would not hesitate in her retaliation. She had her goal, now. She had her path set out.
Slowly, Mercy pushed herself to her feet once more, and brushed the dust off of her body.
Your Actions Have Consequences
here be a death thread
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VoltTurtle
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((CHAPTER 004: Goodbye To A World))
Lily crept down the halls of the compound, carefully listening for the sound of others coming her way, with Kyle following some distance behind her. She was on the lookout for threats and potential recruits alike. The more people she could either corral or get on her side, the better. In the distance, around the edge of the hallway, echoes of footsteps could be heard. Lily quickened her pace as soon as she heard it, racing towards the source even faster, abandoning any pretense of stealth. No hesitation or fear, not with the kind of power she possessed.
Then she actually saw who it was and stopped dead in her tracks.
Mercy. It had been a while since the two of them had talked, a few weeks at least, give or take a few days. They weren't super close, but Lily considered her a friend before all of this happened. They had bonded over their mutual love for giant stuffed sharks, though Mercy had always been way more into collecting stuffed animals than Lily was. It was a cute character trait. So why did remembering that feel so strangely chilling now?
If their captors were to be believed, then she was face to face with not only a real murderer, but the first real murderer. Someone she had known all her life, who had now taken someone else's. Sure, that person had been Moose, who had attacked Kyle, and might have attacked Mercy too. Maybe it had been self-defense. She hadn't hurt anyone else yet, that they've heard. Lily was willing to give her the benefit of that doubt.
And yet, Lily still couldn't help but be a bit unnerved.
"Mercy," she said, a bit of frost trailing off her lips, and the wispy cloud billowing behind her, over her shoulder.
She wanted to ask questions, but she choked on her own tongue, frozen in place unsure of where to put her feet, let alone what else to say.
Lily crept down the halls of the compound, carefully listening for the sound of others coming her way, with Kyle following some distance behind her. She was on the lookout for threats and potential recruits alike. The more people she could either corral or get on her side, the better. In the distance, around the edge of the hallway, echoes of footsteps could be heard. Lily quickened her pace as soon as she heard it, racing towards the source even faster, abandoning any pretense of stealth. No hesitation or fear, not with the kind of power she possessed.
Then she actually saw who it was and stopped dead in her tracks.
Mercy. It had been a while since the two of them had talked, a few weeks at least, give or take a few days. They weren't super close, but Lily considered her a friend before all of this happened. They had bonded over their mutual love for giant stuffed sharks, though Mercy had always been way more into collecting stuffed animals than Lily was. It was a cute character trait. So why did remembering that feel so strangely chilling now?
If their captors were to be believed, then she was face to face with not only a real murderer, but the first real murderer. Someone she had known all her life, who had now taken someone else's. Sure, that person had been Moose, who had attacked Kyle, and might have attacked Mercy too. Maybe it had been self-defense. She hadn't hurt anyone else yet, that they've heard. Lily was willing to give her the benefit of that doubt.
And yet, Lily still couldn't help but be a bit unnerved.
"Mercy," she said, a bit of frost trailing off her lips, and the wispy cloud billowing behind her, over her shoulder.
She wanted to ask questions, but she choked on her own tongue, frozen in place unsure of where to put her feet, let alone what else to say.
The dynamic duo of Kyle and Lily were still slinking through the halls of the compound. At this point, Lily had let go of his arm and crept further ahead. She had decided to be the lookout for the two, despite Kyle's eyes being more suited for that if one thought about it, but Lily called the shots and he was not one to argue.
He kept both of his hands around the piece of rebar given to him. It was all they had for protection, and he was not about to let anyone look at them and think they would be easy prey. And if they tried anything... Well, he'd have to do something about that, wouldn't he? The thought made his hands shake, but despite that, he kept his pace behind Lily, slightly behind her as she trudged through the halls.
Only to abruptly up the pace and force Kyle to jog after her to keep up, slowing his pace when she suddenly stopped. He carefully crept up behind her to see who it was, and his eyes widened when he saw her.
Mercedes. He remembered her for looking intimidating at a glance, something he was familiar with, but generally, she was fine. Lily had been cool with her as far as he knew. Everything he knew about her pointed to her being fine.
At that moment he could remember the chance encounter years ago in the rock quarry, her face stained with blood after an errant rock had hit her. He remembered her holding a parasol over their heads as they shouldered Austin out of there. He remembered her walking home afterward in a hurry, leaving him and Kaine there.
He did not know why that came to mind, but maybe it was one of those moments one remembers when they think of the good someone was before they changed into something else... Before they change into a murderer.
There was no love lost between him and Moose. Fuck that asshole and his brigade of douches that he hung with... But what he heard about his death... Incinerated! There's no way something like that is an accident. Unless spontaneous combustion was a theme for Mercedes to do, he was not sure about this...
He strolled over to Lily's side and gave a wave with his right hand leaving the rebar in his left behind Lily's back.
He kept both of his hands around the piece of rebar given to him. It was all they had for protection, and he was not about to let anyone look at them and think they would be easy prey. And if they tried anything... Well, he'd have to do something about that, wouldn't he? The thought made his hands shake, but despite that, he kept his pace behind Lily, slightly behind her as she trudged through the halls.
Only to abruptly up the pace and force Kyle to jog after her to keep up, slowing his pace when she suddenly stopped. He carefully crept up behind her to see who it was, and his eyes widened when he saw her.
Mercedes. He remembered her for looking intimidating at a glance, something he was familiar with, but generally, she was fine. Lily had been cool with her as far as he knew. Everything he knew about her pointed to her being fine.
At that moment he could remember the chance encounter years ago in the rock quarry, her face stained with blood after an errant rock had hit her. He remembered her holding a parasol over their heads as they shouldered Austin out of there. He remembered her walking home afterward in a hurry, leaving him and Kaine there.
He did not know why that came to mind, but maybe it was one of those moments one remembers when they think of the good someone was before they changed into something else... Before they change into a murderer.
There was no love lost between him and Moose. Fuck that asshole and his brigade of douches that he hung with... But what he heard about his death... Incinerated! There's no way something like that is an accident. Unless spontaneous combustion was a theme for Mercedes to do, he was not sure about this...
He strolled over to Lily's side and gave a wave with his right hand leaving the rebar in his left behind Lily's back.
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Pippi
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She’d barely even gotten a moment to breathe, before the sound of her own name being called out echoed down the hallway. Somehow, she hadn’t quite expected her goal to find her first. The prospect of other people roaming around ground zero so brazenly really hadn’t occurred to her until now, she figured most people would either want to hide themselves away or get as far from the building as they could.
But there would always, of course, be people who just had to take a closer look and see what had caused the entire top floor of a building to blow up, or those who wouldn’t hesitate to dive in headfirst and see if anybody needed rescuing, or perhaps even people who had been fortressed up too close to the blast zone, and were wandering around in a daze.
Or, of course, people looking for an easy target.
She couldn’t complain, of course. Her body still ached from head to toe, her left hand throbbed and stabbed with pain, gashes and bruises black and blue and red coated her skin. The less she needed to move and exert vital energy, the better. And if whoever it was calling out to her did think they’d found a pushover and a walking corpse, well. First sign of open aggression, and intent to take her out, then she would act. She turned to look at who exactly was calling her out.
“Ah…”
It couldn’t have just been some unknown, some near-stranger, could it? Nothing would reach the heights of running into August or the voice of Lincoln out here, nothing could ever come close to that, but she had always been fond of Lily and Kyle. She’d considered Lily a friend, not a close one, but a friend nonetheless that she always had time for, and while she was even less close to Kyle, she had never had an interaction that she’d considered negative with him. She’d always done her best to stand up for him whenever anyone had tried making fun of his inability to talk.
’Had’ was the keyword that kept on cropping up, there. Because with the way they both clutched the lengths of rebar in their hands, and with the frost breath glittering in the air around Lily’s head - not real, she always had to remind herself, just a visualisation of her mood - Mercy was quite certain their relationship had drastically shifted for the worse.
“Lily, Kyle.”
She nodded at the two, returned Kyle’s wave with her busted hand.
“I’m glad to see you again, really. You look like you’re doing okay.”
And that, honestly, was the truth, no matter how hoarse and scratchy her voice was, no matter how terse and quickly she spoke. She was glad that, with whatever plan they had, they’d kept themselves alive this long. ‘Okay’ was a generous way of describing two teenagers who’d no doubt been sleeping rough and terrified out of their minds, but in comparison to herself?
Yeah, it wasn’t hard to be doing better than that.
“I know it’s sudden, but I really need to ask you some stuff. It shouldn’t be difficult to answer, but it’s vital I hear it. It’s the most important thing in the world.”
She didn’t wait for them to consent, didn’t give them a chance to question her intentions. She couldn’t afford to waste any amount of time any longer.
Her gaze flicked between the rebar in their hands. So long as they didn’t try any shit, then this would all be over, smoothly and soon.
“You’ve armed yourselves. That’s good. It means you’re prepared. Suggests you’ve got an idea of what you wanna do now. So what is it? What’s your plan?”
She made sure that the both of them could see her gun, front and center.
“And when that plan’s in motion, what happens right at the end?”
But there would always, of course, be people who just had to take a closer look and see what had caused the entire top floor of a building to blow up, or those who wouldn’t hesitate to dive in headfirst and see if anybody needed rescuing, or perhaps even people who had been fortressed up too close to the blast zone, and were wandering around in a daze.
Or, of course, people looking for an easy target.
She couldn’t complain, of course. Her body still ached from head to toe, her left hand throbbed and stabbed with pain, gashes and bruises black and blue and red coated her skin. The less she needed to move and exert vital energy, the better. And if whoever it was calling out to her did think they’d found a pushover and a walking corpse, well. First sign of open aggression, and intent to take her out, then she would act. She turned to look at who exactly was calling her out.
“Ah…”
It couldn’t have just been some unknown, some near-stranger, could it? Nothing would reach the heights of running into August or the voice of Lincoln out here, nothing could ever come close to that, but she had always been fond of Lily and Kyle. She’d considered Lily a friend, not a close one, but a friend nonetheless that she always had time for, and while she was even less close to Kyle, she had never had an interaction that she’d considered negative with him. She’d always done her best to stand up for him whenever anyone had tried making fun of his inability to talk.
’Had’ was the keyword that kept on cropping up, there. Because with the way they both clutched the lengths of rebar in their hands, and with the frost breath glittering in the air around Lily’s head - not real, she always had to remind herself, just a visualisation of her mood - Mercy was quite certain their relationship had drastically shifted for the worse.
“Lily, Kyle.”
She nodded at the two, returned Kyle’s wave with her busted hand.
“I’m glad to see you again, really. You look like you’re doing okay.”
And that, honestly, was the truth, no matter how hoarse and scratchy her voice was, no matter how terse and quickly she spoke. She was glad that, with whatever plan they had, they’d kept themselves alive this long. ‘Okay’ was a generous way of describing two teenagers who’d no doubt been sleeping rough and terrified out of their minds, but in comparison to herself?
Yeah, it wasn’t hard to be doing better than that.
“I know it’s sudden, but I really need to ask you some stuff. It shouldn’t be difficult to answer, but it’s vital I hear it. It’s the most important thing in the world.”
She didn’t wait for them to consent, didn’t give them a chance to question her intentions. She couldn’t afford to waste any amount of time any longer.
Her gaze flicked between the rebar in their hands. So long as they didn’t try any shit, then this would all be over, smoothly and soon.
“You’ve armed yourselves. That’s good. It means you’re prepared. Suggests you’ve got an idea of what you wanna do now. So what is it? What’s your plan?”
She made sure that the both of them could see her gun, front and center.
“And when that plan’s in motion, what happens right at the end?”
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VoltTurtle
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What was this, an interrogation? They were—or rather, she was— the ones that were supposed to be asking the questions. Yet here Mercedes was, acting so ominous, talking so formally, asking such strange, leading questions. Then Mercedes put the cherry on top of her sanguine sundae by brandishing her gun plainly, where both of them could see it. Lily had watched enough movies to know that was an implicit threat. This wasn't like Mercedes at all. What, exactly, had happened to her in the last few days, besides killing Moose?
She swallowed her growing unease, and shifted her weight forward, hiding her fear behind a veil of confidence, even as her icy breath began to overtake the hallway, coating the walls and floor in a thin layer of frost. Better to answer the questions, avoid escalating the situation, just in case this was all some kind of misunderstanding.
"We're going to make sure nobody else dies, Mercy. Which means stopping everyone from trying to do our captors' work for them. Then we're going to get out of here when rescue comes."
Lily took a step forward.
"They said you killed Moose," she continued, not allowing Mercedes the time to reply. "That gun they gave you proves it."
Her voice trembled as she spoke, her uncertainty breaking through the veil even as she hurled accusations.
"Why?"
She swallowed her growing unease, and shifted her weight forward, hiding her fear behind a veil of confidence, even as her icy breath began to overtake the hallway, coating the walls and floor in a thin layer of frost. Better to answer the questions, avoid escalating the situation, just in case this was all some kind of misunderstanding.
"We're going to make sure nobody else dies, Mercy. Which means stopping everyone from trying to do our captors' work for them. Then we're going to get out of here when rescue comes."
Lily took a step forward.
"They said you killed Moose," she continued, not allowing Mercedes the time to reply. "That gun they gave you proves it."
Her voice trembled as she spoke, her uncertainty breaking through the veil even as she hurled accusations.
"Why?"
Mercedes saw them, and things seemed fine at first. However, things quickly felt off about the whole thing, she returned his wave, but the hand she used looked weird and her voice sounded like her throat had been scratched out. And then she started almost interrogating them, asking so many questions and all but demanding answers. Maybe that was not the intent, but the tone of it and her showing them the gun that she earned from killing moose, from burning him alive... It was giving him bad vibes.
It seemed the same for Lily as when Mercedes asked about the plan, she plainly stated it without any difficulty. Though, Kyle noticed the area around was getting coated in frost. Another one of Lily's tricks, Kyle was not sure if she was conscious about her doing this, if she was too focused on Mercedes to realize it.
For now, he stood at the side and let these two talk, it was not like he could contribute anything unless Mercedes was willing to have him sit down and write everything out, and judging by the line of questioning did not think she would.
Kyle shifted from one foot to another on the ground. A couple of taps on the floor with his heel, something to loosen the apprehension hanging in the air. Especially when Lily stepped forward and asked her own questions at Mercedes. His left hand tightened around the rebar, fingers clenching and unclenching at it repeatedly. His right hand had dropped down at the point he saw the piece she was holding and hung ineffectually in the air at his side. Kyle was afraid of putting it in his pocket to hide the shake that was threatening to make itself apparent after he saw it. He did not want to get shot in case she thought he had something in them.
It seemed the same for Lily as when Mercedes asked about the plan, she plainly stated it without any difficulty. Though, Kyle noticed the area around was getting coated in frost. Another one of Lily's tricks, Kyle was not sure if she was conscious about her doing this, if she was too focused on Mercedes to realize it.
For now, he stood at the side and let these two talk, it was not like he could contribute anything unless Mercedes was willing to have him sit down and write everything out, and judging by the line of questioning did not think she would.
Kyle shifted from one foot to another on the ground. A couple of taps on the floor with his heel, something to loosen the apprehension hanging in the air. Especially when Lily stepped forward and asked her own questions at Mercedes. His left hand tightened around the rebar, fingers clenching and unclenching at it repeatedly. His right hand had dropped down at the point he saw the piece she was holding and hung ineffectually in the air at his side. Kyle was afraid of putting it in his pocket to hide the shake that was threatening to make itself apparent after he saw it. He did not want to get shot in case she thought he had something in them.
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Pippi
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“When rescue comes- for FUCK’S sake, Lily!”
And just like that, Mercedes’ facade of calmness and composure shattered into pieces, her voice rising to dangerous levels and her blood already beginning to boil. She had thought, she had really thought that she could handle anything thrown at her now, that she had clambered over the hill of everything to do with Augie, that she could slot right back into her original plan before she sought out Lincoln once more.
But hey, it turned out, finding out her brother had died and become stuck inside a fucking floating orb, hearing her crush tell her to her face that he was about to kill himself, having to walk away from him and wait for him to disintegrate and blast an entire storey to pieces? That wasn’t something she could just pick herself up and dust herself off from. Maybe she had been naive to think so, maybe the impact of hitting the ground had knocked something loose in her goddamn brain. Maybe she’d just thought she’d be too goddamn numb to give a shit about much but her own survival any longer.
Seemed as though what she’d thought was nothing more than a hairline crack was a deep, deep fracture, running through her body, and hearing such a stupid fucking statement of intent and getting hit with these accusations was all that was required to break her. She didn’t need this fucking inquisition. She didn’t need this goddamn judgement.
“You really think those fuckers who kidnapped us haven’t considered that? You really fucking think they didn’t plan for when the rest of the state realised we’d goddamn disappeared? You’re pinning your entire fucking life on the hope that someone just fucking stumbles upon us out here? Are you goddamn insane?”
Phlegm built up in her throat as her deep, hoarse vitriol spewed forth. She spat onto the ground, wiped her mouth with her broken and shattered hand, refused to move or flinch as Lily moved forwards. Her eyes moved between her and Kyle, waiting for the first sign of sudden movement from either of them. She stood firm, as ice crept along the corridor walls, stemming from Lily’s own unstable emotions.
Be fucking frosty, then. See how it compares to white-hot rage.
“Yeah, I killed Moose,” Mercedes continued, even as her voice threatened to give way at any moment. “I burned him alive, because i’m goddamn unhinged, and I’ve secretly been waiting my ENTIRE life for this moment, to blast holes through all my fucking friends and classmates. Is that the answer you wanted?”
She took her own step forward now. Her head was pounding. Her body was trembling.
“Or are you already goddamn convinced that nothing will justify what I’ve done?”
And just like that, Mercedes’ facade of calmness and composure shattered into pieces, her voice rising to dangerous levels and her blood already beginning to boil. She had thought, she had really thought that she could handle anything thrown at her now, that she had clambered over the hill of everything to do with Augie, that she could slot right back into her original plan before she sought out Lincoln once more.
But hey, it turned out, finding out her brother had died and become stuck inside a fucking floating orb, hearing her crush tell her to her face that he was about to kill himself, having to walk away from him and wait for him to disintegrate and blast an entire storey to pieces? That wasn’t something she could just pick herself up and dust herself off from. Maybe she had been naive to think so, maybe the impact of hitting the ground had knocked something loose in her goddamn brain. Maybe she’d just thought she’d be too goddamn numb to give a shit about much but her own survival any longer.
Seemed as though what she’d thought was nothing more than a hairline crack was a deep, deep fracture, running through her body, and hearing such a stupid fucking statement of intent and getting hit with these accusations was all that was required to break her. She didn’t need this fucking inquisition. She didn’t need this goddamn judgement.
“You really think those fuckers who kidnapped us haven’t considered that? You really fucking think they didn’t plan for when the rest of the state realised we’d goddamn disappeared? You’re pinning your entire fucking life on the hope that someone just fucking stumbles upon us out here? Are you goddamn insane?”
Phlegm built up in her throat as her deep, hoarse vitriol spewed forth. She spat onto the ground, wiped her mouth with her broken and shattered hand, refused to move or flinch as Lily moved forwards. Her eyes moved between her and Kyle, waiting for the first sign of sudden movement from either of them. She stood firm, as ice crept along the corridor walls, stemming from Lily’s own unstable emotions.
Be fucking frosty, then. See how it compares to white-hot rage.
“Yeah, I killed Moose,” Mercedes continued, even as her voice threatened to give way at any moment. “I burned him alive, because i’m goddamn unhinged, and I’ve secretly been waiting my ENTIRE life for this moment, to blast holes through all my fucking friends and classmates. Is that the answer you wanted?”
She took her own step forward now. Her head was pounding. Her body was trembling.
“Or are you already goddamn convinced that nothing will justify what I’ve done?”
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VoltTurtle
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Lily took another step forward.
"No," her response came fast, quite literally cutting through the air with an audible swish. "Moose attacked Kyle. I would've believed that you did what you had to do."
Her mind caught itself on a desperate prayer, hoping beyond hope that Mercedes wouldn't realize what was really happening.
"But, you're angry at me for waiting for rescue. So I guess that means you have a different idea?"
A trickle of snow began to fall from the ceiling all around them, as the frost began to billow out from all around her. This was going south, fast. Lily had no idea what Mercedes actually wanted out of them. Maybe what she wanted to do was try to take matters into her own hands and escape, but why would she be so focused on their weapons, then? Lily couldn't shake the feeling that she had something much more sinister in mind.
Which meant running wasn't really an option, as much as she'd like to just throw up some illusions and run. She was confident she could defend herself well enough, but Kyle? He wasn't so used to her illusions, she would disorient him as much as protect him, and all it'd take is one shot for it to be over.
She had to get that gun out of Mercy's hands. Then maybe they could talk. Accomplishing that without getting Kyle hurt meant that she had to keep all of Mercy's attention squarely on her.
"What's your plan, Mercy?"
"No," her response came fast, quite literally cutting through the air with an audible swish. "Moose attacked Kyle. I would've believed that you did what you had to do."
Her mind caught itself on a desperate prayer, hoping beyond hope that Mercedes wouldn't realize what was really happening.
"But, you're angry at me for waiting for rescue. So I guess that means you have a different idea?"
A trickle of snow began to fall from the ceiling all around them, as the frost began to billow out from all around her. This was going south, fast. Lily had no idea what Mercedes actually wanted out of them. Maybe what she wanted to do was try to take matters into her own hands and escape, but why would she be so focused on their weapons, then? Lily couldn't shake the feeling that she had something much more sinister in mind.
Which meant running wasn't really an option, as much as she'd like to just throw up some illusions and run. She was confident she could defend herself well enough, but Kyle? He wasn't so used to her illusions, she would disorient him as much as protect him, and all it'd take is one shot for it to be over.
She had to get that gun out of Mercy's hands. Then maybe they could talk. Accomplishing that without getting Kyle hurt meant that she had to keep all of Mercy's attention squarely on her.
"What's your plan, Mercy?"
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Pippi
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“My plan? It’s simple. It’s obvious. At least, it fucking should be, anyway.”
She normally hated the person she became whenever she was upset. The way she acted when her blood boiled and was sent rushing to her head, whenever the red mist descended and blinded her to everything but her target. She prided herself on her level-headed nature, her even keel, and normally she despised herself whenever anything broke that balance and brought down a tidal wave of anger and vitriol. Small mercies meant that it was usually only the bullies and assholes of her class who dragged that side of her out, but even her close friends and beloved family hadn’t been immune to it, after pressing just the wrong button.
Normally she hated that version of herself. Right now, she simply couldn’t give a shit. She needed these two out of her fucking sight.
“If we sit on our asses and wait, they’ll kill us. If we try and break out of bounds or go where they don’t want, they’ll kill us. They’ve conjured up this entire fucking operation, Lily, they’re gonna have thought of every possible angle. I’m not just killing for the fucking sake of it! But if you’re not fighting to stay alive, if you’re living on hope alone…”
She took deep, heavy breaths. To all and sundry, clouds of fog billowed out of her nose, as this tunnel of ice grew colder and colder.
“... then far as I see it, you’re dead already.”
God, her head was starting to pound relentlessly now, almost overwhelming the rest of her senses. She had to focus harder than ever on her own words, to make sure they didn’t all come out of her mouth in a jumbled mass, and the exertion needed for that was doing nothing but make her own temperature rise higher and higher.
“Now are you gonna get it into your thick fucking skulls that no help is coming, or are you gonna stay in denial until your last goddamn breath?”
She winced. She gritted her teeth, hard. She swore she heard the crunch of bone, the popping of joints. The palm of her left hand started to glow.
August’s whispered words, the last resort that could have saved everybody here, lay deep in the recesses of her mind, abandoned and forgotten.
She normally hated the person she became whenever she was upset. The way she acted when her blood boiled and was sent rushing to her head, whenever the red mist descended and blinded her to everything but her target. She prided herself on her level-headed nature, her even keel, and normally she despised herself whenever anything broke that balance and brought down a tidal wave of anger and vitriol. Small mercies meant that it was usually only the bullies and assholes of her class who dragged that side of her out, but even her close friends and beloved family hadn’t been immune to it, after pressing just the wrong button.
Normally she hated that version of herself. Right now, she simply couldn’t give a shit. She needed these two out of her fucking sight.
“If we sit on our asses and wait, they’ll kill us. If we try and break out of bounds or go where they don’t want, they’ll kill us. They’ve conjured up this entire fucking operation, Lily, they’re gonna have thought of every possible angle. I’m not just killing for the fucking sake of it! But if you’re not fighting to stay alive, if you’re living on hope alone…”
She took deep, heavy breaths. To all and sundry, clouds of fog billowed out of her nose, as this tunnel of ice grew colder and colder.
“... then far as I see it, you’re dead already.”
God, her head was starting to pound relentlessly now, almost overwhelming the rest of her senses. She had to focus harder than ever on her own words, to make sure they didn’t all come out of her mouth in a jumbled mass, and the exertion needed for that was doing nothing but make her own temperature rise higher and higher.
“Now are you gonna get it into your thick fucking skulls that no help is coming, or are you gonna stay in denial until your last goddamn breath?”
She winced. She gritted her teeth, hard. She swore she heard the crunch of bone, the popping of joints. The palm of her left hand started to glow.
August’s whispered words, the last resort that could have saved everybody here, lay deep in the recesses of her mind, abandoned and forgotten.
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VoltTurtle
- Posts: 491
- Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:41 am
"No."
Lily's bottom lip trembled. She grimaced, the bleak realization there would be no stepping back from this precipice crossing her face.
"I think you've made yourself very clear," she whispered.
The snow picked up into a light flurry.
Her breathing quickened.
The guilt in her eyes overtook everything else as she stared down Mercedes.
"I'm sorry for this."
She charged forward.
Lily's bottom lip trembled. She grimaced, the bleak realization there would be no stepping back from this precipice crossing her face.
"I think you've made yourself very clear," she whispered.
The snow picked up into a light flurry.
Her breathing quickened.
The guilt in her eyes overtook everything else as she stared down Mercedes.
"I'm sorry for this."
She charged forward.
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Pippi
- Posts: 1118
- Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 6:32 pm
- Location: I'm Pip!
- Team Affiliation: Stephanie's Buccaneers
And truly, honestly, Mercedes was sorry as well.
So she had been with Moose, so she was with Lily and Kyle. Any other time, any other place, this would never even have crossed her mind, but this was the reality they lived in and this was the only avenue of escape. She knew that her actions were justified. And she knew that her erstwhile friends would never understand that. She didn’t need to belabour the point any further.
Her arm shot up, and her index finger tightened, squeezed, and pulled, and for a moment, it felt as though her right hand had been the one which had shattered previously, the recoil juddering through her arm. She let out a grunt of pain as her shoulder wrenched backwards, terrified for a split second that it had popped out of its socket. Her ears were ringing again, the sound of Lily’s echoing footsteps totally drowned out. The stench of gunpowder was almost overpowering.
But her aim had been true. There was a messy, uneven hole in Lily’s chest, to the upper-right of center. Her tank top was already starting to stain, red on red. She had faltered, her charge slowed to barely a crawl. Mercedes shook her head, and let out a noise that could have been satisfaction, could have been little more than acknowledgement of what had just happened. She turned, aiming the gun towards Kyle now, trying to force her aim towards his chest.
Then Lily’s body exploded.
Not like August’s had, though. And certainly not in any way that made Mercy feel like her life was in imminent danger. No, it was like she was peering at the screen of some old arcade cabinet, one of those beat ‘em up games where everything you punched ended up detonating. Lily’s body shuddered, bright orange and red 8-bit explosions dancing across her frame, before they stopped all at once, and in a sparkle of rainbow glitter, she disappeared into thin air.
“Fuck-”
She had realised, far too late, distracted by the spectacle in front of her, exactly what had happened, exactly what Lily had done, and she braced herself for impact.
So she had been with Moose, so she was with Lily and Kyle. Any other time, any other place, this would never even have crossed her mind, but this was the reality they lived in and this was the only avenue of escape. She knew that her actions were justified. And she knew that her erstwhile friends would never understand that. She didn’t need to belabour the point any further.
Her arm shot up, and her index finger tightened, squeezed, and pulled, and for a moment, it felt as though her right hand had been the one which had shattered previously, the recoil juddering through her arm. She let out a grunt of pain as her shoulder wrenched backwards, terrified for a split second that it had popped out of its socket. Her ears were ringing again, the sound of Lily’s echoing footsteps totally drowned out. The stench of gunpowder was almost overpowering.
But her aim had been true. There was a messy, uneven hole in Lily’s chest, to the upper-right of center. Her tank top was already starting to stain, red on red. She had faltered, her charge slowed to barely a crawl. Mercedes shook her head, and let out a noise that could have been satisfaction, could have been little more than acknowledgement of what had just happened. She turned, aiming the gun towards Kyle now, trying to force her aim towards his chest.
Then Lily’s body exploded.
Not like August’s had, though. And certainly not in any way that made Mercy feel like her life was in imminent danger. No, it was like she was peering at the screen of some old arcade cabinet, one of those beat ‘em up games where everything you punched ended up detonating. Lily’s body shuddered, bright orange and red 8-bit explosions dancing across her frame, before they stopped all at once, and in a sparkle of rainbow glitter, she disappeared into thin air.
“Fuck-”
She had realised, far too late, distracted by the spectacle in front of her, exactly what had happened, exactly what Lily had done, and she braced herself for impact.
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VoltTurtle
- Posts: 491
- Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:41 am
Lily emerged out of the snow behind Mercy, flakes dancing off of her skin, rebar in hand.
She swung, straight for the arm holding the gun, and heard a brutal crack as it made impact. The gun flew out of Mercy's hand, and skid down the hallway towards Kyle.
"Smoke bomb!" she shouted, jumping back as a cloud of smoke erupted into the hallway, obscuring everything from sight.
She swung, straight for the arm holding the gun, and heard a brutal crack as it made impact. The gun flew out of Mercy's hand, and skid down the hallway towards Kyle.
"Smoke bomb!" she shouted, jumping back as a cloud of smoke erupted into the hallway, obscuring everything from sight.
Things had gone to hell in a handbasket real quick. Lily and Mercedes were going at it with Kyle at the wayside. It was like he was a kid walking in on his parents arguing and equally as helpless. Only one of them had a gun and was waving it around.
Both of them were getting really heated during this dual-interrogation. A back and forth with nothing good in store for anybody. Kyle was prepared to do anything to ensure that people stayed alive, but like this? How were they going to do that? They had a few rebars against a gun. Mercedes certainly did not see it the same way they did, and the gun was too big of a threat. No matter how they looked at it, how would anyone stand up against that? Not to mention the gift she had.
Things started going from bad to worse when Mercedes fired her gun, and Lily looked like she was hit. Kyle's eyes bugged out of his head as he feared the worst. In spite of his wish to move, both of his feet at one with the concrete beneath as he stood still, unable to move, and his stomach tighetened itself into a knot as he could make out the figure of Mercedes through the fog and frost that had aqumilated in the room, pointing the gun at him.
This was wrong! All of this was wrong!
And then Lily exploded.
Kyle's hands went up to shield his face as the hallway was filled with a barrage of colors; he had to blink multiple times as his eyes suddenly had to get used to the sudden bombardment, and with his vision he unfortunatly had a good view of it all.
While covering his head, Kyle heard a fierce sound across the room like someone was hit, someone in pain and the clatter of something on the ground. Whatever it was, it slid on the floor and sounded close by him, so Kyle knelt down and started patting across the floor with both hands to find it.
He kept doing this till he felt something cold and real with the tips of his fingers. He cradled his fingers around it and lifted to find his right hand holding the barrel of a gun. He quickly worked to grip it by the handle with his right, doing a precarious balancing act of using his left arm to hold it against him since he was still holding the rebar with his left.
Both of them were getting really heated during this dual-interrogation. A back and forth with nothing good in store for anybody. Kyle was prepared to do anything to ensure that people stayed alive, but like this? How were they going to do that? They had a few rebars against a gun. Mercedes certainly did not see it the same way they did, and the gun was too big of a threat. No matter how they looked at it, how would anyone stand up against that? Not to mention the gift she had.
Things started going from bad to worse when Mercedes fired her gun, and Lily looked like she was hit. Kyle's eyes bugged out of his head as he feared the worst. In spite of his wish to move, both of his feet at one with the concrete beneath as he stood still, unable to move, and his stomach tighetened itself into a knot as he could make out the figure of Mercedes through the fog and frost that had aqumilated in the room, pointing the gun at him.
This was wrong! All of this was wrong!
And then Lily exploded.
Kyle's hands went up to shield his face as the hallway was filled with a barrage of colors; he had to blink multiple times as his eyes suddenly had to get used to the sudden bombardment, and with his vision he unfortunatly had a good view of it all.
While covering his head, Kyle heard a fierce sound across the room like someone was hit, someone in pain and the clatter of something on the ground. Whatever it was, it slid on the floor and sounded close by him, so Kyle knelt down and started patting across the floor with both hands to find it.
He kept doing this till he felt something cold and real with the tips of his fingers. He cradled his fingers around it and lifted to find his right hand holding the barrel of a gun. He quickly worked to grip it by the handle with his right, doing a precarious balancing act of using his left arm to hold it against him since he was still holding the rebar with his left.
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Pippi
- Posts: 1118
- Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 6:32 pm
- Location: I'm Pip!
- Team Affiliation: Stephanie's Buccaneers
Bracing didn’t mean shit when the impact came from a length of solid steel.
The rebar slammed into her arm, hitting bicep and elbow, and forcing them forwards at an impossible angle with a sickening crunch. Mercedes screeched and stumbled forwards, her voicebox feeling like it was tearing itself to shreds, as her revolver flew from her grasp and skittered across the floor once again, right towards Kyle’s feet. Her head shot up and she glared daggers at him, hissing through gritted teeth. Her arm hung, limp and broken, by her side, as she willed her body forwards, staggering towards Kyle by sheer force of will.
She made it about two steps forwards before Lily’s yelling pierced her ears, making her wince and sending her head spinning once more, and before she could begin to recover from this most recent assault on her senses, the corridor flooded with smoke, billowing around her and filling up her lungs. She coughed and hacked and spat onto the ground, almost stumbling over her own feet as she turned, trying to catch sight of Lily, trying to catch her bearings, trying to make fucking sense of anything.
“Get the fuck back here! Show your goddamn self, you wanna try and fucking take me down, do it so I can see you!”
Mercy had never smoked in her life - she had considered just how badly it would mess up her already fragile internal structure - but right now her voice sounded like she’d been going through five packs per day. Somewhere, buried in ash deep inside of her, she knew that there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Lily would just give up this advantage she’d been given, that nobody would try and take her down in a straight fight if they had the chance. She’d known that people would be righteously pissed off at her, once. She had thought she’d been prepared for it. A single shot at the first sign of danger, bullet or palm, no monologuing or messing around.
But her body ached. Her mind was spinning, full of fog. Her ears wouldn’t stop their goddamn incessant ringing. She had one busted arm, one shattered hand, one bloody gash carved into the side of her head. She could still feel August’s lips on her own. Her emotions ran as volcanic as her body did.
“What’re you gonna do after you’ve killed me, huh?” She spat out, swiping her arm in front of her in a desperate bid to clear the fog. “You still gonna just try and fucking ‘wait it out’? Even with blood on your goddamn hands? Cause if you are…”
She breathed in, chest heaving, gulping for air. Dirt clinging to her palm evaporated in the rising heat.
“You can goddamn burn.”
From out of the fog, a beam of pure, sapphire-blue energy erupted, blasting a crater into the wall above Kyle’s head. Chunks of plaster sizzled into ash instantly, yet more cracked and crumbled and collapsed to the ground. Something in her forearm stung like hell.
The rebar slammed into her arm, hitting bicep and elbow, and forcing them forwards at an impossible angle with a sickening crunch. Mercedes screeched and stumbled forwards, her voicebox feeling like it was tearing itself to shreds, as her revolver flew from her grasp and skittered across the floor once again, right towards Kyle’s feet. Her head shot up and she glared daggers at him, hissing through gritted teeth. Her arm hung, limp and broken, by her side, as she willed her body forwards, staggering towards Kyle by sheer force of will.
She made it about two steps forwards before Lily’s yelling pierced her ears, making her wince and sending her head spinning once more, and before she could begin to recover from this most recent assault on her senses, the corridor flooded with smoke, billowing around her and filling up her lungs. She coughed and hacked and spat onto the ground, almost stumbling over her own feet as she turned, trying to catch sight of Lily, trying to catch her bearings, trying to make fucking sense of anything.
“Get the fuck back here! Show your goddamn self, you wanna try and fucking take me down, do it so I can see you!”
Mercy had never smoked in her life - she had considered just how badly it would mess up her already fragile internal structure - but right now her voice sounded like she’d been going through five packs per day. Somewhere, buried in ash deep inside of her, she knew that there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Lily would just give up this advantage she’d been given, that nobody would try and take her down in a straight fight if they had the chance. She’d known that people would be righteously pissed off at her, once. She had thought she’d been prepared for it. A single shot at the first sign of danger, bullet or palm, no monologuing or messing around.
But her body ached. Her mind was spinning, full of fog. Her ears wouldn’t stop their goddamn incessant ringing. She had one busted arm, one shattered hand, one bloody gash carved into the side of her head. She could still feel August’s lips on her own. Her emotions ran as volcanic as her body did.
“What’re you gonna do after you’ve killed me, huh?” She spat out, swiping her arm in front of her in a desperate bid to clear the fog. “You still gonna just try and fucking ‘wait it out’? Even with blood on your goddamn hands? Cause if you are…”
She breathed in, chest heaving, gulping for air. Dirt clinging to her palm evaporated in the rising heat.
“You can goddamn burn.”
From out of the fog, a beam of pure, sapphire-blue energy erupted, blasting a crater into the wall above Kyle’s head. Chunks of plaster sizzled into ash instantly, yet more cracked and crumbled and collapsed to the ground. Something in her forearm stung like hell.
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VoltTurtle
- Posts: 491
- Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:41 am
Lily lurked in the fog of her own creation, observing, listening, waiting for reactions.
She had been hoping that disarming Mercy, even if it took breaking her arm in the process, would have been enough to get her to back down. If she had surrendered, this next part would have been easy. They could've gone their separate ways, at worst. Yet it seemed her mindset had already become so violent that she couldn't imagine the possibility that Lily didn't want to kill her.
Briefly, Lily thought about keeping the fog up, hitting the deck, and letting Mercy burn herself out with her own Gift. Then she took a shot at Kyle, and that plan immediately went out the window. She needed to be taken down completely for this to be resolved in any way that wouldn't be fatal for everyone involved. Kyle wouldn't, or rather couldn't, be the one to do that, so that meant it was up to Lily.
The smoke cloud disappeared just as abruptly as it appeared, revealing Lily just a few feet away from Mercedes. There was a brief moment of eye contact between them before Lily threw her entire body into Mercedes shoulder-first, bringing them both to the ground. The impact nearly knocked the wind out of her, but Lily didn't relent, a dazzlingly bright light show erupting all around her, springing back off of Mercedes in the confusion.
Then she brought her foot down on Mercy's good hand, pinning it to the floor. All of her various effects disappeared all at once, leaving them in the battered hallway, the fight over before it had a chance to really start. Her chest heaved from the exertion, Lily already feeling the burn in her head and lungs.
"I don't-" she gasped, "-want to kill you, you idiot."
She had been hoping that disarming Mercy, even if it took breaking her arm in the process, would have been enough to get her to back down. If she had surrendered, this next part would have been easy. They could've gone their separate ways, at worst. Yet it seemed her mindset had already become so violent that she couldn't imagine the possibility that Lily didn't want to kill her.
Briefly, Lily thought about keeping the fog up, hitting the deck, and letting Mercy burn herself out with her own Gift. Then she took a shot at Kyle, and that plan immediately went out the window. She needed to be taken down completely for this to be resolved in any way that wouldn't be fatal for everyone involved. Kyle wouldn't, or rather couldn't, be the one to do that, so that meant it was up to Lily.
The smoke cloud disappeared just as abruptly as it appeared, revealing Lily just a few feet away from Mercedes. There was a brief moment of eye contact between them before Lily threw her entire body into Mercedes shoulder-first, bringing them both to the ground. The impact nearly knocked the wind out of her, but Lily didn't relent, a dazzlingly bright light show erupting all around her, springing back off of Mercedes in the confusion.
Then she brought her foot down on Mercy's good hand, pinning it to the floor. All of her various effects disappeared all at once, leaving them in the battered hallway, the fight over before it had a chance to really start. Her chest heaved from the exertion, Lily already feeling the burn in her head and lungs.
"I don't-" she gasped, "-want to kill you, you idiot."