Let's Play A Game!

[JacobAllTradez]

(Continued from Refreshing as lemon squash!)

Soledad had been roaming the hallways for what felt like hours, but in all likelihood was only a short bit, still in search for shelter away from the murderers that had haunted Sycamore High. Sure, there was actually no way she could hide, but if she could hold them off long enough, maybe she'd be able to regroup and recharge.

Or bash someone's brains in with a sledgehammer, that'd be nice.

Yet, Soledad had come to a terrible conclusion as she walked the hallways. Her feet were killing her. To most people, this would be a normal thing people went through and shook off after a bit. But Soledad, as we've established, doesn't work like that. She huffed and groaned as she placed a hand on the nearest locker. "God, what does it take to find a room here?!" She called out.

That's when Lady Luck stepped in to lend a helping hand. Not that far from her was another room, not too dissimilar from the last one. Soledad breathed a sigh of relief, muttering some other manners before picking up her bag and opening the door. Perhaps now, she would find some relief from the chaos that was the outer world. Right?

Wrong.

When Soledad entered the classroom, there was nothing. Not in a joking sense in that nothing was in there or no one got entered, it was absolutely nothing, as if the classroom had been wiped off the face of the school. There was only three traces of society left in this once-functionable classroom. A red Omega sign, and two portals spinning about, one orange, one blue.

Soledad glanced at the red Omega sign, giggling at it's placement next to the portals. "The Omega Gang strikes again!" She said quietly, reaching out to the symbol, only to flinch back when she felt a tight grip on her arms. Her eyes widened, staring at the two portals, spinning about, almost as if they were teasing her. Her eyebrows furrowed, she shouted at them like they were actual people. "Well, fine! Have it your way!"

Soledad stepped away from the portals, storming off to the nearest corner, huddling her legs close towards her body in the process. With the proverbial line drawn in the room, Soledad appeared ready to rest up for the game ahead, like a cocoon that would burst and bring about a butterfly, ready to grace the world with its presence. All she needed was some sleep.

Some sleep.

Just some sleep.

Hmm, maybe it might've helped to had a halfway decent sleep schedule.

More likely, however, was that Soledad couldn't get to sleep regardless. To her, something felt way too off. The way her last conversation with the world ending, with Gabbi screaming at everyone, calling them dumb, Angel threatening to kill Daniel the first chance he got, Yu-Mi in a full blown panic attack over the death of her girlfriend and Bailey...

Okay, she didn't know what Bailey was doing.

That's when it finally dawned on her. Unless she was able to escape the game somehow, there was a good chance that this was her last conversation with those people. She would never get to mess around with Angel on whatever trick they might have had on their sleeves. It'd be the end of any prank collaborations with the Omega Gang on some conformist piece of trash. She'd never again get a chance to discuss with Gabbi about how totally dead she was, for real's guys. All those were bad enough...

And then there was Yu-Mi.

They had already lost Solana thanks to that murderous psychopath, Daniel, and it hit like the world's worst gut punch. Losing Yu-Mi however was a more bitter pill to swallow. Yu-Mi and Soledad were about as close as one could get, two peas in a pod, joined from the hip, the kind of togetherness that's hard to put away, even as they tried. Sure, sometimes Soledad would act like a butthead around other people, but for whatever reason, Yu-Mi felt like calming, refreshing spirit for Soledad to be around, able to put away all anger and frustration as soon as it surfaced. Hell, one of Soledad's guiltiest secrets was asking Yu-Mi out one night, holding some form of a crush.

Thankfully, that was shot down by Yu-Mi, and things reverted to normal.

To think, that seeing her in a fetal position, in a state of flux after Solana's death, might have been the last time she'd get to see her alive.

And it wasn't just Soledad. What about Rikardo? What was happening with him? Or Ray? She hadn't seen anything from him since this started. Neither from Xtra. They might have all died at this point, or at least, come close to it multiple times. Yet that still wasn't the end of it. What about her parents? The people that raised her and, at least tried, to make her a functional human being. Would she ever see them again? At this point, it was unlikely.

Soledad gripped her hands on top of her head, rocking back and forth, only for the stimulating effects of her mind to prove insurmountable. With tears burning at the corners of her eyes, Soledad let out a small, bitter chuckle...

And started to cry.

[Primrosette]

((Hiro Hayes-Honda continued from New Days))

Hiro felt like he was in a bit of a trance, walking through the hallways. His gun was was handing loosely by his side and he was finding it hard to blink.

God, just witnessing Julia getting murdered just like that.

It had really took a toll on his upbeat confidence. He wanted to pretend that he was completely fine, but he couldn't even kid himself on that. He needed to find a safe haven and keep to himself for a while.

And then he could take down Ilya.

He needed caught the other boy off-guard somehow and take him down.

But could he really resort to murder so easily?

Hiro hadn't even thought about it before.

"Ugh, this is so stupid." He muttered bitterly to himself, his footsteps were echoing throughout the hallway.

He then heard a sudden noise. Like someone was crying.

Was it a trap? Or was someone generally crying?

He could hear that it was nearby in a room, but he was making sure that he was outside of it.

"H-Hello...?"

Damn, he needed to sound more normal, more confident. He cleared his throat nervously.

"Hello?" He called towards the room where it sounded like a girl was crying and his grip on his gun tightened slightly. "Are you alright in there? Are you hurt?"

[JacobAllTradez]

Soledad had stayed in the corner for what felt like hours, even though it was really only a few minutes, the sniffles and hiccups still prevalent in the hallways.

She didn’t understand it, how she was still crying after this built. To her, she should have only had a couple minutes to let her feelings settle and she’d be fine. But no, nothing of the short occurred. Now here she was grieving over the darkest possibility.

God, this was pathetic. How was she going to become the savior this school needed if she was like this? Maybe this was a mistake after all…

All of a sudden, Soledad heard foot steps pattering in the hallway, getting louder by the second. Her heartbeat racing, Soledad tried to dry her tears, clearing her throat in a desperate attempt to appear confident.

“W-who‘s there?” Soledad called out, her voice still heavy from the tears. “D-don’t make me g-get out my sledgehammer…p-please don’t…”

[Primrosette]

Hiro felt himself letting out a breath that he didn't even know that he had been holding in. It sounded like the girl was terrified and shaken up by whatever had happened to her or what she had heard on the announcement beforehand. He had to try to work with this somehow.

At least he now knew that she had a sledgehammer.

He didn't think for a second that she would even attack him at all. He had a feeling that he would have to try to approach the situation with a more level-headed mind. He would have to be calm and keep things from escalating into a bigger, chaotic disaster.

"Hey there, it's Hiro! Hiro Hayes-Honda!" He called out to her carefully and he was wondering what to do about his gun at his side.

Should he even mention it in that moment? Maybe he could try to build up trust somehow?

"I'm not going to hurt you, but I do have a gun..." He said, moving the gun upwards so that it was sideways and that the girl would only see it in the doorway. "I am looking for Ilya, but I heard your crying and I wanted to check up on you to make sure that you are okay."

[JacobAllTradez]

Soledad let out a small sob as she heard Hiro's voice. What was he doing here? Why was he here. For all he know, he could be after her or her friends. What was he kidding, claiming that he wasn't going to hurt her. How do you entertain the fact that you're still going strong after everything you've been through?

"N-no, I'm n-not okay, what the hell do you think?!" Soledad called out, perhaps too bluntly for her own good. "S-sorry," she sniffled. "I'm just g-going through a lot emotionally right now..."

[Primrosette]

Hiro should have guessed that he was going to get someone yelling at him, but he needed a moment to think. He couldn't let himself panic. He couldn't think about the blood. The stabbing. God, he needed to keep himself calm.

"No, no. It's fine, it's fine." He lowered the gun back down to his side and he bit his lower lip, thinking about what to do. "It's understandable to be upset. Yeah.... yeah!"

He peeked his head out into the room and he moved forward into the doorway, glancing over at where Soledad was.

"Sorry for making you more sad. If you want the company.... Do you want to come with me?" He asked curiously.

[JacobAllTradez]

“N-no, no…I-it’s fine…” Soledad said, hiccuping back a sob. “I tried to make myself a hero for all these people and I wound up making an ass out of myself, that’s fine! No big deal at all, yeh…”

Soledad sniffled back more tears, thinking back to her times with Solana and Yu-Mi, all the laughs they shared and memories they made? Was all of it really going to be worth something if she couldn’t save either of them?

It was at that point, Soledad finally had to make a confession.

“…I’m scared Hiro. What are they gonna do to Yu-Mi?”

[Primrosette]

Hiro didn't have an answer for her. Trying to be the hero was always a hard thing to do anyway. This situation was a time of life and death for people. God, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now. He couldn't play the hero role right now. It wouldn't really help Soledad in any way.

"God, Soledad. I'm sorry that all of this is happening. I wish there was a way to stop it, but..." He trailed off with his words and he wasn't sure what else he could even say to her. "I failed to stop Ilya. I couldn't even.... The blood will always be haunting me now."

Yu-Mi.

"I understand being scared myself." He admitted honestly with a small nod, his eyes were glancing around nervously. "I'm not sure what will happen to Yu-Mi. But you still want to protect her, right?"

[JacobAllTradez]

Soledad glanced up at Hiro, doing her best to dry her tears. “Y-yeah,” she said, in a voice quiet and unbecoming of her. “She’s my best friend. She’s the only one I really got left.”

Soledad let out some more sobs. “Where do you think Ilya is now? Out in the middle of nowhere trying to fuck with some other person? What kind of person would do that?”

[Primrosette]

Hiro hummed softly, moving his free hand up to his chin and rubbing it gently. "Well, I think the best thing to do is to go and find her, right? Make sure that you can be her heroine." He was feeling like his words were coming out in the cringeworthy way, but it was better than trying to be in charge of Soledad's destiny himself.

He glanced back out into the hallway, making sure that no one was creeping up on him in a silent mode and he glanced back to Soledad once more.

"I'm not sure where he is. But I have to try and stop him from hurting anyone else." He glanced down at his gun for a brief second and he wondered if he really did have the guts to take a cruel action. "Someone who wants to survive over everyone else. Or maybe someone who is desperate or scared of losing their own life."

[JacobAllTradez]

Soledad's eyes perked up when Hiro mentioned the idea of being a heroine to Yu-Mi. That was what she wanted to be now, as far as she was concerned, that was what she meant to be all along. That too felt extremely cringeworthy, but hey, better to let a girl dream than to have her live out a nightmare. "I...I guess you're right. Maybe, maybe I can still be her hero." She said, as she dried more tears.

Soledad stood up, bag in tow as she stepped out from the halls, the bloodshot eyes and tear streams present on her face. "Oh my god, don't stared at my face, I feel and look like ass!" She exclaimed, ending her quote with a bitter laugh. "But for real, thanks...I needed that pick me up."

At that point, Soledad came to a realization. Ilya had been very active in the game thus far, killing two people with relative ease. But where else could he go to cause chaos? And what about Hiro? What if he came into contact with Ilya again, only this time, it came at the cost of his own life? No. Not again. It was time to end this before it started again. "I got it. I'll help you take that Ilya guy down if you can help me find Yu-Mi. Sound good?"

[Primrosette]

Hiro was relieved that he managed to help Soledad out a bit. Even if trying to comfort someone wasn't his strongest suit. He didn't mind being seen as a bit of a supportive role. Sometimes it seemed like it was the better option sometimes. He let out a small breath when Soledad stepped into the hallway and he moved to the side of her.

"I'm sure that Yu-Mi will appreciate you swooping in and saving the day!" He gave Soledad a cheerful grin, trying to lighten up the mood a little. He didn't want everything to be all gloomy and sad. "No problem. I just didn't want to see you so down anyway. I also didn't want you to give up, you know?"

Hiro actually blinked in surprise when Soledad offered to help him out with Ilya with her own plan in mind. "Yep! That sounds like a good deal to me. Let's get going!"

[JacobAllTradez]

"I know," Soledad said plainly. "we just had a conversation about that literal seconds ago. No need for a flashback." Soledad chuckled. In her lowest moment, Soledad was relieved to know there was someone looking out for her. "Now then--"

Soledad paused when Hiro mentioned not wanting Soledad to give up. "Give up?" She asked. "Who said anything about giving up. I'm not going to give up at all."

Beat.

"I'M GONNA BEAT A MOTHERFUCKER UP WITH A SLEDGEHAMMER!" She shouted from the top of her lungs, charging towards the great unknown with reckless abandon...

...before sheepishly coming back towards Hiro, sledgehammer on the ground. "Hey, do you know where either of them may be?" She asked. "Also do we wanna find Yu-Mi first or find Ilya?"

[Primrosette]

Hiro felt himself snort at Soledad's sudden outworldly display of eagerness and he cleared his throat, wheezing a bit to hide a gentle laugh.

"Best thing to do is look at locations that we haven't been to before. I don't think Ilya would stay at a location where he killed someone." Hiro was hoping that he wouldn't, but whatever. "I think we should try to find Ilya first, maybe Yu-Mi is safe with other people right now."

He started to walk down the hallway, letting out a soft humming noise.

((Hiro Hayes-Honda continued in One Last Confrontation With The Devil))

[JacobAllTradez]

"Sounds good to me!" Soledad said, picking her sledgehammer back up. "I'm sure we can find a spot where Ilya's at."

With that, Soledad followed Hiro down the hallways, bag in hand as the duo wandered off into the abyss.

(Soledad Fernandez continued elsewhere)