SOTF Mini

You ever feel like every time you walk among the hallways, you feel like the next time might be the last? On happier circumstances, it might be the last time you have to cross this path for the rest of the week, or maybe the school year. If you were graduating, you were either never stepping foot into the school again or just plain moving up in life. For Soledad and Hiro, however, their walk towards the desolate remains of what we assume were once classrooms, was far more morbid than such. For them, any walk among the hallways could be the final one they'd have in their lives.

Yet Soledad wasn't feeling this way. If anything, she had come prepared, placing strips of by the walls and floor. "The more, the stickier." She mumbled to herself, placing her last strand on the floor. "Alright, that's the last of them. With any luck, that Ilja person will be trapped by the tape and we'll get to do whatever we need to him!"

"Nice! We'll be able to stop a villain arc continuing."

((Hiro Hayes-Honda continued from Let's Play A Game!))

Hiro tapped his fingers against the wall and he moved around a trashed and broken table. He wondered if there was anything else that they could use in this area. They would just have to hope that Ilya would approach this location and be tricked by the trap that Soledad had come up with. It was a lot better than what Hiro had thought of doing, so he was glad that she brought up the idea first, so that he wouldn't have to mention his silly one.

"God, just seeing this place like this is completely wild. More crazy than the empty classrooms." He admitted honestly, moving into one of the rooms awkwardly and he glanced down at the shattered glass on the ground. "I hope Ilya does show up, I want to be more prepared to take him down this time."

Awwwwww, they were talking about him. How sweet.

(Ilya Arkadi continued from To-do list: get good (unchecked))

Ilya told Ray to stay put. The announcement made it clear: no dicking around; something needed to be done so all of them don’t just die here because nobody wants to get their hands dirty. He knew there were two others. That’s it. Paris and Daniel. But he couldn’t just rely on those two; it was rare to come across that many people in the first place, so he had to take the first chance he got.

And well, Ray was kinda dead weight. He still wanted to keep the guy around, but while he was out here? Just needed to do this one thing and get back. Ensure that at least someone made it through the next twelve hours.

What was taking the others so long anyway? Do they still not realise the dire situation they’re in? Soledad and Hiro, he recognised their voices, they weren’t exactly being quiet. Were they planning on stopping him, or killing him? He couldn’t exactly see if they were brandishing weapons like they were ready to kill when he was one classroom over.

Standing near the edge of the room, he started toying with one of his hoodie strings before walking over towards a table. He set it upright before flipping it again, a loud bang emanating throughout the area.

BANG!

The loud sound echoed throughout the area, rattling through Soledad and Hiro's minds like thunder. Was he here? Had llja managed to track them down? Soledad felt her heart pounding as she glanced at Hiro. "W-was that him?" She asked. It had to have been him. Surely no one else could have been able to make that noise, at least, not intentionally.

Soledad kept her eyes peeled on the other side of the hall, waiting to see if there was another sound...

"Crap..." Hiro turned his head towards the door when he heard the loud noise and he raised his gun up a little, letting out a fast breath. "Maybe it is him."

He glanced back at Soledad and he put his finger up to his lips in a sshing motion.

"I'll check. Make sure to stay behind me." He whispered quietly. "Just in case... It could be another glitch or something."

He started to move very quietly, making sure to avoid any glass or rubbish to step on. He make sure that the gun was ready and steady in front of him. He hesitated for a moment and he peeked his head quickly into the room that the sound had come from.

"Alright," Soledad whispered, "I'll stay here and keep watch."

Soledad mimic'd Hiro's shushing motion, her finger placed on her lips as she watched Hiro walk off. With her hands wrapped around the sledgehammer, she tip-toed behind Hiro, being as quiet as she possibly could, watching each move Hiro made with precision.

As Hiro and Soledad took a peak inside the room, Soledad raised her sledgehammer up, awaiting to see what would come next. Upon first glance, it seemed that the room, all desolate and quiet, was barren once more. Only a fallen table showing proof of Ilya's arrival...

Hiro glanced at the tipped over table and he stepped into the room, passing by a huge pile of junk. Not knowing about a dangerous presence that was near by.

He stopped by the slightly damaged table and he nudged at it with his foot.

"Huh. Weird!" He said in a loud tone. "I might be a bit too paranoid right now."

He started to turn himself to look towards Soledad.

Now.

The moment Hiro turned to face Soledad, Ilya pounced, coming out from behind a bookshelf. No desire to waste time or make this take longer than it needs to be.

The hidden blade was unsheathed again, primed and ready to kill, before stabbing right in Soledad's direction.

Sure enough, Hiro was not paranoid. As he made his way towards Soledad, the free-spirited girl felt a sharp rise of pain shoot up her body, her eyes widening as she let out a loud yelp, her hands rocking the sledgehammer back, losing its grip in the process.

Admist the chaos, an unfamiliar voice let out a growl. Soledad’s eyes darted the area, looking at the floor alongside two feet.

Wait.

Two feet? Feet that weren’t familiar to her.

The feet of a man she just barely grazed with her sledgehammer.

The feet of a man…who may soon make her a martyr.

Ilya.

Shit.... Shit, shit, shit, shit!

Hiro noticed too late what had just happened. It really was Ilya in the flesh. It was happening again. What the heck was with Ilya trying to kill people in front of him? It was all completely insane!

"Son of a bitch!"

Hiro let out a frustrated cry of anger and he was trying to focus his gun on Ilya. Hoping to not miss him.

He fired off a shot without hesitation.

When Julia died, the way it played out was his mistake. She died quickly, but he could've done better. He grimaced. Soledad only had herself to blame for this one. He was trying to do better. He was trying to make it easier for her.

He pulled the blade out, droplets of blood making their way onto his hoodie. A pained grunt followed as he stumbled back; whether it was from just the sledgehammer or if the bullet contributed to that pain as well, he didn't know; it could've been both. Ilya felt a burning sensation on his left forearm, no doubt from the bullet, but he couldn't tell whether he was actually shot, or if he just felt the bullet barely whizzing by.

Ideas of where to hit no longer came to him. His initial strike wasn't fatal like he planned, so he shifted to striking anywhere.

He closed the distance before stabbing again with the blade.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAH" Soledad cried out in pain, the drops of blood splattering onto the floor, the world spiraling ever further away from her. For a moment, it felt as though her life was flashing by her, playing each memory with reckless abandon. Perhaps this was a fitting end for such a rebellious spirit?

No.

Not like this.

Soledad had said herself that if she was to die, it was by her own terms. The way things had gone, with her and Hiro now at death's door, it felt about as forced as one could get. This was no earned death, it was a blatant murder attempt. But what could Soledad do? At this point, the blade had struck Soledad just about every which way, there was no way she could fight back, right?

Well...

Soledad had to try at least.

She flailed her limbs back and forth, using whatever adrenaline she could to kick and punch at Ilya, as hopeless as it seemed. Perhaps it would at least prolong the inevitable?

Hiro fired off another shot, noticing that Ilya was stabbing Soledad once again.

He had to do something more than just shooting right now.

Hiro actually started to rush forward, getting ready to tackle the other boy.

"STOP!!" He yelled.

Whatever god decided to serve miracles on a platter today, Ilya let go, Soledad having successfully shook out of his grasp. He regained his footing only to be tackled by Hiro, feeling his breath knocked out of him with the impact.

"Get off me!" He said between gasps.

Ilya barely managed to stay standing, now fighting to push the other boy away from him in a contest of strength. He kept most of his focus on Hiro now, but he wouldn't dare let Soledad out of his sight.

They were just... Making this so hard for everyone.

Soledad pried the blade off her hands as best she could, kicking away at Ilya all the while, stopping only when Hiro tackled him to the ground. The tears strolling down her face, Soledad stumbled about, looking for her sledgehammer.

"W-where...where is it?!" She called out, hurriedly scavenging the floor until finally, the touch of metal again at her finger tips as she clung onto the sledgehammer. With her right hand clutching onto one of the many stab wounds, she set forth towards Ilya, adrenaline and rage the only sources of energy Soledad had left.

Hiro had left Ilya dead to rites, at least in theory. All she had to do was land the killing blow and that was it. Ilya would be gone and Soledad would still have a sliver of a chance of survival...

Now then...can you aim for the head when your internal organs are bleeding out of our body?