Take That Money, Watch It Burn

[Un-Persona*]

((Ashley Namath: RBP2 - TV2 - Last Time In Zoom, Kick, Persuasion, Tech))

It had become dark and colder now, and the girls were settling in this Cowboy Casino. They were mostly sulking about, trying to absorb the situation, Sarah and Anzu jibber-jabbing as they pleased, Ashley playing the quiet game all by herself. It was all very isolated.

Ashley decided to indulge in the packet of skittles she had been given. It felt like advertising, eating a bag of colorful candies that used the rainbow as a theme, herself being on a rainbow team. But whatever, skittles were delicious and promoting stuff like this wasn't appealing to her right now.

"Taste the rainbow blahblahblahyaddayaddayadda"

As she munched and crunched on sweetness, a voice came out of the intercoms, deafening the saloon piano music. Ritzy Daggers, the less then pleasant announcer for this load of crap. There were more names she didn't recognize then those that she did.

Vahka who was a murderer, and Eden who had been murdered herself. It unsettled Ashley that only half of that statement was truly shocking. Once the announcement ended and We Will Rock You began playing over the speakers, Ashley put her bag of skittles aside and rested her head on the poker table.

She hated that her hands instinctively mimicked the beat of the song.

[delicateMachine]

((Anzu Sakamoto: Continued from Zoom, Kick, Persuasion, Tech))

Time passed. Uneventfully, for the most part, though Sarah never let silence sit for too long. It was almost pleasant, ignoring both the overall situation and the hella tacky theme of the casino they were in. (Why the fuck did a Hawaiian resort have a western themed casino? The dumbass in charge of that decision deserved to be fired straight into orbit.) Ashley had been quiet for a long time, which worried Anzu somewhat, but she figured it was probably best to just give her friend some space for the time being.

Anzu's stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten anything since... shit, since she'd been eating that shitty cereal the day everything had gone to hell. Anzu never thought she'd miss that crap so much. She settled for half of her sub and a bottle of mineral water. Best to keep the product placement, however inadvertent, to a minimum.

The moment that she had been dreading came sooner than Anzu had hoped. The announcement that would confirm or deny her greatest fears. The announcement that could easily contain both Val and Caroline's names, the announcement that would have some disinterested fucker list Caroline's name like she was nothing, saying only a few sentences about her killer and how she met her end, mentioning nothing about how beautiful, how perfect she was, nothing that could even hope to satisfactorily send off Anzu's love, nothing that could stop-

The announcements passed. Val was still alive. Caroline was still alive. Caroline was still alive. Anzu exhaled, more relieved than words could hope to capture. Her school hadn't gotten off unscathed, though. One of the few tolerable students outside of Anzu's circle of friends, Vahka, had apparently offed a kid from the other school, and Eden...

Shit, she hadn't deserved to die, not like that. Anzu had loathed the girl, true, but she would have been perfectly content if Eden had just went off to live her own, annoying life, too far away to ever bother Anzu again. She hadn't ever done anything worse than be irritating as hell. It was surreal, really, knowing that she was gone for good. Even the loss of a disliked person could leave you feeling empty, apparently. If Anzu felt this shitty, then Sarah had to be...

Anzu placed a comforting hand on Sarah's shoulder. "I'm sorry." She said, simply. Genuinely.

[Deamon]

((RBP3: Sarah Bourne continued from Zoom, Kick, Persuasion, Tech ))

The resort had a casino with a cowboy theme. It made no sense when the rest of the place was supposed to be this whole tropical deal, but at the same time who cared about logic when you had the potential to be awesome? Sarah could safely say she didn't. It even had saloon style music playing from the speakers for background and that added authenticity. Sarah had spent a good deal of time imagining what would happen if there were actual cowboys in SOTF. They'd just kick the door of the casino down expecting a saloon to be greeted by row upon of slot machines. Then they'd demand to know where the One-Armed Bandit was. Sarah could see it all and it was glorious.

"Hey, what do you reckon a season set in an old western-" Sarah was cut off by a voice coming over the intercom. Sarah knew who and why. It was time for the first of the announcements. Sarah's heart started to beat faster. She just wanted it all to pass without hearing Valerie's or Caroline's names. That was all she wanted. She looked over at Anzu as the names started being listed off.

Even with that one simple requirement the announcement still managed to be terrible. Eden had di-been murdered. Sarah's head fell as she stood there. She'd fucked up. She'd fucked up and Eden had died. If she had just stayed then Eden would have still been alive. But no she had to run away like the stupid idiot she was and act without thinking like she always did and-

She looked up and blinked away the tears. "Thanks Anzu. Just hard since I saw her and..." Sarah hung her head and shrugged uselessly. She felt so pathetic. Crying openly in front of one of her best friends. "We just need to find Valerie and Caroline, right?"

The urge to bolt was rising for Sarah but she fought back that instinct. It had been a horrible decision the first time that had left Eden by herself and lead to her death. She wasn't going to do it again. She wiped her eyes and took some deep breaths.

"Ok, ok, should be good now." She looked at Anzu and smiled weakly. "I look like a mess don't I?"

[Un-Persona*]

Ashley heard their sobs and sadness, so she turned her head the other way.  Part of her wanted to comfort or console them in some fashion, let them think she cared. But that would have been worse then just ignoring them for now. There would be no sincerity, nothing genuine about some lies. Lies, lies, lies...

Anzu seemed to be taking care of Sarah, so that would be fine wouldn't it? They'd talk it out, she'd go off to her own devices. That seemed to be the plan so far. Ashley stepped off her stool, looking around the casino, figuring those two would be fine by themselves for a bit. At the bar counter, she saw a pack of cigarettes, quite a few actually.

She pulled out her Zippo lighter when she walked over to them. Whenever the zippo came out, it was suppose to be the sign of something fun and nice. Now it was lit because Ashley felt she could really need it right about now. Zen, zen, zen...

Inhale, exhale. The burnt flavor satisfied her lungs as she put her elbows on the counter and rested her chin on her cigarette holding hand, gun still held in the other. Her parents would probably freak if they were watching. Were they watching? She wondered. Her eyes caught a camera looking at her.

Inhale, exhale. She shot smoke rings out of her lips towards the camera, each one flying through the last as they got progressively tinier and tinier until they vanished. She waved her gun hand at the camera with a small smile, and then looked away elsewhere.

"That's my party trick, y'all can go about your business now."

[General Goose]

((Yagmur Tekindor continued from Boyhood))

Yagmur slowly opened the door to the casino. His slowness was not out of caution or hesitation. In a potentially fatal move, his eyes were fixed on the ground and his pace was slow, laboured, and lethargic. He did not bother to look around, to scout around, to even prominently display the weapon wrapped around his side. He just walked into the casino, ignoring the garish and bawdy atmosphere of the place and the tacky Western decor. In uncharacteristic rudeness, he did not think to hold the door open for Colin.

He walked over to what was probably some kind of reception desk for the casino, and slumped his bag on it. He took the bandanna off his head, where it had been tied around since waking up, and muttered a "Just changing it, hold your horses". He used it to wipe the sweat off his brow. He didn't know how it got there. It was cold, and he'd hardly been running. He then tied it around his neck, obscuring his collar.

He smelled whiskey. He knew what he had to do. He needed some. He was going to die drunk and eating a bacon substitute.

He'd already forgotten most of the announcements. All the deaths, as painful as they were, had been completely overshadowed by one thing.

His best friend was a murderer.

"Colin," he said, his eyes staring at the far wall of the casino. "Tell me about Lisa and Davis. And Taylor."

Getting to know them posthumously was the least he could do. He felt responsible for all of their deaths, yet, rather illogically, mostly for Taylor's.

[delicateMachine]

Anzu sat in silence as Sarah cried, at a loss for any words to say. All she could do was sit there with her, make sure she knew she wasn't alone. Anzu saw Ashley wander off out of the corner of her eye, but didn't pay her much attention. The casino was empty, after all, and she needed to focus on Sarah.

"I understand." Anzu said, smiling sadly. "We are going to find Caroline. We are going to find Val. It'll... It'll work out." Anzu barely believed those words herself, but, shit, she had to try and pretend, for everyone's sakes.

"Don't worry, you look... Did you hear that?" Anzu hesitated, glancing off to the side. She could have sworn that she heard the murmur of voices somewhere else in the casino, though it was barely audible over the ever present tacky music. Ashley was still off on her own, apparently having a smoke. She hadn't appeared to hear anything.

"...Sorry, never mind. I'm tired, I probably imagined it." Anzu had never really been one who functioned well on little sleep, and the shittiness of the day far outweighed anything she'd ever had to deal with, previously. Hell, it would've been more odd for her to not be on edge.

[Flare*]

((Colin Pigeon continued from Boyhood))

Colin usually did a decent amount of walking, but for some reason the walking he had done so far kind of sucked.

Maybe it was the fact that he was unfamiliar with the situation. Maybe he was just tired. Maybe it was the fact that some psycho would jump out of nowhere and pump him full of lead at any second.

Maybe it's all three. Just a thought.

Not helping his mood was the fact that he hadn't spoken to this Yagmur guy since they had left the daycare. He found that pretty fair; there wasn't really much to say at the moment. Still, some conversation might have helped lighten the mood.

Colin was pretty relieved when they went into the casino. Mostly just because he was still really tired, because as the previous night had taught him, sleeping outside with only the most basic of supplies was kind of fucking rough. More resting was totally OK with him.

As soon as they found a nice spot, Colin plopped himself and his bag down unceremoniously, letting out a huge sigh of relief. He had just begun digging through his bag for some food and water when Yagmur asked him about his classmates.

Oh yeah. The announcements.

Those had put Colin in a weird state of mind. He had heard them, and he had interpreted them, but he didn't feel like it had fully impacted him yet. He remembered the names that had been read aloud and felt uneasy, but that's all they were. Names. Still, it was something to ponder.

"Man, those guys..." Colin started. "I didn't know any of them too well, but... Lisa was pretty average. Drama kid, I think. Oh, she did talk a lot, though. I mean, sometimes. Pretty alright, though."

"Davis was a jock type, football player. Not an incredibly douchey one, mind you. Sort of a jokey guy, but not actually all that funny, in my opinion."

"And Taylor... well, he was a guitar player. In a band, I think. Think he made his own clothes or jewelry or something... Kind of an oddball. And a bit obnoxious. But not to the extent that I'd expect... you know..."

As opposed to finishing that sentence, Colin just casually shrugged his shoulders and looked up at Yagmur.

"I dunno. Sorry if you were expecting a biography, but like I said, I didn't know 'em that well."

He stretched out his arms, groaning a little as the aches slowly worked themselves out.

"So, what about the people from your school? And... where is that school, out of curiosity?"

[Deamon]

Anzu was still by her side, making sure she was ok. Sarah had always seen Anzu as the strong silent type. She was living up to that opinion at the current point in time. So was Ashley, but Ashley had wandered off. Not that Sarah had expected Ashley to deal with her crying, they didn't know each other very well after all. Apart from both being from Whittree their only other connection was they were both on the same team. Anzu was about to say something else but looked off down the casino.

Sarah stopped herself from speaking and listened as well. She thought she could hear something? Maybe? It hard to tell since if there was someone else talking they were far away and it could have just been the music echoing weirdly anyway. Sarah looked back at Anzu and fiddled with the visor of her cap. "

"You're right it’s probably nothing." Sarah rubbed her eyes again and gave Anzu a quick hug. "Sorry I know you aren't big on the whole physical contact thingy but yeah..." Sarah swung her bag off her shoulder onto a nearby table and opened it. She looked through it for something to drink. There was some water obviously since people needed that to live unless they were able to photosynthesize or something...wait no, you still needed water for that. There was also a PowerAde, Lemon Lime PowerAde to be exact, more digging revealed Fruit Punch flavour sadly not spiked. If only she could get drunk. After some quick deliberation and some eeny, meeny, miny, moe Sarah decided she would drink the Lemon Lime flavour first. She sat herself down on the edge of the table and popped the cap open before drinking a healthy dose.

She put the PowerAde down and leaned back onto the table resting her head on her hands.

"So is the plan to just chill here for a while? Then head out to find Valerie and Caroline?"

[Un-Persona*]

Another drag, more time being passed. She gently placed the gun into her daypack. Her fingers twirled the cigarette, her leg bouncing up and down on the bar stool, but very slowly. Had to savor it, it wouldn't be good to blow through a pack quickly. She could only imagine the smell. At the very least, she didn't have the energy to pace around and mope, like how she originally felt. Now she had the patience to sit around and mope.

Energy had only been replaced by nervousness. However it was the kind of terrified nervous where you freeze and wait for things to come kill you, rather then going about and exploring herself to get killed. Changes of pace, all just to keep things interesting.

"I'm so fuckin screwed, man."

Her hands grasped her face, stretching it out to comical despair. Shake it out, shake it out...Ugh. She had to stay strong, didn't she? Spite was suppose to be her motivator, just get by on hating anything involving this stupid show. Still...she had already thought about giving up so many times already, changing between being the poignant lookout and a scaredy cat who was ready to freak the hell out.

This emotional dissonance was giving her a headache.

She heard Anzu and Sarah murmuring names, the other chicks from SDM. Ashley was gonna stick out like a sore thumb in that group. The only real friend she had out of them was Anzu. At a time, she'd probably be seen as worthless, even if she was Anzu's buddy or Sarah's teammate. A backstage lighter to the stars of the show. They wouldn't want her around, ruining their cred. They'd probably go on to win this whole shinding somehow...where would she fit in all that?

"The rockstar quartet champs...and Ashley Namath too."

She shuddered a bit. She had avoided this show because of how morbid and bleak it seemed. And now she was being a cynic. No...no...couldn't be this bad. Maybe she should stop worrying...fuck, there was too much going on. She only had so much time to figure out a plan, and she was being too finicky to stick to one.

Inhale...little longer...exhale.

God. Relax. Zen. Okay. Right, original plan, don't die, keep people safe. She just had to remember that. Ashley hadn't expected herself to be so out of whack. There may have not been a lot of time, so that just meant she had to work with what she had - one simple plan. Ashley corrected her jumpy leg, and took a moment to regain some poise. More murmurs, but these ones sounded different. Ignore that.

Ashley closed her eyes, and exhaled another drag. Happy place, find the happy place...

[General Goose]

He listened silently, staring at some of the less flashy decorations around the casino, as Colin gave him some basic info. That was all he needed, and after Colin's talk, he was satisfied. They were now slightly more than just names on the announcements, both for him and hopefully for the sick fucks at home. Hopefully at least one of those perverted voyeurs would realise the human cost of this sorry charade they were all in.

"Oklahoma," Yagmur replied, in a tone that was a strange combination of apathy and shame. "Keep the jokes to yourself." Remembering his social obligations, he turned back to Colin. "I suppose the polite thing to do would firstly ask you where your school was in return, and secondly to respond your query. Well, the guy who killed Taylor was my best friend. That should explain my current poor mood."

He turned to his bag, opened up the baconnaise, and dipped his finger in it. It was awful, but he wasn't going to complain, as it was still better than no bacon-flavoured sustenance whatsoever. He began idly walking through the casino. He'd heard voices, but nothing too loud or suggestive of violence, so he was willing to bet his laziness and his putting his guard down would not have fatal consequences.

Hopefully. Baconnaise-covered fingers crossed.

As he turned a corner, walking past some powered-down fruit machines, he saw a girl in the distance. As he walked forward, he saw two more. He stood still, and looked them over, quickly realising that he knew who they all were.

Finally.

"Hey! Ladies!" he yelled out, trying to conceal his relief at meeting someone from his school who hadn't become a psychopath.

[delicateMachine]

Tired and stressed as she was, Anzu couldn't stop herself from stiffening in surprise as Sarah gave her another quick hug. She had the decency to apologize, at least. "Hey, as long as it makes you feel better, it's all good." Anzu said, smiling slightly. There were far worse things than hugs, as temporarily distressing as they may be. She was willing to take one for the team. "I'd appreciate it if you gave a bit of warning first."

Anzu nodded at Sarah after she asked about their plans. "Pretty much. Too dark outside to get anything done, so we'll just stay here 'till morning, then focus on getting the band back together." It didn't feel right, just sitting in one place while Val and Caroline were somewhere out there, but it also wouldn't do them much good to completely miss out on sleep in order to stumble around in the dark for a while.

Suddenly, Anzu tensed. More voices. Footsteps. For real, this time. She was about to call out to Ashley to get her gun ready, just in case, when the source of the noise came into view. She exhaled in relief. Phew, it was just the one fucking Ron Swanson guy. Yagmur was kind of weird, yeah, but he wasn't as much of a pain in the ass as most from Whittree, so Anzu was willing to be happy with the little that she got.

"Hey, Yagmur." She called back. "Good to see you in one piece."

[Un-Persona*]

((I'm closer to an inactivity warning then I'm uncomfortable with, so I'm gonna skip))

Peace of mind.

Ashley felt a bit sleepy now. It was probably late and dark, and she hadn't rested at all since she woke up. The cigarette was out. She stored a few packs of cigarettes into her daypack, along with her gun and glasses. She placed her daypack onto her lap and hugged it close, less someone tried to snatch stuff. If the others needed her, they knew where she was.

Ashley closed her eyes, rested her head on the bar counter, and went off further into a happy place.

[Flare*]

"Ah. That... that sucks."

It probably wasn't the best response he could have given, but Colin had pretty quickly gone back into his own thoughts. The mention of Yagmur's best friend woes had reminded Colin of something, something he had been trying to forget about all morning.

Lucia.

His other classmates - even the ones who had died - hadn't been as bad as he had expected, honestly. They were people he saw from day to day, but never really interacted with. But Lucia was different. Lucia was someone he had hung out with, joked with, talked about life with, admired art with...

And apparently she had gone out and committed murder.

I NEED to ask her about that. There has to be a reason.

"... New Mexico, by the way. Won't get any rural jokes from me," Colin commented, remembering that the bigger boy had asked something of him. Satisfied with that answer, he uncapped his water bottle and took a gulp.

Colin was almost surprised at how good it felt rushing down his throat. He hadn't thought about it, but it had been over a day since he had gotten anything to drink - probably longer, depending on how long he was knocked out. Was one of those things you didn't really think about until you didn't have it anymore.

This game is crazy. I'm sitting here reflecting over a water bottle.

He was so busy reflecting, in fact, that it took him a second to realize that Yagmur had gotten up and was walking away.

"Hey, wait up!" Colin quickly cried out, picking up his bag and scurrying off after his traveling companion. It looked like he was just going further into the casino, but Colin still did not want to be left alone.

He rounded a corner, catching up with Yagmur... who was also standing with a group of girls. Two of which he recognized.

"Oh, hey there," he said, walking up to the other party. "Fancy seeing you all again."

Colin wondered about the third girl, but considering she was with Anzu and Ashley and they apparently hadn't killed anyone, he figured she was at least relatively sane. And at this point, he would take what he could get.

[Iceblock]

((Caroline Leveson continued from Fear and Loathing in Tiki Land))

If there was something she knew, it was that she would gladly stumble around in the dark for a while in order to find her friends.

For once, Caroline was glad for silence, the last refrains of the Queen song now echoing just in her mind. The announcement had come on a little while ago, but the sense of dread was only slowly fading. The band was still safe. For perhaps a lesser degree of relief, but relief all the same, Paisley and Pia (and Matt, sure) were still alive as well.

Eden wasn't. Other people, too, whose names she didn't recognize. Matt's classmates. Briefly, she wondered if he was as okay now as he had claimed he'd be about their deaths if his plan succeeded. And so many killers. Even Leah had killed. Leah, fellow choir girl, with the cute little red pigtails, a murderer? And Eden, who was one of the friendliest people around, in that way almost a second Sarah (that was a mental road she didn't want to go down), gone that quickly...

Caroline believed it all.

Not the details, because listening to Leonardo Dahnke over the past few seasons had drilled that out of her, but she knew the names were real. People were guilty. People were gone. She'd known it was coming. Every twelve hours. It still stung.

She pushed it out of her mind, forcing herself to focus on what broke the silence - the sounds coming through the door of the foul-smelling casino in front of her.

She had spent her time before the announcement moving up the boardwalk, checking buildings, staying away from windows and listening for voices, as the sun slowly descended in the sky. And now, ear pressed against the door, she heard muttering, heard discussion. The surprise was that she recognized one voice this time - one of Val's friends. A deep voice, the kind she would expect bass tones from... definitely Yagmur. He hadn't been on the announcement. But now the wheels of the show had started turning, and she knew just putting up a friendly front might not work anymore. The image to present: still friendly, but guarded, ready to fight back when necessary.

Not an easy out. That much remained the same. She moved the fire iron in her hand, weighing, considering.

Enough delaying. There was work to do, and the voices had fallen quiet. Her heart pounding in her chest, she eased the door open, keeping herself just out of sight. Then, a quick peek.

No one. Just a reception desk. She let herself relax a bit. Yagmur and his conversation buddy had moved further into the building, no doubt. She entered the casino, moving with careful steps, trying not to make noise. Searching in the opposite direction from the one she guessed Yagmur had gone in.

She heard him call out, the sound muffled by distance to the point that she couldn't make out what he had said.

Caroline raised an eyebrow, then went back to searching.

[Deamon]

Sarah nodded from her position on the table. It made sense, moving around in the dark would probably be dangerous. Not being able to see very well and with people wondering around it just sounded like a recipe for disaster. It would mean delaying their search for Valerie and Caroline but if they stayed in the casino they could also get some rest in. Not that Sarah actually felt that tired but it would probably be for the better if she at least napped or something just so that she was actually rested and didn't spend the whole day awake. It didn't sound like a recipe for success. In the end it was probably the most sensible option they could have taken. Sarah wasn't surprised that Anzu had been the one to come up with it.

Sarah shot up into a seated position when she heard the footsteps and voices, neither belonging to Anzu or Ashley. Luckily for Sarah's heart it was Yagmur and some other kid she didn't recognise (he must have been from the other school) who walked into view. Yagmur was a little weird, since he based himself around an old character from an old TV show, or that was what Anzu had told her. It was an interesting thing to base your entire personality off but Sarah didn't like to judge. She was the hyperactive drummer of a band that did covers and arrangements of video game songs as well as their own original stuff so she didn't exactly have a leg to stand on when it came to interesting personalities. Sarah didn't know Yagmur that well but from Anzu's reaction it was safe to assume he was friendly.

"Hey Yagmur!" She called out with a wave. "What've you been up too?" Sarah tried to rub her eyes in the most nonchalant way possible but she wasn't convinced it had worked well. She swung her legs back and forth as she sat on the table. She had no idea who the other boy with Yagmur was so she thought it was a safe guess to say he was from the same school as Ramón.

"Hi to you too!" She waved to the other boy who now that she thought about it looked a little bit like a skinny vampire, thanks to his lack of muscle and amazingly pale skin. Sarah reckoned she could stick him up against a white wall and actually lose him completely. It would be like 'Where's Waldo' except the penalty for losing was Wally bit you and drained you of your blood. Then again if he stepped outside he could burst into flames, Sarah made a note to check if he got nervous whenever the sun was mentioned.  "You're from New Mexico right?"