AKIRA

[voidbreaker]

awww shit here they go again

Comments

[survivaltricks]

Yeah; I think they are.

Lili said that everyone in her "game" received powers, and figuring out who had what power made solving trials difficult. So I bet she and her friend are collecting as much information as they can on who has what kind of power for--

[a beat]]

[. . . sighs. does he have to acknowledge it!!]

For when we inevitably have to root out a murderer.

[voidbreaker]

Chatterbox said his power was literally meteors, so I'm guessing they must've seen some shit if people were throwing powers like that around week after week.

[ it makes sense. having weird powers is gonna add layers to all this when it kicks off, so yeah--

probably time to acknowledge the elephant in the room. ]

Yeah. Whether it all kicks off immediately or what, if we know what kind of powers we're working with we can narrow culprits down quicker.

[survivaltricks]

[METEORS. SO IT WAS KARA WITH THE METEORS. LILI HAD MENTIONED METEORS BUT HADN'T SAID WHO HAD THE METEORS. GOD]

[laughs. breathlessly. and tiredly. there's no humor in it]

I hate this part.

[voidbreaker]

[ YEAH KARA LITERALLY HAD METEORS. AND ONLY USED THEM ONCE, BLESS RAY FOR THAT RESTRAINT. ]



[ ash leans slightly to bump his shoulder against akira's ]

I'm not exactly stoked about it either. We've all been through this before -- whether that'll change anything or not, I don't know...

[survivaltricks]

[. . . slightly frustrated, like he's releasing something he's been holding in since they arrived on Friday]

I want it to change. I don't want things to turn out like they did back at the mansion, or the castle, or the village, or--

[snaps his mouth shut and pushes away from the wall, raking a hand through his hair]

Everyone is acting like it won't. And it might not, but-- isn't acting like that also a self-fulfilling prophecy?

[voidbreaker]

I don't know.

[ might as well be frank about it. ]

Maybe? Maybe not. Without something motivating us, maybe nothing'll happen. I don't think any of us [ and he makes a small circular motion with his hand; us, the lot from the mansion ] would kill, because we know what we all went through and what we had to do to get out of that mansion. And it'd be stupid of me to think that we were the only ones who had to go through that much to get free.

Maybe everyone else is the same. But if there are other conditions -- monster transformations, a curse, or even blackmail or manipulation... [ he shrugs. ] That complicates shit.

Did you think something would freak out Ayabe so much it'd push the shortstack to commit murder?

[survivaltricks]

. . .

[yeah. once again, Akira knows that he can't just naively believe that nothing will happen. that they'll be able to stop whatever forces that may drive them to murder]

[he exhales deeply]

. . . you're not wrong. [he admits, though something out his tone is strained] I'm just so frustrated. You know?

[voidbreaker]

Yeah?

[ c'mon akira. ]

Be frustrated. I'm pissed as hell about this? That's not a damn weakness, or something you gotta jusify.

I really doubt we're the only ones.

[survivaltricks]

[clenching his hands into fists so tight his knuckles are white]

I know. I know. Use my anger as fuel to propel me forward, right? I've lived by that motto for the past year and some change. I will never think my anger is a weakness.

[but. . .?]

I'm tired of being helpless. Of standing around and just watching while people around me drop like flies, killed by those I consider friends.

I will not sit around and be useless at stopping any of this again.

[voidbreaker]

[ ...

alright. ash just turns enough to reach out and flick akira between the eyes. there's no real power or force behind it though. ]

No taking on all the shit yourself.

We're all here, we've all been through this shit before, and while I'd leave one or two of you at the side of the road if I was biking by, I'm not into the idea of repeating the same crap again.

Talk it out with us. Plan with us. And don't do something reckless and get yourself in trouble we can't drag you out of. Or I'll smack some sense into you, and I don't care if that involves figuring out how to revive you early if you kick the bucket so I can do it.

[survivaltricks]

[a surprised noise, and the flick easily wipes the anger off of his features, melting away into surprise. he lifts a hand to rub his forehead as he blinks at Ash blankly]

[. . .]

[and then he huffs]

All of that goes without saying.

I wouldn't do anything stupid without you right at my side, Ash.

[voidbreaker]

[ .......... ]

I can't even pretend that's not gonna happen.

[ damn. oh well.

he just holds up an arm, hand clenched in a fist. ]

We do this properly, or we cause hell dragging whoever's causing this down with us.

[survivaltricks]

[laughs, eyes sparking with mischief, before he lifts an arm to bump his against Ash's. yeah!!!]

You're goddamned right we do.

[voidbreaker]

[ fist bump! ]

Might as well cause a little chaos for dealing with all this crap.

[survivaltricks]

It's what the two of us do best, isn't it?

[they need something LOCKED to break into]

[voidbreaker]

That, as well as breaking into desks, and pissing off Eldritch nightmares.

[survivaltricks]

I'd say "and then blowing them to pieces" but that was 45, wasn't it?

[voidbreaker]

Yeah, I don't think we get all the credit for stuff going wild back there.

[survivaltricks]

Only partial credit, which is more than enough for me.

[voidbreaker]

[ ahh. the good (?) ol' days. ]

...

Think we should be branching out too? If people are trying to figure out who's working with what type of power, maybe we need to think about the doing the same.

[ lili an seems... too head strong and noble to not share her information if asked, but it couldn't hurt, could it? ]

[survivaltricks]

Of course I do. I've already been trying to get to know people from the other games.

[nodnods!]

Like I said before. . . we shouldn't group ourselves into factions. We're all in this together, regardless of where we come from.

[voidbreaker]

...

It'll probably happen a bit, y'know. Whether you mean it to or not. [ let's just be blunt. ] Can't override six to nine weeks of hell with a few friendly chats.

I think people are aware of it though. If we're aware maybe we'll actually use our damn brains and try to avoid falling into that trap.

[ ... ]

And I mean it literally -- start asking people about their powers, but in that same vague way. I'm not against sharing info I get with some of the others, and that'd maybe go towards narrowing that faction gap you're worried about.

[survivaltricks]

I'm not against sharing it, either. I already told Lili what I told you, and I wouldn't be surprised if she starts spreading that information around to people she trusts.

But I'll start asking as well. And maybe--

[hm]

You think it's a good idea to get everyone who was part of the mansion together for a meeting about this?

[voidbreaker]

Yeah. Might as well get these thoughts out there and figure out how we want to play this. We're... what, the biggest or second biggest group here?

[ ...







... ]

Can we gag Carrot-top though?

[survivaltricks]

We're the biggest, with the island group coming in second.

[. . .]

And no.