GAME OVER (S██'s Palace)

[pointzeropercent]

Comments

[beathollow]

...

( she hates this. )

[unweathered]

[ Was Schneider here this whole time? Of course she was. She just keeps wandering off like a stray cat without a leash]

Hand it over. I'll do it.

[Give her the gun]

[beathollow]

( OH GOD THE SCARY PRETTY GIRL CAME OUT OF NOWHERE- )

Ah. Hello.

( ...

she doesn't feel like it would be a good idea to declare that unless necessary she'll be on the sideline to heal as needed. but. that is the decision she's making.

please don't think she's insulting you schneider- )

[metagame]

[Atem nods only once to Schneider before he takes a chair.

This isn't blind faith--- he saw what she can do with a gun back against Oberon. So he believes without a doubt she'll beat this shitty game. He will show Shin that he can trust others... He doesn't have to lie or be afraid!]

[moodwrecker]

[Oh great, it's the scary girl...]

That still leaves the question of how we get out of this without shooting a live person.

[metagame]

There are three live rounds and six blanks.

Being shot with a blank will still hurt, but it won't be nearly as fatal as a live round.

[moodwrecker]

That's assuming they can avoid hitting us with a live round.

[prozaic]

I have it, thank you.

[Rutile gave him the gun, and. Well. He has ideas.]

Hand me the bullets, everyone. I'll spin the barrel before the first shot, and be sure to aim at a person before a mannequin.

[pointzeropercent]

[Currently seats 1, 3, 4, 5, and 8 are occupied by mannequins. Seats 2, 6, 7, and 9 are free for the taking.

Once the four seats are filled and the shooter as loaded the gun (specifying what order the bullets are being put in the gun, spots 1-9), then we shall begin.]

[metagame]

[Atem sits in seat six!]

[speedingticket]

[ Gently sitting down in seat 2... ]

[moodwrecker]

[She'll take lucky seat number seven and try not to look too nervous (she's hella nervous)]

[pointzeropercent]

[Sayaka will be in seat 9 then.]

[prozaic]

Very well. [Sighs. He can't believe he's playing this stupid! Fucking! Game!

He hates Ursine Russian roulette so much.]

First two chambers get blanks. Third has a live round. Fourth and fifth have blanks. The sixth and seventh have live rounds, and the eighth and ninth have blanks. For those keeping track, you may be thinking that this gun has ten chambers-- no, all of them are filled. This is a custom gun that defies gun safety just by existing and if it explodes in my hand as I shoot, I will not be surprised. Unimpressed, but not surprised. [You can TELL he hates this game.]

And, now I spin it. [There goes the whirr of the barrel spinning, Shalem waiting for it to come to a halt before snapping it in place.]

[pointzeropercent]

[The barrel spins and spins round after round, going so fast nobody can keep track of which bullet is where. Finally it snaps back into place, a random bullet from that orientation in the chamber.

Fire at will, Shalem.]

[prozaic]

[You know what? He'll put Rutile out of his misery first, since he's very nervous.]

Feel free to haunt me if you do die. Nightmares have no hold on me anymore, but guilt is still an emotion I possess. But I do hope my idea works and you live, I do like you.

[Not in the like-like-- don't tell Haruka.]

1/2 (CW: GUNSHOT DEATH)

[pointzeropercent]

[See, the funny thing is that with dummy bullets, nothing flies out the end. It 'fires' like a real bullet, but the only worry is the concussive force of the air and gunpowder.

From the moment Shalem fires the gun, it's very clear that he has fired a real bullet right at Rutile's head. In the blink of an eye it buries itself in his forehead, ending his life in a flash of pain.]

RUTILE HAS EXPIRED

2/3??

[speedingticket]

[ Rutile bites his lip. It's nice to know, at least, in this moment of tension, that who was once a kind stranger does actually like him. He trusts Shalem, in turn, and he trusts he'll make good on his word, that he knows what he's doing, that no one will die.

He squeezes his eyes shut. He won't haunt him. But he thinks, of prayer: Tell my brother, Figaro, Lennox, I love them. Tell Mithra and the sage I'm sorry.

It scarcely hurts.

The bullet pierces his head and it's over in an instant. But instead of blood that drips from the wound, cracks spread outward across his body, like fine porcelain dropped onto the floor. In its wake blooms a brilliant iridescent blue, shining muted under the dim light of the room.

For a split second, it remains in the shape of Rutile.

In the next second, it shatters. Scattering over the chair and the floor and rolling to Shalem's feet are hundreds of fragments of beautiful mana stones. ]

3/3

[pointzeropercent]

[But then time rewinds in front of everyone's eyes. The pieces of Rutile rise up from the ground, pulling together to form the shape of Rutile once more. The gemstone look changes back to flesh and bone. The bullet comes back out of Rutile's forehead, back into the gun, and all the way back to the moment when Shalem is about to put the bullets into the gun.

Time is reversed, but the memory remains.

In that moment, a teal hand is covering Shalem's.]

You almost got it. Look a little closer, you're nearly there.

[And then that friendly face is gone again.]

[unweathered]

[Hmmmm]

Oh? How does that help?

[prozaic]

The weights of a live round and blanks are different. Imperceptibly to us, but it may still change the outcome.

[unweathered]

Hm. Good luck then.

[beathollow]

( WATCHING AS THE GAME UNFOLDS LIKE ARE YOU SEEING THIS )

[unweathered]

[She should have gotten aggressive. This is what happens when she plays nice. Sigh]

[beathollow]

( mafuyu supports the beatiful murderqueen. )