WEEK 4

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WEEK 4

READY, STEADY, GO-KARTS!

After a harrowing week of forced honesty and a surprise attack from the God of Conflict, it seems the Goddess’ “gift” has finally faded - and just in time! Today marks the date of the highly anticipated Go-Kart Race, featuring a whopping twelve teams from the Goddess’ picks and a number of teams comprised of locals. Fortunately the weather is holding up well for the event, with clear skies and a radiant sun beating down on all contestants as they wait to begin, the heat reflecting off the asphalt. Hopefully everyone thought to use sunscreen!

The local arcade has decked out the go-kart track in flags representing the different teams, and some local businesses have set up both a spectator stand area near the finish line, as well as kiosks selling snacks and drinks for the spectators and anyone who happens to wander by! There are also some midway fair game booths and portable game machines if you're not really here for the go-karts and just here for a fun afternoon out. The best part is that everyone who enters the event zone gets three free tokens courtesy of the arcade, so you've got nothing to lose~ Unless you do happen to lose, which means that you'll probably have to purchase more tokens from the distracted teenagers volunteering manning the admin booth.

ALL'S WELL THAT-- HUH?

Eventually, all the preamble is completed, and it’s time for the race! A light counts down from red to yellow to green, and the racers are off!

While the start of the race is a jumble, a few in particular begin to pull ahead of the pack: Spade of the Sea and Kururu and Schneider in particular! Tragically, Team Bloody Angels just can’t seem to get the speed they want and seem to get stalled by various traps, falling further and further behind…

In the middle of the bunch, Atem and Sunrise manage to maintain their speed, while THE CUTIE PATOOTIES, Fire’n Ice, and Aaron and Morgan all struggle to surpass each other - leaving Beautiful, Bright Knights of Lovely Radiance, and Exquisite Midnight Shimmering unfortunately trapped behind the three and unable to pass at all. Towards the back of the group, Badass Ladies compete directly with TEAM ROADKILL for their place, while Frieren and Arven have a leisurely drive by comparison.

The first and second laps go without incident. But on the third…

Something about the local teams changes. Instead of the regular frustration of losing, some of them seem to fall into, well, road rage.

Schneider and Kururu, nearly caught up to Hiiro and Jordi, find their hopes dashed as a woman in a blue bandana bumps them from behind - the impact enough to cut their engine for a moment too long, allowing Hiiro and Jordi to pass the finish line in first place without any trouble.

The middle of the pack gets the worst of it. Jesse and Mafuyu find themselves hounded by a woman in aviators who manages to ram into their Go-Kart hard enough to dent the guard, putting pressure on the wheel - while they cross at the same time as others, they are unable to steer the Go-Kart due to the damages, and find themselves ramming into guardrail. While Mafuyu is miraculously without injury, Jesse takes the brunt of the force and will be feeling that whiplash the next day.

Aaron and Morgan get a brick - a literal brick - chucked at them, and while they manage to avoid getting hit themselves, they have to do a violent swerve to do so. That’ll also be a bit of whiplash for them, too. Badass Ladies get sideswiped by one of the locals and their kart ends up grinding against one of the guardrails. Eek.

The real destruction, however, hits the back end of the group - a man in yellow sneakers manages to bash hard into Eli and Kirumi, pushing them off course. The impact causes them to bump into Aerith and Maika along the way, who lose control of the steering wheel and knock Fray and Argenti into the wall. Fray sustains injuries as he’s dragged against the wall for a moment until Argenti is able to right their path again, pulling them back into the middle of the course. Eli and Kirumi don’t get off so easily, either - the bump against Aerith and Maika isn’t enough to stop their momentum, and Eli cracks his right shoulder against a barrier as Kirumi hits the brakes to prevent further injury. Fray, Argenti, Eli, and Kirumi will be feeling whiplash the next day.

Braphine’s chosen aren’t the only victims, either - a woman with red combat boots and a man in a green jacket each crash into local competitors, and the result is a six-kart pileup.

Frieren and Arven and Team Bloody Angels witness all of this from the back of the race, though neither team can do much except to continue on to the finish line.

What should have been a celebration at the end instead turns into panic as medics are called onto the scene and emergency personnel are summoned to the track. While many of the people in the stands seem roiling with discontent and beginning to argue and fight over the cause of all these injuries, a few of the locals hurry down to the course to help. Schneider, Aaron, Argenti, Aerith, Eli, and Kirumi will find themselves aided by familiar faces - the boutique staff recognized them and are here to lend them and their partners a hand in getting treated for their injuries.

As the racetrack descends into chaos, it soon becomes difficult to keep track of everyone. However, Hiiro, Schneider, Sally, Morgan, Argenti, Aerith, Frieren, and Celeste all notice a figure in a strangely ancient hood standing among the stands, a fierce grin on their face - before the figure turns and disappears into the crowd.

Mina - having come to spectate and cheer on everyone from the stands - gets a rather panicked look on her face as she watches it all unfold. She quickly takes out her phone and begins typing frantically at it, before hitting “send.”

All at once, all of Braphine’s chosen will hear their phones begin to beep.

CALL FOR HELP.

I've added emergency commissions to the app - please take them on if you are able to/need to!

We can get through this if we all work together. So, please... look out for each other out there, okay?

COMMISSIONS

HELPING HAND

Please help the injured! Even if it's as small as first-aid or comforting a scared child who's gotten lost in the aftermath of the go-kart crash, any little bit of help would be appreciated by the overwhelmed medical staff at the scene! Unless you’re already injured, in which case, please allow yourself to be tended to!

(OOC note: For clarity, this commission reward applies both to characters who are helping the injured and those who are injured in the thread!)

HOLY HEALING

The hospital is going to need more supplies. For those who are strong enough, please seek out Archangel Shadows in the Nekyia. They should drop blessed feathers - these feathers then can be taken to Braphine’s Temple, and the priest or priestess there should be able to turn them into medicine for the injured.

RACETRACK REPAIRS

In the aftermath of the go-kart pileup and everything associated with it, it's time for people who are good with their hands to roll up their sleeves and help the locals with repairs - clear the debris off the track and make sure the way is clear for the emergency vehicles and construction crews who need to access the site!

OOC

READ ME!!!!

• Welcome to your Week 4 event log! While this log covers the go-kart race and its immediate aftermath, please feel free to use this log to thread out anything else happening during the week after and we will see you next week for the Week 5 event!
  
• Note to all go-kart participants that there has been some shuffling in the team compositions due to player drops as well as Everything That Happened on Friday. Regardless, you can claim event participation gacha rewards if you signed up and have one thread of at least 10 comments with a go-kart related prompt on this post.
  
• Archangel stats and information have been added to the bestiary!
  
• AC is due end of the month! Make sure you get that in~
  

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Comments

[bloodandstars]

[ The people with a moral leg to stand on can — and have — already chimed in just fine on that aspect of things. Maika can't really say she has a strong feeling one way or the other about a sudden murder in their midst. If anything, it's probably overdue.

She definitely doesn't have it in her to be disappointed in anything anymore. That requires believing in something in the first place. ]

I've got a question. What's the point in telling us?

[ She'll hear the answer and all. But for the moment she's plowing right on: ]

Sure makes a statement, doesn't it? You'll take out the trash as you see fit. You're scarier than a monster like that, scarier than whatever we're facing down from that "God of Conflict." Trying to set yourself up as a leader? It's a pretty good precedent to make sure no one puts a toe out of line.

[beautifulknight]

[ They have and Argenti does not agree with their moral point of views, apparently. So when Maika is speaking up, he decides to answer, straight-to-the-point: ]

So that no one has to wonder about why he is no longer among us.

[ He assumes she means the general "why did you tell us that you killed him at all" and so Argenti has answered accordingly. ]

To be honest, I have no interest in being a leader. [ Knights of Beauty typically work solitary. Not usually with groups. This is probably part of the problem. ] If someone wishes to lead the group, I shall gladly leave it to them. I hope that perhaps others gain the initiative to also start meetings in the future.

[ Argenti assumes that answers his position in regards to the final statement as well, so he doesn't bother saying anything else on the matter. ]

[bloodandstars]

Great. So the next person that goes missing, now we know: either a less conscientious murderer got them, or you act different if it's someone you think might actually be missed.

[ Because she's not overlooking that, aside from some shock, the general reception to summary execution is approval. And why wouldn't it be? "Evil" is the safest propaganda word in the book. ]

Word of advice. You drag your kills in front of people — literally or figuratively — and that's a threat. Dress it up however you want after. A pretty clever woman once told me that you can't take pieces of people without there being consequences. A life is ripple that makes a wave.

[beautifulknight]

[ Argenti blinks as she mentions those things at first. ]

Wouldn't it also be natural to be sad if a friend passes away?

[ He doesn't think he has many of those, but it seems Maika didn't list that exactly as an option in regards to potential scenarios here.

In the end, though, it is the concept of him being a "threat" that has arisen again. Mentioned by Schneider, indicated by Kirumi, and now Maika. To be honest, he expects detractors; that seems natural, but he doesn't exactly think he's posing himself as a "threat". Even for those who disagree with what he's said, hasn't he been helpful? ]

How exactly is what I'm doing indicating I'm a threat? Isn't it natural that people would wish to know what happened in his case? And what the story behind it was? Not to mention, it would be dishonorable as a Knight of Beauty to hide that this act was perpetrated by myself. Though, in the end, I do wish to state that I do very much understand the consequences of taking a life. I've already known others will disapprove, and that others will approve.

Is it better to you, then, if I had decided to keep what I did to myself?

cw: fantasy propaganda racism???

[bloodandstars]

[ Is he playing dumb? Or is he trying to piss her off right now? If she were certain it was the second option, she'd do a better job holding onto her temper. She hates giving people what they want. ]

What the fuck does sadness have to do with anything? What has that ever changed?

[ The more he asks, the angrier she gets. No one with the capacity to kill that easily could be totally unaware of the repercussions of it. "Approval"? "Disapproval"? Maika stomps forward into his space, expression thunderous — though unarmed as she is in multiple senses, it's questionable how menacing that is. ]

You stand in front of everyone and tell them you killed a man because you could... Because you wanted to, because you decided he was "evil," and you don't see how that's a fucking threat? When people start justifying their murders, it's because they're telling you exactly what to expect the next time they do it.

[ She's pissed enough to have momentum now, leaning up to really look him in the eyes. ]

You know what the Cumaea say about arcanics? That we're abominations, cruder than animals, too stupid to speak. That we're monsters who live only for the suffering of humans. And that's about all of us. Not just for the real monsters, like me. Murderers who kill to survive? Maybe they won't kill if they're not in danger. Murderers who kill for "principles" don't have any limits.

[beautifulknight]

You said: "...either a less conscientious murderer got them, or you act different if it's someone you think might actually be missed."

In regards to someone going missing. The second half of that you implied that I'd act different if it's 'someone I think might actually be missed'. But, that doesn't make any sense at all. [ Sorry, Maika. Did you expect something else? He just looks confused. ] I don't pretend to care, and even if it is someone I don't know, I would have concerns if they were missing. I would also very much be sad and miss the person greatly if they were a friend. That's why I said what I did.

In addition, I don't see how that's showing myself as a threat at all.

I gave my reasons as to why I killed him, and what he said for me to have made that conclusion. Why wouldn't I think he was evil? He already said he used and killed the people he had in his experiments. He already said he had no intentions of changing his ways in regards to how he treated people. Then, he also indicated how he managed to find the cure to what he was researching, which was absolutely horrid.

Even if you don't like how I brought forth what I had done, would you not call what he did evil?

[ Even as she looks him back in the eyes, Argenti simply looks right back at her; he doesn't even look angry. Though, he does frown when she mentions what's happened to her in her world; in fact, it's most upset he's looked when they've been talking to one another in the middle of the meeting. But, it is not just centered on what she has said about him or those people.

He can only wonder why she called herself a monster. It's rare he even hears someone say that of themselves, and of course, he catches it. But first... ]

That said, what you experienced was horrid, and it is inexcusable for others to hurl cruel insults at others. I won't say that there aren't those who justify their actions in order to commit terrible atrocities. I can only say that I am not one of them, even if you won't believe me.

...I don't think you're a monster, either. And, I'm not sure why you think you are.

cw: human experimentation, cannibalism, violence by/against children

[bloodandstars]

I'm saying that it's a lot easier for you to stand in front of this group and tell them you got rid of someone everyone wanted gone.

[ There is no way he could possibly have missed her meaning, right? She's not letting him weasel out of this by pretending otherwise. Her scowl is deepening by the second, if that's even possible. ]

Would I call him evil? I don't know a fucking thing about him. And neither do you, really. Maybe he was just another monster who deserved to die. I'm not going to shed any tears over him. But when crowds start agreeing how much safer they feel with the scary creatures dragged out and shot? That's when I stop trusting any of you.

[ For extra emphasis she jabs a finger against Argenti's armored chest, still glaring at him. She doesn't seem to feel the need to make any more aggressive move than that, but she's not backing down either. ]

You want to know what your problem is? [ Unfortunately, she is not pausing to give him an opportunity to answer that. ] You really believe that every evil person knows they're evil, don't you? That's why you can look me in the eyes and tell me you're not justifying your actions to commit atrocities.

cw: cannibalism and human experimentation, gore

What the Cumaea did to us wasn't "cruel insults." It was making themselves believe that we deserved everything they did to us. So when they lay us out on their lab tables and chop us up into chunks of meat to be measured and sold off, when they keep us in cages to eat us piece by fucking piece, when they grind us up for the magic in our bones, they don't feel a single thing about it. You know how old they are when they take courses on how to dissect us? Eight year old kids cutting open "research materials" just as young as they are.

That's why I don't trust a single word out of your mouth right now. I can make you believe I'm just as much of a monster as Ushirono was. I'm not afraid of your judgment. But from my perspective? I don't see a whole lot to choose between, with you and Ushirono. And I'll make you fucking choke on my bones before I'll be your excuse for the next time you want to play executioner.

[beautifulknight]

[ Argenti certainly did. He thinks that, perhaps, he never understood her implications at all, and he's still struggling to understand them.

It can be the fact that they're from two entirely separate backgrounds, or the fact that they think simply so far different from one another that it's happened. ]

Why would you think it'd be easier for me to do that? ...Even when I had taken care of him, I never assumed everyone would wish for him to be gone. I always knew that there would be consequences.

[ There's a pause, and he shakes his head at her next words, even if he doesn't have time to refute what she says about the words being sent his way, even as she jabs a finger straight into the front of his armor. But, perhaps it's for the best, because while he has a lot to say that he thinks contrary to what Maika thinks he thinks, because in the end, he believes she simply doesn't know how he himself thinks. Instead, he's listening to her talking about the atrocities that have been committed against her kind, and that is when tears begin to slide down his cheeks. ]

That's...horrid. That's absolutely disgusting. It's ugly, in every sense of the word. They...if only they can be made to pay for what they've done.

[ His voice breaks for the first time in the meeting, but, it seems even as the tears continue to roll down his cheeks. Somehow, Argenti thinks he has gained a better understanding of her now. Why she thinks what she does of him, so he sees no point in correcting her from this point, when it originally confused him. Instead, he looks at her and simply says: ]

It's fine if you don't trust me. I already knew that what I did would result in it in the first place.

But I feel that you must know...that even if you would try to make me believe that you're as much as a monster as Ushirono is, I wouldn't believe you.

[ Maika already revealed by her words that she and Ushirono are far too separate people. That she would only make him "believe" that she's as much as a monster as he is. So, how can he ever believe her now in such a ploy, even if she gave her best efforts? Perhaps she may never trust in him or believe in him, and that is her right. But it is also his right to not believe her in kind, if she should try to dress herself up as a villain, thinking that he will not even bother to attempt to think it through. ]

[bloodandstars]

[ Maika hadn't been fishing for any specific reaction — at this point, even she knows she's venting her temper more than anything else — but there'd always been the possibility of something. The mask of politeness slipping, or a moment of sparking understanding hinting that he'll admit that he threw down what amounts to a pinless grenade in the middle of the group.

She wasn't expecting tears. She recoils a tiny bit, staring up at him in patent disbelief that's slowly giving way to even deeper wells of anger. ]

I made them pay, alright. I left a pile of witch corpses behind and gave them plenty of fuel for their next fucking crusade against us. It wasn't righteous, and it wasn't pretty. It was just murder. And I'm not sorry for it. If you want to cry over every piece of ugliness in the world, you'll be here a long damn time.

[ She doesn't want to think of his tears as meaning anything other than that. All the other possibilities could only make her angrier. And as for the rest of it... she steps away and shoots one more glare of disgust. If it's crimes he wants, she could rattle off a list longer than he is tall. People way less deserving than the Cumaea that got between her and what she wanted, who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But as he's already made plenty clear... what's the point? ]

At least we agree on one thing: neither of us is going to believe each other. Then I'm not going to waste my time.

[ She's going to linger at the meeting to see if she can get more info, but she will walk pointedly away from him with a glare intended to discourage him from following. ]