Murder Mysterium - Game End, Part 1

[idolpro]

Who: You!
Where: The Game Tower
When: Day 365, Morning

[ Surely, this time, it must be over. This time, this time, it must be over.

The remaining structures still standing collapse, crumbling into the rest of the demolished mansion. You notice, too—the flowers begin to stretch at every entrance to the garden mazes, vines and leaves and branches and thorns sealing them away from you, completely removing access. Some people may be stumbling out of the gardens now, but it's evident that if they aren't here with you now, they must have been kicked out of the game.

The space in front of the mansion—just in front of the doors—splits open, the space suddenly seeming two-dimensional as the space folds for a door. The door, actually—the door to the elevator that leads you home.

It's not open for business yet. Before you run off, away from this place forever—

You'll want to gather around the fountain.

Its water's stopped, though rather than any stillness in water you can instead see the water drain away, revealing a set of stairs as well as . . . every unit in the Graveyard. Ah, there they are.

Not all of them are intact—while LiliS, sensitIV, future is now, and AlcheME! are completely uninjured (barring any injuries they accrued on their personal time and/or while in the PvP pit), avante en garde and YOU-kai are injured, and sea.Di . . .

. . . well, those sure are some chunks, huh. . . ]

EVERY DAY/NIGHT/ROOM LINK | WINNERS | GUEST STAR MESSAGES | SCORING NOTES | BRING YOUR OWN TOPLEVELS

Comments

[unbr8kable]

[Shrugs again, staying where she is]

You got two arms and two wives. Pretty sure you got your hands full.

[purrrnicious]

And there's two of me, so cool, we can all count. But if you'd really rather crawl back I'm not going to argue with you.

[unbr8kable]

[Frowns, though perhaps it isn't about the prospects of a Stability-fueled controlled fall out of the game tower]

...Right. Is Zrael okay? I was s'posed to check back in.

[purrrnicious]

[Tilting her head to the side, just slightly, trying to puzzle something out.]

Sabre was with us. She was the only one I saw here.

[unbr8kable]

Yeah. So long's she didn't beef it.

[purrrnicious]

...

Since when are you two friendly?

[unbr8kable]

Just got some similar interests is all.

Avante and Zrael ain't been rivals since the very beginning, anyways. Made sense to stay out each other's way.

[purrrnicious]

What, like, trying to keep Heart from doing something stupid?

[unbr8kable]

I ain't sure that's possible...

[purrrnicious]

[Frowning a little, her tail flicking.]

For some of them it just comes naturally, I guess.

[unbr8kable]

Not every team sticks to their brand, but they really, really do.

[Leans back against the fountain, suddenly very tired]

Ain't much else to do but suck it up.

[purrrnicious]

...

No.

[unbr8kable]

That's how they are. That's how they want to be.

Don't gotta like something for it to be true.

[purrrnicious]

I know Adora. I know she's like that and she'll never listen.

But everyone always acts like it's okay –– like somehow that makes her admirable or heroic, if it's always, always her that is supposed to be sacrificed. They expect it and act like it's just what should happen, and even if there's nothing else I can do, I can at least be the one person that doesn't think it's okay to trade her life to get what I want or for the "greater good" or whatever other stupid reason people want to try and justify that with.

Maybe I want her to live. Maybe I think she should get what she wants, for a change. If you all want to call me selfish for that, then fine, whatever. I don't care any more.

...It's the least I can do for her, after everything.

[unbr8kable]

Making sure she lives and giving her what she wants are two different things.

They want to save everybody...they wanna have everybody play nice for the good of the group.

They don't wanna think about how that ain't how everybody thinks and sure ain't how everybody plays. They don't wanna make the tough decisions if it's gonna hurt somebody, 'cause they're too soft. They don't wanna go after nobody 'cept themselves 'cause they feel too guilty, no matter how shitty it is for the rest of us left behind.

Do you know how many times I seen Cross die this past year? You really think--

[Her voice breaks; she swallows and looks away with a deep frown. A breath and she starts over, more controlled, if plenty bitter]

...If you wanna do what she wants--if you wanna do the quote-unquote heroic thing to do, then you gotta be willing to sacrifice yourself and your time and your teammates--you gotta be out there figuring out the best plan to help the most people, and convincing your team and all the other teams that acting in other people's best interest is in their best interest, even when it ain't. You also gotta be willing to eat shit for a bunch of people who won't never appreciate it, since 99 percent of the time that's how it's gonna turn out.

If you don't wanna do what she wants, the best you can do is respect her choices and let her do her thing.

[purrrnicious]

I don't assume anything about you, or your stalker, or the rest of Heart. That's your business. And you really haven't been paying attention if you think that I want to be "heroic".

But I've known Adora my whole life, apparently she even named me, so don't lecture me about what she wants. You really don't know anything about it.

[Her tone is relatively mild. Probably.]

[unbr8kable]

[Her expression shutters, only briefly flicking to hurt before smoothing to disaffected (or at least relatively so given the whole recent un/exploding and all)]

...Right. Forget it. Why am I wasting your time when I obviously don't know nothing about nothing?

[purrrnicious]

Wow, that's a leap, when I'm just saying you don't know Adora like I do.

[Flicking her tail, and there's a beat before she continues.]

...But you're not really talking about her, are you?

[unbr8kable]

[She frowns, but that's certainly no denial]

Doesn't matter. Same results either way.

...This time they didn't beef it, at least. Not for lack of trying.

[purrrnicious]

[She just shrugs. ]

Everyone just does what they want. Everyone. Honestly I kind of prefer dealing with units like BARiTONES, at least they’re upfront about it — makes them predictable.

The ones that pretend they’re nice and friendly and everything they do is for “the greater good” and is justified and they totally care about what they’re doing to others — they’re the worst.

[unbr8kable]

[Shifts, surreptitiously(?) rubbing at one ear]

Well, your old lady's one of 'em, so guess the "worst" ain't that bad to you.

[purrrnicious]

Uh, my what now? “Old lady”?

[unbr8kable]

The little woman. The old ball and chain. Your better half. The missus. The wife.

[purrrnicious]

Oh. Adora.

[She makes a lil ‘tch’ sound, looking away as her tail flicks moodily.]

Uh, no, it is the worst, when she’s on one of her self-righteous streaks.

...But the rest of it’s not her. You don’t know her. Adora never does what she wants, she does what she thinks everyone else expects of her. With the Horde, it was be the perfect soldier, practise til she tops every test, be the future Force Captain who will bring the Rebellion to its knees. Then she joined the princesses and it was be the hero, be the one to save them all, give up everything for the “greater good”, whatever that’s supposed to be. And here...

Heart was the worst team they could’ve put her on.

[unbr8kable]

...You really think that if she was on Baritones or Wild City or Taisho, she'd give up on that idealism she remembered and only focus on saving her own skin?