PC: Tama 💀

[resumed]

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[resumed]

[ he frowns a little because yeah, that's putting it lightly. ]

I tried to disable the cameras, but I don't think it worked. I hate that there's no avoiding it so everyone can just see it when we didn't ask for this.

[ballies]

[ ah-- ]

The glitch was you?

... If this happens again, I can try.

[resumed]

What's the point of having new powers if I can't try to make a difference? [ but he looks surprised and nods to that. ] You might have better luck. Yours is more...network-based, isn't it?

[ballies]

That’s one way of putting it. I really need to play around with it more, but— I think I could disrupt a signal. I might try next week and see how long I can keep it going for.

[resumed]

Depending on what happens next week. It's not a bad plan. If this is going to be the new norm...[ he scowls. ] I hate that they expect us to take care of the problem ourselves, but then they take pleasure in watching us tear each other apart. How's that even fair?

[ballies]

…


Do you think they’re scared?

[resumed]

[ he considers her question. it doesn't really matter who "they" are in this instance. it wouldn't change his answer. ]

Aren't we all a little at this point?

[ballies]

Naturally.

But that would explain why they’re hiding away somewhere and leaving heroes to deal with hero problems. It doesn’t explain why people are suddenly killing though, or why there’s suddenly a rule about it.

[resumed]

[ ...here, he frowns. and he realizes that he fucked up a little but it's fine, better late than never. ]

I have something to show you, actually. Do you want the bad, or the bad first?

[ he is already reaching into his pockets for something. ]

[ballies]

[ … ]

Go on, hit me with the bad.

[resumed]

[ he takes out both a white piece of paper and his phone! he will give her the paper first. it says:

The stakes so far have been too boring. It’s no fun when all they do at the end of the day is go home, so for the next round, we’ll spice it up a bit. If they want a chance for anyone to return at all, they’ll have to take that chance from someone else.

One death each week is enough to keep the door open. Kill, or lose everything any of them have cared about. Let’s see how heroic they can be in those conditions. ]

The bad.

[ and when she's done with that, he hands her his phone. there is a photo of a different piece of white paper. this one says:

These heroes are unable to return to the worlds they call home while they have yet to win their competition. If a team loses, all those within the team, present and future, those worlds they hail from will come under the light of the moon. Those worlds will be forever changed with the loss of the heroes hailing from them. There is nothing better than a hero under distress.

By winning they will be putting their companions here at risk. By losing, their homes will be rewritten to be completely different, erasing their place within it. A dire situation indeed. A benefit no matter the outcome. ]

And the bad.

[ballies]

[ there’s just a long silence at this.







and then— ]

Those ASSHOLES. “It’s no fun”?????? “We’ll spice it up a bit”???? Get a hobby, learn to crochet, I don’t give a damn what you do, leave us out of it.

[resumed]

[ HELP.

well. he had expected her to react poorly so he's not that surprised, but he does jump when she starts yelling. ]

Those are my sentiments exactly. [ WHO ASKED FOR THIS AHHHHH. ] I don't know if either culprit knew about this before Thursday, but it definitely changes a lot of what we know and reminds us our hands are being forced here.

[ballies]

[ of course she’s gonna YELL. ]

Is this something you found about after what happened on Thursday? Neither of them were with you, so— unless someone else told them?

[resumed]

Yeah. When everything was over, we found the paper in our getaway car. The other three that were there found the other paper in theirs. [ there's a pause. ] I've never really spoken to Argalia. But Chiemi knew because we told her and a few others.

[ballies]

…

Who did you tell? [ me knowing logistically that would be too late for jan to react to, but icly like. damn. the timing. ]

[resumed]

...Will, Ace, Nimona, Reigen, Hung, Chiemi, Rita, Datz, and Lillium. We would have told Norma but she missed the text and didn't show up.

[ballies]

That's... quite a lot of people now. So there's a chance Chiemi could've acted on that information...?

[resumed]

That's what I've been afraid of, but I don't know for sure. All of us who spoke agreed not to give into it. So why would she...?

[ballies]

Unless there's something else in play. Something we don't know about yet.

[resumed]

There has to be. It's like we're starting to get pieces of a puzzle, but it's all the inside ones so you can't even tell where they're supposed to go. Where are our edges?

[ballies]

Right. We don't have the frame work, we just have snippets that don't make any sense. If Chiemi promised she wouldn't act on it, then I'd like to think she kept her promise.


So, does that mean something forced her?

[resumed]

...I didn't say she didn't promise. Just that we all thought it was a terrible idea. [ so it's entirely possible she chose to act. neither of them will know jan betrayed us long before we got the info. ] But I wonder if maybe it didn't matter to her.

[ballies]

[ ah, well. that's a little different. sorry jan, we know oocly chiemi didn't act on that info because it was past murder deadline, but icly she is tainted. ]

Risk versus reward. But now she's dead...

[resumed]

Yeah. It's not like we can ask her yet even if we wanted to. [ why is that a yet. ] But it makes you wonder the motive behind it all.