WEEK ZERO: EXECUTION

[cluedin]

WEEK ZERO: EXECUTION

Some of you may have slept well knowing you did the right thing. Other of you may have tossed and turned, struggling with feelings of guilt and unease. Regardless of which group you fit into, it doesn't change the fact that on Sunday morning all guests will find themselves compelled to head to the front door. When all have gathered, the door will swing open and allow the group to witness a scene on the front lawn.

Nikki has been set out in her metal cage, isolated from the rest of the group. It isn't long before Peach, Plum and Pumpkin appear from another part of the yard wheeling a large box. Stopping in front of the cage, the trio begins to speak.

"We gather here today to say goodbye to our dear friend Nikki.

Nikki was a fashion queen,
But her monster side made her mean,
So even though she tried her best,
Her efforts failed as she became a pest.
She sought her prey with her mouth afoam
Revoking a chance to return back home.
She led poor Haruka to her untimely fate.
And now there's a rat to exterminate."

Three pairs of eyes turn and lock on a face in the crowd.

"Michiru, would you do the honors?"

It seems as though Michiru doesn't have a choice. The moment the girls summon the chosen party, they will find themselves walking forward against their best judgment. All other guests will be unable to step past the threshold, but nothing's stopping them from leaving either.

Comments

[cluedin]

[Once Michiru approaches the girls, they unlock three latches to unhinge the box and reveal the contents inside. Though Michiru is without her sight, when she reaches her hand into the box she may recognize various shapes.

Once she has selected an item, the girls close the box and wheel it out of the way. It's Peach who turns to speak to Michiru then.]

Please be careful. [The girls step off to the side...and Nikki's cage slowly swings open.]

[seasiren]

[She takes her weapon, grips it by the long handle until the weight settles comfortably in her hand. Without her sight, it means she’ll miss the detailing of what she’s chosen, but that’s alright – she certainly knows that it is.]

… Are you still yourself, Nikki-san?

[Calling out as the cage begins to open.]

Whatever you might think, I don’t bear you any ill will. You’re like many I have seen, who lost themselves to a poor fate…

[Her grip tightens on the middle of the weapon, pointing to edges forward]

I will give you a quick death if I can, so please, do not struggle.

[dressupqueen]

[Someone did Nikki a solid and brought her a change of clothes.

She seems... a little more composed than the night before. She's sitting quietly in the cage as the girls recite their poetry and as Michiru reaches into the box - but someone walking closely may note that every so often, she twitches. Her hand. Her nose. And then it's a full-body thing, and she looks up at Michiru with wide, terrified eyes as she pulls the trident out of the box.

The sound of a shrill, terrified screech echoes through the room - and Nikki lunges for her, arms outstretched. Mangy, grey-brown patches of fur sprout from her skin, her nose elongates into a rattish snout, and her teeth sharpen. Her nails shift and crackle until they're claws.

She's more rat than girl, now - human sized, still clad in her long black dress. Something twitches under it; that will be her tail.

With a hiss, she attempts to tackle Michiru.

It's a lot easier said than done in the clothes she decided to wear when she was still herself.]

[seasiren]

[Well ...that sounds dreadful.

Having her sight taken from her has never been more of a problem than now, with Michiru quickly guessing that Nikki isn't going to be sitting nicely as requested. She can feel the force behind the other's lunge -- absolutely a problem if Michiru takes the brunt of that and lands on her back, sightless and vulnerable.

So she side-steps, weapon still firm in one hand, doing her best to use the sound of heavy breathing and the force of those footsteps to gauge where to place the business end of her trident.

It'll be aimed to catch Nikki in the chest, but y'know. Blind person. It's not going to be quick and clean like she'd hoped]

for those following along at home:

[recrypt]

[ Here's your local gun, now serving double time as an incredibly deadpan screenreader while a rat fails to be fancy and a blind girl tries to execute. ]

For those of you out there more sight-impaired than I am, Michiru was given a trident.

Unfortunately, everyone calling Fräulein Nikki a wererat yesterday might have been a little more on the nose than some of the rest of us expected. Rats, as it turns out, are not very good at fighting in either heels or a dress.

[ Yikes. ]

[pornography]

[ and in the background of that running commentary about the execution going on, you can probably hear a sigh and then this guy starting to chant.

for those of you proficient in eastern religions, you might recognize the change as Buddhist. ]

[mammoney]

[Blind guy just. Shaking his head in disbelief.]

What, seriously? I guess she was a witch the entire time...

[recrypt]

... I don't know that it was the entire time, if we're to believe our hosts.

[mammoney]

...What d'ya mean by that?

[allfornone]

[45 it is so hard to react appropriately to death when the screenreader is this deadpan but also you can see all the things and there is indeed a rat in a goddamn dress. Subete will just shake his head a little and watch the whole thing--

He'll certainly flinch a little at the death wail but other than that, he doesn't move or retreat. This may also be because he's afraid to move without his sense of direction (at least until the execution is over).]

... She must have taken Tenoh-san completely by surprise, then. If she was... like that.

[Let's not think about how Nikki was dressed during murder night apart from the pearls.]

[recrypt]

[ what, did you want for her to announce it like a sporting event? "Oooh, that looks like a nasty blow from Michiru, I think Nikki might have had it!" That's probably even harder to take seriously. ]

I wonder if she was? At this point, it could have been either.

[ either the way she was toward the end of the trial, or as she is now. ]

[allfornone]

[No, there's just no good way to commentate this at all. It's just that having the layer of sight on top of it makes it even harder to know how to react somehow?? It's like having [muffled rat noises playing in the distance] in terms of subtitles, it's that level of absurdism by now.

Or maybe they're just all maxed out on absurd after yesterday.]

Tenoh-san didn't seem like the type to go down easily. And she had somebody to protect. People can be pretty scary like that.

[Exhibit M: Standing right in front of them with a trident. Or maybe that's the exhibit of the other side of the coin at this point.]

[disreguarded]

[ Beau watches very solemnly, because she feels like - someone has to. Nikki deserves people to remember her. Someone to keep the memory alive. And while she's watching, she thinks you have to leave places better than you found them, and that's what sparks the heat behind her eyes. Stubbornly, she wipes her face, and folds her arms. Now is not the time, Mollymauk.

And she's all set to just go back to her room when it's done, but - all of a sudden the entire week of bruises and burns and cuts hit her at once, like being hit by a truck. Oh. Wow, that super hurts. She's not unaccustomed to pain! But y'know. There's a lot of it.

Which is why she immediately drops to the ground with a grunt. Holy shit. Ow?? Her heel? Her torso? Her fingers! Please help. She has like twenty hit points left out of ninety. ]

[kazokun]

[ Ayabe's been watching the execution in a daze, but he startles out of it when he's suddenly able to hear again, and the first sound he hears is Beau falling near him and he rushes towards. ]

Beau! What happened?!

[ --christ his voice is loud, even to himself. Isaac's right and he's been shouting. ]

[disreguarded]

[ it's fine

No, but really she's just flat out on the ground, squinting at the ceiling. ]

Hgh. [ Is her first response, then: ] I'm okay, just - wow. Wow, all the feeling is back. [ And now she squints at Ayabe. ] ... Hey, you can hear again. Nice.

[ feeble thumbs up ]

[kazokun]

Not nice. This shouldn't be the first thing I'm hearing. Are you just sore or is there anything worse?

[ Any broken bones, do we need to amputate feet because there's been glass embedded in there all week, what's your damage Beau ]

[recrypt]

[ She's also watching, because memory is one of the few things she has, but there's no reason for her to stay any longer once things conclude.

Which is why she probably catches sight of Beau just collapsing as she turns to leave- through both eyes, for the first time in a week. Oh.

She's at Beau's side pretty quickly, hovering but not sure if she wants help up yet or if she just wants to kind of. Lie on the floor for a bit. ]

You okay?

[disreguarded]

Hm. Yes?

[ hey there. she's just on the floor chilling. her foot really hurts. standing sounds awful, so she just sort of waves. ] I mean, I'm. Alive. I feel like a moorbounder ran my ass over.

[ squint. ] Iiiii. Don't think I can stand up, so that's cool.

[recrypt]

[ Dubious Look. ]

It's fine. I don't know what a moorbounder is, but I can guess what you mean from the context.

[ Hm. ]

I can carry you back if you'd like?

[oathic]

[... oh dear.]

Hey, you okay there?

[disreguarded]

Nope. Everything is pain! [ she says cheerfully, sprawled out on the floor. thumbs up. ]

[oathic]

Ohhh... guess it's all hitting you now, huh? That sucks.

[getdrekt]

[well

she's got enough helpers so

he just watches out of the corner of his eye, expressionless at the whole thing, just in case Beau gets some idiot idea he's trying to instigate something.

but at the same time



AAAAHAHAHAHAHA EAT SHIT]

[disreguarded]

[ SHE CAN PRACTICALLY FEEL THE INSULTING LAUGHTER

she's gonna kick his ass later don't even start just TRY HER!!! ]

[getdrekt]

[hm.

All steps had been prepared for. The murder, the trial, the imprisonment, the execution. Everything had its "program".

So the master wasn't going to kill them all himself. He'd just enable them to kill each other.

Asch turns away, frowning, and blinking with returned sight.]