final trial

[airlockedmods]

[With the announcement, the Champions can crowd together onto the teleporter with no issues. Once that's done the process of teleporting is automatic and happens in the blink of an eye. Once second they're in the center of the cafeteria before a soft blue light surrounds them and then they're standing in the middle of a circle of podiums. It's so much emptier than it was just a few weeks ago that their voices echo when they try to speak up.

The room itself it the same shiny, chrome-covered atrocity as most of the rest of the ship save for the sections of floor that aren't the teleporter: those are thick clear glass that show nothing but empty space and stars beneath the Champions' feet. As for the podiums they're the same sort of garish chrome with a digital screen facing toward the center of the circle. More portraits and names in blaring red have been added this week. Thomas MacLaine, the Champion Accomplice, Manaka Sajyou, the Champion Mother and finally Roxy Lalonde, the Champion of ████████.

The Overseers are waiting when they all arrive, standing on a floating platform just high enough to be out of reach and back far enough toward a far wall to have a full view of the courtroom. Both are dressed well, Rox in a pressed grey dress jacket and skirt and Blaze in a black suit with the sleeves rolled up to expose his numerous tattoos. He still has the eye patch and Rox watches them with keen interest as they enter.]

Welcome back, Champions. There are six of you here but, if things go correctly, only five of you will leave. I don't think I have to explain at this point what will happen if you choose wrong.

This shouldn't take long though. We all know what happened. Anticlimactic but not everything can be a good mystery I suppose. [She folds her arms across her chest, looking down on the Champions.] Let the trial begin.

Comments

[le_mat]

[he feels the tap and nods]

Bolton, Jamie, get behind the podium! Seto, Penny, cover her!

[he rears back and lops his own bomb up at the overhang]

[in4apounding]

[And that's the signal, or good enough to. Any other time she'd take a second to be impressed at Marisa's display of power; it was definitely more impressive than any Semblance or weapon she'd ever seen, and now she regretted not sparring with the witch when she'd had the chance.]

[But now? Now speed was of the essence.]

[Trusting the same instincts that had gotten them into this mess, she took the bomb Marisa had given to her and deftly dropped it into Shovel-kun's blade, smoothly sweeping it up in a sharp throw to catapult it towards the Overseer's platform.]

[Not waiting to see if the desperate gambit worked, she spun, dropping Shovel-kun and dropping herself into a crouch, knitting her hands into a platform.]

AKIRA! BOOST!

[playthedamncard]

[The sudden flash of light and heat that is Marisa takes Kaiba by surprise, but not long enough not to use it to his advantage, in one hand, he pulls a knife--just as Chloe had done all those weeks ago. And in the other, one of Marisa's explosives.

It's hard to cover her when she's bouncing around like a maniac, but when Penny drops, he feels that's as good a chance as any to cover her and tosses his explosive Overseer-ward as well, hoping the flashes and light show and nice booms will keep them from seeing Akira coming for them.]

[le_mat]

[there's no hesitation: as soon as his bomb is in flight he spins, yanking his knives from his hoodie pocket and dashing at Penny. He jumps, boot planted firmly in her hands and braced for flight]

[in4apounding]

[And she's launching up and pushing; throwing Akira towards the platform. Godspeed, Joker.]

GO!

[le_mat]

[the moment seems to last forever.

His ears are ringing from the explosions, his eye tearing with smoke and light. But here, hanging in the air, he feels powerful for the first time since he woke up in this hell.

'Please, if I can't kill her, let me put the fear of humanity into her. Let her look at every shadow for the rest of her goddamned life and see one of us there waiting. That's all I ask. '

And that's all he had time to think before everything falls apart]

[theoversaw]

Get down!

[Blaze moves quickly, tackling Rox to the floor away from the bombs flying onto their platform.]

[theoverseeing]

[Rox crashes to the ground, an enraged snarl ripping from her throat. Despite the bombs she knows are there, she tries to push his weight off her much smaller frame and climb back to her feet but fails.]

If they keep this up they're going to shatter the entire station-!

[playthedamncard]

Marisa, heads up! [Not that she seems to have much control over herself, but the last thing they need is to get in their own way and have her knock Akira out of the air.] Penny--round two! [No way he's letting Akira go up there alone.]

[in4apounding]

Seto!

[She's got you, not-quite-bro. Dropping into the same crouch, ready for him.]

TAKE HER STUPID EYE-!

[lovecolored]

Augh--jeez, dude!

[ This is harder than it looks! Also, her legs are literally burning from the fire keeping her in the air. Marisa is trying her best to swerve out of the way, but the spell kind of has a mind of its own. ]

[playthedamncard]

[Like Akira (lighter than Akira in fact), Kaiba sprints the short distance, planting foot in Penny's hands, more than ready to follow suit and get that bitch right where it's demanded, for all of them.]

[in4apounding]

[And again, straightening up and launching Kaiba skyward, at least TRYING not to send him straight after Akira- but there's a lot of shit flying around right now, and Kaiba's lighter than he looks so WHO KNOWS-]

[lovecolored]

[ At this point Marisa is sorely wishing she'd chosen to broom-surf instead of just sitting down, because maybe then her legs wouldn't experiencing the white hot pain of literally being on fire. Shit. Did it even matter, now? It makes her wonder if Patchouli ever burnt herself on her own fire magic before she learned how to master it, or if Alice ever had her gunpowder dolls explode in her face. Oh man, Patchouli and Alice. She really did mean it when she said everyone could have their stuff back when she died. Marisa hopes Reimu notices her absence soon enough, so that all of her burglary victims can at least get their possessions back from hoarding hell. She tries not to think about the fact that she's never going to see any of them ever again.

Soon enough she realizes she's not making substantial hits, just making Rox and Blaze duck down, and she grits her teeth. The spell wouldn't last forever, and her legs are searing. When it ends, she'll fall to the ground, and she's not sure she'll be able to get back up. They'll throw her out of the airlock like all of the others, and she'll die slowly, painfully, or maybe the fall would kill her and she'd go out like Lunafreya.

No.

She always loved space, even when she was a tiny child and she stayed awake long past her bedtime looking up at the stars in her backyard. They might take her life from her, but they wouldn't take her love of the night skies, her spirit and the source of everything she loved; she had to hold onto something. Keep being the morale this place needs, Zombina said. She would. She swore it.

Marisa fishes both of the bombs out of her apron. She has maybe five seconds to prepare, before her spell fades and she plummets to the ground. She pushes off of the south-facing wall one last time before raising her voice above the noise of her bullets, throat raw. ]

I'm finishin' this!

[ She's whizzing around the room too fast to properly see what Akira, Penny, and Kaiba are doing beyond "trying to jump the platform," but she trusts them. Trusts them to try their absolute damndest to get the job done, and that's all a hellfire like Marisa could ask for. It makes her feel strangely at peace.

Her upper body strength is kind of pitiful, but the momentum from her broomstick guiding her helps as she lobs both of the bombs at the wall closest to the platform, intent on ramming into it with them. The others were too close to the platform to try aiming for it, and like hell she was gonna cause some friendly fire at the last minute. She crosses her fingers. Please. Please, work, she nearly prays, if any gods happen to be listening. At least give Rox some bad burns, or send shrapnel flying into her stupid shark face.

Marisa had meant it when she said it. There really was no other way she'd choose to die. ]

[airlockedmods]

[The entire space station seems to shiver with the force of the explosions, and the Overseer's platform creaks.

In the ensuing explosions, it's easy to miss the snap of a wooden broomstick and the crack of a body hitting the wall. But nonetheless, a body drops from the wall to the floor with a sickening noise. Her clothes continue to burn, but the shrapnel and the burns to her face have kept her from suffering even as she burns.

Marisa Kirisame is dead.]

[in4apounding]

MARISA-!

[She'd known. She'd known, going in, that this meant they were all going to die. Going to die BECAUSE OF HER-]

[But it was different seeing it, yet again, even after so many other bodies that had belong to people she cared about.]

[But she's up on one of the platforms, ready to try launching herself upwards, after Akira and Seto, to try- to maybe accomplish just a fraction of what they'd hoped- so that even if they all died they would die putting the fear of death in Rox Petuu.]

[playthedamncard]

[Kaiba manages to get a little more height and distance, though instead of clearing the platform he, too, is left clinging to the edge--less desperately than Akira, however. Both arms scrabbling for purchase to heft the rest of his body up, almost there, almost there. So long as nothing happens, he might actually be able to pull himself up, and Akira, too.

Make it count. Like he'd told Yuri.

And then Marisa and her bombs both go off in a shower of flames, the platform creaking and everything around them shuddering. He loses traction from the jolt, sliding--] Marisa! [--loses grip entirely, and he plummets just like Marisa. Just not on fire and not dead. Yet.]

[in4apounding]

[Well. That's happening.]

[Okay! Change of plans. She dives off the podium, arms stretched out, aiming to catch Kaiba before he hit the floor.]

SETO-!

[Please let her be fast enough, please-]

[playthedamncard]

[-and her wishes are answered, slamming into Penny's arms with a whuff of air and a flutter of his coat. It's certainly saved him from snapping his spine or cracking his head on one of the podiums. Much appreciated.]

[theoverseeing]

[It's impossible to tell whether or not Rox takes any satisfaction in Marisa's death nor if she's even noticed the thunk of a body against the cracking bubble. Even with Blaze's weight both protecting and pinning her, she manages to wretch her dominant free and, with gritted teeth, slams her thumb down on the screen.]

[le_mat]

[akira, for all his experience jumping, us not a light man. So when he hits the platform he just barely grabs the edge, doing a frantic one armed pull up to try and get up in time. ]

Blaze! Keep her down and we can all go home! All of us!

[he killed Yuri, akira will never forgive that. But he also saved his and Seto's lives. And Joker pays what he owes. ]

[dejabrew]

[Bolton grabs Jamie and ducks down behind Chloe's podium, covering both of their heads one with each hand.]

[unhappylittletrees]

[Jamie presses himself as close to Bolton as he can, keeping low to avoid any explosion debris. Still, against his better judgement, he looks up.]