END GAME: THE COUNTDOWN STARTS

[sailmods]

[the prisoners wake up on cold, hard floors.

the lights are bright, glaring, a sterile cell with sterile bars facing a sterile hall. the prisoners with you, across from you, and no one else. no rocking of a ship in waves, nothing. just the prisoner and their prison.

time passes, one assumes. the rhythmic click of Friday’s heels down the hall. it’s almost like the ticking of a clock.]

Comments

[thismaskismybadge]

"Hokay even I haven't had to deal with zombies and I've been to universes of like, every genre."

No one tell her about Marvel: Zombies. There's a reason they don't go to those universes.

"Oh believe me element of surprise is one of my old reliables, no matter how vague and unhelpful it is." She shakes her head. "And I never actually ended up meeting Bahamanuel but you told me enough that you can probably make your point anyway."

[saltwaterlungs]

"Ehn, you've killed one you've killed them all. They're like people but with no ability for tactics and there's a lot of them. There was a car chase, Dimitri rode on a dinosaur, I'll tell you the whole thing when we get out."

Darcy steeples her fingers.

"Bahamanuel is unkillable. Trust me, I've hunted it like a hundred times and it always comes back. If we work out how to make it hunt Malin, then that's another point in our favour. And it has babies. Maybe we could even see if Yamaha can get in on it, if they're both still aboard."

[thismaskismybadge]

"Okay so that's a good thought but now I'm just imagining Bahamanuel, its babies, and the murderous piano in individual cells somewhere down the hall."

[saltwaterlungs]

...

Darcy immediately goes to the bars to call out down the hallway before they remember that their voice doesn't carry that far and gently thumps the bars.

"No way to check that, really. I feel like if they were somewhere next to us, someone would've passed on that bit of information already."

...

"Bahamanuel is also like. Fabric. And his babies are things like individual socks so I don't think bars would be able to hold him, anyway."

[thismaskismybadge]

"Hm, yeah, we'd probably have learned pretttty quickly if they were around and able to get out... it'd be so much funnier if they were in the cells, though. Man Malin's got no style at all. At least my villains commit."

She's only half joking.

"I'd bet they're still somewhere, though. If she was the type to just... throw annoying acquisitions away we wouldn't all be alive."

[saltwaterlungs]

"Literally what I'm saying, right? C'mon. This is like- you know in video games where someone's just copy-pasted like a generic level. That's this, it sucks. I want the Captain back if only because he has some fucking drama and panache."

[thismaskismybadge]

"Right, exactly! This is literally just default assets over and over without any personal touches. That biiiig dramatic entrance and then... poof. Nothing. It's honestly disappointing."

[saltwaterlungs]

"And her banter was so shit. I got two really good ones off on her and she just- what, went 'hm' and then like, did something else. Like c'mon. Make an effort. I get you don't respect us or anything but banter is sacred."

[thismaskismybadge]

"It's absolutely sacred! Even my most boring or annoying villains at least give a little back. Like. Do better. C'mon."

[saltwaterlungs]

"I would've taken a 'shut up'. Or like, anything. Most of the Captain's banter sucks but at least he does it."

Huffs. This was a good decompression, to help thaw some of the edges around Darcy freezing over. They feel a little more like theirself now.

"I think we have enough here to go off. We should pass it on, see if we have any ideas or other suggestions from everyone else."

[thismaskismybadge]

Gwen stretches out, as she'll end up doing many times throughout their confinement thanks to feeling oddly stiff without her powers, and nods. "Sounds like getting it much further than a couple people down's going to be... uh. Hard mode? But I guess we've just... gotta make it work."

[saltwaterlungs]

"Not like we have much choice. We'll make it work."

And Darcy makes their way over to the bars.