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

[abhorrently]

[okay. they can go out. also the next door or whatever, someone else has to open it, because her hands sting on grabbing and throwing open this one. don't grab fire, kids.]

Come on.

[out of the storage room and into the...wherever this leads.]

[sailmods]

[they step out... onto a platform, of sorts, barely a foot across in either direction. there is nothing but pitch-black darkness to be seen.]

[redlightgreenlight]

[Valdis opens the door and can't help but think this is starting to feel like the Labyrinth Sparkles had put them through. Rooms and puzzles and games. Over and over again. She'd never seen them, but she'd heard from the others.

She takes a breath, stepping out onto the tiny platform.

Nothing.

Just like always.

Just as everything has been all along.

Valdis takes another breath and experimentally pokes the darkness at the edge of the platform.]

[abhorrently]

[the platform is small, requiring them all to crowd in. Fever looks around, exhales slowly. more darkness. more unknowns. always.]

Where in the hells are we?

[at least the light from the storage closet behind them is still there if they leave the door open, enough for darkvision to try and understand the space by. she strains her eyes into the black, trying to gauge where they ended up.]

[neverleave]

...do we have anything we can drop to see how deep it is?

[He squints at the darkness, straining his shiki eyes to see anything.]

The storage room doesn't have other exits. I don't know if we have anywhere else to go.

[abhorrently]

[...

very, very carefully, she shifts backwards to kick an empty cardboard box forward and then out into the darkness.

look, she's not dropping her shoes down, and they need the cookie to Grow Steve. this is the next best thing.]

[sailmods]

[it disappears into the void. there is no further sound.]

[redlightgreenlight]

[Valdis takes a breath, feeling like this might be the end, but if it is, at least they tried.]

Well, once more into the breach dear friends.

[She slips past Fever and jumps off the platform.]

[sailmods]

[the darkness swallows her up.]

[abhorrently]

[without a sound, without a sign of Valdis, she's less sure of things. looking over at Natsuno, Fever bites her lip, and then carefully maneuvers on the platform. feeling as far out into the dark as she can around, trying to see if there's any hidden path or any other way forward that's not flinging themselves into the abyss to see where they end up.

if not, she's inching back towards the doorway.]

[sailmods]

[there is nothing to be seen.]

[abhorrently]

[backing up, back into the door, and closing it so they're safely in the room.

and then reopening the door. look, it changed when it closed and reopened before, it's worth one try.]

[sailmods]

[it is the same exact location.]

[neverleave]

[Damnit.]

Looks like we have no choice but jump.

[He starts kicking more empty boxes down the chasm.]

Hopefully it'll cushion the landing.

[abhorrently]

Natsuno...

[she inhales. exhales. stares down at the black.]

I can't do this. Not without some guarantee. I can handle falling, breaking my other leg, whatever - but I can't die here, before we've done enough. Do you think the boxes can really stop that?

[everything hurts right now, but she's being so brave about it.]

[neverleave]

If I throw enough of them, yes.

[He can't make that promise, not really. Just swear that he does his best.]

Look, I don't - I can't really tell how far it goes. Maybe perspective is just messed up here. I'll go first, and - whatever's down there, I'll make sure the landing is better for you.

[abhorrently]

[she exhales through her teeth, making herself come to a decision. it's the thinnest thread of hope, but it is one. taking a risk got them this far.

and if all else, she just has to be indomitable again. refusing to give up and die.]

That's enough for me. Thanks.

[neverleave]

[He nods, now calm and serious. If he survives the fall, he WILL do it.

Natsuno throws more boxes below. Then he takes a deep breath, nods at Fever and jumps into the abyss.]

[abhorrently]

[she waits for a sign, a signal, anything. there's nothing save the void, the empty space and the sound of her own breathing. the pain that radiates from many different points on her body, the sickness from the lack of magic that makes her head throb, her body feel hollow, a vessel at this point for discomfort.

I will not die. firm and unyielding. if she has to break every limb to keep going, she will. pain cannot be her boundary. live. live.

one braided hair rope, two blinded eyes of a god, one burnt owl feather, and a conviction that she'll strangle the woman with her own intestines if she has to. not the worst inventory to take.

freefalling into the dark, she feels weightless.

hopefully, Natsuno can keep this promise.]

[yourexoduslaughing]

[The black of the void gives way to a space - a room, the sound of voices, one in particular shouting-] Got her!

[And two muscular arms catch Fever. The originator of the red braided hair rope in Fever's possession and the half of her head that wasn't turned into rope for folks is there to keep her from hitting the ground. Flan beams at Fever, clearly glad that she can still be helpful even sans superpowers.] Hey! Welcome to the party! Your buddy's here too!

[abhorrently]

[landing in Flan's arms is much better than hitting the ground, secure and safe, and Fever's look of initial surprise melts into relief, even as she does look as rough as all her injuries would indicate.]

Thank you - I really didn't want to have to hit the ground again.

[no wonder Pratt's smitten with her. she could immediately try and get out of the hold, but she's more relieved to have support instead.]

Is everyone here? You all broke out?

[decohere]

Most everyone, by the looks of it. [but not Maximilien or Skulduggery, she notes as she looks around worriedly.]

Whoa, hey... you alright? [all the injuries certainly indicate that Fever's encountered... something. Ava looks up from the way she fell, eyebrows creased in concern and confusion.]

[abhorrently]

Ava!

[her eyes and expression brighten, though she's still as sickly as she looked back in the Village, the lack of magic a real drain on her system.]

I could be much better, but I'm alive, as promised, and all my limbs still function. It could be a lot worse.

[it could also be a lot better.]

[decohere]

[she looks rather shaken up from the robot fight, hair a mess, but otherwise unharmed.] Could be? What did you encounter?

[pause, softly:] Have you seen Maximilien? Skulduggery?

[abhorrently]

...No. Unfortunately, I've no clue where they are, and I didn't see them when we were trying to find a way forward.

[she exhales, still reclining in Flan's arms until the woman sees fit to put her down.]

We lost the cat, in the vents. I didn't see what it was. And then, we found one of Jenny's brothers, when we fell out of them. He had those strange button eyes... [the ones that Natsuno and Rita had seen.] He took Steve. But I took his eyes out. Got them in my pocket.

[or well. the pocket she had sort of made by folding up a bit of her shirt and then anchoring it with the quill shaft. it works well enough.]