𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚎.

◇lean on my arm◇

"if you need to be mean, be mean to me."

"have you ever killed someone, q-taro?" he seemed taken aback by your question, he said nothing. "this 'game' is more than likely going to risk ending someone existence. shooting experience or not, you'll have to have enough trust in yourself to not commit murder. would you be ae live with yourself with the knowledge that someone else can't live at all because of you?" your voice was steady, though your hands remained in your skirt pocket in hopes no one could see them shaking.

the room remained silent. "hey, based on keiji's idea, did they give you dummy bullets or somethin'?" sara hesitated but nodded, handing you a six blue dummy bullets. you took only one before motioning for her to keep the rest. loading it into the gun , you spun the barrel. "here, q-taro." giving him the gun, you held it to point at your head. "i loaded one real bullet and one harmless one. if you really wanna be the one handling the gun, shoot me."

his hand was visibly shaking, and he was staring at the gun. he pushed it back to you, pulling his hat down. "damnit.. i just can't do it." you nodded, taking the dummy bullet out of the chamber and pulling the three real ones from your pocket. "wasn't even loaded with a real bullet, and you couldn't shoot me. you guys should hold your vote now." you gave all the bullets to sara, continuing to spin the gun on your finger.

everyone but kai voted for sara.

"sara, i'm puttin' my trust in you! you carry yourself well fer' a young girl like yerself!" you grinned, handing her the gun. "geez, finally. can i give instructions now? you found the gun and bullets in this room earlier, right? and you should've also found dummy bullets in a different room. you've got three live bullets and six dummies. that's a total of nine bullets you can load into this revolver. you gotta fire all nine bullets into everyone - human and doll - in any order you like. Also, the bullets are fired in clockwise order. but once you load 'em, the barrel'll spin and stop! which means the starting bullet is a mystery! if you fire all the bullets and all the humans survive, you win! i call it russian roulette! ...'cause that's just what it is. that bein said, load up your gun!" you, keiji, joe, q-taro, and kai sat. keiji chose to sit next to you on the bottom row.

"y'know, you got a lot of balls holding a gun to your head like that." you just shrugged, not much to say. "...okay, i'm ready." "alright! lock in the barrel and let it spin!" a shaking noise filled the room, it was almost like a maraca. "alright! now, fire them in any order you want. you can't discuss with the targets or shoot any of the dummies twice. have fun!" sara took a couple deep breaths before shooting a dummy right next to you. the head exploded. she shivered, relieved. next, she pointed the gun at you. she stayed still for a while, making sure she was calm. "looks like you're next." the gun fired.

a blue bullet hit your head before bouncing off onto the ground.

"took it without a flinch, not your first time getting shot?" you grinned at the blonde next to you. "i'm a little too concerned as to what this green liquid in the dolls head is." he moved to examine the doll next to you, but a dummy bullet hit him in the chest before he could do so. you watched him flinch, not expecting it. it didn't take too long for the gun to run out of bullets, everyone well and alive. except for the dolls. "oh.. ohh.. amazing! seems that this challenge was a piece of cake, huh? a job well done, no complaints! you deserve a hand, so here's my right one!" an fake arm fell from who knows where, landing right in front of sara.

quickly standing, you pulled her into a hug, which she gratefully returned. she was trembling as if she had been left in the cold, and in a way she was. "that was amazing, kiddo. you did great, kay?" she hung her head in your shoulder, trying to calm her breathing. after a minute, you pulled away as she grabbed the limb from the floor. "sorry for fucking with you, q-taro. i respect you." he grinned, holding up a thumbs up. "no hard feelins' here! it was a needed wakeup call!" you put a hand on your head as everyone continued to congratulate sara. god, your neck still hurt. "you good?" with a yawn, you turned to keiji, who was grinning at your tired state. "yeah. i need a drink." with that, you shoved your hands in your pocket and began walking out. "i'll join. shouldn't be drinking unsupervised, you know. plus, i wanted to talk to you anyways.

you didn't respond, strolling into the bar. surprisingly, gin and mishima were no longer there. the blonde behind you took a seat while you went behind the table to look at the choices. "man.. y'know, for criminals they got a pretty nice bar. there's an ice box down here and a shaker and everything. you want anything?" he thought for a second, looking at the shelves. "eh, i'm a simple man. just a beer works." you shot him a disgusted glare, grabbing two cups. "beer? okay, one, beer is disgusting, and two, you're such a basic man!"

he chuckled, shaking his head. "yes, you've discovered my darkest secret, i am in fact a man." you slid him a beer bottle, despite your judgement. since the bottle was fancy, you tried a shot of some strawberry liquor, which actually wasn't terrible. "so, why'd you wanna talk to me?" keiji shrugged, reaching for a bottle opener. " 'cause you're cute." you grinned, putting the strawberry liquor back on the shelf. "considering we're both being held hostage right now, might be a weird time to hit on someone. i do appreciate the compliment, though."

"kidnapping can be a good bonding experience." you decided that in a way that could be true. "you never told me where you worked." you realized the only people you could remember telling were gin and q-taro. "oh, i guess you're right. i'm a forensic pyschlogist, i used to work in forensic biology, though. but dead bodies smell bad and the masks don't block it as much as you'd think." before he could response, joe ran into the bar, yelling for you and keiji to come with him before running back out.

pretty much the second you got into the main hallway you were being pulled into the cafeteria. "okay, damn, where are we going?" joe was the one dragging you. "the pink room! we got all the body parts! we've been looking for you forever!" as everyone gathered into the room, you realized keiji had joined the crowd at some point. everyone was there, waiting. "alright.. let's put it together." you grabbed kanna and gins' hands, squeezing them to make sure they knew they were safe.

as the body was assembled, you noticed a smell coming from the vent. shit. "a-anyone smell somethin'?" q-taro seemed to catch on too. "e-everything's going white!" you listened to the yells of panic, feeling kanna and gin both gripped onto your arms. you closed your eyes, focusing. "calm down! it's not poison!" you yelled out, but to no avail. soon enough, the gas faded away. a girl- or the doll, supposedly- stood in front of you. "ahaha, good day! i'm the doll you just saved, ehe, aren't i advanced, ahaha!" it was strange, but without a doubt, the thing standing in front of you was not a doll. "what? what the hell is going on here!" reko was quick to panic.

"aha! i've revived to tell you what's happening, and support you through the trials to come! there's nothing to fear! i'm here to support you!" nao was whimpering behind professor mishima. "ahaha, is there no one here who can speak calmly?" sara stepped up, doing as the doll asked. "i will. what are you?" she continued laughing. "i'll introduce myself, haha! my name is sue miley, i'm the laughing doll, ehe! i'll be guiding you through this floor like my master insisted! i will be guiding you brave souls to the main game!" keiji and joe both called her out as an enemy. "fuckin' asshole! do you want to die?!?" reko was a good person, but responded to fear with anger.

"ahaha, no, i wouldn't want to be torn up again! i guess i'll just have to tear you guys up first, hehehe! just as a warning!" joe suddenly began grabbing at his collar. "w-wha? my-my collar! it's vibrating!" his desperate attempts to pull it off went nowhere. "hehehe! anyone will do... as long as it gets you guys to quiet down." everyone in the room began panicking, the noise of heavy breathing filled your ears. "w-what did you do?!" the highschooler was still panicking, practically hyperventilating. "what indeed, hahaha!" he yelled at her for an answer. "hehe, i'm making your collar explode!" that didn't seem like the answer joe was looking for. "joe, calm down." you stared at him, but he didn't want to hear that either.

"c-calm down? how do you expect me to calm down, i'm about to fucking explode!" you glared at miley, knowing was was about to happen. as expected, the vibration stopped. joe fell to the floor, still panting. "..that was a lie, of course. ehehe, did you enjoy it?" joe was too concentrated on breathing to answer.

"the collar can't actually explode, after all."

"full, i await my death." -lucius seneca