Close Circle

[Mr. Lee Hammer]

Loren, after that impressive takedown from Soseki, falls back into her human form, feeling defeated.

All right. Come along, everyone, let's show you all how we deal with these cops!

Carmello grabs a shotgun and takes everyone outside while pointing the barrel of the gun to Loren's head as he makes walk to a certain spot just a bit away with them.

All right, time to make you suffer…

He fires at Loren's left kneecap, which blows off that leg. She's left hopping around before he blows away the right knee, making her slump down to the ground, legless. She tries in vain to crawl away from Carmello but he blows away her left elbow, bringing her down to one arm. But he quickly shoots away the right arm too, leaving her a limbless slump. He fires at her stomach, blowing that open, leaving her guts hanging down before he puts the gun in her mouth and blows up the top of her skull, shattering it like a glass vase, alongside her brains.

He looks at the others.

Well, people, Lor-

Then suddenly, her remains turn into a living, breathing dragon, that looks incredibly pissed off at Carmello and also for being voted off. Little did he know that he only killed her human form. Loren wasn't truly dead at all unless he kills her dragon form too. Panicking, he fires at the dragon, not really doing any damage. Trying to think, he quickly runs into the storage room to pull out a minigun, and fires at her through the window. Still not really phasing her as she gets more angry. She breathes fire onto the mansion, setting it on fire. Then he looks at a crate for one last ditch effort; a big Chinese broadsword he just happens to have for whatever reason. He quickly comes running down and charges at dragon-Loren and quickly slices her guts open. She screams in pain as she collapse on the ground. As she lies in agony, trying to swat at Carmello, he comes in and slashes opens her throat. She lets out one last, loud scream before her head falls down. And for good measure, he pierces the sword right into her heart. And this time, it really was over for her.

Carmello slumps down to his knees, taking a few moments to catch his breath before standing back up.

Well, didn't expect things to go that crazy. But yeah, Loren was innocent. And the outside of the mansion is on fire.

He calls the firefighters, who arrive shortly to put out the fire.

[TalesofUnder]

...INNOCENT?! THAT WAS ALL FOR NAUGHT?! 

(Soseki smashes a teacup on the floor out of pure anger.)

[KungFuCutbug]

[...]

[...You can see Pizzabug glaring daggers at Snakeweed before they just retreat back into the bathroom to cry.]

[MadeOfMilk]

Escargoon silently closes the door to his room. Many loud, censored expletives can be heard coming from within.

[Weirdguy149]

Mike crossed his arms, glaring daggers around the room. "You guys suck at this whole 'finding the rat' business."

[artsyGeek]

"Well, it's not our fault the people here are fucking idiots and can't defend themselves for SHIT!"

[KungFuCutbug]

[A small, handwritten note is slipped to the others from under the bathroom door.]

let me know when Duo's corpse isn't in my bedroom anymore—I'd go in there to cry, but I can't right now since it was the FUCKING CRIME SCENE, because I can't have nice things in this world apparently ;-;

~ CB⭐

[MadameButterflyKnife]

Chili just kicks a chair down out of frustration. Dammit! Hey, Carmello?! How about next time, you get to tell us what they are before we kill em?! Man, you better increase our pay this time. Dealing with all this isn't worth it! The pigs, our luck...we better strike gold sometime!

[TalesofUnder]

GAAAAAAAAAAH!!! WHY AM I SO BAD AT DEDUCTIONS?! AAAAAARGH!!!

[Mr. Lee Hammer]

Carmello knocks on the bathroom door where Cutbug is crying.

Hey, Cut, I just had the housekeepers clean up the mess. You can go to your room if you want to now. It's all clean.

He turns to Chili Pepper Cookie, trying to rip him a new one over letting them know who the cops are.

And how would I know if they're all cops or not until it's too late? Did I not say from DAY. FUCKING. ONE. THAT I DON'T KNOW WHO THEY ARE?!! And killing them is the only way I can find out?! It's just the way it works around here! And the last thing I need right now is some short-tempered bitch telling me to do things that are beyond my control! And you want an increase in pay for the next job?! You'll get it!

He angrily heads into his office and slams the door.

[artsyGeek]

"Can we all just. . Face that we're all idiots for not only be incapable of depending ourselves, but also not knowing the difference between what's genuine and what's fake? Please?"

[TalesofUnder]

...Ugh... All this anger is unhelpful and unproductive. We need to calm down for our next assignment. I insist you all try some tea. Calms the nerves right down.

[MadameButterflyKnife]

Call me an idiot one more time, and I'll throw you off your namesake, Alpine Cliff! But dammit. Yeah, you guys fucked this one up. We gotta think of a plan for tonight. Get enough money to fucking deal with this, head on!

[Weirdguy149]

"Didn't a bunch of you smoke marijuana earlier? Surely that would help take off the edge."

[KungFuCutbug]

[Pizzabug silently retreats from the bathroom to their bedroom to avoid having a confrontation with anyone else, loudly slamming the door shut behind them to send a message that they really don't wanna be talked to right now.]

[You can faintly hear them sobbing into their pillow.]

[Poor girl.]

[TalesofUnder]

(Soseki deliberately switches to a soft-spoken tone of voice.)

...Kato-san? I don't know how much this will help, but... want some calming tea? 

[KungFuCutbug]

[Soseki doesn't get an answer. All he can hear from the other side of Pizzabug's door is a bit of angry yelling, then more loud sobbing.]

[TalesofUnder]

...I can emphasize, Kato-san. About feeling weak and inadequate for repeatedly failing to catch a cop... I relate. In fact... I'm paranoid that I'm going to die soon. I don't want your last memory of me to be as an incompetent fool...

[artsyGeek]

Call me an idiot one more time, and I'll throw you off your namesake, Alpine Cliff! But dammit. Yeah, you guys fucked this one up. We gotta think of a plan for tonight. Get enough money to fucking deal with this, head on!

"My name is Alto. Clef."

". .but yes, you got a point. We should. . Really start working on some form of a plan - Both for tonight, and for tomorrow."

[KungFuCutbug]

[...A faint response.]

"I'm so fucking scared, dude. I'm legitimately terrified that I'm either gonna die tonight or get executed tomorrow. I don't wanna die again. I've seen what happens when you die once before, and I sure as hell ain't going back there again. I have a few connections to make sure I won't stay dead for long, but..."

[TalesofUnder]

...I wish I knew what to say, Kato-san. I feel much the same way you do... Again, I must ask. Want some tea to calm your nerves?

[MadameButterflyKnife]

Yeah, a damn plan. Maybe try and organize who's gonna do what. We got limited resources anyway. Can't afford to waste em!

[KungFuCutbug]

"...I honestly don't think it'd do much good right now. this is draining, man, and no amount of tea or weed or anything can fix it. I... appreciate the offer though. thanks, Soseki."

[TalesofUnder]

Personally... to destress, I focus on the simple things in life. The cool breeze, the sound of rain, the gentle buzz of insects. These distract me from whatever it is that's causing me the stress. But I don't know if that'll work for you like it does for me...

(Soseki walks back to his room.)

[Weirdguy149]

Mike looked over at the two of them with a hard-to-read expression then went back to his room and shut the door.