[Fin] Murder U Too - Endgame

[Caret]

Bow silently moves back, hoping that the insane adventurer won't try to blow her up along with the wall.

[wahoothis]

"And you've had brilliant ideas yourself, Ms. "Hey Guys. Do you mind if I kill one of you guys and hope you guys will let me walk out, thanks?" Not like all your ideas are great. Besides, at least she can actually do that stuff, so she has one over you. If it makes you stop throwing a hissy fit, do you want me to find that taser?" He didn't like the idea of him being Kellensea's errand boy, but if it'll get her quiet for the moment...

[Florien]

Yeah, yeah, whatever, I need the zappy thing. I don't know if it's a taser, because you people use the words taser and shocker interchangeably. It's playing havoc with whatever translation spell is making us able to understand each other. Just get it, Haruka might have it, or maybe she hasn't got it yet. Just... GET IT. NOW. And my ideas are great, you're just incapable of seeing how our collective average intelligence would rise substantially if we hung Bakugo and ate the fox thing, and would go down about 20% if you killed me... WHATEVER, Total tangent. GET THE ZAPPY THING, RUNNER BOY!

Kellensea makes the "runner boy" comment as grandiosely as possible. The crown loosely perched on her kettle helmet catches the light in a way that makes her seem very regal as she says that. Presumably it's some enchantment to make people seem regal, when in practice, they're just being weird, but it does work.

[Kennifer]

"Hey, Bow is a lot smarter than you're giving her credit for, you egotistical weirdo. And she's an Eevee, you can call her that instead of 'fox thing'. And the only reason I'm agreeing to help you at all is it's a chance at getting out with no one else dying, so you can stop talking about killing ANYONE here if you'd like my help."

[Florien]

Kellensea sighs, in almost theatrical exasperation.

Uhuh. Yeah. I'm not letting idiocy from the first trial slip by. "Not enough evidence, something off with the evidence" blah blah blah. I'm not letting repeated ignorance of established information slip by, like looking for the novichok as if it was relevant to the second case AFTER I had essentially admitted to that being my thing and being completely tangential. MENTIONING THEIR ELECTRIC THING AS A SOLUTION AFTER I EXPLAINED THAT I NEED A SUSTAINED PULSE. The fox thing is a lot DUMBER than you give her credit for. I don't need your help, Alexis, because all I need at this point is the zappy thing, and I don't even strictly need ANY of you for that. I don't think you'll sabotage this whole thing by killing me until AFTER the bombs go off and the rubble is cleared. So unless you're into self sabotage or really are that angry, I suggest you remain SILENT unless you're actually going to make an attempt to SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM WITH ME NOW.

She gets back to waiting for the "zappy thing" to arrive.

[Kennifer]

"You're not as smart or amazing as you want to think you are, but if it helps you to keep thinking that, go off I guess. Just don't insult or threaten my friends, that won't solve anything."

[wahoothis]

"Yeah yeah, I'll go get it "Queen." . . . Boop." And just as he said that, he quickly flicked the crown off of Kellensea's head, and then

>Running off to find that taser before Kellensea can get pissed at him for knocking the crown off her head.

[Florien]

You ever not just toppled a government, not just brought down a regime, but TERMINATED A STATE?! I didn't think so. So yes, If anything, I'm more amazing than I think I am. I bet you don't even know the distinctions between those three actions, so I'm probably exactly as smart as I think I am, relative to YOU people. I REDEFINED GEOPOLITICS WITH MY ADVENTURING PARTY! What have you done, listen to a song and dance and remembered them?! Whoop De FUCKING Doo! You GROSSLY underestimate me. I don't know WHY, maybe because you don't think someone so quote unquote "crazy" could have had such an illustrious and emotionally rewarding career while you all DON'T despite your so-called "sanity". Insults and threats are POWERFUL tools, and I admit, I've been using them more than I would, but VELS you people are useless. USELESS! All of you just bumble around, being all like "oh we need to be super cautious about things that DON'T matter while making stupidly risky decisions everywhere else" and "oh the adventurer lady is crazy because her values are slightly different in regards to the value of life". YOU DON'T THINK RIGHT! You, Alexis, are ALMOST competent, and that weirds me the FUCK out, because you take notes constantly, you keep track of all sorts of things, but SOMEHOW, none of this is EVER useful. HELL, even after I said the International Terrorist Sauce on your doorknob ended up there accidently, you were fucking CONVINCED that it must be some ploy to kill you DELIBERATELY. It's like you WILLFULLY come to the WORST conclusions with ALL the stuff you HAVE! ALL OF YOU PEOPLE ARE AWFUL AND I CAN'T WAIT TO GET AWAY FROM YOU! And the worst part is, if my guess about this situation is correct? I'm never going to get away from you. NEVER.

Kellensea doesn't even seem to notice that Ranma knocked off her crown midway through her speech, she just gets angrier and angrier at Alexis, until another mood swing catches her and she falls silent again, picks up the crown, puts it back on, and just stares blankly at the copper wire tips. She pulls her scarf down for a moment to spit out some blood, then leans against the rock behind which she's hiding.

[Kennifer]

"Actually when I get out of here? I want nothing to do with you ever again. I doubt anyone here does, so you can just go bac to whatever's left of your old party, if any of them can tolerate you better than we can. And considering the poison ended up on my doorknob when Ronnie was, as he admitted, going to go into my room and poison me? Yeah, I think I'm justified in thinking it was related to an attempt on my life."

Alexis now goes to make sure Bow is okay.

[Despair's Archon of Memes]

Monika turns to Kellensea.

Same here. You and your antics are part of the reason why I went insane and snapped at the others... I was willing to get myself executed just to escape this place... Just to escape the insanity and murder... For me... You represent the very insanity that drove me to kill. When we get out of this... I never want to see you ever again. Period. Not even in my worst nightmares.

Monika then turns her back on Kellensea and goes to the Kitchen to...

>Get as many Kit-Kats from the Kitchen

[Caret]

After a long silence, Bow takes a deep breath, and gives Kellensea her attempt at a rousting speech.

Why are you calling me a "dumb fox thing who is better off as food"? Sure, us Eevees aren't really known for being smart, but at least I actually care about people! On the other hand; you just see other people as nothing more then mere tools used to solely benefit yourself. You think that you're the only person in the world that even remotely matters. And you automatically dismiss our opinions if we don't share exactly the same mindset you have, which you're probably going to do with this exact speech. The point is... you only care about yourself.

The Eevee is visibly trying to hold back her anger directed towards the adventurer.

[wingedcatgirl]

>Retrieve the taser [Haruka]
Retrieved.

>Take cover from explosions [Alexis]
Given how high off the ground this is gonna be, that's a tall order... well, she could hide on the other side of the building. That'd probably do it.

>Also retrieve the taser [Ranma]
He heads off to the classrooms, but bumps into Haruka coming back with the taser in hand already.

>Acquire Kit-Kats [Monika]
Monika shoves as many Kit-Kats into her pockets as they can hold. The pile just doesn't stop.

[Kennifer]

"C'mon, Bow, let's go 'round the other side until she's done, in case she blows herself up or something."

[Caret]

Bow almost lashes out at Alexis, before realizing that it's just her friend and then stops herself at the last second.

...Sorry. It's just that... Kellensea is stressing me out right now. Anyways, you're right, we should probably get away from the explosion in case Kellensea tries to include us in it.

[Kennifer]

"Yeah, she stresses me out too. Remember how many pages I wrote about how insane and self-important she is? Yeah... Anyway, we can worry about her later. Either she'll blow up the wall and find us a way out or she'll blow herself up, either way she'll actually have done something useful."

[wahoothis]

Ranma immediately remained guarded and almost punched Haruka once she bumped into him. "Agh! Jesus. . . I'm not even as old as Pops yet, and you nearly gave my a heart attack Haruka. . ." The martial artist regains himself and cleared his throat, before looking at the taser. "Oh hey, you got the taser. Great. Let's just get it to Kellensea and let her do her. . ." And slowly start to realize, oh yeah, this is Kellensea. "Actually, let's just take our time and walk slowly back to her. She can wait." Kellensea thought she seen petty before. No one's pettier than Ranma "Petty" Saotome.

[artsyGeek]

"Ack! S-sorry about that! A..and yeah, let's give it to her."

[Haruka walks to wherever Kel is at and gives the taser to her.]

[Florien]

Kellensea doesn't even say anything as the others shout at her and walk away. Once they've left, she looks up from the copper wires, and looks oddly at Haruka and Ranma being slow. She doesn't even complain, she just grabs the taser, hooks the spikes to the copper wire, and pulls the trigger immediately, holding it down to drain the entire taser cartridge, setting off the explosives. She finally speaks after the blast has echoed through the air.

Let's make one thing clear. The only reason I haven't killed any of you is sheer luck on your part. IF I could have gotten away with it, I would have done it and been out before you could do a damn thing about it. I would have been victorious, you would be miserable for a bit, then happy again. Instead, you've had to all put up with me for this time. If the rule to only kill two people and no more wasn't there, I would have killed all of you the first night. But let me make a second thing clear. You call me a coward. You call me evil, dangerous, crazy. But for all your words, you never once attempted to break in and kill me. You had a problem, and you made no attempt to solve it. You all, not just you two, but all of you, made NO attempt to solve the problem. Ronnie at least tried, but even he was too fucking cowardly to come for me. You don't deserve escape, you're only hangers on. You're civilians, who've been saved by an adventurer, yet again. But you are the WORST civilians I've ever saved. The others are at least marginally happy. They at least give me items willingly when I do it. If I hadn't been here, you would have executed Kai, and the cookie monster would have walked free. I'm never going to let this slide for you, because you don't deserve that. You're idiots, you're cowards, and yet somehow, you take intensely stupid risks ALL the time.

With a cold rage, she turns to Ranma specifically.

You. You're dead if I ever see your face again after this. Same goes for all of the ones of you I hate most of all. You, Alexis, the fox thing, Bakugo, Monika who DARES to blame her idiocy and incompetent attempts to murder on me, and all because I reason differently to you. You claim to hate me. But you don't. Otherwise, you would have tried to kill me. No. You fear me. And I will haunt your nightmares for the rest of your life, because of YOUR fear of me. You claim that you just don't want anyone to die, or some other bullshit. No. You're going to justify whatever bullshit you came up with. No. This is fear. Fear that you'll fail. Fear that I'll be triumphant. To coopt one of your idioms, none of you want to bell the cat. If you really hated me, you would have killed me directly. But you're not confident the others will spare you. You're fearful that in some way, I reached their minds. That somewhere, that which you call "insanity", though it is more sane than anything you've done, lurks, and it will come out, and you will be killed.

As she flips the ladder bridge back over to the wall and starts climbing it...

You can't kill me by taking the bridge away. I still have feather falling, remember? Because I'm prepared for shit. But you call being prepared for shit cowardice. You call it hiding. I call it jealousy that you didn't do what I did. In the end, you're afraid of things that could change you. But I, I changed constantly. And I'm happy with who I am. I forsook the social contract and became an adventurer. I forsook my built-in processes to get better ones. I'm sick of you judging me. You willfully misinterpret my attitude towards life because OBVIOUSLY someone who has a different one must think themselves the only important life. But that's never been something I've said. All lives are equal in value. Not all human lives, not all sapient lives, ALL lives. Plant, animal, animalcule, etcetera. That I have to make this clear to you stuns me. And as I end many trillions of lives a day by natural processes alone? What makes your lives more valuable? What do you provide that I don't? A twisted worldview that prioritizes your in-group over others?... I can't wait to escape this place, even though I'm probably going to have to tolerate you all forever more. At least because I'll be there with you, someday, perhaps, when you're alone, your damaged minds will finally give up fighting. Maybe then, you'll become like me.

She uses the crowbar to clear out any debris blocking the hole, and

>Looks around inside the building.

[wahoothis]

". . . Yeah, I don't know what I missed. But I believe you're poorly mistaken Kellensea. None of us are afraid of you. In fact, I believe it's quiet the opposite. You're afraid of us. That's why you hoarded away in the office, tried to poison us, and tried to stab me when I tried to spy on you. Because you're the one afraid. You're scared we're actually going to kill you. But we're not. Not because we're cowards, not because you're better than us. No. Because we don't want to. We don't want to because it's not the way to handle these issues. If I handle all my issues by killing my enemies, which I could if I wanted, I'd have done so easily. It isn't just my honor as a man or a martial artist holding me back from actually committing murder, it's my own mortalities. Cookie Monster and Ronnie deserved punishment, but they didn't deserve death. However, they didn't deserve to walk free after murdering Doug and Rosa. Even then, were it not for the hosts, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. Which is why when we escape here, while you'll keep thinking about how much you loathe every fiber of our being, how you failed to kill us because of your own clumsiness and ignorance, you'll fade from our thoughts as nothing more than an afterthought. Because it doesn't matter what your own accomplishments are, even if you're better than us or not. There's one thing you've proven that to us all: That you're still mortal. You can still die, just like the rest of us. Which means you're just as equal to us than you like to believe we aren't. Face it Kellensea, none of us aren't going to become like you. Deal with it."

After spitting out what he hopes is his last rebuttal to Kellensea

>Enter the building once the door is open, keeping his guard up.

[wingedcatgirl]

Kellensea blasts the back wall open, revealing a small unadorned chamber with a black swirling vortex inside it.

... in front of which the host floats.

🎶 "Without Shadow"

I think that's quite enough. You've had your fun. He turns around and taps the vortex, and it winks out of existence. We'll be going back to playing by my rules, now.

Despite his smug tone, he still looks strangely pained.

[wahoothis]

". . . . . . . . . Fuck." Ranma mumbled under his breath as the host appeared.

[Despair's Archon of Memes]

...Of course. There's always a catch.

[Florien]

Aw, thought that would work. Hey wait wait wait, Idea. Host. Will you torment the people I select while letting me out if I tell you my really good idea which would harvest you way more and better negative memories?

Kellensea doesn't even sound shocked, just vaguely disappointed.

[wingedcatgirl]

There's nine of you left alive, I can -- gah! The host winces. ... I can get three more chapters out of this, and I'm not letting you out until I've got them.

He doesn't even seem to be paying attention to what Kellensea is saying.

[wahoothis]

"Better idea, don't listen to Kellensea's idea. They're coming from Kellensea, usually anyone who listens to her ends up with something bad in the end."