BarrenThin2
Senior Member
Geralt of Rivia
Before any more planning could really be done, things got kicked off. Their worst fears were realized, in that they weren't on the same teams. The teams were decided seemingly at random, or perhaps by some cruel deity that wished to watch the group fight among itself. He scanned each of the opposing teams, looking for Ciri. Dread flooded his mind as he saw her on team three. He couldn't fight her; not a chance in hell. Not even non-lethally. The time baby, who turned out to be 100% real, and 100% serious, laid down the law. They needed to knock each other out, kill each other, or knock each other out of the arena. Geralt turned and looked at the small circle of space behind him quietly for a few seconds that surrounded the arena. He considered it, before turning to his team. "Sorry. Can't turn on Ciri, even if it gets me killed." Without waiting for a reply, he stepped out of the ring. Maybe nothing would happen. Maybe it would count as a ring out. The structure really wasn't too dissimilar to the boxing he had done.
thatguyinthestore
TheElenaFisher
@team one
Frank Castle
The old man heard Ellie laugh a little. Figured it was probably a memory. Questions like that often made you think about the past. Last thing he expected was for her to start talking about it. Story didn't start out out good. Parents sent her off to fight. She couldn't be older than fourteen. Maybe she was on the young end of fifteen. Even if this was a very recent event, her parents had sent a child to war. Part of him heard the warning bells. This wasn't what he wanted, though at this point, Frank wasn't sure it could be helped. He already had to go to great lengths to get her to not just fuck off. It was that first line. "I never knew my mom and dad." Couldn't well on it too long. Frank didn't move his head. Didn't even open his eyes. He just listened.
No feeling in the world worse than feeling alone.
You're still alone, Frank thought to himself. There's not a person sitting next to you, there's a ghost. A walking corpse. You're speaking to the dead. This other girl, Riley, was more than a friend. Words like beautiful weren't how you described a good pal. They were just kids. Didn't matter. Kids did stupid shit when they felt that way about someone else for the first time, and it sure sounded like the first time for Ellie. Riley defected to the enemy, these Fireflies, leaving Ellie behind. Maybe she didn't have a choice. Maybe she felt so strongly that the other side was right that she couldn't stay. Frank couldn't know, so he kept these thoughts to himself. They wouldn't make her feel better, especially not with what came next. Talk about stupid shit. This kid defected to the enemy, then came home to see Ellie. Definitely not just friends.
Scar on her arm was pretty nasty. Frank had heard of worlds with infections like this. In his time with Murder, he had become pretty well acquainted with the living dead, and he had read in passing about her world's apocalypse. Losing someone you cared about was one thing. Expecting to die with them and surviving was another. One that he very keenly related to. He hoped to die after what happened in Central Park. Instead, he woke up on a hospital bed. She finished her story by saying there wasn't really a point. Certainly didn't seem to be, but that wasn't odd. The world was senselessly cruel and violent. That was just the way it worked. Finding something to hold onto was another matter. He had that before. He had it now. It wasn't a person. It was that cold, sinking feeling when he thought about the kind of people that killed his family. He had tried to change it. Tried to make Rin that something. Hadn't worked. Ellie probably wouldn't be any different.
Frank didn't get the chance to respond, or even decide whether or not he wanted to respond, before they were dragged into an arena for the big fight. Teams were divided up, and, as he feared, sick fuck in charge split him up with both Ellie and Atreus. Across the way, he watched the white haired man, Geralt, lock eyes with the girl that must have been his daughter, a young woman with ashen hair. The man said something to his team, then stepped out of the ring. Frank didn't see what happened next, but he knew what he had to do. Separately, he nodded to both Ellie and Atreus. Unlike Geralt, he didn't say anything to his team. He just stepped backwards, out of the arena. Even if he avoided fighting them, he was undercutting them by helping the opposing teams.
If the objective was to get these two fathers to turn on their children, or the people they swore to protect in Frank's case, the people in charge would have to try harder than that.
thatguyinthestore
Ellya
@team two
Before any more planning could really be done, things got kicked off. Their worst fears were realized, in that they weren't on the same teams. The teams were decided seemingly at random, or perhaps by some cruel deity that wished to watch the group fight among itself. He scanned each of the opposing teams, looking for Ciri. Dread flooded his mind as he saw her on team three. He couldn't fight her; not a chance in hell. Not even non-lethally. The time baby, who turned out to be 100% real, and 100% serious, laid down the law. They needed to knock each other out, kill each other, or knock each other out of the arena. Geralt turned and looked at the small circle of space behind him quietly for a few seconds that surrounded the arena. He considered it, before turning to his team. "Sorry. Can't turn on Ciri, even if it gets me killed." Without waiting for a reply, he stepped out of the ring. Maybe nothing would happen. Maybe it would count as a ring out. The structure really wasn't too dissimilar to the boxing he had done.
thatguyinthestore
TheElenaFisher
@team one
Frank Castle
The old man heard Ellie laugh a little. Figured it was probably a memory. Questions like that often made you think about the past. Last thing he expected was for her to start talking about it. Story didn't start out out good. Parents sent her off to fight. She couldn't be older than fourteen. Maybe she was on the young end of fifteen. Even if this was a very recent event, her parents had sent a child to war. Part of him heard the warning bells. This wasn't what he wanted, though at this point, Frank wasn't sure it could be helped. He already had to go to great lengths to get her to not just fuck off. It was that first line. "I never knew my mom and dad." Couldn't well on it too long. Frank didn't move his head. Didn't even open his eyes. He just listened.
No feeling in the world worse than feeling alone.
You're still alone, Frank thought to himself. There's not a person sitting next to you, there's a ghost. A walking corpse. You're speaking to the dead. This other girl, Riley, was more than a friend. Words like beautiful weren't how you described a good pal. They were just kids. Didn't matter. Kids did stupid shit when they felt that way about someone else for the first time, and it sure sounded like the first time for Ellie. Riley defected to the enemy, these Fireflies, leaving Ellie behind. Maybe she didn't have a choice. Maybe she felt so strongly that the other side was right that she couldn't stay. Frank couldn't know, so he kept these thoughts to himself. They wouldn't make her feel better, especially not with what came next. Talk about stupid shit. This kid defected to the enemy, then came home to see Ellie. Definitely not just friends.
Scar on her arm was pretty nasty. Frank had heard of worlds with infections like this. In his time with Murder, he had become pretty well acquainted with the living dead, and he had read in passing about her world's apocalypse. Losing someone you cared about was one thing. Expecting to die with them and surviving was another. One that he very keenly related to. He hoped to die after what happened in Central Park. Instead, he woke up on a hospital bed. She finished her story by saying there wasn't really a point. Certainly didn't seem to be, but that wasn't odd. The world was senselessly cruel and violent. That was just the way it worked. Finding something to hold onto was another matter. He had that before. He had it now. It wasn't a person. It was that cold, sinking feeling when he thought about the kind of people that killed his family. He had tried to change it. Tried to make Rin that something. Hadn't worked. Ellie probably wouldn't be any different.
Frank didn't get the chance to respond, or even decide whether or not he wanted to respond, before they were dragged into an arena for the big fight. Teams were divided up, and, as he feared, sick fuck in charge split him up with both Ellie and Atreus. Across the way, he watched the white haired man, Geralt, lock eyes with the girl that must have been his daughter, a young woman with ashen hair. The man said something to his team, then stepped out of the ring. Frank didn't see what happened next, but he knew what he had to do. Separately, he nodded to both Ellie and Atreus. Unlike Geralt, he didn't say anything to his team. He just stepped backwards, out of the arena. Even if he avoided fighting them, he was undercutting them by helping the opposing teams.
If the objective was to get these two fathers to turn on their children, or the people they swore to protect in Frank's case, the people in charge would have to try harder than that.
thatguyinthestore
Ellya
@team two