Week 3: Execution

[becomemod]

week 3:

 

execution

Sunday morning starts off quietly enough, almost peaceful after the events of the past few days. Today, the alarm on everyone's phone starts at 12 PM, with a reminder of the execution to take place at 1 PM at the stadium. Unlike the Saturday notifications, however, this is the only reminder you get. It appears that attendance is not mandatory this time.

Well. Not for all of you, anyway. One of you feels a compulsion to head to the stadium, heading straight inside and following the staff to ready themselves for what's to come. All others who arrive at the stadium, hero or civilian, are led to spectator seating.

As the clock strikes 1 PM, Adlet walks into the arena. On the opposite end of the field, Rita steps out to greet them. As long as they both live, neither will able to leave the area, nor will any outsiders be able to enter.

You don't have to watch, of course. That's your choice. But with the event being broadcast all over the city, it may be hard to avoid. In-person or across town, everywhere is buzzing with gossip of the newly discovered villain about to face justice. Regardless of where you go or whether you choose to watch, the only thing to do now is wait.

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Comments

[rizomata]

[ There are a few ways Rita could anticipate Adlet responding to her attack. Maybe he'd find a way to dodge or deflect the apple. Even though it looks like she has him on the ropes, she knows well enough how unpredictable he can be when backed against a wall.

But.

Apparently she didn't know well enough, because she sure didn't expect him to grab a bomb seconds away from detonation and just run at her with it!! ]

No — What are you...

Stay away!!

[ She tries to back away and swing her satchel at him — not that it would do much, but just to try to impede this guy before he brings this bomb right back to her like this is the most unfortunate game of fetch. ]

[querencias]

[ ...there's that echo again. fortunately(?) he's already in the middle of a motion, so he can't stop himself, even if he wanted to. not that what he wants matters. he has long legs and hes putting his all into this, so he manages to just begin to tackle her with the bomb explodes.

it is not at all pleasant. he doesn't even want to look at what his torso looks like right now, but he's still breathing and that's the important thing. he's also on top of her, and he still has the stake in his left hand. ]

[rizomata]

[ Rita's thrown to the ground, her ears ringing, her clothing torn and bloodied. It seems like Adlet still got the worst of the blast, but it doesn't matter, because Rita's the one who'll have the harder time recovering.

That satchel she just swung has also been torn open from the explosion, with apples spilling out and many of them splattering over the lawn in the blast.

Rita kicks at him and tries to shove him away. ]

Get off me, you stupid asshole! I'll kill you!

1/2

[querencias]

[ he can't really hear her with the ringing from the explosion, but he can read her lips when they're close like this. he takes the kicks like he takes everything, which is to say they definitely connect and they're definitely making his injuries worse, but they don't seem to be really stopping him any in this exact moment.

pushing through the impossible, doing the unthinkable, the ridiculous, the stupid, the insane. that is adlet mayer, the self-proclaimed strongest man in the world. ]

Yeah, I know. [ he should not be able to say this fondly. nor should he be able to say it with a soft smile on his face.

and he definitely shouldn't be able to also grip the stake in his hand and raise it up as he does so. ]

[querencias]

[ his head really hurts. that's to be expected with the explosion, obviously. but his head has been hurting for the past week. no, before that. before he came here, when he decided to betray all the other braves to save fremy's life.

why did he do all of that? why did he do all of this? he doesn't really know and it doesn't matter. he just has to do whatever he has to do to keep fremy safe. even if that's killing the other braves. even if that's destroying the world. because he loves her. and that's what you do for someone you love, right?

love.

he wasn't supposed to be here. he wasn't supposed to fall in love with anyone else. there's no way tgurneu could have predicted any of this, though if he could see, he'd probably be terribly amused.

he doesn't only love fremy. he loves rita too.

how is he supposed to reconcile that?

he can't.

he slams the stake downward, hard, with all the force he can muster. it embeds itself into the ground next to rita's throat, spraying up dirt. ]

Kill me. Now, before I—

[ it's the truest word he's ever spoken, unvarnished by anything, in years. ]

1/2

[rizomata]

[ The stake hits the dirt, and Rita stops struggling, staring up at Adlet in surprise. Meeting his eyes directly, searching for that sincerity that she thought she saw before, and since yesterday, started to once again doubt.

He needed to live more than anything, right? For his world?

Why the hell would he... ]

[rizomata]

[ Rita needs to live, too.

Was she spared for "love"? That sounds like a bad joke. But there's no time to interrogate that, now. She needs to live, and for that, he needs to die.

Once the focus returns to her eyes, she reaches over and grabs the stake with one hand, wresting it from the ground with visible effort. Her other hand grabs his upper arm to steady herself while she's still disoriented from the blast. To make damn sure that she doesn't miss.

Then she plunges the stake into his heart. ]

[querencias]

[ it's a question for the ages, and a question for himself. one he knows the answer to and doesn't know the answer to, the cobbled together pieces of a person he is. you can put someone back together with a lot of things, but love is one of the strongest. just like he's the strongest man in the world.

the pain registers briefly, and he lets out an involuntary sigh as it goes through the layers of his heart. there's not much time to think, but in the time there is, he smiles. he can't forget that too. the very first lesson he was ever taught. and he—

his body shudders, but in his last moment he feels something. or rather, all the buzzing in his head clears. all the emotions ratcheting around his skull like a ping pong ball stop. that's what death is like, except he's not dead, yet, just barely.

somewhere, very far away, a particular fiend feels something loosening and breaking away.

he doesn't have any time to figure out what this means, but it is some type of relief. the unburdening of something he's been carrying, that was forced on him without him knowing. that's the very last feeling he has. ]

[becomemod]

THE DAY IS SAVED

 

[ As Adlet's body disappears with a poof of smoke, along with all evidence of what just occurred, the barrier goes down.

Adlet Mayer is dead.

Rita is free to exit the stadium anytime they choose, as are any other onlookers. ]

[rizomata]

[ Adlet's body disappears and after spending a little longer just lying on the grass, Rita finally pulls herself up to her feet. She looks down at the ground, and at her hands, and then shakes her head and starts walking. Or sort of limping. ]

[becomemod]

Rita!

[Once Rita is up and limping, Ox will go over to try and help her walk.]

[rizomata]

I'm fine.

[ she grumbles, but she accepts the help anyway. ]

[becomemod]

I know you are.

[Rita is not fine. But Ox won't have that argument right now.]

I'm still going to walk with you.