A hiss of regret comes out of him when he does, but he continues firing anyway to make sure she's safe(r) in relation to alligator and THERESIS. W, YOUR CASTMATES.
It's fine, the poor guy falls into the water to his doom which is unfortunate since he was also kinda hot.
He will race for Tifa and the button, but also, I'm sorry, he also desperately wants to know what happened to his first and only love, Lucrecia.]
[ you all slap the button! tifa is fine, she's just bleeding from the arm. ines will help w pull her arm back into place but like, rudely, and not gently at all. congratulations! you've made it. the chihuahua hollers to the audience about the silver snakes and blue barracudas being victorious, and turns his attention back to the remaining players.
the moat is starting to settle down. it appears that in the chaos, theresis and theresa both have been eliminated from the competition by force. hojo made it to the other side and has slapped the button with lucrecia. she gives vincent a little smile when she sees him - she's mostly undamaged, and hojo is a little bloody, but they're okay.
hoederer has also made his way over to the other side of the platforms, and is by his button, but... aerith is nowhere to be seen. he is partnerless.
the chihuahua host tip-taps his way down from his podium, and sits in front of hoederer, looking up at him. and then after a moment of this, turns to the audience: ]
We have a partnerless team! We all know what that means!
[ and the audience begins to chant, stomping their feet and clapping, blood! blood! blood!
hoederer opens his mouth to say something - and then immediately his head jerks back as a bullet hits him right between the eyes. he crumples to the ground in front of his button, and goes still. the audience erupts into cheers, loud enough to shake the building a little, and the rest of you have to wait for it to die down, watching what happens when you lose at legends of the hidden temple.
the cheers subside, and the chihuahua cheerfully turns to you all. ]
Congratulations! The Silver Snakes, Blue Barracudas, and Green Monkeys have made it to the second round! You're now at the Steps of Knowledge!
[ the crowd cheers again, and the chihuahua continues. ]
Contestants, are you ready for the rules of the next round?
["w your castmates" it's okay if those two die, though? a theresa working with theresis is just wrong, even if it's not exactly comfortable to see her missing.
hoederer is a little different. that one gives her more pause, unsettled after watching the bullet take him out-- there isn't time to linger on it as the chihuahua host moves on, but she glances from the empty space where the siblings would have been and over to hoederer's body, before looking back over to ines.
don't you die on her. she doesn't have to say it out loud, probably.]
...yeah, yeah, just tell us already.
[knowledge is possibly not going to be her strong suit. ines save us ines]
[STOP, he will check on Tifa anyway. He really shot Aerith and Cloud's woman, and he let the other woman die. He's compounding the sins in here for sure.]
...
[Even Lucrecia's smile can't keep the shock from touching the edge of Vincent's face. It dawns on him he was right about not taking Hojo out just to spare Lucrecia. OKAY.
(me voice) NOT THE HOT GUY
To Tifa, he says:] We can do it. [He is not Aerith, though, and he really lacks the vibrancy of her steadfast assurances. As long as they watch out for each other.
He awaits the rules from the chihuahua beside Tifa, nodding.]
[ ines watches the bullet happen with a blank look, and when w looks at her, her expression sets into something stubborn. she doesn't plan on dying. she just elbows w once, and squares her shoulders.
tifa can't help herself, though - the bullet makes her let out a little squeak-yelp of a noise that she covers with her hands, because okay!! they just shot a twelve year old in front of a live studio audience!! but they really don't have any time to react, so she just kind of carefully holds onto vincent's arm and waits. she believes him. they can do it.
the chihuahua hops back onto his podium - and behind him, a large stone face comes to life. his red eyes blink a couple of times. the chihuahua barks! ]
Welcome... to round two! You are now standing on the Steps of Knowledge! My friend Olmec here is going to ask you a series of questions! You can very quickly stamp your foot down on the floor in front of you, and when you do, your stair will light up. Whoever is fastest will get to answer - answer right, and you get to descend to the next step. Answer wrong, and... well, there are consequences!
Let's do this thing!
[ and the room goes silent. olmec speaks. ]
What is the name of the progressive, terminal disease caused by direct or prolonged exposure to Originium?
[ if your character would like to answer, hit your floor tile! ]
[i'm establishing that they're standing so that it's her injured arm ines elbows because this would happen. she makes a face and elbows her back a little, despite having Just popped it back into place. fucking ow!
her hand is still bleeding. she idly puts pressure on it while they listen, and at that question...
flurry do they still like, know this information despite being lost in the sauce. if they do she hits that tile.]
[Tifa can hold his arm, it's okay. THEY'RE OK. Barely.
W can get a pass regardless because even though Vincent's leg twitches, his foot doesn't hit the floor at all because he does not know the answer to this question. HIGHLY SPECIFIC QUESTION. He doesn't even know a geostigma, that's a whole other canon piece.
He glances around his arm at Tifa, brows furrowing. It's cool. They can try the next one.]
All he needs to hear is Seph- and he stomps his foot down to get the unholy knowledge light. Some cursed information gets blasted into the recesses of his brain, foggy.
But he hesitates, mouth open. He glances at Lucrecia, and then he looks quickly away again. THEY ARE TWELVE, AND SURELY THIS WILL BE AWKWARD?? He is not sure why this name comes to him. It's probably the puppy crush, or whatever is going on between him and this other girl contestant.]
...Lucrecia.
[Tifa is not going to say this, is she. They are going to give conflicting answers.]
[ yeah this sure is a weird thing when you're all twelve but we're committing
ines looks at w like what the fuck. what's a sephiroth.
lucrecia and hojo also very quickly slap the floor button, but they're not fast enough - hojo sneers at vincent from his space, and lucrecia looks very, very confused and kind of dazed.
tifa opens her mouth at the same time as vincent, but he says it with such confidence that she looks unsure? so she closes her mouth again, and just figures he knows what he's talking about.
and... the chihuahua claps his paws together! ]
Way to go, Silver Snakes. Good answer! Go ahead and take the next step down.
[ w, ines, vincent and tifa are now on the same level, with hojo and lucrecia at the start. ]
Next question. Olmec?
[ and the studio gets quiet. there's a very long pause. a tension rises, makes the silence almost thick with it, as all eyes are on the three pairs of teams on their platforms. there's a buzzing, even, faint. it feels like it's coming from behind them, but inside their ears, too, behind their teeth.
finally, olmec speaks: ]
What are you willing to lose to win your prize?
[ ... is there even a right answer to this question? ]
[what the fuck? isn't that girl right there lucrecia. that question got weird really fast, didn't it--
but the next one is a pretty damn good distraction, especially with the buzzing. she hates it immediately, wants it to go away, to get out; who gave it permission, huh?
w doesn't really care if there's a "right" answer for this. she stomps that tile.]
[Sorry to Lucrecia... It's fine. This is what happens when you decided to have relations with that weirdo freak.
Vincent hasn't really thought of an answer when he also stomps to try getting a light. In a way, after registering it, he is almost sure he doesn't want to get it even if it means jumping ahead.]
He freezes somewhat. He glances from W and Ines back to Tifa... Everyone is so fucking quiet, waiting.
Then he slowly looks at Lucrecia, pointedly ignoring Hojo. IT'S COOL... It's cool... His answer is the same as it's always been, hasn't it. Nothing has changed, even now. He looks away.]
...Myself.
[It doesn't have anything to do with him after all...]
[ ines rolls her eyes. lucrecia frowns, wrapping her arms around herself. and hojo laughs, not even bothering to hide it.
tifa, on the other hand, shifts her grip so she can take vincent's hand, and holds it. she glances at the chihuahua and olmec, and answers: As little as I have to. I won't sacrifice anybody for my dreams.
another long pause, and then the chihuahua bares his teeth in a weird approximation of a grin. ]
So-so answer! Realistic on the one side, and idealistic on the other! Whatever, you can take a step.
[ and he turns his gaze on w and ines. ]
Blue Barracudas, I've got a question for you. Don't bother hitting your step, just answer. Would you sacrifice yourself for your loved ones?
[With Tifa's hand, he takes a pity step with her. Sometimes, you would simply give your shitty life if it helped make something better.
Maybe not a person, like you want. Maybe to make something more better.
Despite his answer, it isn't as if Tifa's or W's don't make any sense to him. He gets it, what they're saying. They can hang on, and that is good. He does not know W, but he knows a little of Tifa, and they need her.
[ ines replies with: Death is always just around the corner. You'd think you'd want it to mean something.
and both of these answers makes the chihuahua laugh! actually - the whole audience laughs. they think that's a very funny answer, for whatever reason. but - with that, he taps his paw on his podium. ]
Good, good. Take your step! You've both made it to the bottom, congrats!
[ and the silence lifts! the set gets noisy again, the way the regular world is. no buzzing, nothing like that, just some shitty tinny background music, and the grinding stone of olmec blinking every so often. ]
As for the Green Monkeys, however... you've been eliminated. Bye!
[ and the ground opens up below hojo and lucrecia. there's a short, startled scream from them both as they very suddenly drop, and then - they're gone. tifa gasps, squeezing vincent's hand. ]
Final round! You ready?
[ wow, don't even give them a chance to breathe, huh. ]
that very nearly doesn't stay an inside thought, but w stays focused enough for that despite the laughter pissing her off, taking that last step with ines and giving an idle little wave over one shoulder. bye, whoever you people are.
they don't matter now. vincent and tifa do.]
Yeah, let's go already.
[her tail whips impatiently behind her, because her little tail is important. i just needed to add that.]
Every muscle in his stupid 12 year old body tenses.] Lucrecia!! [There isn't anything he can do. There's nothing he can do, and part of him wonders why he's wanting to do anything at all.
She's gone. His answer was himself, but she's gone, and he is still here. Is he being mocked?
He turns toward the chihuahua and the other two, the only team left. Guess he doesn't have much of a choice to be ready or not. Anger is starting to bubble up in the pit of him, somewhere beneath the numbness.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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A hiss of regret comes out of him when he does, but he continues firing anyway to make sure she's safe(r) in relation to alligator and THERESIS. W, YOUR CASTMATES.
It's fine, the poor guy falls into the water to his doom which is unfortunate since he was also kinda hot.
He will race for Tifa and the button, but also, I'm sorry, he also desperately wants to know what happened to his first and only love, Lucrecia.]
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the moat is starting to settle down. it appears that in the chaos, theresis and theresa both have been eliminated from the competition by force. hojo made it to the other side and has slapped the button with lucrecia. she gives vincent a little smile when she sees him - she's mostly undamaged, and hojo is a little bloody, but they're okay.
hoederer has also made his way over to the other side of the platforms, and is by his button, but... aerith is nowhere to be seen. he is partnerless.
the chihuahua host tip-taps his way down from his podium, and sits in front of hoederer, looking up at him. and then after a moment of this, turns to the audience: ]
We have a partnerless team! We all know what that means!
[ and the audience begins to chant, stomping their feet and clapping, blood! blood! blood!
hoederer opens his mouth to say something - and then immediately his head jerks back as a bullet hits him right between the eyes. he crumples to the ground in front of his button, and goes still. the audience erupts into cheers, loud enough to shake the building a little, and the rest of you have to wait for it to die down, watching what happens when you lose at legends of the hidden temple.
the cheers subside, and the chihuahua cheerfully turns to you all. ]
Congratulations! The Silver Snakes, Blue Barracudas, and Green Monkeys have made it to the second round! You're now at the Steps of Knowledge!
[ the crowd cheers again, and the chihuahua continues. ]
Contestants, are you ready for the rules of the next round?
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hoederer is a little different. that one gives her more pause, unsettled after watching the bullet take him out-- there isn't time to linger on it as the chihuahua host moves on, but she glances from the empty space where the siblings would have been and over to hoederer's body, before looking back over to ines.
don't you die on her. she doesn't have to say it out loud, probably.]
...yeah, yeah, just tell us already.
[knowledge is possibly not going to be her strong suit. ines save us ines]
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...
[Even Lucrecia's smile can't keep the shock from touching the edge of Vincent's face. It dawns on him he was right about not taking Hojo out just to spare Lucrecia. OKAY.
(me voice) NOT THE HOT GUY
To Tifa, he says:] We can do it. [He is not Aerith, though, and he really lacks the vibrancy of her steadfast assurances. As long as they watch out for each other.
He awaits the rules from the chihuahua beside Tifa, nodding.]
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tifa can't help herself, though - the bullet makes her let out a little squeak-yelp of a noise that she covers with her hands, because okay!! they just shot a twelve year old in front of a live studio audience!! but they really don't have any time to react, so she just kind of carefully holds onto vincent's arm and waits. she believes him. they can do it.
the chihuahua hops back onto his podium - and behind him, a large stone face comes to life. his red eyes blink a couple of times. the chihuahua barks! ]
Welcome... to round two! You are now standing on the Steps of Knowledge! My friend Olmec here is going to ask you a series of questions! You can very quickly stamp your foot down on the floor in front of you, and when you do, your stair will light up. Whoever is fastest will get to answer - answer right, and you get to descend to the next step. Answer wrong, and... well, there are consequences!
Let's do this thing!
[ and the room goes silent. olmec speaks. ]
What is the name of the progressive, terminal disease caused by direct or prolonged exposure to Originium?
[ if your character would like to answer, hit your floor tile! ]
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her hand is still bleeding. she idly puts pressure on it while they listen, and at that question...
flurry do they still like, know this information despite being lost in the sauce. if they do she hits that tile.]
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W can get a pass regardless because even though Vincent's leg twitches, his foot doesn't hit the floor at all because he does not know the answer to this question. HIGHLY SPECIFIC QUESTION. He doesn't even know a geostigma, that's a whole other canon piece.
He glances around his arm at Tifa, brows furrowing. It's cool. They can try the next one.]
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tifa gives vincent a ??? look, but she squeezes his arm. it's okay, next time. it'll be fine.
hojo and lucrecia are going to try to hit their floor tile too - but w and ines beat them to it. the chihuahua lifts a paw. ]
Team Blue Barracudas! What's your answer?
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[she's not a trivia girl, okay, but she is pretty sure she remembers this one, even if she says the word slowly.
reasonably sure.
gives ines a sidelong look like, that IS correct, right?]
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Vincent glances back and forth between W and Ines, then he looks at the chihuahua to see if they got the correct answer or not.
Maybe he should try guessing for the hell of it... But some blaring red warning part of him thinks it's a bad idea to get something wrong.]
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and... the chihuahua claps his paws together! ]
Correct! Blue Barracudas, take a step down! Get ready for the next question.
[ ines grins a bit, and yanks w down with her to the next step. in the lead... hell yeah.
the chihuahua looks over at olmec, and the statue speaks up again: ]
Who is Sephiroth's mother?
[ what a weird question that tifa and vincent may have different answers for ]
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uhhhhh.
who?
she's Not hitting the button on this one. is sephiroth like, a president or something? why does his mom matter.]
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All he needs to hear is Seph- and he stomps his foot down to get the unholy knowledge light. Some cursed information gets blasted into the recesses of his brain, foggy.
But he hesitates, mouth open. He glances at Lucrecia, and then he looks quickly away again. THEY ARE TWELVE, AND SURELY THIS WILL BE AWKWARD?? He is not sure why this name comes to him. It's probably the puppy crush, or whatever is going on between him and this other girl contestant.]
...Lucrecia.
[Tifa is not going to say this, is she. They are going to give conflicting answers.]
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ines looks at w like what the fuck. what's a sephiroth.
lucrecia and hojo also very quickly slap the floor button, but they're not fast enough - hojo sneers at vincent from his space, and lucrecia looks very, very confused and kind of dazed.
tifa opens her mouth at the same time as vincent, but he says it with such confidence that she looks unsure? so she closes her mouth again, and just figures he knows what he's talking about.
and... the chihuahua claps his paws together! ]
Way to go, Silver Snakes. Good answer! Go ahead and take the next step down.
[ w, ines, vincent and tifa are now on the same level, with hojo and lucrecia at the start. ]
Next question. Olmec?
[ and the studio gets quiet. there's a very long pause. a tension rises, makes the silence almost thick with it, as all eyes are on the three pairs of teams on their platforms. there's a buzzing, even, faint. it feels like it's coming from behind them, but inside their ears, too, behind their teeth.
finally, olmec speaks: ]
What are you willing to lose to win your prize?
[ ... is there even a right answer to this question? ]
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but the next one is a pretty damn good distraction, especially with the buzzing. she hates it immediately, wants it to go away, to get out; who gave it permission, huh?
w doesn't really care if there's a "right" answer for this. she stomps that tile.]
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Vincent hasn't really thought of an answer when he also stomps to try getting a light. In a way, after registering it, he is almost sure he doesn't want to get it even if it means jumping ahead.]
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Silver Snakes, your answer?
[ everything in this room is just waiting, still. watching. like predators waiting for prey to finally wander out. what's your answer, vincent? ]
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she sets her good hand on her hip, looking over at him. well?]
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He freezes somewhat. He glances from W and Ines back to Tifa... Everyone is so fucking quiet, waiting.
Then he slowly looks at Lucrecia, pointedly ignoring Hojo. IT'S COOL... It's cool... His answer is the same as it's always been, hasn't it. Nothing has changed, even now. He looks away.]
...Myself.
[It doesn't have anything to do with him after all...]
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tifa, on the other hand, shifts her grip so she can take vincent's hand, and holds it. she glances at the chihuahua and olmec, and answers: As little as I have to. I won't sacrifice anybody for my dreams.
another long pause, and then the chihuahua bares his teeth in a weird approximation of a grin. ]
So-so answer! Realistic on the one side, and idealistic on the other! Whatever, you can take a step.
[ and he turns his gaze on w and ines. ]
Blue Barracudas, I've got a question for you. Don't bother hitting your step, just answer. Would you sacrifice yourself for your loved ones?
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at least the question they get is one that she doesn't need to think very hard about.]
No way. I can't do anything about it if I'm gone.
[it's a nice thought, right? and the real w, outside the sauce, has risked her life for them before. straight up sacrifice, though...
not her style. temporary solution to bigger problems.]
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Maybe not a person, like you want. Maybe to make something more better.
Despite his answer, it isn't as if Tifa's or W's don't make any sense to him. He gets it, what they're saying. They can hang on, and that is good. He does not know W, but he knows a little of Tifa, and they need her.
Wait, what is he even thinking? Hello?]
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and both of these answers makes the chihuahua laugh! actually - the whole audience laughs. they think that's a very funny answer, for whatever reason. but - with that, he taps his paw on his podium. ]
Good, good. Take your step! You've both made it to the bottom, congrats!
[ and the silence lifts! the set gets noisy again, the way the regular world is. no buzzing, nothing like that, just some shitty tinny background music, and the grinding stone of olmec blinking every so often. ]
As for the Green Monkeys, however... you've been eliminated. Bye!
[ and the ground opens up below hojo and lucrecia. there's a short, startled scream from them both as they very suddenly drop, and then - they're gone. tifa gasps, squeezing vincent's hand. ]
Final round! You ready?
[ wow, don't even give them a chance to breathe, huh. ]
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that very nearly doesn't stay an inside thought, but w stays focused enough for that despite the laughter pissing her off, taking that last step with ines and giving an idle little wave over one shoulder. bye, whoever you people are.
they don't matter now. vincent and tifa do.]
Yeah, let's go already.
[her tail whips impatiently behind her, because her little tail is important. i just needed to add that.]
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Every muscle in his stupid 12 year old body tenses.] Lucrecia!! [There isn't anything he can do. There's nothing he can do, and part of him wonders why he's wanting to do anything at all.
She's gone. His answer was himself, but she's gone, and he is still here. Is he being mocked?
He turns toward the chihuahua and the other two, the only team left. Guess he doesn't have much of a choice to be ready or not. Anger is starting to bubble up in the pit of him, somewhere beneath the numbness.]
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