[And once the votes have come in, the lights go out, once again plunging the room into an all-encompassing darkness; it's heavy as it hovers over the circle, lingering for several moments as though all power to the room has been cut, until slowly – slowly – the lights in the pit begin to sputter and flicker to life, one at a time around the circle, a bright display of crimson and white intermingling beneath the podiums.
The amount of that former color is impossible to ignore now; a quarter of the lights are shining red, three more joining the six from before. The other thing that's impossible to ignore is the fact that as the lights come on and the room brightens a bit, it's immediately evident that Kimblee is no longer among you – he's disappeared entirely from the circle with no sound, no outward indication that anything has happened despite the fact that something clearly has.
As with the previous times before, Alena is waiting in the pit, down below Podium Five; she's drenched in red light where it's shining off the white top of her uniform. As always, she's keeping her eyes across the circle, though she looks rather dead behind them – there's no emotion there, nothing to indicate that she's thinking or feeling anything at all about this compared to the general upset that she was displaying when Tabby died. This is just cold, and blank, and jarringly empty.
And when the door beneath Podium 26 slides open, she tips her head back to address Jericho, in that quiet manner that she always has before an execution; when Kimblee makes his way out into the pit it's with no hesitation whatsoever. He's keeping his head held high, and he doesn’t hesitate; he simply makes his way to the center, and he seeks Alena out with his gaze, and he tips his head to the side a bit when he notices her, as though waiting to see what she's going to do.
She reaches out, stretching her right hand to her side again as though searching for something in open air; after a moment a sword flickers into being, a large silver broadsword, glittering and reflecting crimson off the lights.
Kimblee shifts a little at that, folding his arms low across his body, the gesture strangely casual despite the situation; he seems to ask her something, though it's difficult to say what – he's never been a terribly loud person, all things considered, so perhaps that's unsurprising.
Alena is quiet, but she seems to be listening despite her dead-eyed state; after a moment she nods, and as she readies the sword in both hands Kimblee kneels down on the ground, shifting his ponytail over one shoulder so it's out of the way before bowing his head, exposing the back of his neck easily to her.
She raises the blade. Begins to bring it down.
And immediately cries out as Kimblee quickly reaches up and around to grab her wrist on the way down, using the purchase he's got on her to slip up and around, out from under the blade, wrenching her arm back as he does so.
She loses her grip on the sword, sending it clattering to the ground as he kicks the back of her leg, forcing her down onto one knee on the ground as it buckles hard; he keeps her arm twisted hard behind her, using it as leverage to force her head downwards, and for a moment he just holds her there – he may have been out of commission for several years but he still remembers how to fight, he's been a soldier for years, and like hell if he isn't going down putting up a decent fight.
Alena squirms a bit under his grip, reaching out with her free hand and finding the handle of that sword; she can't get up easily but she does have ways to make him move, and for a moment a brief burst of blue fire swells up near her as some unseen force seems to shove him off for her, sending him staggering back, though he doesn't fall.
And once he's off, she's quick to stand up, sending more of those blue flames skittering across the blade and lighting the sword on fire as she lunges at him.]
Good night, Observant.
[Jericho's voice can be heard a split second before Alena makes contact with Kimblee, grabbing him by the lapels of that white suit with her free hand and sweeping his legs out from under him, dropping him hard; she doesn't hesitate before raising the sword, taking it up in both hands again before she brings it down hard, striking him in one of the eyes before raising it and bringing it down again. And again. And again.
Fun fact: It takes 2300 newtons of force to break a human skull.
(That wasn't very fun, but it was factual.)
And after a while of just...stabbing him for a while, Alena seems to just...suddenly deflate; she lets the sword fall to the ground again at her side, and the flames disperse, and then she just kind of...drops, herself, kneeling next to his body and trying very, very hard to not look at what she just did to his head.
Jericho can be heard after she's done with it; he sounds elated.]
Good job, everyone – you did an absolutely fucking great job today! I'm really proud of you, you have no idea...
For now, though, you guys go upstairs and rest up; there's nothing more for you guys to do today. Maybe soon, but not now.
ACCOUNTABILITY.
The amount of that former color is impossible to ignore now; a quarter of the lights are shining red, three more joining the six from before. The other thing that's impossible to ignore is the fact that as the lights come on and the room brightens a bit, it's immediately evident that Kimblee is no longer among you – he's disappeared entirely from the circle with no sound, no outward indication that anything has happened despite the fact that something clearly has.
As with the previous times before, Alena is waiting in the pit, down below Podium Five; she's drenched in red light where it's shining off the white top of her uniform. As always, she's keeping her eyes across the circle, though she looks rather dead behind them – there's no emotion there, nothing to indicate that she's thinking or feeling anything at all about this compared to the general upset that she was displaying when Tabby died. This is just cold, and blank, and jarringly empty.
And when the door beneath Podium 26 slides open, she tips her head back to address Jericho, in that quiet manner that she always has before an execution; when Kimblee makes his way out into the pit it's with no hesitation whatsoever. He's keeping his head held high, and he doesn’t hesitate; he simply makes his way to the center, and he seeks Alena out with his gaze, and he tips his head to the side a bit when he notices her, as though waiting to see what she's going to do.
She reaches out, stretching her right hand to her side again as though searching for something in open air; after a moment a sword flickers into being, a large silver broadsword, glittering and reflecting crimson off the lights.
Kimblee shifts a little at that, folding his arms low across his body, the gesture strangely casual despite the situation; he seems to ask her something, though it's difficult to say what – he's never been a terribly loud person, all things considered, so perhaps that's unsurprising.
Alena is quiet, but she seems to be listening despite her dead-eyed state; after a moment she nods, and as she readies the sword in both hands Kimblee kneels down on the ground, shifting his ponytail over one shoulder so it's out of the way before bowing his head, exposing the back of his neck easily to her.
She raises the blade. Begins to bring it down.
And immediately cries out as Kimblee quickly reaches up and around to grab her wrist on the way down, using the purchase he's got on her to slip up and around, out from under the blade, wrenching her arm back as he does so.
She loses her grip on the sword, sending it clattering to the ground as he kicks the back of her leg, forcing her down onto one knee on the ground as it buckles hard; he keeps her arm twisted hard behind her, using it as leverage to force her head downwards, and for a moment he just holds her there – he may have been out of commission for several years but he still remembers how to fight, he's been a soldier for years, and like hell if he isn't going down putting up a decent fight.
Alena squirms a bit under his grip, reaching out with her free hand and finding the handle of that sword; she can't get up easily but she does have ways to make him move, and for a moment a brief burst of blue fire swells up near her as some unseen force seems to shove him off for her, sending him staggering back, though he doesn't fall.
And once he's off, she's quick to stand up, sending more of those blue flames skittering across the blade and lighting the sword on fire as she lunges at him.]
Good night, Observant.
[Jericho's voice can be heard a split second before Alena makes contact with Kimblee, grabbing him by the lapels of that white suit with her free hand and sweeping his legs out from under him, dropping him hard; she doesn't hesitate before raising the sword, taking it up in both hands again before she brings it down hard, striking him in one of the eyes before raising it and bringing it down again. And again. And again.
Fun fact: It takes 2300 newtons of force to break a human skull.
(That wasn't very fun, but it was factual.)
And after a while of just...stabbing him for a while, Alena seems to just...suddenly deflate; she lets the sword fall to the ground again at her side, and the flames disperse, and then she just kind of...drops, herself, kneeling next to his body and trying very, very hard to not look at what she just did to his head.
Jericho can be heard after she's done with it; he sounds elated.]
Good job, everyone – you did an absolutely fucking great job today! I'm really proud of you, you have no idea...
For now, though, you guys go upstairs and rest up; there's nothing more for you guys to do today. Maybe soon, but not now.
One down. Three more like him to go.