cradleproject | WEEK 8

[It's been a long day, and it's late, and she's so, so tired—she wants to go back to her room, she wants to be alone, she wants this to be over, but it's not. While Dorian's still here, it isn't over. Grief piled onto grief piled onto grief, and the last thing Arumat asked of her is the only thing she knows how to do and how to deal with anymore.

Alice gives her the scythe. Clover turns it over in her hands and doesn't say a word, doesn't cry out when she sprints at Dorian and spins to swing the scythe at him.]

[Well, he'd been just about to leave the room, but then Clover suddenly starts sprinting towards Dorian and he jerks up when he realizes what she's planning.]

Are you serious?! You idiot, it's way too fucking late for this shit!

[But a barrier will spring up around her anyway. He won't do any more than that, but considering that Dorian just helped murder someone and he has no idea how the guy will instinctively react to someone attacking him, Judar's not taking any chances here.]

[He isn't not expecting an attack. He doesn't necessarily expect it from Clover. He isn't going to hurt her; he even understands her anger. But he also isn't going to allow himself to be a target. There are things he must do, and things he wishes to do, and then there's the choice Bull made. It's one he intends to respect to the best of his ability no matter how much it hurts to do anything at all.

Fortunately, regular battles have got him in practice enough that his barrier goes up automatically when he senses a threat. It's enough to absorb the blow from the scythe. It may be enough to absorb the blow from another swing. It's not enough to keep holding her off without the risk of significant injury, and it will take him a moment for his mana to recover enough to fade step away.]

Clover. [He's tired, so tired, he doesn't want to do this. But he puts one hand up in a gesture to show he means no harm, though the other goes to his staff.] Please. What's done is done. This won't help him.

[Judar's yell had given Adrien the heads up he might not have had just from Clover's sprinting, and he's already yelling and transforming into a burst of light during her first swing. He doesn't have far to go to step in front of Dorian, one hand reaching behind himself in the same movement to reach and elongate his staff as he brings it in front of him in one smooth motion. He's ready to block another swing if it gets to it, but he's sincerely hoping it doesn't.

At forty percent, they might be able to stop bullets, but he's not that certain for lasers. More than that, he doesn't want to fight Clover.]

Clover, don't. I'm not letting you do this.

[And close to Adrien goes off another light show as Marinette transforms too. She had a feeling it'd come to this, but not from Clover (but, the way she'd dealt with the alien? Should have tipped her off), and as furious as she is at Dorian and the entire situation makes her sick and exhausted, there's no way she'll let him get hurt out of revenge. There's been enough killing.]

[She's flipping in besides Adrien, staunchly between Dorian and Clover, and lets her yoyo fly in a circular motion - fast enough to make a circular shield.]

Clover. Put the scythe down, please. There have been enough deaths.

[She's running all on instinct and impulse, only registering the barrier and Judar's shout in the back of her mind, smashing the scythe against Dorian's barrier and not thinking too hard about what else she can do about it but force her way through—] And is it gonna hurt him?! [—until Adrien's in her way, until Marinette's in her way, and her expression twists into a snarl.]

I don't need you to let me do anything! You'd rather let him get away with it?!

[She feints the start of a run and a strike towards Marinette, steps to try darting around Adrien, doesn't swing the scythe as widely when she lunges at Dorian again.]

[He doesn't answer that, because, well, fair. It won't do him any good. He doubts it will do her any good either, but who is he to say. Instead, he's debating his next move. He's got one spell left, and then he's done; he'll be too drained to move and in even more danger. Better, then, to trust in Adrien and Marinette and what's left of his barrier until he has a chance to generate a new one, instead trying to move out of her way as quickly as he can without magic. He can't help the uncharitable thought that of course she didn't try her little revenge plot while Bull was still alive.]

I don't know if I'd call any of this getting away with it.

We're going to deal with him! But not like this! You'd just be playing into Alice's game if you kil him, this is what she wants!

[She gestures for Chat Noir to distract Clover, while she swings her yoyo around to wrap around the handle of the scythe, and, with any luck, yank it away from her]

[But she keeps pleading with Clover in the meantime]

Do you really think Arumat would want more senseless violence?

[So, ABOUT THAT...]

Edited 2016-08-02 03:41 (UTC)

We're not letting him get away with anything, but this isn't the way to go about it!

[unfortunately for clover, Chat's in full fighting mode and he's not distracted by her feints. Keep track of your opponent's footwork-- he'd never thought fencing would come in handy on this ship, yet here he is. He steps to block the scythe's swing, though it's with a lot of relief that it even works. He's definitely pushed back a little, but he plants himself and pushes right back, hoping to throw Clover off.

Hopefully Ladybug can take that scythe away because his hands are definitely too close to a laser or two while he's doing this.]

[She's moving to step around Adrien, the first syllable of a scream through when the yoyo latches around the scythe. Instead she steels herself, all her strength going into gripping it instead, but she isn't steady enough and the movement throws her to the ground—but she still has the scythe. She's trying to tear it back but another determined tug could take it easily, even as Clover tries to pick herself up.]

Shut up! [Later she might regret being so venomous towards Marinette, but now—] Don't you dare try speaking for him!

[They'd tried speaking for Light, too, talked about what he would have wanted and what he died for and none of them had any idea. Here Marinette asks this like the question hasn't been answered already, calls it senseless like it isn't deserved.]

You don't know anything! He asked me to avenge him, he wanted all of us to and we nearly ruined it! He at least deserves this!

He asked you to what?

[First of all, he was vulnerable this week, but what an uncomfortable thing to ask if you aren't sure you're going to die! He's imagining Arumat Monday morning, were he still alive. "Yes, we're all right on the revenge for now, turns out I wasn't killed after all. Carry on!" But more importantly, what a fucked up thing to do. Yes, draft a grieving young woman clearly struggling with her feelings and add the responsibility of vengeance onto her shoulders. That seems like a responsible decision. Mental sassiness aside, he finds himself rather disgusted by that. Arumat...they're all right, he was never a bad man. He cared, but damn it. He never thought.]

Well, I, for one, am feeling somewhat less monstrous. [Dorian is this really a good idea. Is it really the time to sass when a mentally unstable girl with a scythe is gunning for you. It appears he literally can't help this.]

He did what?! [Is this Clover's grief talking, or did Arumat seriously tell an already traumatized teenage girl to avenge him? What the hell, Arumat?]

Edited 2016-08-02 04:55 (UTC)

Are you kidding me? It isn't enough that half the adults on this ship are murdering?! [ARUMAT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD]

[Anyway, after that little outburst, her eyes narrow and her resolve hardens. Of course Arumat's just as bad as them, what adult here is actually trustworthy?]

[She's still trying to get the scythe - grab it, and turn it off, and throw it away, but she does her best not to let Clover get hurt by it or fall too hard, either. It's, uh, not the best move, considering that laser could slice her any second if mishandled, but, as angry as she is, she doesn't want either of them to get hurt]

What is this going to solve, Clover? It won't bring him back! Bull was already executed, we need to focus on the root of all of this!

[With the scythe out of the way, Chat's got the advantage: Clover is on the ground, weaponless. He takes advantage of that to jump nearly on top of her, crouched and holding her in place with his staff. He's careful not to actually hurt her as he does, pressing the staff on her shoulders and the top of her chest rather than her neck or stomach, where it'd be easier to keep her secured where she is. He's hoping she's not mad enough to fight back with him so close. ...but, I mean, if we're talking about last requests, Chat's got one of his own to share:]

And he asked me to take care of you! [He doesn't have grievances over any requests Arumat felt like giving-- he'd called out the man himself on being especially terrible at comforting people, and maybe that request had been meant to help Clover deal with his loss, just like what Bull had done himself a few weeks prior by giving him the axe. But that doesn't mean he's out of things to share.] So I'm going to repeat myself: I'm not letting you do this.

[The scythe flies out of her hand and for a moment all the rage flickers out of her expression—he'd entrusted that to her, he'd entrusted vengeance to her, she'd failed and is failing at the second and couldn't even earn the first because of it and now she can't even hold onto the damn thing, and she looks so crushed in the seconds between her trying to stand again and Adrien pinning her to the ground.

And of course she fights him, thrashing with all she has, not caring anymore that he is—was—is her friend, fire and fury back in her face.]

SHUT UP! You're not my damn keeper! [Mindless flailing isn't working, so she tries drawing her legs up to kick him up and off of her—a little more methodical, a little like what bits of her training she remembers. She's twisting towards Dorian, too, screaming as loud as she can.] Shut up! Shut UP! You don't get to parade his corpse down the halls and then think there's any reason you're any less of a MONSTER!

[Vengeance and violence are wrong, and she knows it, she knows what they think of her for it; she is evil and monstrous and amoral because vengeance and violence are all she understands anymore and she doesn't have enough reasons to care, but this is Dorian's fault, too; she can't let him make it Arumat's.]

[That certainly wasn't one of his finer moments, no. All right. His need to make light aside, the last thing he wanted was to make this worse for Adrien and Marinette, who don't need to be doing this for him, or to make it harder on Clover, who, seemingly insatiable taste for vengeance aside, appears to be a relative innocent in all this. Whether or not he likes what Arumat has done, he owes it to the others, and, well, to himself, to accept the consequences of his actions.]

That was unworthy. You're right about me. Killing Arumat was a monstrous, unforgivable thing to do, and I deserve to be tossed out with the demons as much or more as any of them have been.

But I'm not worth hurting your friends over. Not when I'll just as likely be dead the next time I'm vulnerable or a suspect. Now, I won't protest what needs to be done, but I think the others who cared for Arumat equally deserve a say.

[The scythe clatters to the ground a few feet away as Ladybug gets to her feet. Chat Noir seems to be handling her, for the moment, so she's going to make sure that scythe is out of reach of anyone who wants to hack Dorian to pieces with it]

No one is killing anyone! [Dorian being so blithe about his own death just makes her angrier] Revenge won't solve anything. And Dorian was being manipulated by this system just as much as you are, right now. If you really want to bring Arumat peace, you need to focus on finding the people responsible for this. All of this.

[She whirls around to glare at Dorian]

And you! What you did was unforgivable, you're right about that, but we're not going to let you die, and don't even think about lying down and accepting it. The only reason Bull confessed was to save you. The least you can do is stay alive to find out the truth of all of these "roles" and "experiments" - the root of this disgusting game.

[He's keeping an eye on her throughout both Dorian's and Ladybug's speeches, holding the staff down. This entire scenario is growing out of hand and he's starting to worry Clover is incapable of listening to anything right now.]

I'm your friend, Clover. [that's all he gets to say before she's kicking at him with both legs, and while even at 40% the suit still absorbs any pain that would bring him, it does nothing for impact and he already wasn't in a particularly good position to keep her down, too careful to actually brace himself on top of her properly. He's thrown off for a second, landing backwards. He scrambles to get up immediately, one hand on his staff as he aims for a low kick to try to unbalance Clover as she's getting up.]

[Something falls in her expression when the scythe hits the ground, wastes no time twisting into rage again, that she would be so callous with something so precious, that Clover let it happen in the first place.]

SCREW YOU! [For Dorian daring to be so calm in the face of this, for Marinette saying she's being manipulated—it only adds fire to her fight and she's screaming louder and louder, over Marinette and Adrien and anything else as much as she's able. She doesn't care about Marinette's grandstanding, cares even less what she has to say to Dorian, knows just what she's doing, just what she wants—

(two plus three plus seven and she hadn't even thought about the nine bracelet then and didn't think anything of it when she was asked you wouldn't want to be manipulated by someone who did such a terrible thing, would you? with the man who would have murdered her brother looking her in the eye but it's not the same, she's pushing everything she'd known and thought and would have done a year ago aside because it's not the same)]

He made a choice! He made his own damn choice and I'm making mine! [And then, shrieking, howling,] STOP TRYING TO SPEAK FOR ARUMAT! [What could Marinette know about him, what could she know about peace?

Clover's coming to her feet and scrambling forward with Adrien off of her.] You don't know anyth—

[And that's as far as she gets before Adrien kicks her onto the ground again. She's trying to pick herself up again, but it won't be hard to pin her like this.]

I know that! [Anything reasonable in his voice cracks as he speaks. They may feel little sympathy for him, or believe he's made his own bed and must lie in it, and that may be true. But still, the man he loved died not minutes ago, and he can't stand to be lectured about this right now. Not about him. The grief is still too fresh to even really be raw.]

I know why he confessed. I don't intend to die here, not now, not if I've any say in the matter, but. Maker, she and others have the right to demand that! Can't you assure her something will be done? Fighting will solve my problem no less than it will solve hers.

Edited 2016-08-02 16:24 (UTC)

Enough!

[ Machias had silently watched the whole thing go down but had been too weary to step in himself, Grell having stopped him from nearly making a mistake earlier. Yet the more he listened on, the more he felt that flare of anger set off and boil to a point his fist was shaking. Especially when Dorian had mentioned the people who cared Arumat deserving their piece in things.

Is his shotgun out? Yes, but it's lowered at the ground, held by the stock and painfully clear he doesn't actually intend to shoot. His fist, however? That hasn't unclenched, even as he finally speaks up. ]

That's enough. Let her go. ... At least let her have her say. He made his choice and he damn well knows it. He can accept the consequences that come with that decision too.

[ He looks over to Dorian, his alarmingly cool expression deceiving his scathing tone as he addresses him. ]

You said as much yourself, didn't you? Killing you might not solve anything, but you know damn well you had a hand in it too. So, if nothing else? Just let her have her say.

Edited 2016-08-02 17:20 (UTC)

[Machias, are you fucking kidding? What do you think is happening here? Do you think Adrien and Marinette are holding down Clover because they don't want her to lecture him?]

She can have her say as soon as her say isn't being delivered via laser scythe! As can you, but at the moment, the interjection isn't helpful!

[When Machias decides to throw his hat into the ring, she's just. Making. This face.]

[She takes a deep breath, rubbing at her mask, and tries to calm down a little.]

Clover. I'm not speaking for him. [Except that you kind of were, Marinette!] I'm speaking to you. Arumat is gone, and there's nothing I can change that, but don't go down this path, please. You have every right to be angry and hate him - we're going to lock him away so he can't hurt anyone else again. I'm asking you to please stop, but even if you don't, I will not let you kill this man.

[AND THEN.... she's not going to admit to agreeing to Dorian, but he's right.]

When violence is off the table, we'll stop restraining her. So don't make this worse, Machias!

WEEK 8 - Execution

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