#;;{ execution

[despair-quest]

En Garde! || EXECUTION || CHP6

CECILE MURASAKI HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY; COMMENCING EXECUTION

The scenario Cecile is thrown into is not unfamiliar in the least. Her knees smash into the ground as she lands, and she lies dazed for a moment, allowing herself to collect her bearings. It’s a fencing arena. She can see that much as she lies prone- it’s altogether very predictable. She’ll die how she lived. After another moment and several deep breaths, she stands, taking a more complete look around. A spotlight shines on the piste, the marked out playing field in which she stands alone. To her right is a bear dressed as a referee, and to her left, a small rack, containing only a sabre. The most worrying thing thus far is that she has no protective gear- only the blade which she quickly strides over and draws.

As soon as the sabre is removed from the rack, a loud buzzer plays, making Cecile wince. She turns to face the open area once again, and is faced with a figure in full gear, standing in a salute. Her challenger has arrived, she realizes, her face twisting into a smirk. She too shifts into a salute, before dropping into an en garde position. Her opponent mirrors her move, but drops into an invitational position instead. The referee raises his hand, the irritating voice of the bear ringing out- ‘Play!’

If this is her execution, she will have control of it, she decides. The right-of-way is hers, and she steps forward, pushing her arm out into a thrust. Her opponent parries easily, matching her in speed, and she lunges again, only to meet another parry. After quickly stepping back, she feints, lunging again...only to be parried. Her face twists in frustration as her opponent matches her step-for-step. No one had ever been as fast as her for this long. Again she steps back, performing a perfect disengage before quickly stepping forward, leaping off her feet and lunging- her signature flunge. Her eyes widen as it’s blocked, and she can’t stop her momentum from carrying her forward, barely missing smashing into the challenger. A line of pain shoots across her arm and she gasps, righting herself and staring down at it. ‘Yes,’ comes the voice of the referee, confirming a hit. There’s a new tear in her sleeve, and a deep slash is cut into her upper arm. She narrows her eyes at it, before looking up at her challenger. His blade is identical to hers, she realizes...save for the tip, which lacks the ball that makes hers useless. The odds shift further from her favor.

Cecile steps back once again, raising the blade despite the pain in her arm. Blood stains her sleeve as she takes a defensive position, waiting for her opponent to attack- and that they do, diving forward at an almost inhuman speed. She’s barely able to parry his first attack, and the blade jabs into her ribs. She yelps and stumbles back. ‘Yes,’ says the referee again. Before she can even move, there’s a sharp pain in her back. She falls forward, face the picture of shock, and hits the ground with an unceremonious thud. Behind her stands an identical figure to the first, sabre outstretched and dripping blood from her back. ‘Yes,’ says the referee. There’s no time for her to even argue or defend herself- a pair of gloved hands grabs her roughly, flipping her onto her back. A third figure has appeared, pinning her to the ground bodily, leaving her entire front vulnerable. She kicks and screams, frantically trying to force herself from its grip, but there’s no way out- it could very well be a sturdy statue. The two other white-clad figures approach, sabres raised, and the true execution begins.

The first’s blade pins her leg to the ground, stabbing clean through the limb and rendering it immobile. The referee’s voice is drowned out by her scream of pain, and tears stream down her face as she continues to weakly yank at her captor’s grip, to no avail. One figure remains bladeless as the other raises theirs, the spotlight glinting off the metal before it’s driven into Cecile’s other leg. Again she screams, now unable to fight back due to pain and pure fear. But the figures remain weaponless. Perhaps they’re to leave her here?

Any hope she has is dashed as she sees them turn, walk over to where her own blade lays discarded. With a practiced ease, one picks it up, pulls the button from the tip and tosses it aside. Slowly they turn, returning to stand over her. The sabreuse can only watch as her blade is raised for the last time, and then brought down twice- once into her heart, and once slicing her head off cleanly. The referee’s voice rings out- ‘Halt!’

Cecile Murasaki, SHSL Sabreuse, has been executed.

[despair-quest]

Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall || Execution

OSHIRO KAZUO HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY; COMMENCING EXECUTION

Kazuo stands alone in a tree surrounded area, a small bridge positioned in the middle of the stage. A beaded rope falls from above, already tied in a noose. He shakily drapes it around his neck and ties the other end to the railing, looking around with tears in his eyes. The only noteworthy thing in the area being a small camera, the only sound being his shaky sobs. Kazuo looks into the camera’s lens and smiles through the tears falling out of his eyes. He trembles as he bows in the general direction of the camera, a final goodbye. One leg goes over the railing and then the other. There seems to only be a void below the bridge, darkness that continues endlessly. Kazuo inhales and holds one foot out to the abyss, only to be kicked off by Chihue before he can exhale.

The rope is all that holds him in view now, a look of horror is plastered on his face as he claws at the noose. The rope only getting tighter the more he struggles. Kazuo goes limp, the same despairing expression stuck there for eternity.

[despair-quest]

Checkmate || Chapter 4 Execution

UEYAMA AKEMI HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY, COMMENCING ‘EXECUTION’

It was finally over. She was caught. Done for. The pristine appearance that Akemi prided herself on was no more. Her hair was messy and erratic, covering a good deal of her face. One eye twitched with maddening, disbelieving anger. Her mouth had turned into a warped snarl of both bewilderment and hatred. There was no Akemi Ueyama left, only the broken shell of a woman who couldn’t keep a hold on her sanity any longer.

Before she could do anything, chains wrapped around her body. They were endless in length, binding her from head to toe. Faced with the inevitability of her execution, Akemi...laughed. It was a laugh louder than any ever heard before...or since. A laugh that echoed in the halls of justice, lingering for what seemed like hours. It was the last you ever heard from her or saw her in person, as she was yanked away. Pulled along metal strings and led to her fate.

...

The monitors that descended showed you a chessboard. A massive one, where the pieces were grand and majestic, made of white or black metal with neon streaks, holding vicious weapons. All of them had Monokuma’s head. Except for one. Akemi stood near the center, looking at the pieces that remained on the board. Her side was at such a huge disadvantage that she was destined to lose, but that didn’t stop her. Already, she was gesturing for one of her pieces to move.

“Rook, advance 3 spaces.”

...Yet, they don’t move.

“Rook, move to G3.”

Nothing. Akemi points and moves her hand, but the lack of results begins to put her more and more on edge. They aren’t listening to her. She wasn’t in control.

When the girl approached a nearby tile, spikes rose as high as her body with the speed of a bullet. Left, right, behind, diagonally, she tried all those directions but failed. The spikes shot up every time, scarring her ‘perfect’ body with ugly, bleeding cuts.

All that left was straight ahead. Akemi realized what this meant for her and her position in this execution. Just ahead was a monokuma knight, wielding his absurdly large lance with one hand. And she was a pawn. A small, powerless, disgraceful pawn that, were she to move forward, the knight would claim her. But did she have to move?

“Are you so foolish that you’ll expect me to just waltz right into my death?!”

All of a sudden, there came the thunderous sound of something crashing down and a circular shadow growing larger around Akemi’s space. Raw horror had washed over the girl’s face in an instant.

BOOM! A flat, metal pillar landed on the tile. Akemi dove out of the way at the last moment, leaving her crumpled on the floor. Her breathing was frantic and her entire body was ragged, but she stood up despite it all. Wait, the tile--

Her head crookedly turned to the side. The mechanical knight had already began its charge, traversing the tiles within seconds. Akemi had no time to react, as the floor beneath her broke open, sending her flying down to the dark abyss.

[despair-quest]

Heros Last Stand || Chapter 4 Execution

ABE HITOMU HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY, COMMENCING ‘EXECUTION’

Nyakuma is dropped into what looks to be a large glass container. Inside, it is decorated with cardboard cutout scenery and a sloppily painted backdrop that look like the set of a play that takes place in a magical kingdom. On the ground, Nyakuma finds a cape and a cardboard sword. After taking the sword and putting on the cape, the floor begins to move, revealing itself to be a treadmill. It moves slowly at first, allowing them to move at a light jog as the scenery backdrop rolls along behind them -- and then, as music reminiscent of an arcade side scroller begins to play, a large claw like that from a crane machine s drops from the ceiling.

It begins snapping menacingly at Nyakuma, who runs along the treadmill, ducking and rolling to avoid being caught. Finally, as Nyakuma appears to be losing steam, the claw stops along with the treadmill. A panel slides open in the floor at the end of the treadmill, and a large tower rises from it. At the top of the tower is an animatronic rabbit, dressed like a princess.

Nyakuma, slow and worn out from running, begins toward the tower. As they finally reach it, they look up at the rabbit princess with a smile -- only to feel the floor give out beneath them.  

[despair-quest]

Not the Bees! || Chapter 3 || Execution

SAKATA MIKKA HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY; BEGINNING ‘EXECUTION’

tw bugs, insects, bees

In the center of a room filled with giant fake flowers of all sorts and colors, the glass box stood. It was molded into the shape of a large cube, six feet tall at it’s highest points. Within the box, Mikka knelt on a clear platform, looking like a porcelain doll.

The room was peaceful and calming to look at, showing nothing of what it’s true purpose was. The ceiling opened up and two large, quite cartoonish, robotic hands lowered down clutching a fake-looking beehive in between them. The hands stopped over the glass box and began to violently shake the hive until a cacophonous buzzing could be heard coming from within.In a quick fluid motion, a hatch opened on top of the cube and the robotic hands slammed the end of the hive down onto it. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the bees came. Giant africanized honey bees descended down and Mikka began screaming.Within seconds, the box was completely filled with the buzzing yellow and black insects. Mikka was no longer visible, but you could hear her screaming as the aggressive insects attacked who they thought to be an aggressor.Agonizing minutes passed before all noise stopped. The side of the glass box fell open and as a mountain of bees poured out, both living and dead, with no sign of Mikka’s body The only clue to her whereabouts being the open pit where she had once stood.

[despair-quest]

STUDENT COUNCIL PUNISHMENT VOTE || Chapter 2 || Execution

MIYAMA MAYA HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY; BEGINNING ‘EXECUTION’

Maya Miyama is sitting behind a familiar desk -- the one she used at her old school. In fact, the room she’s in looks just like that of the student council. She’s strapped to her chair, staring directly at the whiteboard. On it are several columns: Electrocution, Stabbing, Falling, Drowning. Standing in front of these words is King Bibbit, a menacing grin on his face. He holds a marker in his hand.

Over the loudspeaker a voice says, “Please vote now!”

Elevator music begins to play as the sound of a ticking clock gets louder. Bibbit waits patiently and finally a loud alarm goes off. It sounds like the end-of-school bell.

“The votes will now be tallied!” the voice says.

And that’s when Bibbit moves.

He spins around, hopping back and forth in front of the whiteboard. He makes marks under each column, tallying up votes. Maya watches as each column fills up. She gulps, knowing full well that they’re deciding her fate. These voters -- whomever they are -- are out for blood.

Bibbit speeds up. He’s now moving rapidly, marker flying across the board. The votes seem even, but who’s to say? Each column is covered in lines, nearly colored in completely.

“The votes are now in!” the voice booms. “It’s a tie! Commencing execution.”

Before Maya can react, electricity flows through her, the current coming from the chair. She screams, squeezing her eyes shut just as a knife pierces her back. The girl gasps, struggling. What did she do to deserve this?

She cries out again as the floor opens up beneath her. Still strapped to the chair, she’s along for the ride. She falls, her screams growing distant. And finally -- nothing.

[despair-quest]

THE COLOUR SIT || Chapter 1 || Execution

KOJI NIJI HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY; BEGINNING ‘EXECUTION’

Niji chokes as they speak. “I…I didn’t…I didn’t mean for…for any of this to happen…You all must…You all must understand…” Their hands are pressed against the podium, sweat running down their forehead. However, they have no more time to convince anyone of anything, as the chain wraps around their neck and brings them and their screams away.

As the students watch the screens, a title screen pops up: “THE COLOR SIT”. The execution room pictured is so white that the students can’t tell where the room ends. In the middle of the room, Niji kneels, chained to the floor. They are dressed in a plain white shirt and pants. None of the students bother to wonder how they got changed so fast. The camera is stationary as things begin to rev up.

In the distance, the students hear a sound similar to a bomb dropping; they were not wrong in assuming it was one, as a giant yellow ball dropped from the ceiling. It exploded upon impact, spreading a yellow dust about the air. When it hit Niji, they began to cough, the dust filling their lungs. Gradually, more and more bombs began to drop. The more analytic students notice that there were no red bombs dropped.

As the colorful dust fills the room, it stains to the walls, floor, and Niji’s clothes. Niji lies on the floor, coughing profusely. When it seems like Bibbit and Chihue are about to leave them there to die, the students hear the floor from under them creak open, a black pit beginning to emerge from where the metal flooring had once been, sending the coughing and wheezing Niji down, down, down to what the kids could only assume was the Prison. After the floor closed up, a final bomb falls, black and heavy compared to the last few, hitting the flooring with deafening CLANG! as the lights fade out.