[The door to the boiler room opens by itself when they each approach it. The sound of the party happening upstairs becomes even more muffled as they descend. Once they're inside the boiler room, they will hear the sound of someone whistling. It's a jaunty little tune. Happy. Cheerful. Not really befitting of the situation. A sense of trepidation creeps up on them, and for the first time, they will notice that they each hold a weapon in one of their hands. Damian holds a pink dagger, Dick holds a knife, and Stephanie holds a pink baseball bat. Their legs will carry them deeper into the boiler room, until they stumble across a familiar face.
Papika for Damian. Beck for Dick. Ion for Stephanie. They are crouched in front of one of the boilers, whistling as they fiddle with an object they have attached to it. Due to their, ah, previous work experience... They will recognize it as a bomb. There is a timer on it, steadily ticking down from two minutes. Papika, Beck and Ion will stop long enough to glance their way, cold anger visible in their expression before it softens upon catching a glimpse of their friend. Immediately, they stand up and smile at them.]
"I'm so happy you came back for me." [The three of them say, in separate layers of reality but at the same time.] "The bomb is ready. Once it goes off, it will detonate the pack of thermals upstairs. We can make everyone else go away and go home together. No one will ever hurt you again! Not on my watch."
[They hold a hand out to them, waiting for them to take it so they can run away together.
Damian, Dick and Steph can take their hand. That is an option. But the bomb is very, very real in their minds. A surge of emotion courses through them. They are heartbroken. They are angry. They love this person. They hate this person. They know, that if the bomb goes off, all 266 of the people upstairs in the school will die. All the people who have hurt them, who have killed their friends, who have said cruel things and made them wish for death... But also the people who have been kind to them. The people who are their friends. The people who, even if they are terrible assholes right now, still have a capacity to change. You can't change if you are dead. Death is not the solution.
Though, there are two exceptions.
Instinctively, they will know that there is only one way to deactivate the bomb. The timer on the bomb ticks down to the rhythm of their heartbeat. If they kill the person before them, and put an end to themselves, the timer on the bomb will stop.
There is no other way.
No one here deserves to die, except for the two of them.
The timer reads 1:19... 1:18... 1:17... 1:16... and so forth.]
no subject
Papika for Damian. Beck for Dick. Ion for Stephanie. They are crouched in front of one of the boilers, whistling as they fiddle with an object they have attached to it. Due to their, ah, previous work experience... They will recognize it as a bomb. There is a timer on it, steadily ticking down from two minutes. Papika, Beck and Ion will stop long enough to glance their way, cold anger visible in their expression before it softens upon catching a glimpse of their friend. Immediately, they stand up and smile at them.]
"I'm so happy you came back for me." [The three of them say, in separate layers of reality but at the same time.] "The bomb is ready. Once it goes off, it will detonate the pack of thermals upstairs. We can make everyone else go away and go home together. No one will ever hurt you again! Not on my watch."
[They hold a hand out to them, waiting for them to take it so they can run away together.
Damian, Dick and Steph can take their hand. That is an option. But the bomb is very, very real in their minds. A surge of emotion courses through them. They are heartbroken. They are angry. They love this person. They hate this person. They know, that if the bomb goes off, all 266 of the people upstairs in the school will die. All the people who have hurt them, who have killed their friends, who have said cruel things and made them wish for death... But also the people who have been kind to them. The people who are their friends. The people who, even if they are terrible assholes right now, still have a capacity to change. You can't change if you are dead. Death is not the solution.
Though, there are two exceptions.
Instinctively, they will know that there is only one way to deactivate the bomb. The timer on the bomb ticks down to the rhythm of their heartbeat. If they kill the person before them, and put an end to themselves, the timer on the bomb will stop.
There is no other way.
No one here deserves to die, except for the two of them.
The timer reads 1:19... 1:18... 1:17... 1:16... and so forth.]