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Z2 was shocked as he stood and watched Gamma 12 remove her mask, her head imploding right in front of his eyes. He felt sick to his stomach and wanted nothing more than to throw up right now. His body was paralyzed... was this his fault? He had coaxed Gamma 12 so much that what he said just finally broke her.

He stared down at the now lifeless body of Gamma 12... or at least what was left of it. Gamma 5 had ran like he had told her too. Was it worth it though? Maybe Gamma 12 was right, maybe he really was just a coward and wanted to die so he didn't have to deal with all of this anymore. Z2 wanted to cry, but no matter how hard he tried no tears came out. It was as if his body couldn't feel any more emotion, like a blank canvas.

Even after watching Gamma 12 die, these people still continued to fight though. It was almost as if they were unfazed by it. Like they had already seen enough death on this island that they were used to it. He couldn't believe it... Z2 just couldn't believe it at all. They had stopped attacking Gamma 5 and were now going after the girl who had taken G12's pendant. This was madness, complete and utter madness. "I... I can't do this anymore. Z12, what have I gotten myself into? Why would I sign up for this? No... why would who I was sign me up for this?!"

Was it because he knew that he wouldn't be the one who had to go through all of this? G5... where was she now? Z2 had to find her. He had to look for her and make sure that nobody else came for her. It was what he promised, it was what Z12 would have wanted him to do. It was the right thing, wasn't it? Z2 had no idea what was right or wrong anymore, but he knew for sure that what he had to do was protect that child until his very last breath.

As if a sudden rush of energy hit him, Z2 was finally able to move again and he began to frantically run around the gym calling for her, "Gamma 5! Gamma 5, where are you?!"

Delta Nine was completely stunned, unable to move. She'd just watched Gamma 12 purposefully remove her own gasmask, and the sight made her sick to her stomach. A thick crimson slush of blood and brain-matter had pooled instantly beneath the dead woman, and Delta Nine fought the urge to vomit. Bile rose in her throat, thick and bitter. Behind her gas mask D9 squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could, hoping against hope that she would wake up and this would all be a dream. A terrible, terrible dream.

When she opened her eyes, nothing had changed. She was still here, still at the mercy of the world around her, and still standing over the corpse of G12. There was a fight taking place near her, but Delta Nine didn't know what to do. Finally the realization that G12 didn't have a pendant around what had once been her neck -- well, it hit D9 like a freight train.

She controlled someone. D9 wasn't sure who, but she controlled someone and that meant that she wasn't alone after G12's death. "Who has the pendant that matches mine? Say something!"

Delta One limped over to stand next to Eta Seven, grabbing on to her arm and glaring at the ones who were attacking her (not that they could see it). She didn't know where Eta Seven had managed to get a blue pendant from..she assumed from somebody who had been downed. Possibly from the gamma who had made themselves blow up?
It didn't matter. She was just content to know that she was alive, and may still have a chance to get out. Delta One, scrapper that she was, was tired, and didn't want to fight anymore if she didn't have to. Her headache had finally subsided, like when the pain from her body nearly vanished completely, so did the pain in her head with it. Oh, it was still there, but so dull and weak she barely noticed it. Again she glanced down at her red pendant. Did it still control somebody in the room? Having been forced to do the bidding of so many others to this point, two of which had tried to make her kill herself, another using her as a meat shield, she was loathe to make somebody else do the same.
But she should check to make sure.
"Whoever my red pendant controls, speak up and let me know who you are!" She tried to make it sound commanding, but her throat was still so raw, from screaming, from coughing, and from her earlier attempt at breaking her own neck, that it came out rather ragged and horrible sounding.

She felt her necklace tingle again, but it didn't make her do anything... someone was shouting, though. Maybe the person with the matching red pendant trying to find who was connected to her pendant? Well, she'd liked Theta III, but after the experience just now with the Betas who had just escaped, she had no interest in giving away she was linked, not if she didn't have to.

She saw the Delta who Delta I had been talking to before coming over, and gave her a small wave. Any friend of Delta I was a friend of hers, she supposed. Although now there was no way three of them would make it out... but given how quickly people were dying, it was quite possible only two of them would live long enough to try, regardless. And with another person they had a better chance of getting the necessary five pendants.

XII felt the compulsion begin in the pit of her stomach. It started off as a tingle which quickly blossomed into the kind of butterflies that are only found in high places -- the feeling rose up into her chest and into her throat, and finally came out as a shout.

"I'm here," she called, waving her hand to her new Command.

Beta Four coughed out a wet "No more bad-touching, I promise," to Door (D4) and an equally wet "Thanks," to Tonight (T9) as his shoulders twitched, struggling to raise himself up just enough to give them a thumbs up. Except all that accomplished was him wriggling forward a few centimeters. There was an odd pattern of static in his ears, annoying and scratchy, it took him a few moment to realize it was his breathing and only because each time he heard it, the fire in his lungs flared in intensity. He was a pathetic sight, the blood from his injuries soaking through his clothes, making him wonder if the armor they were all wearing water proof. There were people yelling out stuff, but he was too disoriented to make sense of things.

All he got were fragments of commands, something about making themselves known, "Known as what? Famous or Infamous?" he asked out loud. He had thought, maybe hoped, the others he'd attacked earlier would finish him off, but he supposed they had more important things on their mind. Like getting hold of the last five blue pandas.

"G'luck, hopefully you can piggy back." He smiled wryly, barely having the strength to raise his head as he said this. And with painstaking slowness, he began to crawl towards B3's body.

(( No worries! XD ))

"It's almost as if he lost it," Fedora murmured almost sadly, giving a glance to Thyme. "I hate to be the bearer of bad and practical news, but if we want to survive..." She said the last part quietly, and thought that she didn't need to finish her sentence. Thyme would put it together.

She hoped there was a different plan; Thyme was good at thinking about those. Fedora herself was just good with... the circle of life, really. The weaker ones were going to die, no matter what, and she wasn't going to be one of the weaker ones. If she could help it.

"NO! I CAN DO THIS!" Before's response to the offer was immediate, and sharp, and maybe the tiniest bit defensive. Any other protest he might have made was cut short by a round of harsh coughing, and oh God, all Before wanted to do was curl into a tight ball, which he did and he stayed that way until the coughing fit subsided. The scenario of being on the floor and in pain felt strangely familiar to him. He didn't know if this should scare or worry him.

He decided it shouldn't, and eventually unfurled just enough to angle his head at Tonight. "O-okay, maybe a teeny bit of help," he conceded, his voice hoarse and scratchy, but the undertone of guilt and shame was clear as day. "B-but the moment you or Door get attacked for having a blue panda between the two of you, feel free to throw me at them. Maybe I can trip them or something."

Why the offer? Why not? Why these two? Doesn't he owe Delta 1 and Evil more for what his team did to them and made them do? Maybe. Okay, fine, YES. But Before was a Bad Person and Bad Persons don't try to make up for their s**t. Right? Of course, they also don't feel this crippling sensation of guilt currently inhabiting every single fiber of Before's being but that's Before-Logic for you.