thearena | open;

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Who| Joel, Ellie, anyone else!
What| Joel shows up and gets tossed into the ring. Let's see how he does!
Where| I can put him just about anywhere in the museum you need - he'll be scoping the place out.
When| Mid-Week 1
Warnings/Notes| Joel is a highly suspicious dude and may assume anyone he meets is hostile until proven otherwise. This means he might punch first and ask questions later! I'll update this if anything else comes up.

Finally, please specify if you would like to meet Joel before he finds Ellie or after - if before, he'll be on his own, really worried about his baby girl, and slightly more prone to violence. If AFTER, you will probably get Joel and Ellie (two for the price of one!), and a lower chance of Joel trying to throttle you immediately.

"Put your hands in the air!" "She's not breathin'."

He woke with a start, phantom pain in his head and surrounded by - military? They were clearly military, but not any military he was familiar with. When they grabbed him, all sense went out of his head - normally, Joel would go quietly, because struggling tended to get people shot, but all he could think, all he could remember, was Ellie, her body so still. She's not breathin'.

"Where is she?" he demanded, over and over, landing a few punches but never able to break free. The pajamas they made him wear, the explanation given, all barely registered as he had only one thought in his head - find Ellie now. "What the hell did you bastards do to her?" he demanded yet again, attempting to yank his arm free when they came at him with a needle. Still, nothing. His shouts and struggles were in vain, and the next thing he knew, he was... in a parking garage?

With no one around to confront, and the knowledge that he was here to kill, or be killed, Joel quickly shoved his feelings to one side, dropping low and seeking a stairwell to climb to higher ground - it would take him a bit to realize the only way up was via elevators that actually still worked. They were far too slow and noisy for Joel's taste, but it became obvious that they were his only option, and he needed to get to higher ground, if he was going to find anything. Especially Ellie.

Joel moved quickly, quietly, and with one singular purpose: find the girl, and get the hell out of here.

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Not even a cyborg could contend against the momentum of an angry survivor. Before he could see who had done it, Sigma was thrown against the floor, feeling his old bones bruise against the tile.

The Doctor yelped and forced his organic eye open, trying tiredly to meet the eyes of his assailant in hopes he could use his age to garner mercy. Unfortunately, that tack would prove likely unsuccessful: from what Sigma could tell, this man was not too much younger than he was.

Sigma was not beneath begging for a chance, not when he still had Eponine to find. "Wait..!" He wondered if the Initiate was around, if he was wearing the mask, could feel his fear...

It was probably to Sigma's benefit that Joel wasn't looking for a quick kill right now - because age, infirmity, very little was able to get pity from him. The only thing saving his life was his need for information.

"A girl," he said roughly, keeping the man pinned down. "She's fourteen. Red hair, green eyes. Where is she?"

There was only one person he knew that fit that description. Sigma wriggled under Joel's grasp, but managed to cough out a confused "...Ellie?" between winded gasps.

More out of concern for someone so young than from care for Ellie herself, Sigma's reply was defensive, oblivious someone would behave so aggressively for a person they cared about. It was exactly what he had done with Kyle, and yet...

"What do you want with her?"

He knew of her - knew her name. That was a good sign, as far as Joel was concerned. So she was here, then.

"Where is she?" he repeated, ignoring the question. "What have you people done with her, huh?"

At last Sigma recognized the telltale signs of fear for a loved one and for a moment, he stops struggling. The Doctor searches for some resemblance between the two of them and comes up short.

"I don't know where she is-" he begins honestly, immediately recognizing his mistake. That was not good enough. Now he had to come up with a reason for this man not to kill him, immediately.

"Wait. I am on your side. We're both trapped here. Ellie is a good kid - sweet, likes puns, tendency to experiment with curses, isn't that right?" He tries a small, genuinely sympathetic smile. "Please. I wish no harm on her. I can tell you what is going on and where she might be, but you have to let me go."

Joel scowled at the man, trying to discern whether this was a lie or trap of some kind - but he would obviously be no match for Joel, not without allies, and none had showed themselves yet.

Still glaring daggers at him, he loosened his grip on Sigma - enough that death, at least, would no longer be imminent, anyway.

"You damn well better have somethin' useful," Joel warned ominously.

Sigma gasps as Joel's weight leaves him, his age catching up to him. He stays on the floor for a moment before slowly sitting up, his undamaged cybernetic arms supporting his posture. If that man came for him again, Sigma would have no choice but to use their force - but for now, he explained what was happening.

His tone is matter-of-factly and even cold. He did not appreciate the interrogation, less so if someone else came through those elevators, but it seemed to Sigma that this man was new to Panem. He genuinely seemed to have no idea what was happening. "I am not sure if you are aware, but Ellie included, we are in a fight to the death." He can see how those words might motivate the other to kill him, and so to prevent his own death, Sigma adds quickly, "Some are brought back from the dead if they lose, but it is not a guarantee. It is probably best you find Ellie immediately if you wish to guarantee her survival."

"I believe I saw her at the Cornucopia at the start of the Arena. I was somewhat preoccupied, and so I have no idea where she might have gone or if she survived. If she had, she likely has supplies and the means to take care of herself." There is a beat. "I believe she is alive," he says out of hope alone. "My name is Sigma. Ellie and I met at Christmas."

A fight to the death. Yeah, that's what he was told before they tossed him into this little circus. Frankly, Joel doesn't give a shit what this is, as long as he can find Ellie. He always assumes most everyone is trying to kill him, anyway. It's a fact of life, back home.

So this guy mostly doesn't have anything to say that Joel hasn't already figured out for himself, except - I believe she is alive. On one hand, he could be saying that just to appease him, just to save his own skin. On the other, well -

"What makes you think she's alive?" he asks, voice still low and gruff. He probably won't kill this guy, either way - he's not enough of a threat, it would be pointless - but he keeps the threat in his tone, anyway. Names are less important to him than information.

Sigma sighs, tired of the other's confrontational attitude. Couldn't they begin to speak like civilized gentlemen if they had decided they weren't going to kill eachother?

"Just a feeling. If that is not good enough for you, it is also because they have a habit of announcing deaths over the intercom. Ellie's name has not been one so far."

He could snap this guy like a twig, probably. If he wanted to, and God knows Joel would kind of like to kill someone about now. But as far as he can tell, this guy isn't one of the people who brought him here. Likely another prisoner, and as such, not a threat.

Hell, he's not even struggling, fighting back, fighting for his life. What the hell kind of place is this that he's not trying harder to stay alive?

Almost in disgust, he releases Sigma, sitting back on his heels, ready for any potential reaction. He won't kill him, unless Sigma tries to kill him, first.

"You're sure not actin' too worried if this is a fight to the death," he points out. It doesn't matter, of course - none of it matters, except finding Ellie.

Sigma does not know when exactly it was he lost his desire to win, or if he had ever had it to begin with. Perhaps it is because he is old and depressed, or because his powers make him virtually immortal and a permanent death has slowly come to appeal to him, but if he thinks far back enough, he can recall what it was that broke him first.

He brings his words down hard. "I have run out of people they can use against me," he admits, practiced apathy glossing over his eyes. "I no longer play to win."

Should he dare to stand? He does not chance it. "Do not believe I will allow you to kill me, here. There are some I would like to look out for if I can, first. ...And I will keep my eye out for Ellie."

Of course, Joel, having just arrived, does not yet equate staying alive with winning. Surviving is an end in and of itself, with no particular goal or crown to look forward to for doing it.

Just more surviving.

"I ain't gonna kill you," he says, almost in pity, though, because he gets it. He gets that feeling, of not having anything to live for anymore, of just wanting to say 'fuck it, I'm done'.

He has Ellie, keeping him going now. If he didn't? It might be a different story. So it's something like pity, if he's capable of that anymore. "Find your folks," he says, "take care of 'em."

He turns to leave.

Sigma is surprised to find himself awash with gratitude as the other sets him free. Though the Tribute had been the one to attack him in the first place, he had a hunch the man was only doing what came naturally to parents, a misdirected visceral terror one first had to feel to understand. The Doctor had done the very same and worse to Donatello when he'd found out he'd killed Kyle, after all.

It makes him stop the man before he can leave. "What's your name?" He wants to ask, are you her father? This was a far less harmful substitute.

It's definitely much more inoffensive than are you her father, though Joel wouldn't actually be offended by the question, regardless. Not that it matters. Not that it's anyone's business. Not that he's about to go spilling his life story to a complete stranger.

But after what he did - maybe he owes the guy this much, anyway. He won't apologize - not for doing what he thought he needed to do, at least - but he'll acknowledge a certain obligation.

"It's Joel," he says, remarkably calm now that he has some idea that Ellie is alive and here somewhere.

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