thearena | [closed] to kill a nerd

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[closed] to kill a nerd

Who| Starkiller and Sollux
What| Sollux and Starkiller fight
Where| Feferi's unspecified death location
When| Backdated to last week
Warnings/Notes| Eventual death by asphyxiation

Starkiller's mood is heavier than it has been in a while. Killing Feferi wasn't something he had wanted to do, but he couldn't just stand by while she suffered. Sure, perhaps she would have died on her own eventually, but it would have been slow and painful. At any moment someone could have come and picked her off, and there's no telling if they would have been quick about it or not. At least he had decided to do it quickly and painlessly, as much as he could anyway.

He stays with her body for a long while, if only because he feels like he owes it to her to make sure no one comes and defiles it or anything like that. He's killed hundreds, perhaps thousands of people in his life, but it's rare for him to kill someone he's grown to like, even if they've only known each other for a very short time. In a way, he's angry at the world for it happening at all. But in a way, it's also lit a fire in him all the same, a fire that hasn't really been there since he became an avox. He feels like a fighter again, a little bit more like himself.

So after a while, he stands up and moves to head off, wanting to get away from the oppressive atmosphere, and so that the Capitol can finally take her away and she can be resurrected. His senses feel heightened, and he looks around as he moves to head off, taking his crowbar off his belt in case anyone decides to ambush him.

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Even after their encounter with Bro and learning what happened to Dave, Sollux and Feferi still have taken chances as need be. They split up; they do things individually. It can have its own uses. One person sneaking around has to be harder to notice than two, and they need what advantages they can get when they stand out for being nonhuman.

But Feferi had said she'd be back shortly. When she doesn't return after waiting, and waiting longer, he can't keep himself just where he is. What if something happened? This is an arena they're in, a big stupid game of killing, and he refuses to let himself forget it now. If it turns out she only got sidetracked, then so much the better; it won't hurt to have checked on her anyway.

He's not even sure where to look. She didn't tell him where she was going exactly, but he sets off the direction she went and branches out from there. He glances in stores; he peeks around corners; he eventually meanders with no damn clue where he's going. How do you hunt her down without sign or trail? There's no tracks to follow in a mall, and he never learned tracking anyway.

But there's only so much space to search through before he spots black and orange, and both are on the floor. Before he even realizes it's happened, he finds his knees screaming with the impact against the floor. That's his girlfriend, his matesprit, Feferi, and she's laid out battered and bruised and she's not moving, not one bit, no rise of chest to even betray breathing. The more he looks, the more that looks wrong, but she can't even be the only thing there.

There's a man, some fucking human walking away like she's no more than flotsam, and he has a crowbar in his hand.

"You--" His eyes are stinging, burning as yellowy tears well up, and he can't think beyond the shock of it all. "You killed her, you killed--"

Suddenly his hands scramble. He doesn't bother with the bucket (stupid fucking ice skates, anyway), but fumbles and grasps the gun he keeps tucked in his waistband. He's only fired off a shot before; the clip's almost full as he raises it in shaking hands and tries to remember the right way, tries to aim, and fires, fires, FIRES until the recoil drops it from his faulty grip.

Starkiller turns immediately when he hears the voice of whoever's speaking. They zero right in on the gun when Sollux draws it, and he realizes immediately that whoever this is must have been close to Feferi. A prickle of annoyance runs through him, not only at the situation he's found himself in but the fact that thanks to the Capitol, he can't even try and talk himself out of this.

He doesn't have very long to think about it though, because he finds himself diving out of the way as he sees Sollux's finger clench on the trigger and if he had waited a split second longer, it's likely he would have been shot. Then a few more shots fire and he's rolling out of the way, even if it seems like Sollux really isn't the best shot. When he hears the gun clatter to the floor, Starkiller moves without thinking. Instead of picking it up, he dives towards it and jumps to his feet to kick it away, sending it sliding several feet away from Sollux.

The maneuver has put him close to the troll, so in a split second decision, Starkiller dives at him to tackle him to the ground, crowbar tight in his hand to avoid losing his only weapon when he needs it most. His survival instincts are kicking in hardcore, and because he can't communicate with the troll to tell him about the misunderstanding, he knows all he can do is attempt to neutralize the threat.

Sollux is too much in shock to react quickly. It's not even his poor gun skills that can account for all the missing this time, because this guy is fast. Whoever he is, he moves like he actually knows what he's doing. And he just dropped his fucking gun! What kind of idiot can't keep hold of a stupid gun? As Starkiller nears his instinct is to throw something, but when his psionics fail again to answer his call, he finds the gun kicked away and a body slamming into his.

He hits the floor hard, and his legs are pressed awkwardly and uncomfortably beneath him. A wild hiss rattles out of his throat. His eyes are flared wide, showing more clearly still that both really are solid blue and red. His teeth are large enough that they barely need the way his lips roll back to bare every bit he can of them.

He doesn't stay still, though. His hands grab and shove, trying to push off the heavier weight or at least stay him from causing harm. His head, though - that he brings in, teeth snapping, aiming to latch down onto whatever bit of arm or shoulder is nearest, and hard. He didn't hatch with fangs like these not to use them when he has to, and a matter of life and death demands them more strongly than anything yet.

Up until the moment Starkiller felt the troll's teeth sink into him, he hadn't been angry. It's been more of a determined must-be-done sort of thing in order to save his own life. But when he's bitten, the pain of it sends a wave of anger throughout him enough to make him bare his own teeth in both pain and annoyance. It's not the wort wound he's had in his life, certainly not, but his arm is burning where the sharp teeth have tore into flesh.

Careful not to let his arm get ripped off, Starkiller manages to get his arm out of Sollux's mouth, and before he can stop himself he's backhanding Sollux with that same arm, the crowbar held tight in his other hand. Sollux is putting up a decent fight, but Starkiller has the advantage in weight and strength both- he's been around the block a few times, he knows how to win.

But he knows he needs to get this over with, the little injuries can quickly add up to more, so right after backhanding the troll, he grips the crowbar in both hands at either end, forcing it down hard against Sollux's throat, both to keep his head down to prevent him from biting more and to choke him. It's not the most pleasant of ways to go, but Starkiller doesn't feel he has a choice in the moment.

Sollux tries as hard as he can to keep his teeth sunk in, but he's not as strong and has never had to fight to do something like this besides. He tries at least to tear with his fangs as Starkiller pulls back, but there's only so much he can do from his position. The backhand keeps him from trying again.

His head whips sideways. It hurts, pain fanning outward from the point of impact. It's not the worst he's ever had, either - at least Starkiller has no rings - but the shock of it is enough to give the man the window he needs. Before Sollux can so much as spit the blood from his mouth, the heavy weight of the crowbar presses across his throat.

"No!" His voice hisses with the strain of breath. He can feel his airway constricted, the pain of pressure forcing down, down against against him. He tries to turn his head again to protect the area, but it only does so much. His hands scrabble, nails claw, palms push. "Off--get off--" His legs squirm and kick.

He's only so strong though, not much at all with matchstick limbs and a psionic's workout regime, and he feels even that fading the more he loses air.

Sollux's persistence does do damage, but not to the extent that he might want. Starkiller's arm is still fully functional, but it does sting in pain more than he would like. He's going to need some disinfectant after this, that much is completely certain.

The troll's words are lost on Starkiller as he presses down a bit harder with the crowbar, making sure that Sollux can't turn his head without it hurting. This is a much slower and more violent murder than he's used to giving out, but he can't find it in himself to regret it, not when his arm is throbbing and blood is running down it steadily.

Starkiller tightens his thighs around Sollux to prevent him from somehow knocking him off and bears down on the troll as much as possible to help combat his resistance. He can tell, however, that he's losing steam the longer the crowbar is pressed against his throat, and Starkiller keeps at it, ignoring any attempts at clawing or pushing as he continues to suffocate the troll.

In that manner he grows weaker, and he hates it. He can't fight back. He can't defend himself. He can't do a damn thing to get back at this man for what he did to Feferi, and now he can't even ask why he did it. (Does it matter? It's his matesprit, whom he loves and pities, and she didn't deserve to be beaten to death - to die at all.) He should have stuck with her. He should have let her have the gun when she's the one who learned directly. He should have shot this guy the first time, even the second or third. Just one single hit: was that so much to ask?

Shoving and clawing weakens to ineffectual hand slaps, a brush of a fingertip, nothing. His breath whistles and wheezes and dies. His eyes lose their glare if only for loss of focus.

(She wasn't supposed to die.)

He stops breathing and goes still, and still longer if he keeps it there, until his lungs can't try again.

Starkiller keeps it pressed down for as long as it takes, feeling the life slowly ebb out of Sollux as he continues to be unable to draw a breath. In a way, as the last of his strength dies and he loses consciousness, Starkiller finds it all a little... unfortunate, that it had to end this way. There was no contest, Sollux got in over his head, and Starkiller can relate to that in some ways, especially letting anger take hold and make him act rash. As the troll dies, he realizes that he doesn't hate him, regardless of the stinging pain. He doesn't pity him, necessarily, but it comes close. Sollux, in his opinion, could learn a few things about picking his battles.

When he feels like there's no chance of Sollux waking up, he pulls off of him and stands up, wiping at his brow idly. He looks down at him for a long moment, before shaking his head and sighing through his nose. It's a similar heaviness to when he'd had to kill Feferi, but not quite as strong. Either way, he makes sure to check for anything of value on Sollux before moving away to grab the gun he'd dropped. It might come in handy more than the crowbar, so he's not going to waste the opportunity.

After a few moments, he'll leave the area and go meet back up with his travelling companions.

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[closed] to kill a nerd

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