[PP-04] The End w/ Pinball

[Kirbs 0]

Kirbs mumbled small curses under her breath as she marched out to the open snowy field.

She felt... so empty. She had lost everyone. Everyone she had ever cared about was either dead or hated her. Why did she do this to herself? To keep them safe? To keep her safe? What was even the point anymore? 

She didn't want to die, but what was the point of even trying anymore? She wasn't strong, she wasn't smart. What could she do now? Two people were dead because of her. Kityuisa was right. She was weak. She was useless. She couldn't even protect her damn friend from being murdered. What was the use of her anymore?

Nothing?

Everything?

Who was at fault, now? Who could she blame now? Herself? Pinball? Kityuisa? Why did it feel like everything was turning against her? She just wanted everyone to be safe.

She was being selfish, wasn't she?

Spoiler

LVL: 30 | HP: 600 | EN: 60 | 14 DMG | 3 ACC | 2 PAR | 1 BLEED | 4 REC | 23 MIT

Skills:

> T1 Light Armor Skill: 5 MIT

> T2 Fighter Familiar Skill: 4 DMG

> Survival Skill: Increases out of combat health regeneration to [15xTier] per post. Grants immunity to most damage dealing with environmental attacks/effects

> R5 2H Assault Spear Skill: 7 DMG

> Concentration: Gain +1 ACC until the start of your next turn (must declare use in roll purpose).

Equipped:

> T2- Bell's Cross: 3 ACC

> T2- Rose Thorns: 2 PAR, 1 BLEED

> T2- Chronograph: 2(4) REC, 1 (18) MIT

 

[Pinball 1]

Snap, snap. 

Pinball's boots softly crunched against the freshly fallen snow. An eternal blanket of white enveloped the Fourth Floor, giving everywhere you look that strange sense of unfamiliar familiarity. Beside him Zomekko tread lightly, silently, a pitch black mist harshly juxtaposed against the wind's silver haze. 

Snap, snap. 

Cracked ice and broken twigs were left behing in Pinball's wake. He idly watched his familiar pounce this way and that, opting to jump around and over what she could most definitely float above. It was entertaining nonetheless. It was almost peaceful. 

Snap, snap. 

The trees started to close in on him. The path he walked only got more and more narrow as he went, wrapping around the insomniac like a wooden prison. There were no leaves on these trees. They were coated in ice and weighed down with packs of snow. A biting breeze pierced the branchless canopy, bringing with it specks of dust and snowflakes. The wind whipped his hair, bringing attention to his horribly tired blue eyes. 

Snap, snap. 

Ahead of him, a silhouette came into view. Bright red hair. Slunched. Dejected. 

Pinball slid the polearm off his shoulder, letting the icy chunk of a spearhead sink into the ground. Zomekko looked at her, and then back at Pinball. Eventually, she decided to float up and wrap herself around Pinball's shoulders. He came to a stop. 

"..." 

Player Stats: 

Spoiler

~Skills/Stats~ 

Level: 54
Health: 1080 | Energy: 108
DMG: 15 | ACC: 4 | EVA: 3
 
Skills:
 
Combat skills:
►N/A
 
Weapon skills:
►<<2H Assault Spear>> [50/50]: Rank 5 - Grandmaster
►<<1H Straight Sword>> [50/50]: Rank 5 - Grandmaster
 
Armor skills:
►N/A
 
Extra skills:
►<<Familiar Mastery: Fighter>> [18/18]: Rank 3 - Grandmaster
►<<Martial Arts>> [0/50]: N/A
►<<Survival>> ~ Active
 
Utility Skills:
►<<Hiding>> [50/50]: Rank 5 - Grandmaster
 
Modifiers:
►[Active] <<2H Assault Spear: Ferocity>>: +1 Base DMG
►[Active] <<2H Assault Spear: Finesse>> ~ Rank 3 
►[Active] <<Sneak Attack: Assassin>>
►[Active] <<Hiding: Vanish>> 
►[Active] <<Hiding: Untraceable>> 
 
Inventory
»[Equipped] [Demonic] Cold Fervor: +2 Freeze, Phase, Cursed 
»[Equipped] [Perfect] Dragon’s Skin: +3 EVA
»[Equipped] [Perfect] Warrior’s Focus: +3 ACC
 
Battle Ready: 
» [3x] Teleportation Crystal 
» [2x] Greater Curative Potion: +120 HP 
» [5x] Spinach-Artichoke Dip: +2 EVA  
» [5x] Hummus Dip: +2 Acc
» [Uncommon OHSS] Tyrfing: Absolute Accuracy 

Spoiler

Housing Buffs: 
“Rested”:  -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
“Clean”: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 20% (rounded down)
“Filling”: Increase the effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot. This can exceed normal Cook enhancement caps. Ex: A perfect T2 MIT food gives 35 MIT instead of 30
“Relaxed”: Increases HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.

 

[Kirbs 0]

Snap, snap.

She almost laughed to herself. Who else would be here?

Her fingers twitched as she looked at Pinball with a face as blank as a slate. 

“Why do you hate me?” She murmured, her hands balling up into tight fists. “I didn’t do anything to you. Why did you have to make my life a living hell?” She choked out, casting her eyes down to his boots. “I was supposed to be the happy-go-lucky one. I was supposed to make everyone happy.”

She looked up at him with tears streaming down her face, all of her pent up emotions finally being released from the wall she had worked so hard to build up.

”I never did anything wrong to you, so why did you make my life not worth living anymore?”

She knew it was useless. Everything was just useless. He wasn’t going to listen. 

No one ever listens.

[Pinball 1]

"Why do you hate me?" She murmured, her hands balling up into fists. “I didn’t do anything to you. Why did you have to make my life a living hell?”

"..."

“I was supposed to be the happy-go-lucky one. I was supposed to make everyone happy.”

Images flashed through his mind then. Memories of a past time. Her long red hair and her dorky smile. A friend. A very close friend who left him, taking her own life and his heart with her. That very same friend he thought he was avenging. The frontlines - the corrupt had taken her from him.

Hadn't they? 

”I never did anything wrong to you, so why did you make my life not worth living anymore?”

The faintest flicker of emotion registered in his eyes then. His face, stoic and emotionless faltered - for just a moment, the facade was broken. He wanted to say something. But what was he going to do? Apologize? After everything he'd done? 

There was a ringing in his head - muddled by lack of sleep and poor comprehension. He knew what he was doing was wrong. He knew he hated doing it. He knew it was ruining his life. So why was he even doing it? Because it was fun? Because he felt like he had to? Because he secretly did enjoy it? 

Nothing but excuses came to mind. What was he fighting for? 

Pinball wanted to say something, but no words graced his lips. He set his jaw as an ominous feeling washed over him. He'd felt this tension before. Multiple times now, actually. 

Only one of them was going to be leaving this clearing. 

[Kirbs 0]

“I really wanted to believe you weren’t a bad person at first,” she cried out, tears looking up in her eyes as she looked at him dead in the eyes. “I-I... I thought you weren’t what everyone was saying you were.” Her knees felt like jelly, ready to collapse on the snow any second.

”But then, you did such... horrible things,” she whispered, her nails digging tighter into her palm as her memories flashed before her. He hurt Dustin. He killed Bell. 

“Why did you leave me like this?” She cried, looking at her palms as she felt her whole body begin to shake. “Why didn’t you just bloody kill me from the very start?!” She suddenly screamed. “I wouldn’t have to go through all of this torture if you hadn’t let me go so many damn times!”

”I thought I could make it through here- through SAO while being happy. I wanted to be everyone’s sunshine,” she whispered, “I was so wrong. So damn wrong.”

Suddenly, her body didn’t felt like her own anymore. One word was echoing through her head and she could see it everywhere she looked;

Revenge.

“I can’t live like this anymore,” she whispered one last time before equipping her spear. “I can’t live in this constant torture anymore,” she said lowly as her burning eyes trailed up to Pinball’s. 

“No matter the outcome of this, my pain is going to end.”

She sped after him, her eyes blazing furiously. It would all be over... if she was just able to hit him. She knew his tricks. No matter how much she put into her items, she couldn't outmatch his evasiveness. Her spear clashed against the foamy snow, sending it up into the air violently.

Spoiler

ID: 122798

BD: 3, Miss

Kirbs: 600/600 HP | 59/60 EN | 4 DMG | 3 ACC | 2 PAR | 4 REC | 23 MIT | 24 BLD

 

[Pinball 1]

He'd been different once. Happier. Kinder. He'd had friends. People to talk to. Hopes and dreams. Times were always bad. And why wouldn't they be? They were trapped in this demented death game, but their relationships almost made it bearable. 

When was the last time he'd had a conversation with someone? 

The spear came sailing towards him and Pinball easily sidestepped the manuever. He watched the Sword Art fizzle out from a lack of input. She was horribly sloppy. Was that because he'd been in the game longer, or was it because she wasn't fit to fight-? Pinball twirled his spear, spinning it around during his approach before catching it with his hand and stabbing up into her throat. 

Her health dropped to just above half in an instant. Pinball felt a lurch in his stomach. 

I'm sorry, he wanted to say. This wasn't his fault, was it? 

Pinball said nothing. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Action Taken: Sword Art - [Dimension Stampede] [-13 EN] {Well Rested} 
Kirbs: ID#122799 BD: 8+3= 11 (Hit!) ~ 18*15= 270-23= 247 DMG + FREEZE

Kirbs: 353/600 HP | 59/60 EN | 14 DMG | 3 ACC | 2 PAR | 4 REC | 23 MIT | 24 BLD [FROZEN] 

Pinball: 1,100 HP | 97/110 EN | 18 DMG | 3 ACC | 3 EVA 

[Kirbs 0]

Why couldn’t she do anything right?

So many questions were buzzing around in her head. Most of them unanswered, the rest had answers... but most wouldn’t like them.

She had been so terribly selfish. She was greedy. She just wanted to be happy, though. Didn’t everyone want to be happy? Was that so much to ask of her? Didn't she deserve some happiness in her life? Did she deserve some peace and tranquility after all she had to endure? 

She felt stiff. Did he do something to her? Why couldn’t she move? Her head was foggy with all the things she couldn’t understand. What was happening now? Was this the end?

Was she going to die?

She couldn’t die.

She was supposed to have a future.

[Pinball 1]

But his body kept moving. Pinball didn't know why. There was no way he was genuinely worried about her killing him, was there? So why was he attacking her? This person he'd ruined. Why was his spear tearing through her armor, dropping her health into the blinking red? Her vision would be filled with crimson now. She was on the brink of death, staring at the one person who was responsible for everything. 

All the heartbreak. All of the anger. All of the sadness. 

Pinball finally pulled back, resting the butt of his spear on the ground. One step backwards. Two. 

"I-," he croaked, his voice cracking out of neglect, "I'm sorry." 

But who valued the words of a killer? Pinball could see it in her eyes. He knew that pain. He knew that hatred. He'd sat back and let it take him over, over and over, letting the rage fuel him. Cursing his bad luck. His fate. Himself. God. It scared him. It shook him to his core. 

Pinball couldn't bear to look her in her face. 

Did I make you like this? 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Action Taken: Sword Art - [Dimension Stampede] [-13 EN/+1 EN] {Well Rested} 
Kirbs: ID#122806 BD: 7 (Hit!) ~ 18*15= 270-23= 247 DMG 

Kirbs: 106/600 HP | 59/60 EN | 14 DMG | 3 ACC | 2 PAR | 4 REC | 23 MIT | 24 BLD 

Pinball: 1,100 HP | 85/110 EN | 18 DMG | 3 ACC | 3 EVA 

[Kirbs 0]

Kirbs lifted her spear weakly. So this was it? All the plans she had made when she got out of here were just... gone? Two years of dreaming... just gone in a blink of an eye?

"Me and him-" she croaked, her thumb brushing lightly against  the handle of spear as she gave Pinball a heavy smile. "Bell. I wonder, do you even remember him?" She asked, her eyes falling to the ground as she felt hot tears trickle down her cheeks again. "You killed him on his birthday. Did you know that?" She asked, her wet tears dripping down her face as she shut her eyes painfully.

"Both of us... we were supposed to get out of here together. We planned for so much stuff to happen," she sobbed, crumbling to her knees as she rested her head tiredly against the pole of her spear. "We were supposed to go see my brothers again. We were supposed to go play video games together again. We were supposed to do so many things together."

"I'm happy, though, so don't worry about it," she said, her voice cracking as she gave him a tired smile. "I'll finally be able to be with him again."

Her voice cracked as she looked down at her the ground one last time, tears slowly trickling down her face.

 "I hope he's waiting for me."

ID: 122807

BD: 5, Fail

[Pinball 1]

"Bell," he echoed dumbly. "I remember him now." 

Numb. Unbelievably numb. Like he had been for how many months now. But why did this feel so different? Pinball looked down at his hand. He held Cold Fervor with one hand - away from him, outstretched and impaling the defeated, slouched girl in front of him. "I didn't know that." 

Ice began to spread across her chest, blossoming into beautifully intricate swirls and spirals that coalesced around her avatar and locked her into her final resting place. "I'm sorry," he said, "I really am." 

His voice hurt. He felt weird. What was he feeling? Pinball crouched in front of her and forced himself to look her in her eyes. Her health bar was draining steadily. It was only a matter of time. "I understand," he whispered. "I do. I never wanted to do this. None of it. I know how you feel. I had someone like that. I don't know what'd I do if I lost her, but, uh... she probably thinks I'm a monster. Well. She's not wrong." 

Pinball felt something warm sliding down his cheek. "And you... you didn't deserve this," he whispered. "It shouldn't have ended like this. I'm sorry. I'm..." 

Silence. He looked up. 

All that was left of Kirbs was her spear, sticking stubbornly erect in the snow in front of him.  

Nobody wants a murderer's sympathy. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Kirbs: 0/600 HP 

[Kirbs 0]

"That's good..." she chuckled, finally letting go of her spear that Alec worked so hard to make for her. 

"I know you are," she mumbled, balling her hands into fists as she finally sucked up the courage to have talk to her best friend's killer. 

"Hey Pinball?" She asked, looking up at him one last time as she felt her health bar slowly drain away. "Can you do a favor for me? You know who my friends are, right? If you don't, I just need you to tell Kityuisa, Bahr, Alec, Dustin and Sey," she paused, looking up at him to give him a genuine grin.

"Tell them that I love them, and I'm sorry for not saying it sooner."

The familiar feeling of tears welling up in her eyes hit her like a slap to the face. Her HP bar had hit zero. So, this was it, huh?

She stiffly wiped away her burning eyes as she gave Pinball one last signature wink she had missed doing so dearly.

"You're forgiven."

Then, she shattered.

[OOC: Rose Thorn's is transferred to Pinball]

[Pinball 1]

Summary

No rewards. Kirbs was Player-Killed by Pinball and needs to be added to the monuement.