Survival Of The Fittest

((Got Maka's permission for this))

Oh... now this just WON'T work at all. Cocky little shit. Reminds me of Karl.... wait, that's it!

A brainwave seemed to hit Gabriel. Now he knew exactly what to do. He took the sheath of the sword off, and layed it down on the counter. There seemed to be a growing intensity in the air around him. Gabriel stayed calm. He kept his hands up, and then motioned to the girl behind the counter.

"We've known each other for as long as I can remember. I'd take a bullet for her. I just wanted to see if she was okay. She's a little bit scared of all of this... Don't assume the worst of everything, seriously."

Gabriel blatantly lied to Guy, as easily as he'd lied to almost every single person he'd ever met, but it was convincing enough. It almost seemed like he was about to fall apart as he talked about how much he 'cared' for her. Now, this was the first time he'd met her really, in his life, but he doubted the girl would speak up by the time he would make his next move.

Guy wouldn't be able to see exactly what Gabriel was doing behind the counter. His one hand was still in the air, but the other hand was occupied, now wrapped tightly around the girl's neck, cutting off her protests.

Don't make a sound...

In an instant, his other hand was now at her midsection. He had a vice grip on her. She wasn't going anywhere... yet. Still, from outside the counter, it looked like he had simply knelt down to talk to her. Gabriel waited a moment, for timing was everything. His intense eyes showed now a side to Gabriel that can only be described as pure evil. Pityless, compassionless...

Murderous.

In one swift, terrifying movement, Gabriel rose up, the girl coming with him. It was hard to tell if she was concious, or even alive. She must've passed out already. Pathetic. He then cried out as he threw her viciously at the boy across the room, with the gun. Before he could check if she'd collided into him, he had already taken his sword and daypack, and sprinted towards the door. The giant bowed down through the door quickly, and proceeded off into the distance.

Next time, you French fuck, next time...

((Continued in Dropping the Soap))

Alice slowly lifted her head from her knees, still curled up tightly in that vulnerable fetal position. Her eyes, red from tears, blinked in surprise when that giant-looking man mentioned that he knew her and would take a bullet for her...

Alice had never been more confused in her life. What was this guy saying? Alice never remembered even talking to him before, even once. No one talked with her, let alone this guy.

What in the world was going on? Alice couldn't find the words to speak as the much larger student suddenly neared her and the corner she was pressed against, gradually becoming much closer than she was comfortable with....

Even if she had time to speak, she would've been too timid to utter more than a squeak before that vice-like grip found her neck...

Her eyes, before closed and puffy with tears, suddenly widened, more in surprise than anything. The strength with which he applied pressure around her neck was staggering. Her mind clouded into panic again, and Alice could do little more than helplessly pull and grasp at the hands wrapped tightly around her throat.

...what...??!

She couldn't breathe, she couldn't speak, she couldn't even think. Air was no longer coming into her lungs, her voice was trapped, and the blood was no longer able to reach her head. For a moment, she lost all sense of sight and hearing to that unbearable pressure against her veins...

If she struggled enough, would that other boy be able to hear her? But she couldn't even move! He had a hold of her now, and she couldn't do anything...

As her mind clouded, she caught a glimpse of her attacker's eyes, staring at them with her own, wide with fear. Though her vision was rapidly fading in and out of blackness...the murderous intent in them burned into her mind.

It was the last thing she saw before she finally blacked out without fully understanding what was happening. She fell limp, and as Alice faded into unconsciousness, she felt herself being lifted into the air, suddenly feeling a sense of weightlessness as she was unable to prevent herself from being thrown.

This is just a dream, isn't it? Someone please say it's just a really bad dream...

Guy Rapide merely scoffed at the explanation from the giant who then approached the little girl from the counter and gripped the girl, raising her up by the throat. Guy's eyes widened as he began to put pressure on the trigger, this monster, this beast was going to kill her and Guy had to take responsibility and save her...of course, Guy was never good at taking responsibility for his actions...

The guy in the train station... And now this girl, what the fuck Rapide just shoot! Just unload an entire motherfucking clip into this guy's wall like chest.

And in that moments hesitation Guy was greeted with something not even he could have expected, the same little girl he was trying to protect was being flung at him at a speed that was almost comical and even the agile Parkour practitioner was to dumbfounded to be able to move out of the way and as their bodies collided Guy immediately found himself holding the girl tightly and doing a fairly standard tuck and roll with the now dead weight that was the girl.

Holy shit...he strangled her in those few seconds? Fuck he must've crushed the wind pipe or something!

And as Gabriel bolted out the door Guy Rapide stayed on top of the now unconscious little girl he had been unable to kill Gabriel to protect, overwhelmed with guilt that now her life had been taken from her oh to soon and as Guy stared at her rather plain appearance he almost wanted to cry.

She was just a shy girl and he killed her...mercilessly.

"Goddamn game, goddamn psychopathic fucking big for nothing douche bags...", he found himself cursing under his breath as he studied the now unconcious girl and that's when he noticed something that made his eyes widened even more as he looked toward her rather petite chest and notice it was rising upward slowly. The red grip mark around her neck must've only been a visual by product of Gabriel's grip and Guy found himself smiling.

"Heh. Looks like the Big Show over there couldn't even kill you right," he said with a slightly small smirk as he began shaking the girl to get up, "Hey! Hey! Wakey-Wakey Eggs and Bacey!"

Alice faded in and out of consciousness, her mind still heavily disoriented from the lack of blood and oxygen... those eyes of her attacker were still burned into her mind as though she were trapped in some fitful nightmare she just couldn't wake up from....

A strange but slightly familiar voice brought her back to the real world. She winced, head throbbing. She groaned slightly, it took her such an effort just to wake up. Opening her eyes, she willed her vision back into focus... What in the world just happened? She remembered that other guy strangling her with murderous intent in those eyes....

Her eyes opened fully now, she blinked up at the person trying to shake her awake. Completely bewildered, she stared at him, utterly surprised, having not expecting to see this person on top of her... Her mouth opened, as those she were about to say something. Her voice locked in her nervousness, and she closed her mouth again, face turning slightly red. What in the world was going on?

Quickly, she got up, and drew herself away from underneath this person she didn't know, assuming a sitting position not too far away from him. Alice stared at him, face still somewhat red, not knowing what in the world to make of this person in front of her.

"Um...." She mumbled timidly, before coughing a bit. Her neck hurt...it was painful to speak. Her head was still swimming, and she was still quite disoriented, judging from the look in her eyes. "...What...what happened, just now...?"

Guy, was a bit relieved that the girl was up as she stared at him and groggily asked him what exactly had happened, truth be told Guy didn't exactly know how to explain it, so he thought for a brief moment before responding.

"Well...", he said calmly, "Y'know, from what that guy told me he really does love you," a small smirk appeared on his face, "And when a man loves a woman he's prone to throwin' her at lil' French guys like she's some sorta rag doll."

He smirked, but then looked around to make sure that he was gone before getting up and sending out his hand to help the little girl up, from what he had seen...well from what he had seen she wasn't exactly the most nimble of people and she would probably fall if he didn't help her.

"Names Guy Rapide," he smiled, "What's yours?", he quickly shook his head, "Y'know it doesn't really matter, anyways it looks like you don't really have a clue what to do with this game..."

Did he? No, he didn't either all he had was a goal to meet up with Kallie, he had a feeling that she would know what to do and think things through way more than Guy would be able to...

Unless she ended up like Alex Steele.

"Anyways, I kinda feel bad leavin' you here by yourself...", he spoke honestly, "I mean, us little people gotta stick together, eh? Well, anyways I'm lookin' for some friends, if you want, well you can tag along."

Guy pretty much spoke out of obligation at the moment, he didn't know Alice, what he did know is that she wasn't a threat. Perhaps this would bite him in the ass, but it beat just leaving her here disoriented and defenseless, right? Guy resisted the urge to sigh. His moral compass wasn't the most accurate tool in his possession.

Alice was still confused by his explanation, and it was obvious by the quietly blank stare she gave him. Not really saying anything, she looked in surprise towards the hand he was offering her… She took it, and slowly, carefully pulled herself up to her feet with a bit of difficulty.

So they were about the same height after all… well in reality Alice was about an inch taller, but neither of them could have really known, since Alice's shoulders were hunched, head ducked down a bit, and she had poor posture. Her face was a bit downcast, and she was peering up at him timidly while her head was still lowered.

Guy Rapide… the name sounded vaguely familiar…but she didn't know anyone in her grade well enough. She didn't really know anyone at all in fact. And of course, she was too slow in saying her name, he'd already cut her off. He talked so fast and words seem to come to him so naturally, it was just so hard for someone as slow as Alice to keep up with…

Surprised by the honesty in his words, she looked away shyly and mumbled a bit, in a low voice, in reply to his offer of letting her tag along. "Um…I don't mind. …I don't really know what to do right now. To be honest, I'm not too sure what's going on right now…this…SOTF thing…." She wasn't that well-acquainted with the very program she was supposedly in. It was something that others in school talked about a lot, one of the many things others were into and Alice herself didn't know about.

She then frowned, looking confused. "Uhm…when I got here, I heard some shouting… and this banging noise…like some kind of small explosion." She tried to communicate the description of the shots she'd heard earlier. "Were there other people? Besides you, I mean…"

"Yeah...there was one other person," Guy said quietly for the first time in a long time thinking back to the catastrophe that was Alex's demise. It wasn't his fault, really, it was clear that Alex had indeed shot himself, but Guy felt a pang of guilt describing things. It was an erratic thing, he himself hadn't really grasped onto the full reality of it: one moment Alex was alive, attacking him and in the next he was dead. It was a hard concept to grasp that they where killed so quickly and that this game really was...well real.

Even if this does turn out to be a huge joke...nothing is bringing Alex back, even a few folks back at home laughing...

"I'm not goin' to bullshit you," he said shaking his head, "He's dead now, offed himself, the game...I guess the game is difficult for a lotta people..."

He didn't like calling it a game, but words seemed to escape Guy Rapide has he stared vacantly to the exit. Kallie Majors? What did she even mean to him? This year, their senior year him and Kallie had a good time, went to a few parties, got drunk together and hung out...but did that really mean anything? Could he say that he knew her well enough? Guy was lost at this intersection, doubt grasping his throat much like Gabriel had done to Alice's only moments before; what if he knew Kallie as well as he knew this girl-that's to say he didn't know her at all?

Then I would be searching for nothing...

"Well, anyways, the night is young and so are we," he said smiling vacantly at Alice, "Hows 'bout we mosey on out unto this dusty trail, eh?"

Alice blinked, brown eyes widening slightly as Guy explained what happened to the other person that was there. For a moment, she stared at him, in something that looked like disbelief, her eyes tracing back to the gun in his hand...

...But, he didn't seem like he was lying. If he really was trying to kill people, if he really had killed that Alex-person, he would've just shot her down by now wouldn't he?

Then again, she'd assumed the same with the other guy. Looking distraught, she rubbed her sore neck, amazed that she was still alive.

Well...maybe this person was different? Alice so very much wanted to believe...

"I see..." She said at last, nodding solemnly. So...that person was dead. Whatever this SOTF thing was, it really was happening to her, to Guy, to everyone else.

At Guy's suggestion that they should go, she thought for a moment, still looking diffident. "Well...if you think it's a good idea... I'm not really sure where to go, so I guess I'll just follow you... if it's okay."

She wandered over to where her daypack was, still sitting innocuously on the table. She put on the shoulder strap and hefted it, her knees nearly buckling from the weight. Staggering a bit, trying to adjust to its heaviness, she managed to regain her balance after nearly falling over again.

Toting it was a bit uncomfortable...it seemed as though there was some sort of item there that was long, and hard, like a stick or something. But she would find out later.

She looked towards Guy, trying to smile a bit. "So um...where should we get going?"

Guy smiled a bit, company? Normally he'd be happy to have it, but Alice, Alice made him shockingly uneasy with himself and not in a normal hormonal way, rather their personalities didn't mesh at all. Normally, normally Guy would be able to talk to someone and tell a few jokes and boom! Best friends for life, but with this girl? No matter how hard he tried to ease the tension it just seemed to grow with every minute and Guy could only come to one shocking conclusion...

I've befriended a social black hole.

He resisted outwardly snickering, but then considered what taking this girl with him meant. She'd slow him down, the conversation they had was awkward to say the least and let's just be honest, she wasn't exactly a looker. Though, she seemed nice enough if only for the fact that she was obviously not playing the game and she was confused enough to require a bit of assistance.

Be honest with yourself Guy, you've never been one for playing Knight in Shining armor...

He knew this much though: He couldn't go through with this alone. His very nature required some sort of company and the fact that he had no intention in playing this game made that slightly easier than normal and if it came down to it and he couldn't find Kallie...well, the social black hole wasn't that bad of a person.

"Hmmm...", he audibly pondered as he looked towards the outside, "Well, night time is in full effect, we're prolly the smallest targets on the island so we can stay hidden..." he smiled wickedly as he walked towards the exit.

"Lets go test our luck."

And with that Guy walked out the door slowly, waiting for the little girl to catch up to him.

Come to think of it, I never did get her name...

((Guy Rapide: Continued Elsewhere))

Alice nodded mutely. Her throat still hurt, and as usual she wasn't really sure what to say, or what kind of input to add. Guy seemed to know what he was doing...well he had an idea, and that was more than Alice herself could ever say. If she didn't have someone to guide her somewhere, anywhere, she'd probably end up feeling more lost than ever.

She looked a bit apprehensive, though as Guy made his suggestion. Were they really going to walk around in the dark? Alice wasn't sure she liked that...but she kept it to herself. She was already a burden enough without complaining about how afraid she felt right now.

There was another reason why she was keeping quiet right now. It was hard to discern exactly what the other person was thinking, but Alice had been watching Guy carefully for some time, and judging from the look on his face, it soon became clear that he was starting to feel more and more uncomfortable and edgy, talking with her like this. Probably because she was so timid and awkward...and he on the other hand was probably more used to being around people who were more talkative, sociable, outgoing, and expressive, like he seemed to be...

She sighed a bit. It was always like that. People who tried to be friends with her out of pity or obligation eventually got tired of trying and eventually found someone else to chat up... Alice couldn't even remember the last time anyone had offered to strike up a conversation with her.

But it's alright... it's my fault for being so slow and introverted anyways, isn't it? It must be tiresome for others to try to be friends with someone like me.

Alice was lost in her thoughts just as she realized that Guy was prompting the two of them to leave. Slightly flustered, she nodded, hurrying to catch up with him, trying her hardest not to fall as she followed him. To be honest, she didn't want to go outdoors in a time like this. She just wanted to run back inside and hide somewhere... But she didn't have a choice, did she? Maybe, just maybe, if someone was with her, she could be brave for once.

((Alice Jones: Continued on to the Graveyard))