Survival Of The Fittest

Just like that, things escalated and Josh snatched Ingrid and clutched onto her in a hateful embrace. Eve didn't know what to do. She didn't move from her spot. There were other boys here now. Also with a gun. She couldn't tell who. It didn't matter. She didn't know what to do.

She didn't know what to do.

So she screamed again.

As if on command to Eve's scream, a head slowly peeked into the room.

((Daenerys "D" Todd continued from All Alone))

Carefull not to get noticed, Daenerys examined each of the students in the room. There were two guys who she had just seen entering before her, one holding a gun. There were three students in the kitchen, apparently in some kind of hostage situation. And the victim was...

...Ingrid, a fellow swimmer.

D bit her lip. She didn't want to run into anyone she knew too well. It would make this whole situation worse than it already was.

Sorry, Ingrid.

As silent as she had entered, Daenerys left the scene.

((Daenerys "D" Todd continued in Dirty Harry))

Well, fuck.

Frankly, so much had fucking happened all at once it was hard to process. All she knew right now was there were even more boys with guns in here, and the first one had his weapon pointed at her head and his hand wrapped around her arm. She was pretty sure she could break his grip... but with the gun looming so close to her head, she wasn't about to try it.

"F-Fucking..." she muttered, glaring between the new arrivals and the little hostage taker here.

"Look, this doesn't have to... like, uh..."

She realized she wasn't sure what his name was.

"Listen... Brad."

That was definitely not it.

"You don't have to do this. I doubt these idiots were gonna shoot you."

Oh shit. The second the guy took the other girl hostage, any sense of friendliness had goddamn evaporated, and now all there was was a thich tension in the air. Reflexively, Matthew raised his gun, trying to see if he could get a shot; not something that hit his arm, Matthew doubted he even had that kinda accuracy, but a head or body shot, put the fucker down for good. He'd revoked the right to not get a bullet in him the second he started threatening people with guns like a fucking clown.

"Put the fucking gun down!" Matthew barked, unable to get a good shot that wasn't blocked by the other girl. Holding that assault rifle with one hand was probably gonna be taxing on his arm muscles, so at some point he'd have to lower it or drop it. The little shit stuttered something in response, sounding like he was gonna piss himself. He just wanted to leave. Matthew wasn't gonna stop him in the first place, but hey, he sure had a fucking reason to now.

But as much as Matthew now wanted to put one in this fuck's head, he wasn't gonna risk someone else's life just to do it. Glaring at the little prick who'd decided that the best solution to another person coming into the room was starting a hostage situation, he eventually nodded. "Alright then. Get the fuck out of here." A pause. "I wasn't gonna fucking stop you anyway." Oh, he had a lot more to say, but Matthew knew that antagonising this guy wasn't gonna end well.

What is that he sees? Oh that's his good mood going straight out of the fucking door. Same one the gun guy wanted to leave through, go figure. Nice for him to be brought back to reality, unfortunately it had to be through the method known as "taking someone hostage and realizing he could watch someone die right in front of him in this very moment." He held the axe in a much more offensive stance like he was willing to fight if need be, in reality he knew that he was fucking screwed if any bullets ended up flying in here because generally an axe won't win against a fucking assault rifle unless he's got plot armor.

And as far as he knows, real life means you ain't got no fucking plot armor!

"Oooooohhhhh, fuck." He could only stare right at the bastard in front of him.

Now, if Jack was telepathic he'd probably keep telling Matthew to just shoot this fucker before any one of them gets a damn bullet in them. He'd also tell Eve to like, shut up because it's hurting his ears. Not like he could blame anyone for having that reaction of course, but still it took quite a bit of focus away from him.

Instead it just seemed like there was a simple order to stand down. Who knows, maybe saying it enough times would actually do something. It could, honestly, this guy- Brad was his name? Seemed like someone who'd be better off trying something else with nerves like that.

"Fuckin- Okay Brad, yeeeaaaah just like, put the gun down." Jack said, just repeating what Matthew said.

"... On the ground." He added in as an afterthought. Thinking about it, if that worked he could get something way cooler off of this. That'd be rad.

Ingrid said that she didn't think these guys wanted to shoot Brad Josh.

That hypothesis wasn't holding up when one of them raised the gun at him and started screaming.

Brad Josh had his arm across Ingrid's chest, holding her against him. He squeezed a bit tighter and moved them both out of the kitchen area and into the dining area, moving towards the door.

They were coincidentally the exact same hight, so it would take an incredible sharp shooter to hit him but not her, and he didn't think that was either of these guys.

And well, he intended to just leave when he could.

Or, it was what he intended before Matthew continued to yell at him.

Brad Josh pushed his head against Ingrid's head as they slid together towards the door, a bit like she was a big teddy bear.

He released a shaky, frustrated sigh right by her ear and glared at the other two.

Josh Brad really didn't appreciate these two throwing threats around when he had every intention of wanting to leave safely. He squeezed again, because he could. Regardless of whatever they wanted to say, he did have the leverage in the situation, which was something he wasn't really used to.

What would he do with power?

With the ability to do anything to someone?

Childishly, he did the first thing that came to mind to spite the other two before he left.

He took his tongue and dragged it from the sharp corner of Ingrid's chin, up her cheek, up to her hair.

Eve's throat and chest burned as she tried to calm down. Josh just wanted to leave. Ingrid would be okay. Just give him what he wanted. Don't be a hero. Just let him leave. Let him-

She glared at the boys that just barged in, now acting like they were the fucking SWAT team. The kitchen door flew open and shut as Josh dragged his prey with him. Eve grabbed her bag and quickly rolled the bear skin up and under an arm before following Josh out with some clearance space, opening the door just in time to see Josh licking his hostage like a feral cat.

She'd done her best to keep her cool up to now. She didn't yell at the guy with the gun when he started threatening her, didn't fight him when he grabbed her, didn't bicker with the two assholes playing cop and making everything worse. She knew losing her temper or freaking out was bound to get her shot, so she'd been as calm as anyone can be, with no small amount of effort.

That effort went sailing out the window when he licked her.

Ingrid thrashed around in his grip, trying to break his hold. In her struggle her head jerked back and slammed directly into his nose.

What the fuck?

Like, no, seriously, what the fuck?

"Bro, what the fuck is your problem?!" Matthew began to demand, his glare of hatred on Brad or whatever the fuck this little psycho's name was only intensifying. Then his hostage began to thrash around, understandably so considering she just got licked by some fucking nutcase who had a gun held to her head. Matthew didn't know how well that'd turn out, and he had no fucking intention of seeing this dickhead shoot someone.

He wanted to rush forwards, play the hero, but it'd all be for shit if he was the one who took a bullet instead. So ignoring his instincts wanting to play the hero, Matthew watched, keeping his gun trained in case Brad opened himself up for a good shot. Shit, maybe Jack'd rush forwards and the whole thing'd be settled. It felt shit just watching, but he had a neck too. No point taking someone else's off the chopping block if his was to replace it.

"Oh god! Ewwww! Bro, what the fuck?!"

Jack reeled back in disgust, and general disbelief that yup. This was happening.

If Brad was going to throw a childish gesture at them though, Jack's going to retaliate. So he proceeded to flip em off and hold his axe over his shoulder. Jack started to follow Brad out of the kitchen. Impulse control be damned, now he was just wanted to get back at him somehow. Hell, this wasn't even about the hostage, he just found Brad annoying so he wanted to... Uh... Just...

Okay the thought never crossed his mind on what he would do. He probably doesn't even completely realize what he's doing right now.

"Okaaaaay, you're like, actually kind of a bitch, you know?"

Josh swallowed and pushed his tongue against the roof of his mouth. He would have thought that a person tasted like something, but she didn't taste like anything at all. More than anything it was the texture. His brain somehow knew this was the specific texture of skin without him having licked someone prior, though his older brother Bruce had threatened to do it to him when they were kids, much to Josh's annoyance.

Ingrid reared back and smashed the back of her head into Josh's, failing erratically. His eyes watered and he felt something drip from his nose. Blood trickled over his mouth.

Josh didn't hear what the others said. By reflex, he grabbed Ingrid and then shoved her directly at the guy who was closest to him with the gun.

Assuming that left him with a handful, Josh took off running out of the kitchen past the boys, panting, the footsteps echoing.

((Josh James continued in One Room ))

Eve yelped as Ingrid hit Josh and got subsequently thrown like a doll at one of the ACAB brothers. She threw the bear skin and her own bag down on the ground with a thud and ran up to Ingrid as Josh fled out the door and presumably down a hallway.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" Eve asked Ingrid, her voice raised in adrenaline and concern before immediately pivoting into rage as she glared at Matthew and Jack. "What the fuck is wrong with you guys?"

Ingrid pushed herself off the boy and rubbed the back of her head, eyes shut in pain. That little headbutt had hurt, and getting chucked at the Rainbow Six cosplayers didn't help.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Her eyes opened, scanning the now-empty kitchen. No sign of Gene Simmons back there, thank fuck.

"He's gone."

She glared back at the other armed arrivals. He was gone now, sure, but maybe she could've saved herself the headache if they hadn't barged in trying to play hero. In her view they'd done nothing but make an already-hostile weirdo even more paranoid and violent.

"Now if you two are fucking done," she snapped, grabbing her dropped flashlight before getting up off the floor, "I've got shit to get back to."

With the headbutt of having a girl thrown at him and the 'not wanting to let a fucking weird hostage taker go', Matthew managed to squeeze off a round in what he thought was Brad's general direction. No luck, though he did note how smooth the recoil was. Not the shittiest thing he coulda pulled, so thanks terrorists.

"Motherfucker!" Matthew shouted down the hallway, rubbing at his forehead. Little fuck had an arm on him, he'd give him that. And by that, he'd blow the fucker's arm off and literally hand it to him. There was that burning indignation in the back of his mind that the fucker had just ran off and that what he deserved was for Matthew to go after him and put a magazine in his ass. But yanno, there was the girl who'd been nearly shot and her friend. Turning to them, Matthew was met with abuse instead of being thanked.

He just stared at them for a moment, resisting the faint urge to lay the first one out on her ass.

"What the fuck is wrong with us? I-I dunno, I'd be more pissed at the fucking, fucking nutcase that just held you hostage and licked you like a goddamn ice-cream rather than the people trying to do something about it. You think he would've just let you go without gunning you the fuck down?" What the fuck was their problem? Like, getting mad at him and Jack? Over the fucking son of a bitch that had held her hostage? What, did she have Stockholm Syndrome or did everyone else get brain damage from the gas they'd been hit with except him? Jesus fuck.

Oh, hostage scared away the bad guy. Thanks hostage.

His head quickly turned towards Matthew as he heard the gunshot. He never actually saw where the bullet landed, but he just assumed it went wide.

"Well excuse me, princess," He turned towards both of the girls as he had a look of discontentment on him. "We- I mean, he heard it first but we heard screaming, okay? So what can y'fucking do? Sooooorry for trying to do something." He snapped his fingers.

Really he would've left the moment he heard the screaming if he wasn't going along with Matthew but that doesn't matter, now he's being insulted? Wow, the audacity. Ugh, really he's just defending himself.

"I mean, bright side, hey." He raised his hands up a bit. "Ya didn't get shot, so."