Paradise is Nowhere

[Catche Jagger]

((Colin McCabe, the Hero of Survival of the Fittest Version Whatever This Was, continued from Crush the World Down))

Outside of the set of announcements that came with the breaking of the day, Colin’s fifth morning on the island had passed without much incident, in spite of his hope that he might by this point stumble upon one of the number of his classmates who had given up decency and humanity in the name of cruelty and self-interest.

However, the announcements had provided him with another dose of sobering information. Though Tony remained notably absent from the deaths listed, it was revealed to Colin that Tom and Richard, the first two people he had met on this island, had been murdered the previous day.

If they’d been smart enough to stick with Colin from day one, their trio would likely have already taken out a murderer or two and doubtless saved many lives with Richard’s gun. Instead, they’d been stupid enough to run off on their own and ended up as just more names on a list of this twisted game’s victims.

Still, Colin McCabe would not be shaken. Not ever again.

He arrived at the beach, bags on his back, bandages on his head, and spear in his hands, only to find himself still alone with the waves and the sounds of the ocean.

Well, alone except for a horrifyingly familiar (if bloated) face that had seemingly washed up before his arrival.

It was Arjen Kramer, at least that was the name the announcements had given the guy Marco had killed.

Disgusted at the sight, the… smell of the shell that once was Arjen, Colin quickly turned away, planning to get away from this place as quickly as possible.

[ItzToxie]

(( Marco Volker continued from Aggressive Beauty.))

So now they were headed to the beach. The more they walked, the more Marco wondered what the whole talking in private thing was about. He understood getting away from the other two, but he wasn’t sure what to expect from Adonis. It’s been days since they seen eachother, so it could’ve been anything. Adonis could be asking for advice, he could be preparing to bitch him out for shit he did, or maybe its something simple as hows things been.

Marco didn’t know what to expect and he didn’t like that one bit. He hated not knowing things. He should probably relax a bit though. He was being all hypochondriac again. Before they separated he straight up told Adonis what he was going to do. Adonis knew what Marco was getting into when he let him go.

They were a good ways away from the cosmic brownie crew, so a little small talk wouldn’t hurt. “So... Hows the island been treating you?” Marco drummed the engine block of his chainsaw with his fingers. “You uhhh, you looked kinda down in the dumps back there when I found you. You doing alright?”

The anticipation was killing him.

[Primrosette]

((Adonis Cohen continued from Aggressive Beauty))

Adonis didn't know why he had walked away from Myles a lot more further than he realized and the fact that he had gone back to be silent as he was walking by Marco's side. He didn't want to admit that he had been selfishly jealous of Myles and Ivy crying and hugging each other. He didn't want to say that that should have been him and Regina. He didn't want to feel anything anymore. He was tired of feeling emotions and he wished that they would just disappear forever. He didn't even know what he was doing with Marco and he wondered if he was just clinging onto the other boy because... Because...

Adonis was missing Myles but he had oddly missed Marco too. How crazy was that? Maybe he was losing his mind on this forsaken island and he wasn't surprised if he was or not. He was still seeing images of a bleeding Tristan and a bleeding Regina and he swallowed down a nervous giggle that had bubbled up in his throat. He couldn't go back to Myles. He hadn't had the courage to even talk to him about Tristan and the nightmares that he had been having. He would only be a letdown. Again.

Marco was actually asking about how he was doing and Adonis suddenly let out a small chuckle in disbelief. He had wanted to ask about how Marco was doing as he definitely looked like he went through a lot of stuff since they were last together and Adonis almost found himself wanting to break down once again. But he forced himself to try to stay calm and he found himself wanting to be honest with Marco.

"I...." Adonis found himself trailing off into silence for a few seconds and then he looked at Marco more clearly with a broken, forced smile. "I'm not alright, Marco. I never thought that I could kill someone just like that and now Tristan is just gone because of me. I just wanted the knife that he had because I just heard that my best friend was dead on the announcements and I just want to kill someone. Anybody. Because the one who killed Regina killed herself. I couldn't even have the chance to avenge her and that just made me want to lash out. I wasn't thinking straight and then everything just.... It went all to hell."

[Catche Jagger]

Colin was just about to be clear of the beach when he caught sight of a pair of folks chatting with one another, and it didn’t take long for him to realize that one of them was Psychofuck Volker and the other was either dense or extremely naive.

Keeping his distance, Colin hunkered down and attempted to get into position behind Volker.

What a way to start off his big fucking mission to cleae out the killers, taking out Marco first. With Arjen’s corpse not far away, it was almost like fucking poetry. This time, though, the bystander was gonna get saved and Volker was gonna be the one bleeding out on the sand.

Once he was in position, Colin wasted no time in rushing forward and attempting to drive his knee into Volker’s lower back.

“Run you fucking fuckwit!” Colin shouted at Phychofuck’s companion, still keeping his attention on Volker, trying to get him pinned down fast so he could finish the job with his spear.

[ItzToxie]

Shit...

Adonis wasn’t doing all that great because of Tristan. He killed him just because he wanted to kill someone and now he’s regretting it. Shit, that’s his reason for it. He wanted a weapon. He killed someone for it.

“Hey, hey... It’s okay Adonis..” It really wasn’t to be honest, that sounded petty as fuck, but Marco couldn’t talk considering how much his reasons changed. “That’s not the worst thing I’ve seen or heard about on this island. At this point that’s kind of normal.” He wondered if he could get Adonis on his side. He wondered if he should.

In all honesty Adonis was the only person Marco had considered ‘good’. Sure Princess’ group was wanting to avenge the fallen, and Ariana’s group was minding their own business but they weren’t ‘good’. They weren’t going out of their way to help people, weren’t trying to do something to stop the game. They spent their time existing until they’ve been wronged, and now they spend their time avenging. Noble sure, heroic nah.

Adonis though... Adonis wanted to help. Adonis had found him after Arjen abandoned him. Adonis took care of him until it was time for Marco to leave. After that, he went to help someone else. Somewhere along the way he’d been corrupted. He killed because he wanted to.

In a way, it wasn’t Marco corrupting him, as he’d already been there. Marco would just be helping him deal with guilt. “Well Adonis, I’m not sure if you’re gonna like what I have to tell you but... things like that happen, and there’s not much you can really do, nothing at all honestly to take it back.”

They stopped at the beach, and Marco put his hand on Adonis’ shoulder. “Remember a few days ago just before we split up? You said there were good people left back then. At the time, you were right. Things change though... I can assure you there’s no such thing as a good person left. There’s nothing wrong with that though. It’s natural. It’s the-AUGH!”

What the fuck?! Marco smashes against the sand wheezing after that knee got him in the ribs. He turned to look up at who’d have the audacity to interrupt him like that, before he saw a spear driving down towards him. He rolled out of the way, and took a knee, getting up quickly.

He dropped his bags with the extinguisher in it, before he revved his chainsaw. He needed to have as much speed and maneuverability as he could for this one. “Don’t get involved Adonis.” Colin. Colin came back with a spear and a disappointing lack of kills under his belt. What was he doing all this time. Did it matter? He was still Colin. He was still his only real fight. His only struggle. He’d been waiting for this moment. He couldn’t help but smile.

“Just watch.” He told Adonis. Spoke tersely now, adrenaline was locking up his throat. This was the real shit. Marco charged, chainsaw Screeching.

[Primrosette]

Adonis had been frozen on the spot as the talk with Marco suddenly turned into someone coming out of nowhere to attack the other boy beside him. Adonis felt himself staring in disbelief at Colin when he turned to look at him and he frowned at the words that Colin was saying to him. Who was this guy to tell him to run? Why was he even attacking Marco in the first place? All they were doing were talking and they couldn't even do that without someone trying to start a fight.

Marco's right. Maybe there really are no more good people on this island. Maybe this island is just a way to show everyone's true colours. I thought that I was a good person before I killed Tristan.... I guess I'm not a good guy after all.

"What? I'm not running from this fight. Why are you-"

Marco then told Adonis to not get involved in the fight and just to watch. Was Marco trying to impress him by doing this? Well, he guessed he could stay back for a while and he actually took a few steps back as he heard the chainsaw revving up. He knew that he should have stop this from happening but he didn't have to do that anymore. He was tired of being the one who had to try to be the helpful one anymore. He believed that Marco could take care of it himself and Adonis was going to watch to make sure that everything wouldn't go badly.

"Alright. Just be careful, Marco." He said simply as he glanced over at Colin and he felt a smile tug at the sides of his lips.

[Catche Jagger]

Just when it seemed like he’d put Volker down once and for all, the little shit slipped away, and Colin’s spear connected with nothing but dirt.

Advantage? Lost.

Shit.

It was then that he managed to finally get a good look at the third party in this final showdown, as it were. Adonis was the sort of name you had to have a lot of confidence to give to your kid, but that also made it a hard name to forget, even for Colin.

Thing was, the Adonis in George Hunter’s senior class had killed before. Somebody named Tristan.

Colin hadn’t stopped a murder, he’d stumbled upon a grusome twosome of clandestine killers.

Double shit.

Colin grit his teeth. There still had to be a way out of this. These fucks had the numbers advantage and the weapons advantage, but Colin was smarter, stronger, and not holding back anymore.

Volker had his chainsaw running and was ready for him, so just rushing in wasn’t an option just yet. He’d have to play smart.

Colin relaxed his posture a bit, but kept his stance grounded.

“Heard you killed again, fuckface. You get off on that one too?” Colin hissed, hoping he could goad Volker into striking first.

[ItzToxie]

“Nah not really!” Marco sneered as he rushed forward swinging his saw vertically. He knew it wouldn’t get Colin, he just wanted to keep him on his toes. He used the downward momentum to swing his saw in a circular motion, bringing it back towards Colin as he sidestepped back.

Marco was glad that Adonis wasn’t joining in. This was his fight, as much as it was Colin’s. This was something he was waiting for, something he was craving. “Broad didn’t fight like you!” He said, strafing Colin. Nice spear he had. Improvised. Did he know how to use it like his fists though? “She didn’t even have the gall to shoot me ‘till my back was turned. Didn’t even die fighting! Bled like a stuck pig...”

Marco watched Colin’s movement. This shit was delicate. A rat fighting a scorpion. Even with the chainsaw, Volker knew he was at a disadvantage. He had to think. Had to get around the spear, get close, put him on the defense before he caught hands.

Got it.

Marco feinted upwards, before slamming the saw into the sand, kicking up dust before following the cloud. “Get some!” He screamed as he swung for Colin’s neck.

[Catche Jagger]

The verbal jab didn’t seem to phase Volker much. Still, the fucker made his approach, initially trying to outposition him, but Colin never let his face turn away from him.

That would turn out to be a mistake.

Suddenly the little shit drove his chainsaw down into the sand, kicking it up into Colin’s face.

Colin stumbled back, trying to keep the particles away from his eyes. It was only blind luck that Colin lost his footing and fell backward just as Volker finally swung his weapon at him, resulting in a near miss. He managed to bring his arms back to stop his fall and make sure he didn’t get the wind knocked out of him by falling flat on his back.

Volker had clearly learned a bit from their previous encounter and was trying to play smarter, too.

Well, fuck if Colin was gonna let this wannabe anime villain out think him.

As Colin tried to regain his footing, he quickly thrust his spear upward at Volker, aiming for the chest.

“Fuck off!”

[ItzToxie]

Almost got him! Good thing Marco missed! If this ended any faster it’d be completely anticlimactic. If Colin gave up that easily, Marco would’ve been infuriated at the blue balling that’d ensue had he let his head separate from his shoulders.

Marco rushed forward and brought the saw above his head as Colin shot up with the spear. Backpedaling to avoid getting a tracheotomy caused him to lose balance, his free hand catching himself in the sand. He got up just a little after Colin did, running forward as Colin was running forward. Chainsaw versus spear, the two met in the center, jousting like the knights of old.

First blood was drawn.

Marco stumbled forwards, free hand on his chest as blood seeped from between his ribs. He overestimated his reach, and underestimated Colin’s range. He was lucky to correct himself in the last moment and dodge, so he’d avoided getting impaled, but he wasn’t lucky enough to get out unscathed, as there was now a deep gouge going along the side of his rib cage. Marco growled. Only a flesh wound. He smiled through gritted teeth as he turned to look at Colin, and the red slash he’d left going up the outside of his leg. Marco didn’t miss either.

With their armaments Marco could tell this would end quickly. The high lethality of both their equipment meant that one wrong mistake, one well planned counter, one lucky shot was all it took to end this.

This was a whole new experience he was feeling. There was some actual fear mixed in with the excitement. The cocktail running through Marco’s veins heightened his perceptions. Colors were brighter, sounds were louder; he could feel each individual pump of his heart, the blood pulsing through every vein, the wet warmth that trailed down his side and down his arm, and yet, sharpest of all, was the sting of pain radiating from the new gash, numbing the bullet wound, the bruises, his eye. The remaining sensations of his body pinpricked away as he felt everything tighten and constrict. He felt his breathing increase, as his face flushed red, his eye had gone glassy, and he bit his lower lip. The roar of a chainsaw reached its crescendo, and Marco hadn’t noticed that he had the screaming engine block against him.

He sprinted forward. Colin drove his spear again. Marco knew this fight was as good as over when he caught it in his bicep, pinning the spear under his arm and against his side as he wrapped his elbow around it, before bringing his blade down on the shaft, splitting it in two.

Now, it was time to split Colin in two.

[Catche Jagger]

Colin’s leg felt like it was on fire, but he dared not look at whatever mark the chainsaw had left on him. It would distract him, throw him off balance, and he couldn’t afford that in this moment.

So, Colin instead simply thrust his spear at Volker once again. The first attack had struck true, and his weapon provided greater reach. With the fucker injured, it seemed the prime moment to press the attack.

However, Volker seemed to anticipate the move and caught the spear in one arm while moving to slice it in two with the other.

For a moment, Colin was certain he’d lost, but for only a moment.

The realization that Volker’s move had left both his arms occupied and his body open to attack, brought a smile to Colin’s face. This would be the perfect moment for some badass theme music to start pumping as Colin subtly shifted his weight, letting the remains of his spear fall away and carrying his other arm forward.

He drove a massive hook right into the side of Volker’s skull, knocking the prick off balance.

“Your next line is: I’m a little bitch!” Colin grunted as he wasted no time in following his strike up with a thrusting kick right to Volker’s groin, sending psychofuck stumbling to the ground.

[ItzToxie]

”You Little BITCH”!





Marco was sent spiraling to the sand.

[Catche Jagger]

Eh, close enough.

Colin made sure to scoop up the chainsaw that Volker had dropped in his rush to faceplant in the fucking sand.

As the hero moved closer to his enemy’s prone form, he stomped down on his lower back and kept his foot planted there. Couldn’t have the little shit crawling away now, could he?

“You know, I still owe you for the ear, but I think I’ll put you out of your misery right now. I’m real fucking practical like that.”

This would be the first of many that Colin would need to destroy so that the innocent of George Hunter could survive. The act of killing would bring him no pleasure, but the hero couldn’t deny he would feel a certain amount of satisfaction knowing that the world would now be short one psychopath.

With a grunt, Colin swung the chainsaw downward, aiming for the back of Volker’s skull.

[Primrosette]

Marco was losing....

Marco was losing!

Marco was going to die if Adonis didn't move his ass and help him out. Adonis was glad that he was a fast sprinter and he let out a yell that sounded like an loud battle cry as Colin was swinging down the chainsaw. Adonis ducked his body as he barrelled right into Colin's side and he hoped that Colin would go down. He had to stop Colin from hurting Marco. He didn't want to lose Marco like this. He wouldn't let Colin win. He couldn't, he couldn't, he couldn't-

He felt himself landing onto the sand and he noticed that Colin was right beside him. He had to stop him. Just hit him, hit him, hit him!

"DON'T YOU DARE KILL HIM!!"

Adonis quickly sat up and he aimed a fist right for Colin's stomach to catch him off-guard.

[Catche Jagger]

And there, in his moment of greatest triumph, Colin was interrupted.

Interrupted was perhaps too light a description to explain what occurred. Indeed, just as Colin swung the chainsaw downward, something crashed into his side and sent him hurtling away from his quarry and launched the chainsaw from his grip.

As he felt himself collide with the sandy ground, the hero didn’t even need to look to know who had just fucked him over. That Adonis fucker had gotten involved rather than take his chance at absolution by letting justice be done.

The bastard confirmed this as Colin attempted to recover by delivering a gut punch and screaming some bullshit about not letting Volker die.

The punch briefly knocked the wind out of our hero, but he had to recover. At this very moment, Colin was far more enraged at Adonis than with Marco. The sheer fucking gall, to defend that murderous little shit! How many more innocents needed to be murdered to satiate these fuckers?

Colin managed to avoid Adonis’s following strike and grabbed the shithead’s arm and drag him right to the ground. Without missing a beat, Colin mounted up and began raining blows down upon his new target.

“YOU STUPID!”

SMACK

“SELFISH!”

SMACK

“SONOFAFUCK!”

SMACK

Colin’s fists had begun to hurt. He wasn’t striking properly, considering his form.