"Gamble", Baccano! NaNoWriMo response
Ack, I'm starting to fall behind--exactly what I don't need to happen. I'm going to try to write a lot tonight even if I have to stay up later than usual... :\
This next response is for lamiyao, who shares my appreciation for dark humor. >D I wasn't quite able to put as much of it in this fic as the last couple in the same genre, but what is there I found incredibly priceless (lmao--a certain line from Miria is an instant classic. XD) The prompt was Russian Roulette, but I took it further by injecting actual Russians. XD AND I CAN GET AWAY WITH IT, TOO, BECAUSE BACCANO! IS HISTORICAL FICTION. :D
Character(s)/Pairing: Firo, Maiza, Isaac, Miria, Ennis
Genre: blood is nice, dark humor is the best
Rating: AHA however high you want
Prompt: russian roulette >D
Title: Gamble
Characters: Maiza, Firo/Ennis, Isaac/Miria
Genre: Drama/Suspense/Action/Black Humor
Rating: R
Warnings: Gun violence, regular violence, blood, and 'death'; sexual harassment (*dies a little inside* D:).
Wordcount: 3744
Total Progress: 43288/50000 = 86.58% complete
It probably hadn't been the best idea to travel through Europe in the midst of World War II, but after Maiza stumbled upon one of the long ago agreed upon secret messages desperately requesting assistance in a newspaper article, he hadn't had much of a choice other than to search for his old alchemist friend if he wanted to keep his conscience intact. There was no danger of death now that Szilard was gone and he'd gotten no word of any others unable to control their appetite for knowledge, but it was hard to repair his severed contacts to pass on the news. He should have known that accidentally letting his intentions slip in front of Firo that the younger man would demand to accompany him in concern, and after telling his housemates of Maiza's plans, the dominoes continued to fall with Czeslaw's insistence to help him search for their mutual friend, and with Isaac and Miria out of town again, who knows where, of course they weren't going to leave Ennis on her own. Maiza had begun to think it would be easier to travel that way, since Ennis had officially adopted Czeslaw as her younger brother and he was able to forge documents 'proving' Firo was his younger half-brother, and Firo's relationship with Ennis would tie them all together and pass them off as a simple traveling civilian family attempting to escape the marching soldiers. It wasn't like they were in any danger of actually dying, but it would be problematic if their special circumstances were to be revealed to the enemy forces, who would be intensely interested in discovering the secret to develop a terrifying immortal army, which was likely the reason his old friend had sent out the signal in the first place, fearing discovery but unable to secure an escape route on his own.
However, he should have expected things to go wrong, their pathway deviating from the planned routes, events quickly spiraling out of control with no sign of calm approaching around the corner. As they approached the meeting place, more and more of the towns and cities they passed by were occupied by aggressive foreign powers, making it impossible to enter and replenish their supplies without facing the threat of arrest. They were able to get by for a while by slipping into some of the larger cities during the night, where they would be able to pass themselves off as locals more easily, but their lucky streak was cut to a sudden halt one evening in a diner after one of the more observant townspeople tipped them off to the soldiers, probably for some type of reward for reporting suspicious people. Considering how badly rundown the city was under the watch of its occupying force, at least half the population was likely struggling to feed starving families as the army took most of the food for their reserves, so the only one Maiza could blame when the armed soldiers burst inside and held them at gunpoint was himself, because he should have been more prepared, and he should have come alone. If they had been the only people in the building, they might have been able to fight back and get away, but that was not the case and their only choice was to raise their hands in surrender to protect the innocent bystanders. At least Czeslaw had been able to get away, Maiza comforted himself. He may have been over two hundred years old, but he still was, and always would be a child stopped in time, and being taken captive by enemy soldiers was nothing a child should ever experience. However, he was still very bright and they had been only a few miles from the meeting place--with any luck, Czeslaw would be able to meet up with their mutual acquaintance and get him out of the country instead of trying to help them escape. Neither one of them were fighters, so unless they somehow managed to gather a small force to free them, Maiza, Firo, and Ennis had a much better chance of breaking out from within.
From the way things were going, though, it looked like things were only going to get more and more complicated. The five Russian soldiers that had taken them prisoner were far from perfect gentlemen and their treatment of Ennis agitated Firo immensely. If Maiza, the ropes, the chains, and the look Ennis shot him hadn't held him back, he would most definitely have lashed out and gotten himself shot the first time one of them touched her, but luckily, he was able to settle with a low, threatening growl every time one of the soldiers stepped closer to her than required, memorizing the faces of all those who disrespected her so he could show them exactly what he thought of their behavior once he got the opportunity, and he would definitely actively work toward creating that opportunity.
He was doing a good job at holding himself back, but the line was crossed as they entered the prison and one of them pushed her up against a wall. The startled, distressed sound she instinctively made in response tore through him and before the soldier could do anything more, Firo started shouting choice words and phrases in perfect Russian, and judging by the stunned reactions from the enlisted men, whatever he said was both completely unexpected and extremely effective in counteracting their collective libidos. Before they could respond to his threats in any way, however, a couple of familiar voices called out from a nearby cell.
"Look, Miria! It's Ennis, Firo, and Maiza!"
"It really is, Isaac! Do you think they came to steal and hide all the guns so the war will end, too?"
"Isaac? Miria?" Ennis said, a little distantly, still in the process of recovering from the way her mind went completely blank once her back had hit the wall.
"What are you two..." Maiza began to say, but once Miria's words registered amid the confusion, he cut himself off. "Ah, never mind," he added, a little perplexed by the coincidence of meeting them in a Soviet prison camp of all places.
Firo was still busy glaring at the soldiers to pay any attention to anything else going on around him, so he was the only on who noticed their sudden sinister smiles just before they began to whisper among themselves. He didn't like the sound of what he managed to overhear. The guards suddenly pulled back into motion, leading them the rest of the way to the cell containing Isaac and Miria. There were a few empty cells, but Firo doubted their decision had anything to do with altruistically reuniting them with their friends.
While the soldiers held them at gunpoint as one of them unlocked the cell and let them inside one by one, disconnecting the chains around their feet that held the three of them together but leaving their hands bound together, making it impossible for the robber couple to greet them with their usual enthusiastic hugs, so instead they lightly clapped the others on their shoulders in greeting. As he switched his attention from Maiza to Firo, Isaac called out, "I didn't know that you could speak Russian, Firo!"
His cheerfulness despite the bad situation they were in managed to cheer Firo up a little, though he was still filled with feelings of loathing and disgust, though he was relived to see that Miria didn't seem traumatized at all. The two of them must have been arrested by a slightly more respectable bunch. Trying to smile, only to have it come out as a grimace, he replied, "There's so much random stuff rattling around inside my head that I'm surprised I remember it at all." Once the gate was closed and locked behind him, Firo turned to watch the guards leave the area in apprehension, wondering if he'd be able to get them all out of the cell before they returned, though it seemed doubtful, as it seemed that they'd be returning immediately right after obtaining a certain item.
As the door leading outside swung shut, Ennis stepped up beside him while the others sat down on the wooden benches that seemed to double as beds and lightly brushed her hands against his, offering them mutual comfort before she began to pull at his bindings, undoing the knots with a practiced, efficient hand. "They're planning something awful, aren't they?" she asked him as the ropes fell to the floor.
"Yeah," Firo replied as he got started on freeing her hands. "I know that war does terrible things to people, but it's still a shock at how... depraved they are. I can't stand it. We're getting out of here before they get another chance to come anywhere near you or Miria." Finished with the ropes wound around Ennis' wrists, Firo hurried over to Maiza as Ennis began on Miria and Isaac. While Ennis was calm and they both knew their way around all kinds of knots, Firo was in too much of a rush, which only cost him more time in the end.
"Do you have a plan, Firo?" Maiza asked, trying to help him along by changing the positions of his hands into what he thought might make it easier. He hoped that they weren't untying their hands just for them to kick down the door and run, a plan doomed to failure, but with the current time constraints, Maiza wasn't able to come up with anything even slightly more promising.
"We'll get to that when we get to that," Firo replied, finally succeeding in releasing Maiza's hands as Ennis finished with Isaac. "We don't have any time. They'll be back any minute."
Unfortunately, that minute was then and there, and they all fell silent as the door swung open and the soldiers returned, walking down the hall toward their cell, talking and laughing. Having no time to even pick up the ropes and pretend that they were all still restrained, Firo steeled himself and stepped up to the bars. Whatever was going to happen was because he had insulted them, after all. Even if they deserved much worse than what they got, if there was going to be any retribution, it wouldn't be right to have any of the others get hurt, especially when they discovered the loose ropes lying on the floor and the free hands of their prisoners.
However, it seemed that they'd been planning to cut the ropes anyway, judging by the knife one of them was holding and the surprised look on his face as he slowly put it away, wondering out loud to the other four that maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea to play the 'game' with a group so crafty, but the leader just assured them that worrying about it was nonsense because they had the advantage in terms of firepower.
Firo, still extremely angry, but much more calm than before, especially since there was no immediate punishment that he'd have to worry about, was able to hold his tongue and listen to what they had to say with a cool head. Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that his behavior had inspired a consequence even worse than what he'd feared, especially since the rest of them would also be forced to participate.
One of the soldiers passed him a revolver through the bars as the leader explained the rules. Firo opened it and inspected the chambers, confirming that there was indeed only one bullet inside, closed it and, holding the gun vertically to the floor, spinning the cylinder before one of them accused him of attempting to affect the result. If he thought he would have been able to get away with removing the bullet completely, he would have, but at the same time, he suddenly realized that playing along would result in exactly the opportunity he was waiting for. Once the soldier finished explaining, Firo didn't hesitate at all in raising the gun to his head, even as his four cellmates loudly demanded to know what he was doing. As the soldiers had insisted, since there was five prisoners and six chambers, he pulled the trigger twice, but upon finding himself still standing, quietly muttered, "Shit," as one of the guards groaned in disappointment.
Maiza jumped up and tore the gun out of his hand. "What are you doing?!" he demanded. "What's going on?! You know what will happen if you shot yourself!"
The soldiers raised their weapons higher in response to Maiza's sudden movement, and Firo put himself between them to calm both parties. "Maiza," he said, quietly, "if we don't do what they say, they're going to start shooting everyone, so it's better if we just follow along with this game of theirs, even though I'd rather have been the one taking the bullet. It's actually a good opportunity to escape--when they come inside to remove the body, we can fight back in the confusion and get out of here fast before anyone else finds out. Their superiors will think they're just trying to make excuses for letting prisoners escape."
Clenching and unclenching his jaw, Maiza somehow brought himself to ask, "What are the rules?"
Talking louder so the rest of them could hear his voice clearly, Firo replied, "There's one bullet in the gun, and we all take turns pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at our heads. There's six chambers, so there's a one in six chance of death for everyone that participates. I took two turns because there's only five of us. If we don't do it, they're prepared to open fire, so we'll play along and get away once they come inside."
The look of horror that had appeared on Ennis' face the moment Firo raised the gun to his head increased in intensity throughout his explanation, but Firo knew that she was thinking about how many mortal people had been forced into playing the lethal game up until now. Isaac and Miria, on the other hand, continued to stay completely motionless after they'd jumped into each others arms with their mouths hanging open in shock.
Maiza only took a few extra moments to raise the gun to his head and pull the trigger, but in the silence of the cell, all that was heard was a single resounding click. Once again, though a different one than the first time, a guard expressed his disappointment. Lowering the revolver to his side, he asked Firo, "They're betting on the outcome, aren't they?"
With a wry smile, Firo answered, "Of course they are. They've done this plenty of times before. Maybe after today, they'll be too traumatized to ever do it again."
Ennis approached them, ready to take her turn. If at all possible, she wanted to spare Isaac or Miria from being forced into putting a bullet in their head. Also, the two of them couldn't exactly be classified as fighters, so having one of them initiate a surprise attack from the floor would probably just end up being a wasted opportunity to gain the upper hand. It would be much more to their advantage to have her, Firo, or Maiza take the bullet, as they had much more experience in melee combat, while Isaac and Miria mostly relied on their powder bombs to cause confusion, though they likely didn't have any on hand at the moment.
Maiza held out the gun for her as she approached, and Firo, more to comfort himself than her, said, "It'll be so quick you won't even feel anything," which Ennis was already well aware of, but she tried to smile for him anyway to help ease his suffering. He had to be feeling something similar to the panic she'd felt when she'd seen him pull the trigger. They both knew that they wouldn't die from a simple bullet, but the thought of seeing each other's blood split was distressing and they'd like to avoid it if at all possible. She put the gun to her head and pulled the trigger, but once again, the firearm did not report, and while another one of the guards complained, the rest of them were starting to become a little suspicious of how their captives weren't breaking down under the pressure of being forced to gamble their lives like what had always happened on previous occasions.
Looking down at the gun like it had betrayed her, Ennis didn't want to do it, but since Isaac and Miria were also immortal, there was no reason to actively prevent them from participating other than her own conscience, she had to pass the gun along. Walking back over to the bench as Firo and Maiza followed her over, getting ready to take their places for the fight that would break out once the soldiers stepped inside to gather the body, Ennis offered Isaac the revolver. He was still frozen with his arms wrapped around Miria, but all of a sudden, they pulled apart as if they'd decided on the timing together during an earlier moment.
"I don't think it's even loaded," Isaac assured Miria as he took the gun. "It must be one of those initiation rituals. This is the very first time we've been captured by soldiers, so we have to prove ourselves as worthy prisoners somehow, I think."
"Ah, that makes sense, Isaac!" Miria called out as he pulled the trigger. As they both expected, once again, no bullet was fired, and as another guard belted out a string of obscenities, the last one began to celebrate his win while the others grumbled.
Picking the gun out of Isaac's hand, Miria turned to Firo and said, "One in six, right?" teasing him for making everyone take the 'initiation' so seriously.
Somehow, knowing exactly who would receive the bullet was worse than not knowing at all. "Miria!" Ennis cried out as the other woman pushed the gun against her temple, which happened to be the final straw for Firo. As Miria pulled the trigger, he took hold of the gun barrel and redirected it at himself.
The loud gunshot that rang out made the resulting silence seem that much more quiet before the soldiers began to argue back and forth about who had actually won the bet and Miria started to scream. Firo had held his hat securely on top of his head with his free hand to spare everyone the full view of his wound, but the sight of him collapsing bonelessly to the floor was still very traumatizing, even without the blood splattered everywhere.
Isaac and Miria were once again crushed in each other's arms, this time weeping openly as Isaac loudly shouted something about blanks and ketchup in an effort to comfort Miria, who screamed over and over again that she'd killed Firo and poor Ennis... poor Ennis.
Ennis and Maiza were about to tell them that it was all right, but their intentions were interrupted by the cell door sliding open as all five of the soldiers stepped inside to collect the body, however, two of them seemed much more interested in pushing their luck with the women than backing up their comrades. The other three were too busy trying to call them back into formation to notice the blood quickly flow back into the corpse. Just before the two men reached Ennis and Miria, Firo recovered completely, and was able to sweep the feet out from under two of the guards, and kicked their weapons across the room while Maiza tackled the third man against the wall, managing to knock him out by cracking his head against the brick. Ennis took care of the man closest to her with a perfectly executed roundhouse kick to the face and was about to take care of the last one on his way toward Isaac and Miria, but was surprised to see Miria chuck the revolver at his face with enough force to break his nose, which was immediately followed by Isaac's fist as he shouted, "I told you to stay away from her!" Firo, meanwhile, had gotten to his feet just in time to knock one of his opponents out with a dropkick before turning to the last conscious man, grabbing him from behind as he stood and pushing an arm against his throat until he slumped in his arms, and Firo let him fall to the floor.
Clapping his hands together before taking a moment to inspect his hat, which was miraculously unharmed, Firo then knelt beside the leader of the group of soldiers and pulled a key out of one of his pockets. "That was easier than I thought it would be," he mentioned, standing back up. "We should release the rest of the prisoners while we're at it--chances are, they're innocent victims and having them run around in the confusion will help us escape, too."
Looking up at Firo with teary eyes, Miria sobbed, "I'm so sorry for killing you, Firo."
"Don't worry about that," Firo replied, with a satisfied smile. "It was worth it to see you throw the gun at the guy. That was amazing."
"How did you do that thing with the ketchup, Firo?!" Isaac asked. "Was it some kind of magic trick?!"
"What?" Firo replied, confused. "Ketchup?"
Recovering from her brief breakdown entirely due to the mention of magic, Miria called out, "A magician never reveals his secrets, right, Firo?!" However, she frowned a little as she added, "But that was a mean thing to do. I thought I shot you for real."
Firo had opened his mouth to respond, but Maiza interrupted him before he actually managed to speak. "We should get moving, everyone--these soldiers aren't going to sleep forever and its only a matter of time before someone else realizes that they're missing."
Ennis, realizing that there was a soldier for each of them, suggested, "We might be able to find it easier to get away if we disguise ourselves in their uniforms."
Firo was appalled by the thought of wearing the same clothes as such disturbed and depraved individuals, but liked the idea of humiliating them further. "I'll let the other prisoners out of their cells. Chances are that I can break the language barrier, so I'll have them sit tight for now so we can escape together. We can probably fool the rest of the camp into thinking that we're leading them off to execute them in the woods," he brainstormed as he walked away.
As he, Miria, and Maiza helped Ennis relieve the soldiers of their uniforms, Isaac wondered how Firo had managed to clean up that huge mess of ketchup so quickly.
This next response is for lamiyao, who shares my appreciation for dark humor. >D I wasn't quite able to put as much of it in this fic as the last couple in the same genre, but what is there I found incredibly priceless (lmao--a certain line from Miria is an instant classic. XD) The prompt was Russian Roulette, but I took it further by injecting actual Russians. XD AND I CAN GET AWAY WITH IT, TOO, BECAUSE BACCANO! IS HISTORICAL FICTION. :D
Character(s)/Pairing: Firo, Maiza, Isaac, Miria, Ennis
Genre: blood is nice, dark humor is the best
Rating: AHA however high you want
Prompt: russian roulette >D
Title: Gamble
Characters: Maiza, Firo/Ennis, Isaac/Miria
Genre: Drama/Suspense/Action/Black Humor
Rating: R
Warnings: Gun violence, regular violence, blood, and 'death'; sexual harassment (*dies a little inside* D:).
Wordcount: 3744
Total Progress: 43288/50000 = 86.58% complete
It probably hadn't been the best idea to travel through Europe in the midst of World War II, but after Maiza stumbled upon one of the long ago agreed upon secret messages desperately requesting assistance in a newspaper article, he hadn't had much of a choice other than to search for his old alchemist friend if he wanted to keep his conscience intact. There was no danger of death now that Szilard was gone and he'd gotten no word of any others unable to control their appetite for knowledge, but it was hard to repair his severed contacts to pass on the news. He should have known that accidentally letting his intentions slip in front of Firo that the younger man would demand to accompany him in concern, and after telling his housemates of Maiza's plans, the dominoes continued to fall with Czeslaw's insistence to help him search for their mutual friend, and with Isaac and Miria out of town again, who knows where, of course they weren't going to leave Ennis on her own. Maiza had begun to think it would be easier to travel that way, since Ennis had officially adopted Czeslaw as her younger brother and he was able to forge documents 'proving' Firo was his younger half-brother, and Firo's relationship with Ennis would tie them all together and pass them off as a simple traveling civilian family attempting to escape the marching soldiers. It wasn't like they were in any danger of actually dying, but it would be problematic if their special circumstances were to be revealed to the enemy forces, who would be intensely interested in discovering the secret to develop a terrifying immortal army, which was likely the reason his old friend had sent out the signal in the first place, fearing discovery but unable to secure an escape route on his own.
However, he should have expected things to go wrong, their pathway deviating from the planned routes, events quickly spiraling out of control with no sign of calm approaching around the corner. As they approached the meeting place, more and more of the towns and cities they passed by were occupied by aggressive foreign powers, making it impossible to enter and replenish their supplies without facing the threat of arrest. They were able to get by for a while by slipping into some of the larger cities during the night, where they would be able to pass themselves off as locals more easily, but their lucky streak was cut to a sudden halt one evening in a diner after one of the more observant townspeople tipped them off to the soldiers, probably for some type of reward for reporting suspicious people. Considering how badly rundown the city was under the watch of its occupying force, at least half the population was likely struggling to feed starving families as the army took most of the food for their reserves, so the only one Maiza could blame when the armed soldiers burst inside and held them at gunpoint was himself, because he should have been more prepared, and he should have come alone. If they had been the only people in the building, they might have been able to fight back and get away, but that was not the case and their only choice was to raise their hands in surrender to protect the innocent bystanders. At least Czeslaw had been able to get away, Maiza comforted himself. He may have been over two hundred years old, but he still was, and always would be a child stopped in time, and being taken captive by enemy soldiers was nothing a child should ever experience. However, he was still very bright and they had been only a few miles from the meeting place--with any luck, Czeslaw would be able to meet up with their mutual acquaintance and get him out of the country instead of trying to help them escape. Neither one of them were fighters, so unless they somehow managed to gather a small force to free them, Maiza, Firo, and Ennis had a much better chance of breaking out from within.
From the way things were going, though, it looked like things were only going to get more and more complicated. The five Russian soldiers that had taken them prisoner were far from perfect gentlemen and their treatment of Ennis agitated Firo immensely. If Maiza, the ropes, the chains, and the look Ennis shot him hadn't held him back, he would most definitely have lashed out and gotten himself shot the first time one of them touched her, but luckily, he was able to settle with a low, threatening growl every time one of the soldiers stepped closer to her than required, memorizing the faces of all those who disrespected her so he could show them exactly what he thought of their behavior once he got the opportunity, and he would definitely actively work toward creating that opportunity.
He was doing a good job at holding himself back, but the line was crossed as they entered the prison and one of them pushed her up against a wall. The startled, distressed sound she instinctively made in response tore through him and before the soldier could do anything more, Firo started shouting choice words and phrases in perfect Russian, and judging by the stunned reactions from the enlisted men, whatever he said was both completely unexpected and extremely effective in counteracting their collective libidos. Before they could respond to his threats in any way, however, a couple of familiar voices called out from a nearby cell.
"Look, Miria! It's Ennis, Firo, and Maiza!"
"It really is, Isaac! Do you think they came to steal and hide all the guns so the war will end, too?"
"Isaac? Miria?" Ennis said, a little distantly, still in the process of recovering from the way her mind went completely blank once her back had hit the wall.
"What are you two..." Maiza began to say, but once Miria's words registered amid the confusion, he cut himself off. "Ah, never mind," he added, a little perplexed by the coincidence of meeting them in a Soviet prison camp of all places.
Firo was still busy glaring at the soldiers to pay any attention to anything else going on around him, so he was the only on who noticed their sudden sinister smiles just before they began to whisper among themselves. He didn't like the sound of what he managed to overhear. The guards suddenly pulled back into motion, leading them the rest of the way to the cell containing Isaac and Miria. There were a few empty cells, but Firo doubted their decision had anything to do with altruistically reuniting them with their friends.
While the soldiers held them at gunpoint as one of them unlocked the cell and let them inside one by one, disconnecting the chains around their feet that held the three of them together but leaving their hands bound together, making it impossible for the robber couple to greet them with their usual enthusiastic hugs, so instead they lightly clapped the others on their shoulders in greeting. As he switched his attention from Maiza to Firo, Isaac called out, "I didn't know that you could speak Russian, Firo!"
His cheerfulness despite the bad situation they were in managed to cheer Firo up a little, though he was still filled with feelings of loathing and disgust, though he was relived to see that Miria didn't seem traumatized at all. The two of them must have been arrested by a slightly more respectable bunch. Trying to smile, only to have it come out as a grimace, he replied, "There's so much random stuff rattling around inside my head that I'm surprised I remember it at all." Once the gate was closed and locked behind him, Firo turned to watch the guards leave the area in apprehension, wondering if he'd be able to get them all out of the cell before they returned, though it seemed doubtful, as it seemed that they'd be returning immediately right after obtaining a certain item.
As the door leading outside swung shut, Ennis stepped up beside him while the others sat down on the wooden benches that seemed to double as beds and lightly brushed her hands against his, offering them mutual comfort before she began to pull at his bindings, undoing the knots with a practiced, efficient hand. "They're planning something awful, aren't they?" she asked him as the ropes fell to the floor.
"Yeah," Firo replied as he got started on freeing her hands. "I know that war does terrible things to people, but it's still a shock at how... depraved they are. I can't stand it. We're getting out of here before they get another chance to come anywhere near you or Miria." Finished with the ropes wound around Ennis' wrists, Firo hurried over to Maiza as Ennis began on Miria and Isaac. While Ennis was calm and they both knew their way around all kinds of knots, Firo was in too much of a rush, which only cost him more time in the end.
"Do you have a plan, Firo?" Maiza asked, trying to help him along by changing the positions of his hands into what he thought might make it easier. He hoped that they weren't untying their hands just for them to kick down the door and run, a plan doomed to failure, but with the current time constraints, Maiza wasn't able to come up with anything even slightly more promising.
"We'll get to that when we get to that," Firo replied, finally succeeding in releasing Maiza's hands as Ennis finished with Isaac. "We don't have any time. They'll be back any minute."
Unfortunately, that minute was then and there, and they all fell silent as the door swung open and the soldiers returned, walking down the hall toward their cell, talking and laughing. Having no time to even pick up the ropes and pretend that they were all still restrained, Firo steeled himself and stepped up to the bars. Whatever was going to happen was because he had insulted them, after all. Even if they deserved much worse than what they got, if there was going to be any retribution, it wouldn't be right to have any of the others get hurt, especially when they discovered the loose ropes lying on the floor and the free hands of their prisoners.
However, it seemed that they'd been planning to cut the ropes anyway, judging by the knife one of them was holding and the surprised look on his face as he slowly put it away, wondering out loud to the other four that maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea to play the 'game' with a group so crafty, but the leader just assured them that worrying about it was nonsense because they had the advantage in terms of firepower.
Firo, still extremely angry, but much more calm than before, especially since there was no immediate punishment that he'd have to worry about, was able to hold his tongue and listen to what they had to say with a cool head. Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that his behavior had inspired a consequence even worse than what he'd feared, especially since the rest of them would also be forced to participate.
One of the soldiers passed him a revolver through the bars as the leader explained the rules. Firo opened it and inspected the chambers, confirming that there was indeed only one bullet inside, closed it and, holding the gun vertically to the floor, spinning the cylinder before one of them accused him of attempting to affect the result. If he thought he would have been able to get away with removing the bullet completely, he would have, but at the same time, he suddenly realized that playing along would result in exactly the opportunity he was waiting for. Once the soldier finished explaining, Firo didn't hesitate at all in raising the gun to his head, even as his four cellmates loudly demanded to know what he was doing. As the soldiers had insisted, since there was five prisoners and six chambers, he pulled the trigger twice, but upon finding himself still standing, quietly muttered, "Shit," as one of the guards groaned in disappointment.
Maiza jumped up and tore the gun out of his hand. "What are you doing?!" he demanded. "What's going on?! You know what will happen if you shot yourself!"
The soldiers raised their weapons higher in response to Maiza's sudden movement, and Firo put himself between them to calm both parties. "Maiza," he said, quietly, "if we don't do what they say, they're going to start shooting everyone, so it's better if we just follow along with this game of theirs, even though I'd rather have been the one taking the bullet. It's actually a good opportunity to escape--when they come inside to remove the body, we can fight back in the confusion and get out of here fast before anyone else finds out. Their superiors will think they're just trying to make excuses for letting prisoners escape."
Clenching and unclenching his jaw, Maiza somehow brought himself to ask, "What are the rules?"
Talking louder so the rest of them could hear his voice clearly, Firo replied, "There's one bullet in the gun, and we all take turns pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at our heads. There's six chambers, so there's a one in six chance of death for everyone that participates. I took two turns because there's only five of us. If we don't do it, they're prepared to open fire, so we'll play along and get away once they come inside."
The look of horror that had appeared on Ennis' face the moment Firo raised the gun to his head increased in intensity throughout his explanation, but Firo knew that she was thinking about how many mortal people had been forced into playing the lethal game up until now. Isaac and Miria, on the other hand, continued to stay completely motionless after they'd jumped into each others arms with their mouths hanging open in shock.
Maiza only took a few extra moments to raise the gun to his head and pull the trigger, but in the silence of the cell, all that was heard was a single resounding click. Once again, though a different one than the first time, a guard expressed his disappointment. Lowering the revolver to his side, he asked Firo, "They're betting on the outcome, aren't they?"
With a wry smile, Firo answered, "Of course they are. They've done this plenty of times before. Maybe after today, they'll be too traumatized to ever do it again."
Ennis approached them, ready to take her turn. If at all possible, she wanted to spare Isaac or Miria from being forced into putting a bullet in their head. Also, the two of them couldn't exactly be classified as fighters, so having one of them initiate a surprise attack from the floor would probably just end up being a wasted opportunity to gain the upper hand. It would be much more to their advantage to have her, Firo, or Maiza take the bullet, as they had much more experience in melee combat, while Isaac and Miria mostly relied on their powder bombs to cause confusion, though they likely didn't have any on hand at the moment.
Maiza held out the gun for her as she approached, and Firo, more to comfort himself than her, said, "It'll be so quick you won't even feel anything," which Ennis was already well aware of, but she tried to smile for him anyway to help ease his suffering. He had to be feeling something similar to the panic she'd felt when she'd seen him pull the trigger. They both knew that they wouldn't die from a simple bullet, but the thought of seeing each other's blood split was distressing and they'd like to avoid it if at all possible. She put the gun to her head and pulled the trigger, but once again, the firearm did not report, and while another one of the guards complained, the rest of them were starting to become a little suspicious of how their captives weren't breaking down under the pressure of being forced to gamble their lives like what had always happened on previous occasions.
Looking down at the gun like it had betrayed her, Ennis didn't want to do it, but since Isaac and Miria were also immortal, there was no reason to actively prevent them from participating other than her own conscience, she had to pass the gun along. Walking back over to the bench as Firo and Maiza followed her over, getting ready to take their places for the fight that would break out once the soldiers stepped inside to gather the body, Ennis offered Isaac the revolver. He was still frozen with his arms wrapped around Miria, but all of a sudden, they pulled apart as if they'd decided on the timing together during an earlier moment.
"I don't think it's even loaded," Isaac assured Miria as he took the gun. "It must be one of those initiation rituals. This is the very first time we've been captured by soldiers, so we have to prove ourselves as worthy prisoners somehow, I think."
"Ah, that makes sense, Isaac!" Miria called out as he pulled the trigger. As they both expected, once again, no bullet was fired, and as another guard belted out a string of obscenities, the last one began to celebrate his win while the others grumbled.
Picking the gun out of Isaac's hand, Miria turned to Firo and said, "One in six, right?" teasing him for making everyone take the 'initiation' so seriously.
Somehow, knowing exactly who would receive the bullet was worse than not knowing at all. "Miria!" Ennis cried out as the other woman pushed the gun against her temple, which happened to be the final straw for Firo. As Miria pulled the trigger, he took hold of the gun barrel and redirected it at himself.
The loud gunshot that rang out made the resulting silence seem that much more quiet before the soldiers began to argue back and forth about who had actually won the bet and Miria started to scream. Firo had held his hat securely on top of his head with his free hand to spare everyone the full view of his wound, but the sight of him collapsing bonelessly to the floor was still very traumatizing, even without the blood splattered everywhere.
Isaac and Miria were once again crushed in each other's arms, this time weeping openly as Isaac loudly shouted something about blanks and ketchup in an effort to comfort Miria, who screamed over and over again that she'd killed Firo and poor Ennis... poor Ennis.
Ennis and Maiza were about to tell them that it was all right, but their intentions were interrupted by the cell door sliding open as all five of the soldiers stepped inside to collect the body, however, two of them seemed much more interested in pushing their luck with the women than backing up their comrades. The other three were too busy trying to call them back into formation to notice the blood quickly flow back into the corpse. Just before the two men reached Ennis and Miria, Firo recovered completely, and was able to sweep the feet out from under two of the guards, and kicked their weapons across the room while Maiza tackled the third man against the wall, managing to knock him out by cracking his head against the brick. Ennis took care of the man closest to her with a perfectly executed roundhouse kick to the face and was about to take care of the last one on his way toward Isaac and Miria, but was surprised to see Miria chuck the revolver at his face with enough force to break his nose, which was immediately followed by Isaac's fist as he shouted, "I told you to stay away from her!" Firo, meanwhile, had gotten to his feet just in time to knock one of his opponents out with a dropkick before turning to the last conscious man, grabbing him from behind as he stood and pushing an arm against his throat until he slumped in his arms, and Firo let him fall to the floor.
Clapping his hands together before taking a moment to inspect his hat, which was miraculously unharmed, Firo then knelt beside the leader of the group of soldiers and pulled a key out of one of his pockets. "That was easier than I thought it would be," he mentioned, standing back up. "We should release the rest of the prisoners while we're at it--chances are, they're innocent victims and having them run around in the confusion will help us escape, too."
Looking up at Firo with teary eyes, Miria sobbed, "I'm so sorry for killing you, Firo."
"Don't worry about that," Firo replied, with a satisfied smile. "It was worth it to see you throw the gun at the guy. That was amazing."
"How did you do that thing with the ketchup, Firo?!" Isaac asked. "Was it some kind of magic trick?!"
"What?" Firo replied, confused. "Ketchup?"
Recovering from her brief breakdown entirely due to the mention of magic, Miria called out, "A magician never reveals his secrets, right, Firo?!" However, she frowned a little as she added, "But that was a mean thing to do. I thought I shot you for real."
Firo had opened his mouth to respond, but Maiza interrupted him before he actually managed to speak. "We should get moving, everyone--these soldiers aren't going to sleep forever and its only a matter of time before someone else realizes that they're missing."
Ennis, realizing that there was a soldier for each of them, suggested, "We might be able to find it easier to get away if we disguise ourselves in their uniforms."
Firo was appalled by the thought of wearing the same clothes as such disturbed and depraved individuals, but liked the idea of humiliating them further. "I'll let the other prisoners out of their cells. Chances are that I can break the language barrier, so I'll have them sit tight for now so we can escape together. We can probably fool the rest of the camp into thinking that we're leading them off to execute them in the woods," he brainstormed as he walked away.
As he, Miria, and Maiza helped Ennis relieve the soldiers of their uniforms, Isaac wondered how Firo had managed to clean up that huge mess of ketchup so quickly.