[video] in which shit gets so very real

[sarcaskick]

[ The feed turns on to a concrete ceiling, a single lamp hanging from the center of the room. There's the sound of footsteps walking a slow circle around the device before they stop - the sound of a metal chair being dragged away from the table, a person falling into it to be seated. ]

Showtime!

[ If the voice doesn't give him away, the visual certainly will as Mercury flips the device up off the table to hold it back at arm's length, his smirk ever-present. ]

How are we all doing today? Good? Great? Well I'm here to brighten everyone's day just a little bit more. Now I know some of you may have noticed a sweet little guy by the name of Armin just up and vanished. Poof! What a mystery!

[ He leans in a bit, grin widening. ]

Well fear not, citizens - I found him.

[ A blur, as he tosses the camera up to flip it around in his hand - to reveal Armin, tied to a chair on the opposite side of the table, wrists and ankles secured to prevent any hope of escape. There isn't a blindfold, but a gag prevents him from making much noise.

More importantly, he looks like hell. One eye is bruised to the point that it's nearly swollen shut, his face littered with scratches and abrasions. His clothes are shredded in places with visible (but not life-threatening) wounds beneath them, and it's clear he's been made to bleed quite a bit. His throat is bruised abundantly, as if he's been choked roughly and repeatedly, and there's dry blood beneath his nose indicating he's been struck there at least once. His hands are visibly ruined - fingers have been broken, and from the look of things his hands have both been burned horribly, as if they were actually lit on fire at some point. He's awake, very clearly unhappy (rightfully so) but also very much alive. There's some anger there, for sure, but from how wide his eyes are (well, the one that CAN open wide anyway) and the light tremble in his shoulders, the rapid rise and fall of his chest, he's afraid. Very, very afraid. ]

He's not having a good day, but let's see what we can do about that.

[ A blur, and the camera is switched back to Mercury as he pushes his chair to lean back on it, kicking his feet up to rest on the table. ]

I know what some of you might be thinking - "Hey, golly Mr. Mercury, didn't you kidnap him in the first place?" And you would be right! I sure did. But I'm going to tell you all what I told Armin on day one: If everyone cooperates, he'll go home safe and sound. So with that in mind, let's go over my list of demands. It's brief, don't worry.

[ He crams his other hand in his pocket, digging for a crumpled sheet of paper which he flattens out to begin reading from, clearing his throat. ]

Alright, so, number one...

[ He falls silent, eyebrows lowering a bit - then abruptly turns the device around to prop it on the table so it faces Armin. There's the sound of scraping metal again as he rises to his feet, walking briskly around to stand behind his prisoner with his hands buried in his pockets. He cocks his head a bit as if in thought, before raising one leg to press his foot against the back of Armin's head, heel against his scalp. The blond is trembling fiercely now, straining against his bindings and trying to turn his head to see what's happening, but he doesn't get the time to turn his head far enough. ]

Change of plans.

[ And that's that. He shoves his foot forward with a flare of white Aura as the firing mechanism in his boot activates with a deafening bang, and the gruesome sight of Armin's head being blown open (practically apart) is only visible for a millisecond before the blood splatters over the camera, obscuring the feed with a blanket of red. There's a thud as the momentum causes Armin's body (as well as the chair he's tied to) to fall forward against the table, then a second thud and a clang of metal as he falls on one side against the floor. It's a few seconds before the device is lifted again, Mercury's thumb dragging across the camera to clean the lens - even then there's still a red haze to everything, which does nothing to soften the wickedness of his grin, the air of satisfaction in his gaze, and he shrugs nonchalantly as he looks towards the mess on the floor. ]

My only demand? Don't bore me.

[ With that he tosses the device to the ground and strolls towards the door, laughing cruelly as he passes the body. After bouncing once and skidding a bit the feed ends up almost exactly as it had began - facing the ceiling, the single light still shining from above, but now with a few specks of red on the ceiling. With a click the light is turned off, and the feed remains black until the recording times out. ]

Comments

[Text]

[switch_over]

Would it have killed you to wait? I was on my way.

[Text]

[sarcaskick]

you

were

taking

foooooooreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Audio/Action;

[inhisdebt]

[Mikasa had been searching nearly nonstop for Armin -- beside the times that she was forced to stop by the others -- but this... This made her blood boil. Seeing Armin hurt like this in general wasn't something that she liked seeing and it made her sick. But to know that it was Mercury who's done all of this, well... She's not all that surprised.

As soon as she heard that bang and saw the after math, she froze for a moment. First Eren went home... and then Armin went missing... And now he'd been killed horrifically like this on a very pubic feed. For a moment she forgot how to breath, trembling uncontrollably.

No.... No! She promised--! She promised to protect him and be there for him here and... She might have broken down and started to cry if rage hadn't taken over. Rage and hatred. Extreme hatred. She never cared for the guy before, but this most definitely made her hatred even stronger.

It didn't take long for her to grab her gear and hurry to put it on. She didn't even say anything to anyone in the apartment, even though realistically she should have done that first. Safety in numbers, right? But she wasn't thinking straight. She hadn't been thinking straight the moment he went missing and she sure as hell wouldn't now.

No... All that mattered was killing the son of a bitch who did this to Armin. While trying to find him even though she didn't find him before, she flipped on the Audio.]

You listen here, you son of a bitch. I'm going to kill you as soon as I find you.

[She wanted to make him tell her where he was.. Where Armin was... but she knew he wasn't likely to just up and tell her where he was. That only frustrated her even more because she hadn't been able to find him before.]

Audio

[sarcaskick]

Because you've done such a great job of finding me so far! I'm so scared.

[ He hums thoughtfully, and there's the sound of crunching - he's eating some chips. Nothing like a light snack after a horrific murder, right?

He talks with his mouth full, too. ]

I mean at least now you know his status, right? Wasn't the uncertainty the worst part? I did you a favor! You're welcome!

audio;

[canbebrave]

Mikasa [ Her voice is shaky, raw, but she's not crying. She refuses to, where this monster can hear. ]

Don't. Armin wouldn't want--

Audio;

[waterdroplet]

[Well that... sounds too familiar, the sentence, not the voice but even if Mikasa hadn't said being his best friend on a few comments after this, she could make a guess of that or girlfriend. Okay, time to sound as if she's not crying. She's going to fail but hey, good try at least.]

Revenge is not going to help anything... [But girl, does she understand how you're feeling.] ...But if you're really going to do that, then at least take someone with you to make sure the same doesn't happen to you too.

[It's not like she thinks that she or anyone can stop her when she sounds so determined to go. No one could stop Katara back then either, though really, this is different than that man.]

Action

[cleanlevis]

[Levi had also seen the video and got a mix of emotions from it. Rage was something to be expected, but there was also the feeling of regret and despair. These emotions were nothing compared to the hate he felt though, which was why he was also prepared to leave to find this guy and give him a piece of his mind.

As Mikasa is still about to leave, reaches his voice to her.]

I'm coming with you.

[He was still composed enough to know that they shouldn't be rushing there alone, but not composed enough to think of a plan before leaving.]

Video

[rulerofme]

You might want to calm yourself before you go and murder this guy.

video;

[fallaxpersona]

[ There's a lot of things Haise can tolerate and has in his life but this struck something real bad and quick when he saw that gruesome sight.

His eyes widened and a normally kind face contorted in pure anger. This was just beyond his comprehension that there truly was a person like this out in Genessia ]

...You killed that boy in cold blood and demand that people don't bore you?!

[ This just strikes all the wrong chords and he's already on the move instinctually. ]

I don't know if you think peoples lives are a game or what, but... this is just disgusting.

video;

[sarcaskick]

[ The angrier this guy looks, the smugger Mercury gets. So, you know. He's pretty fucking smug. ]

Oh, get over it. Everyone gets their kicks one way or another.

[ video ]

[halffreckled]

[ Marco's been watching this entire time. he hasn't said anything, just stared in horror as his face went ghost white at the whole thing. once they off Armin, he snaps ]

How could you do something like that?! Armin wouldn't hurt anyone! And you...you just...

I'll never forgive you for what you've done to Armin and how you went about your battle with Jean!! I hope you know that countless people will be after you for this and they won't stop until you're treated the same way as you treated Armin.

[ video ]

[sarcaskick]

[ Oh, goodie. He leans in close to the camera, grinning wickedly. ]

Oh believe me, I know. I'm counting on it.

Speaking of Jean, how is he? I never got to thank him for letting me shove my fist into his chest. Gooooood times.

video;

[mintchip]

Mercury..

[ Her voice at first seems confused, the little crinkle in her brow and an expression that almost seems as if she doesn't understand what she's seeing. Horror seems to seep in only a moment later and she shakes her head, as if in desperate denial of what she's just seen.

Her partner was the one doing the murdering as if it were a show. Her partner was the one leaving her behind, leaving her for the life he wanted. How else could she have faced something like this but to believe it wasn't true, even if she just saw it with her own eyes? After Cinder left, he was the only one she had. ]

Mercury, you can't do this. This isn't you. Just- You need to come talk to me, you're not a murderer.

[whyppleatpotatoes]

Uh, I dunno what you classify as murder, but...

text

[whyppleatpotatoes]

Why would you kill another human being?!

text

[sarcaskick]

i ran out of ants to step on

had to up my game

go big or go home am i right

[video]

[lovesopendoors]

[Anna is just staring in horror. Why would anyone do something like this? Why Armin? It makes no sense. She feels horrible for not noticing, that he's been missing but that's really not the point here right now. The word horrible would be a -- well, horrible understatement of how she feels seeing the blonde there in that condition.

List of demands to return him safe and sound? Oh good, gr--

Her eyes wide even more, when he changes his plans. She's crying all the way from somewhere there too. No. Nononononono, he can't -- Well, yes he can, there's no one stopping him wherever they are. It's ... her first time seeing murder anywhere. It doesn't help, that Armin is the person, who she considers as her first friend here. And she shouldn't say anything, really, but --]

... Why?

[video]

[sarcaskick]

[ Oh... oh, here's an innocent little thing. Mercury seems to study her for a moment or two, sizing her up as best he can through the feed. He's going to need more victims as time goes on, after all. Best to get a list going sooner than later. ]

Let me answer your question with another question - why not?

video;

[deadcenter]

[whoa.... yup, now shit is definitely getting real.

senji figures this has to be apart of whatever war is going on currently between the two sides. torchwick and the schnee company or... whatever. at least, he's just assuming, he's not jumping to conclusions just yet. aahh he knew this guy couldn't be trusted, and now he knows why.

and yet, senji is pretty amused. this is turning out to be a bloodbath for sure, and he had been expecting it. he's not involved at all however, he's just on the outside of all of this... thankfully. he would have hated to be involved one bit.]

Heh- what'd the kid ever do t'ya?

video;

[sarcaskick]

[ Oh hey it's that guy from Deadpan Wumboland.

He puts on an overdramatic pout, raising a finger to his eye to mime out a single tear rolling down his cheek. ]

He said mean things and hurt my feelings.

[ The act is dropped immediately, replaced by a lazy shrug. ]

Nothing, to be honest. Just wanted to hit someone that would be noticed!

[video]

[bikakus]

[ This... is not the best welcoming to Genessia to have. He'd thought things were different here, that they weren't like home. Clearly he'd been wrong. Perhaps it's his memories that have him locked in place, but no matter the reasoning Tooru had been unable to look away during the majority of the broadcast, staring with muted disbelief as if he didn't quiet believe what was happening. However, when the killing blow is struck he can't help the choked off gasp that escapes him while he looks away, swallowing back the rising bile in his throat. Almost in a trance he decides to respond, though he doesn't quite seem to realize that he's chosen the video function rather than the voice one he'd been meaning for. ] H-How could you..? Why would- [ Tooru's eye is wide in absolute shock and fear, but even with the trembling in his voice and his inability to complete his sentences there's a sense of anger beneath his immediately obvious tone. ] Killing for no reason- You're a m- [ He doesn't finish that, his own missing word making him tense as he leaves it hanging in the air. ]

[video]

[sarcaskick]

[ He seems to wait patiently for this guy to finish his sentence, waving one hand slowly as if beckoning him to continue. ]

I'm a m... what? Master? Magician? Milkman? The suspense is killing me, please go on.

[Video]

[neighvarily]

[He feels that terrible detached kind of horror when he witnesses Armin's murder, like it hasn't quite sunken in yet. He's no stranger to gore, but this shouldn't have happened. He had never wanted this.

Mercury was bad news, he knew that, but he hadn't thought he'd have the guts to do something like this.

He could have stopped it and he didn't. All he would have had to do was be more careful, and wasn't.

He can't get the image of Armin's skull breaking and splattering in multiple directions out of his head. He places a palm to his head, trying to stay composed, to sound intimidating, to make him pay like he should or something. But all he can do is scream.]

You worthless piece of shit coward!

[Video]

[sarcaskick]

I stole him in broad daylight right from the middle of a store! Come on, that's kind of ballsy, you have to admit.

[ He rests his chin in the palm of his hand, smiling pleasantly - like he's having a nice conversation with a good friend, instead of someone he blasted a hole in. ]

How have you been, Jean? I'm sorry, I know I should have called you after our little romp. It was really something magical. I'm just so shy.

video;

[whiteas]

[ It wasn't Torchwick who had taken Armin. Weiss had suspected it was- she had been looking for signs of Torchwick, signs of where he could've been. Because if anyone had taken Armin, it had to be Torchwick or one of his thugs.

But when she saw Mercury's video, she was horrified but not really.. shocked. He'd shown his cards during the tryouts. It bothered her more that she hadn't seen it coming. It had been like she'd had all the pieces, she just hadn't put them together. The fact that Mercury had Armin was what was most unexpected, rather than that Mercury was a monster.

The video didn't say anything about where they were. Weiss really needed to find someone who was good with technology that could do things like.. track GPS coordinates of these things. Honestly, not having the actual Schnee Dust Company to back her and to get intel from was a little grating in instances like these. It was too late for Armin, even if she'd promised that she would keep everyone safe.

The only real connection between Armin and Mercury was her, too. This felt personal. Everything kept feeling like the world was trying to crush her ever since she'd made the decision to stop being mediocre in Genessia and she kept saying she wouldn't give up. Weiss felt helpless. That was a feeling that Sun had expressed to her when he'd told her how angry he was.. and she already knew what it felt like. She kept trying to pull herself out of it, then something like this happened. ]

Are you with Torchwick or are you on your own?

[ Weiss said it in as calm a voice as she could. If things didn't stop going the way they were, she really was going to let herself turn into that 'ice queen' that everyone kept claiming she was. That was who she had to be if she was going to get through this. ]

video; Private

[monkeystowaway]

[Yeah. Sun..almost couldn't believe what he saw. A murder right on the network. That should have been bad enough, but this murder was done by someone that was from his school. The same training academy as him. Sun almost can't believe it.]

What the hell. How did this guy go from a Hunter in training to crazy as hell?

Video

[rulerofme]

And here I thought I could be fucked up in the head.

Video

[sarcaskick]

Seriously? I don't know, I thought this was pretty tame all things considered.

video;

[eighthchild]

[Hikari had no idea what to think or do... She just stood there eyes widen as she watched everything that happened. Why? All that went though her head was why? She had seen death before and that was bad enough, but it was never on this scale. It all just reminded her of that day... And she didn't like it one bit. With tears falling down her face, she just didn't understand why this was necessary.]

Why? What was the point? Your just making a lot of people angry.

video;

[sarcaskick]

Good! I want people to get angry. At least that'll liven the place up a bit.

[ There isn't even a hint of remorse or regret in his demeanor - if anything he seems amused to be talking about this to a kid, smiling sweetly as he continues. ]

I wonder how much angrier I can make them?

[koishi_komeiji]

After some fiddling and some strange audio bugs a face appeared on the screen. For the first time in a long while Koishi had made her video work. And she was not happy at all. She was dressed in a uniform similar to the ones worn by those who worked directly under the Nova City Guardian.

"Why would you do that mister?" She was clearly very upset. "You're human, aren't you? Why would a human kill another human like that? It's not right!"

[sarcaskick]

There's a long, exhausted sigh, accompanied by a heave of his shoulders and his eyes being rolled.

"Everyone's asking why, why, why - didn't I make it obvious? I'm bored! Now I've got my own angry mob trying to kill me, what's more exciting than that?"

video

[filchedfruit]

[ Joruk is staring in shock. He can understand killing in a battle, and maybe torturing for information. This is just too extreme. It's a special accomplishment for Mercury to make a butcher lose his appetite.]

Holy shit!

[ He didn't actually intend to send this.]

video

[sarcaskick]

No, I don't think you'll be seeing much of that. We didn't let him eat a lot over the past week.

[ STARVATION JOKES??? ]

Action?

[devil_within]

[Kazuya was waiting for Mercury in a nearby break room, pouring two mugs of coffee. One for him, one for Mercury.]

Quite the bit of spectacle you put on. You realize now it's going to be difficult to move around without someone spotting you, right?

Action!

[sarcaskick]

[ He shrugs lazily as he picks up his mug, drinking it true to his name - black. ]

Don't really care. Keeps things interesting, a least.

video;

[shslprogrammer]

[This was more than enough to cause Chihiro to have flashbacks to deaths of people he knew back home. Those in itself were horrible and was enough for him to admit that violence was just wrong. It doesn't solve anything, only brings about sadness and despair. He didn't want that, not here not at his second chance at life. What was even worse was that the one who died was once more someone he knew.]

Y-You killed someone so people wouldn't bore you... [He was physically shaken up, possibly more so than he thought possible. Even as he spoke, memories went over and over in his head. he couldn't think straight, but he had to talk.]

Why would someone use violence because of some silly reason like that? It's wrong and no one deserves to have that happen to them... I-It's wrong. [He shakes her head slightly, still physically shaking as he was trying his hardest to hold back the tears.]

There are ways to deal with boredom without causing despair to people just for entertainment.