W5 CYOA - Zhongli, Akihiko, Laurence, Ali Zoph

[holyspirits]

aaaaaaaaaaaa

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[ziosar]

[Akihiko suddenly finds himself at the audience, seated like he's here to watch a show. Oh hell no, is his immediate thought! Glancing at this girl, Akihiko bolts up to try to run towards the stage! He has no idea yet what he'll do, but sitting to a side isn't it!

Can he even do that?

Probably not!]

[holyspirits]

[ Sure, he can run up onto the stage!

He's on the stage now!

... Welp!!!! ]

[ziosar]

[I have to be honest I didn't think that'd work]

[ziosar]

[But he's here! Wow! Almost as if by instinct, he draws his pistol, watching between everyone. Ray has Iris, and Ali has Chance, Zhongli has Lucas...but if he got here in time to catch what's being said, what Lucas says is the closest to what that girl was doing to Akihiko, he thinks, trying to get under his skin -- and going to be successful at it the longer it goes

So he decides to try to get closer to that one]

[holyspirits]

[ These are images on a projector so he can get as close as he wants! Close enough to touch the cloth, even. ]

[ziosar]

[Alright, let's see...]

Damn it.

[Of course, getting real close to the projector doesn't do anything. Still, you never know what might happen! Aiming at the Lucas on the projected image, he shoots at one of the legs.

He's not sure what even will be achieved with this because yeah, it's a projected image on cloth, but at the same time, he can't just sit around! He must do all he can to figure out how to get there, make it easier for the rest, do something!]

[holyspirits]

[ He shoots a hole in the projector screen.

But... The Lucas in the image does collapse to one knee. He'd been about to pull the trigger on Zhongli and a the last second his aim pulls away, gunfire spraying off into nothing instead. ]

[ziosar]

[...he should be glad, shouldn't he? Something seems to have been achieved. But Akihiko doesn't feel any satisfaction at all -- seeing Lucas be hurt makes Akihiko immediately feel this ache inside himself. Lucas has been enormously kind to him, even after Akihiko killed Majima, so...aiming a gun at him feels so wrong...]

Sorry...

[This is nothing like fighting Shadows, or like boxing. There are no rules, but this is someone he cares about. No feeling of a challenge to overcome, it feels deeply unpleasant instead. That's why he shouts at the projection]

Zhongli, get the gun away from him!

[If Lucas doesn't have his gun, that's one weapon less, and therefore could bring a moment of respite, he hopes! Could Zhongli even hear him, though? Akihiko can't even tell if what he did truly did anything at all, or if he's shooting at a projection and achieving grand old nothing real and instead still is dancing in the palm of that girl over there, presumably still in the audience seats. Although Akihiko still has his pistol up, he's not sure he's prepared to shoot again at Lucas.

Perhaps that this is a projection makes it a tiny little bit easier than if Lucas was standing right near him...but it's just a tiny little bit]

[holyspirits]

[ Akihiko yells but doesn't see any sign of being heard. ]

Nothing's keeping you y'know. You could just take that ship and sail on home.

[ziosar]

[Being addressed makes Akihiko turn around]

I'm not leaving without them!

[holyspirits]

You'll leave without all of them. Sure, you'll bring home the first familiar faces you saw. But after that? You just shot Lucas. You bringing him home too?

[ziosar]

If that's Proust for real then yeah, I will. I'll apologize to him as much as I have to later, but I will bring him too.

[He haaaaas no idea if this is the real Lucas or not...but...if it turns out this is the real one and he, like, just injured Lucas, then he's sure all it takes is to explain the situation to Lucas afterwards]

[holyspirits]

Could always lie. Pretend you were forced to do it. But you chose to.

[ziosar]

[Uf, this girl isn't holding back. She has thrown back to his face everything that happened, and upon hearing that, Akihiko's arm lowers down from aiming at the projection of Lucas. He really had been lying, he knows that now. True, at the time it had been fueled by a lot of denial he had sunk that low, but that didn't change the fact he lied a whole lot, both to himself and to so many.

The reminder is very unwelcome]

I don't have to lie. Proust will understand no matter what, I'm sure of it.

[holyspirits]

[ The projections of Ali and Zhongli cut out. The only one left is Laurence and Iris, who are only just now starting to shoot at each other.

Neither of them seem very good at it. ]

[ziosar]

[Those fights being gone, and only the baby fight being left, catches Akihiko's attention. Huh.

What made them disappear? True, Akihiko hadn't been watching attentively, but...last he checked, nobody on the screens got killed. It'd have been really noticeable if anyone did. In that case, did the connection just get interrupted?

--oh, wait, what if breaking the connection will inform the others where he is? Akihiko's gaze goes to the projector, then to the girl]

...and I'll say it to him next time I see him.

[Well, no harm in trying. Part of him feels like this is, in a way, still playing along because it could be interpreted in him trying to ignore the plight his friends are in, but inaction is the one thing guaranteed to not work. Fight, act, and then later see if anything works out.

Time to try to shoot at the projector, see what happens]

[holyspirits]

[ Ali did shoot someone dead, however Zhongli did not. Akihiko isn't sure what made Zhongli's feed cut out...

But as Akihiko shoots the projector, he sees one final glimpse of Laurence and Iris, teaming up to shoot Hu Tao until she falls off the edge of the ship.

Then the projection fades and he is with the others. Back on the 'normal' daytime ship, surrounded by guests brushing by without a care. The announcer is gone, and the theater screen is off. ]