voidtreckernet | VIDEO-ish (cw: torture and murder)

[Before the ICP flickers on, every passenger hears a resounding, deep voice thunder through every car in the train, carrying with it a deathly—if odd—proclamation:]

PENALTY GAME: HELL REVERSE!

[Moments later, every ICP turns on to reveal a figure shrouded in shadows, holding the unconscious body of Xue Yang with one hand as the Eye of Wdjat blazes on both of their foreheads. It's clear they're in the gaming car, but if anybody tries to enter from either end, they'll find the doors are impossibly locked.]

Passengers of the Voidtrecker Express, I hold in my hands an unrepentant murderer who slaughtered one of your very own: the victim being A-Qing, and the criminal being Xue Yang. While she has returned, this crime cannot go unpunished, and I have taken it upon myself to try and burn out the stain on his soul—or, at the very least, provide adequate agony for all of his victims, both on the train and off.

If you need to see proof of my justice...

Avert your eyes if you do not wish to see memories of the brutal death of a young woman in her prime.

[The screen flickers once again, this time showing A-Qing's murder, although it doesn't have any audio. ((OOC: Additional CW for graphic depictions of murder.))

When it returns to the interior of the Games Car, the shadowy figure is gone, but their voice and Xue Yang remain.]

I leave it to the council to dispense their own punishment, as meager as it may be.

Remember, passengers:

I am watching.

[The ICP clicks off, and the train is deadly quiet.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Wen Ning glances back towards the ICP, nervously. ]

She said she was okay... [ He wants to believe her. To trust that she really is fine. But she hadn't told him about what happened. Why would she have kept something like that from him? ]

Good. I'm glad. [He still doesn't let go, indeed squeezing his hands a bit tighter, trying to give comfort.]

It must feel strange for you, but I am glad she is alright now. [Or as alright as she can be. It can't be easy to be okay after you died like that.]

[ Wen Ning breathes slowly, steeling his resolve. Vowing not to let this feeling of guilt overwhelm him.

There's already so much to feel guilty over. If he let himself be consumed by it, he would never be able to continue living. ]

Yes. That is the important part. That she is alright now, and that he can't hurt her again.

[ Well... Hopefully. ]

Yes. [He nods again, firmly.] I think there are a lot of people who will make sure nothing like this will happen again.

[He hopes so anyways.]

[ Wen Ning nods, too. ]

I just... don't understand why whoever brought us here would choose to bring Xue Yang. If they knew him at all, they would know he was dangerous.

I... Sorry I don't know either. I don't know why they bring anyone but if they want us to save people...

[Why would they bring someone who would murder a teenage girl? A blind teenage girl at that.]

He should have been executed for his crimes a long time ago.

[ Then again, so should have Wen Ning. But at least Wen Ning feels remorse, and doesn't actively continue to murder people. ]

Yet if he was he would never learn from them, surely everyone has the opportunity to do better and killing... that destroys any hope of growth.

[He speaks without meaning to really. Speaks from the heart. Forgets to hold his tongue, even though his opinion has not been asked for.]

He has been given opportunities to learn. And every time, he squanders them.

[ Or, is helped into shirking the lesson and enabled into committing more and more crimes. First the Wen clan, then the Jin... Xue Yang was as much a dangerous tool as Wen Ning. The only difference between them is that Xue Yang wants to be a weapon, where as Wen Ning is forced into it. ]

Oh... [He still cannot agree. There is nothing that would warrant taking a life, he can understand a human perspective but every part of his heart fights against it. Mercy should always be the answer.

Even when he knows it cannot be. He can accept that, but never understand.

But the words bring other questions.] You speak as if you know him... Is he from the same place as you?

[ He nods, one hand pulling out of the other man's grip to absentmindedly rub at the back of his skull, where the iron spikes had been driven in to make Wen Ning into Xue Yang's faithful puppet. ]

We're from the same world. He... He's hurt many people before, including me.

Oh... Sorry... [He looks down. He doesn't know what to say. He still can't agree that someone should be executed, not when it goes against everything he feels. Everything he is.

But no one should be hurt and it is painful to know that this Xue Yang has hurt this man here, back before he even got on the train.]

VIDEO-ish (cw: torture and murder)

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