week three - thursday night - hector - death log

[arockstar]

[Newt's had a busy night. It's taken a fair amount of time to set the stage—ransacking the lab, dismantling the generator, rigging up the trap in the fun house... But it's finally time to go find Hector. This is the nervewracking part of it all. Once the plan is underway, Newt will feel better, but for now, he's jittery. It's annoying. Maybe if he'd had more time to plan...

Whatever. It doesn't matter now. He heads for the school to begin the search, but he stops short when he spots something moving on the football field. Uh oh. Another murder? This could give him a leg up at the trial if he manages to stay unseen.

He ducks behind the bleachers to watch, but it doesn't take him long to realize what he's seeing: It's Hector, and he's... Digging? And that sure is a body next to him. Huh.

Newt should just lay low until Hector's done with whatever he's doing. Hide, get the jump on him as he's leaving, and kite him into the trap as planned. But, dammit, he can't fight the curiosity. If nothing else, confronting the guy will just speed things along. They don't have all fucking night.]

I gotta say, I'm impressed. Didn't think you had it in you.

[Newt approaches with his hands in his jacket pockets, fingers gripping the mirror shard just in case.]

Then again, you are one of Ruin's, so I can't be too surprised.

Comments

[ateanalien]

That's it? I have no idea how the hell you expected to force or fool anyone into grabbing exposed wires.

[Sounds like only someone actually willing to do it would. But hey, Newt's the genius, not him. Hector steps forward, and although he said he'd do it, he hesitates, his hands hovering near the exposed wires]

...you made sure this is going to be as quick as possible, right?

[Because he's hesitating, and he knows if he's aware and not dead for long enough, he'd use his Equivalent Exchange power to save himself. Self-preservation can be really powerful sometimes.

Oh well. It's too late to back down, anyway]

[arockstar]

[Newt gives him a look. You might be about to die for him, buddy, but don't be condescending!!]

I had a trap rigged up. I dismantled it to go along with this whole murder-suicide plan.

[He feels like that should be obvious, but whatever.]

The whole point of using electricity is to make your death as quick as possible. I didn't want you to have a chance to use either Equivalent Exchange or Cataclysm, whichever power you have. It has the bonus of being hands-off for me, too.

[Since he can tell by looking at Hector that he would lose in a fair fight. Newt's arrogant, but he's not dumb.]

[ateanalien]

[hes going to die with this plan of yours, newt. hector has the right to criticize it, pal.

Good, Newt took into account the part about making it as quick as possible. That's enough for Hector. Wanting to get done with this before he changes his mind at the prospect of actual, real death -- even if it's temporary -- is enough to make him start getting afraid.

Should he say anything? Like 'I'm sorry', or give his last will? Ask Newt to tell to Shang and others that he regrets what he did? Tell Newt to not die?]

...good luck.

[Good enough.

Almost launching himself onto the wires, Hector extends his hands, closes his eyes tight, and grabs the exposed wires as strongly as he could.

He doesn't even stay conscious for long enough to be aware of the electricity coursing through him. Newt wasn't wrong, it really was quick.

Hector Ramos is dead]

[arockstar]

[There's a crack and a flash as Hector connects with the wires, and Newt ducks away. He knows he's safe enough, but it's hard to reason with instinct. Once Hector's down, Newt reaches to nudge the cables out of his hands, but stops himself. This is supposed to look like a suicide.

He's glad, then, that the shock seems to have overloaded the generator. The distinct smell of burnt flesh lingers in the air, but it's not as bad as it would be if the electricity was still burning him. Even at the risk of outing himself, Newt would've pulled away the cables had that been the case. There's no need for cremating the guy's body like that. Newt's still gonna have to deal with it on Saturday, and a charred corpse would be gross.

But, welp, that's all there is to be done here. No cleanup necessary given this little twist, which means Newt can even get some sleep before morning. You're a pal, Hector.]