thearena | [Open] There's a devil in the church

Who| Jet and OPEN
What| The Gamemakers make sure Jet's getting punished for his actions
Where| Outside in some shade and then in the castle for the other two prompts
When| Tuesday-Thursday of Week 3
Warnings/Notes| Mentions of insanity throughout and reference to alcoholism in the last prompt. Feel free to tag any or more than one, if it interests you.

Ever since he'd been shoved into that tube still battered and bruised from the Peacekeepers, Jet had been expecting more, something awful that would rain down on him for his actions. They'd already been in the arena for nearly a month and there hadn't been much.

Sure, there were a few instances here and there, but not as much as he was expecting. Of course, when the beginning of the week rolled around and he tried to tug on that damn sword and all he'd gotten was terribly sick, he had to wonder if there'd even been a point in trying; something like that, the Gamemakers were sure to prevent him from even having a shot at, why reward someone you were trying to punish? That was what he thought about all that day as he recovered and questioned his life choices.

But that too went away after a bit and he couldn't stop the feeling that there had to be something worse around the corner, something he might not even see coming. Of course, part of the punishment could be just this: making him ridiculously paranoid, but he'd be surprised if that was really all that was in store for him.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Still against the wall, though now flattening himself instead of being held there, Kurt takes a moment to register that the blond man who he was certain was about to kill him has stepped back and is no longer brandishing the knife even if he's holding it.

He could teleport away right now, he could just bamf from one end of the castle to the other, but then that beacon would show up again and he'd be all but a sitting duck for any other Tribute to find and kill. He's not exactly safe here either, but the guy's stepped back and isn't actively trying to attack him anymore. Maybe it's a bit like dealing with the Brotherhood, then.

Better the enemy you know than the unknown.

"Y-yes." Kurt's voice comes out wavering and weak, almost cracking at the end, so he repeats again in a stronger tone. "Yes. Who are you?"

Why did you try to cut me throat? seems like a stupid question given their situation, but it does come to mind.

Well that was good, at least. The idea of his knife slicing into the kid's neck and then pressing his hand to it to try and stop it as he snapped out of...whatever it had been was far too easy to imagine. Suddenly there was a slight shift in his vision -a flash for all intents and purposes- and the kid was a bit taller with normal looking skin and two-toned white and black hair and...

He blinked and the vision was gone and he put his knife back into his bag before anything else decided to screw with him.

"Jet. Just another tribute, like you." Obviously the kid was new, Jet was fairly positive he would have noticed a blue fuzzy German teen before today if he wasn't.

"Look, I'm sorry for scaring you, sometimes the arenas like to screw with you so be careful." That was easier to tell himself than the sneaking suspicion it wasn't just the arena. "You should get out of here." He took another step back just so he didn't feel trapped with Jet still kind of close. It was better if he just left before Jet really did lose it.

There's something in how the blond - Jet - reacts that makes Kurt pause even if he knows and wants to follow the advice of getting out of the situation. There's a tightness in the eyes, a far-away look that Kurt had seen before in Rouge after prolonged use of her powers or in Kitty when she was the only one to see Danielle Moonstar. The suffering expression of someone unsure of their own mind.

He still moves away, down the hall. He can't risk being on the receiving end of this guy's mental missteps, not when he's trying so hard to survive, and even with the knife put away, the blond is taller and from the feel of it stronger than him.

But he can't go far, not with someone so obviously in trouble. "Will you be alright?"

That surprises him and catches his attention. The confusion is probably there on his face, but he'd given the kid an easy out and he still stopped to ask if Jet would be ok. After Jet had nearly killed him. It was a miracle he'd lasted this long, if that was the kind of 'good guy' he was.

"Yeah. Get lost already."

It's more that's why he's a good guy, because he has compassion for others despite their actions and wants to believe that everyone is redeemable. Maybe it's because of what Xavier's taught him and maybe it's because of his still mixed up feelings about his own biological mother, but it's who Kurt is and far be it from him to deny that when things are dire.

But Kurt can also be practical. He's had training, and he knows that someone who's attacked him once - even if it isn't with intent - could easily do so again. He can't trust this person's actions and he has no idea what to do to help the man, so he errs on the side of survival and nods, turning away again to run off down the hall and disappear around the corner.

If he had his team, maybe things would have been different, but for now he can only do so much.

[Open] There's a devil in the church

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