Derping Derps Continue - Invite Only

[Agent Sky]

The harsh sound of metal grating on metal swallowed the compound as hundreds of doors slid open around the facility. Sleipnir cocked her head to the side, curious but cautious at the same time. She considered leaving Muninn and Fritha to investigate, but decided they needed to stay together. That was before the gunshots. She immediately focused on that sound alone, trying to pinpoint its exact location. Seven hallways up. Maybe. The only reason someone would be shooting that far away was if they had encountered Ayra. Or rather, she had encountered them.
She's a trained assassin. They're probably all dead. She can handle herself. Sleipnir reasoned. She's fine. The Asgardian cast a doubtful glance at her comrades. But humans are so fragile. They'll be fine without me. I'll just go check on Ayra and then come back. They won't even miss me. Without a word, she turned and vanished, following the distant echoes like a ghost.
She navigated a path through the corridors faster than the gunfire she was chasing. The wretched bang of a pistol only made her increase speed, whipping down the hallway like a gust of wind. A glimpse of scarlet up ahead caught the speedster's eye, and she stopped. Everything stopped. The world stood still for a second, frozen in time while the Asgardian processed what lay before her. Carnage. But that wasn't the truly horrific part. Sleipnir had fought in ancient wars, slain deities, and watched immortal empires fall by the sword. It wasn't the matter of blood-soaked corpses that made her heart drop. It was the sight of one of her friends, broken and limp, lying among them.
Sleipnir made a noise somewhere between a gasp and a gag. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to think. She wasn't sure if her heart had started up again after the world froze.
She looked over, and saw a man standing upright with a gun in his hand. A spare knife was in Sleipnir's grasp before she had even made a conscious decision, and she threw it mercilessly at his heart. Fortunately for the fellow, the speedster's hands had been unsteady since she laid eyes on her fallen comrade, so the dagger had shifted in its flight. Instead of killing the man as intended, it sliced through the sleeve of his shirt, dragging him backwards and pinning him against the wall. I only need a moment. It's enough. The shifter thought.
She moved forward and knelt softly at her friend's side. Her clothes touching the ground turned crimson, but the raven-haired girl didn't notice or care. She was focused solely on the assassin's bullet wounds, but one glance was more than enough to tell it was hopeless.
"No ... no. No no no no no no. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She choked. "This is my fault."

[cashew jackman]

MY HEARTEU I CRI
angsty post must be in smol text ))

They were rushing down the hallway after Sleipnir when the bad feeling started. Squeaky felt a sickening twinge in her gut, but pushed it down, hoping the gunshots were just Ayra defending herself. They had to be, right? This wasn't the kind of story in which one of the main characters would die! But this wasn't a story. This was her reality. It became a horrifying one as they rounded the corner. There was blood. Everywhere. The metallic stench of blood was overpowering, and she found herself coughing into her sleeve, her eyes watering. It was then that she realized that both Ayra and Sleipnir were on the ground, and Ayra was bleeding. A lot.
Oh God. Oh God, no. Please no.
Darting over, Squeaky crouched beside Ayra as well, her boots instantly drenched in dark red liquid. All the red, the groans of the ones who were still alive, Ayra's labored breathing; it felt like a nightmare. Now she was numb, the horror of what was really happening sweeping over her, drowning her. She tried to breathe, but all she could smell was blood, so she just focused on Ayra. It was hard to look, the pain in her eyes was so heart-wrenchingly obvious. The agony, the fear of death.
"Ayr-" She couldn't even speak, choking on a sob. "You're going to be okay, you have to. Sleipnir can't you heal her or something?" Squeaky's voice was shaking as she finally managed to say something, her tears casting ripples against the vast red puddles.
It couldn't end here. How would their story go on without Ayra?

[ＩＮＴＥＲＦＥＣＴＯＲ]

(

Derps right now^^^^)

GET YER TISSUES READY U GON NEED THEM FAM!

Ayra

Despite her hearing feeling as though it was underwater, the unmistakable whisk of air that vented through the hallway was clear. She didn't know anybody who could move that fast, except Sleipnir.

Sleipnir

A small twinge of hope was still there, but when she heard her friend's desperate sounding reassurances, the hope diminished. It was too much to hope that everybody would make it out of here alive. This was SHIELD, afterall. There was always casualties when it came to the organization. Deep down, she knew it was hopeless. Her wounds were too grand to make a miraculous recovery, even by magical standards, perhaps. Ayra wanted to open her mouth, to reassure Loki's daughter she'd be alright, but the pain she was enduring only made her clench her jaw tighter. The fearful and desperate energy rolling off Sleipnir didn't help with the anxiety of death that had begun to creep up on her. Especially since one of her greatest fears just so happened to be death itself.
Of course she knew one day her life would draw to a close, and she'd be forced to face the fear...but never would she have imagined it happening like this. And to make the anxiety worse, she heard the rest of the group begin to charge down the corridor, with SQUEAKY leading them. The absolute horror that shone on the girl's face made Ayra's stomach twist. She wasn't exactly sure if it was out of the fear of what the assassin had done, or the fear of losing a friend. Never before had she seen such a raw emotion from the teenager, and seeing it now only made the face of death more real to her.
Weakly, Ayra removed one of the hands that had been vainly trying to hold the blood inside her. Cautiously, she held it out, unsure if one of her friends had taken it or not, considering she had already lost feeling in the limb. Her breathing was ragged, uneven, and just plain worrying. It sounded more like a gurgle than actual breathing, that much was for sure, but that didn't stop the assassin. She did the best she could to shush her frantic friends, as she felt herself slipping.
"Sq...Squeaky, Sleipnir." The blonde choked out. "It's no use. Look at me. This ain't no papercut." Ayra's head felt too heavy, and so she leaned it against the wall she was currently slumped against. In some sort of attempt, she closed her eyes in that moment with the hope that it would conserve some energy. For a moment, she remained completely still, and it wouldn't have surprised her if her friends thought she had just passed. Then she opened her eyes, revealing watery green iris'. "Oh, God, this is turning out to be some chick-flicky moment." Ayra tilted her head backwards as her lips pulled backwards into a painful smile as she tried to force out a laugh, that only ended in another crimson cough. "I...I need you two to do something for me." Her voice sounded incredibly weak, vulnerable, even. It was just so unlike her, and had it been any other circumstance, she'd be angry with herself for sounding such. "Remember me as I was, not as I am." Ayra croaked, her voice cracking in the middle. "A-and-" Her voice cut as she erupted into painful, choking coughs. But, being desperate to finish her sentence, she tried to speak around the blood, as she knew the seconds were dwindling. "Fin-Find I-ris, te-ll her-" Before being able to complete the tortured sentence, a bubbling, choking noise that would make anyone cringe drowned her out. And that's when it happened.
The tears she had so valiantly tried to keep at bay broke past her lashes, smudging her crimson-coated face. The light that usually shined in the assassin's eyes died as her breathing came to a halt. Her eyes were a blank as they fell to the floor as her body came to a final slump, and the low heat her body had clung to began to fade.

The assassin had fallen

Her horrific past could no longer catch up to her now.

She had finally escaped.

(*clears throat, and then proceeds to flee from the angry derps*)

[duskze]

93 seconds ago;
Halfway down the corridor, thoroughly drenched in sweat thanks to the heat, Evelyn suddenly realized they would run out of firepower before they made it to Sleipnir's position. This called for a serious distraction. "Cover me for a sec." She told Squeaky before shutting off her own flamethrower and descending to her hands and knees. She broke open the weapon and started reassembling parts, tearing out the safety measures and redirecting the ignition valve. It was the simplest thing in the world to her. She finished the work in a matter of seconds. "Alright," Hopping back to her feet, she took what was now a very large bomb and started swinging it to gain momentum. "Now run for it!" The bounty hunter was sure to wait for Squeaky to get a head start before hurling the firearm as hard as she could at the remaining Shield agents. She didn't bother to check if her aim was accurate or not, she started running the second her fingers were free. And when the hallway erupted into chaos behind her, she didn't look back. That should buy us enough time to get to the others. Maybe more if they stop to help the wounded.


Now she was racing after Squeaky, slowly closing the distance between them, when at the start to the next corridor the pyro halted abruptly. Evelyn almost crashed right into her. "Squeaky?" She instinctively went to reach for her blasters then remembered she didn't have any. This was getting really old.
That's when she took in the scene before her and her expression grew dark.
One look and she knew it was over. There was nothing anyone could do for the assassin now.
The brunette froze at the edge of the room, her mind kicking into overdrive. Of all the thoughts and worries that were pulsing through her mind, she knew she could only focus on one thing at a time. She needed to fixate on a single point or the gravity of the situation would overwhelm her. Forget about emotion, forget about what ifs, forget about personal gain,
Just finish the mission.
The first and only mission Ayra had ever given her.

I'm going to get your friends out of here, Hunter.
Evelyn's jaw clenched.
I promise.

[cashew jackman]

MY FEELS ))

Eve's voice felt like a distant memory as Squeaky focused only only the words Ayra had managed to choke out. Squeaky shook her head, the tears falling freely now. "You can't go Ayra, you can't." She bit her lip, trying to keep from full out sobbing as Ayra slipped away slowly. Iris. Who was Iris? It was then she realized that the assassin was dead. Gone. One of her best friends, torn away by these brutal agents of Shield. Squeaky broke down, gripping Ayra and Sleipnir's hands and crying hard. She hadn't cried this hard in a long, long time. The sobs shook her entire body, and for the first time in years, she felt like a helpless child, lost in a bad dream.

[Agent Sky]

"I can't fix this." Sleipnir whispered. "I have no idea how ..."
You idiot. The voice in her head chided. You led her here to die.
The speedster squeezed her eyes shut, holding back the sorrow and fear which threatened to consume her. She told herself this was all a nightmare, and when she opened her eyes again, that it'd all be okay. But it wasn't. That was a lie. A pathetic lie that she clung to keep herself from drowning in a flood of emotion.
It's not okay.
She opened her eyes and inhaled a slow, shallow gasp of air. She saw her friend's outstretched hand, and took it on instinct. Cold, wet blood brushed against her fingertips, leaving a handprint and a memory she could never forget. "Hey, it's okay. Shhhh." She murmured in response to Ayra's last, desperate plea. Her hand was shaking. Her face felt damp, and she realized there had been tears trailing down her cheeks. "I'll find her, okay? Ayra ...?" Nothing. The assassin's gaze was blank, her grip slack. "Ayra ...?"
Sleipnir didn't speak for a long time after that. She felt vacant and hollow inside. There were no more tears, just a terrible, empty pit in her stomach.
Why don't I feel ... anything?
After a few minutes of sitting in dull silence, she realized her friend's unseeing eyes were still open. Sleipnir leaned forward and gently closed the huntress' eyes, her fingers trailing lightly down the girl's cheek. Her skin was surprisingly cold to the touch, and left Sleipnir's hand feeling frigid and numb. Strange. The freezing sensation travelled up her arm and through her whole body, making her feel thoroughly chilled and senseless.
At least I felt something.
The Asgardian shivered and her thumb brushed against a tear on the assassin's cheek, turning to ice.

[duskze]

Evelyn knew they were coming. Any second the corridor would be filled with dozens of Shield agents. It was only a matter of time. She didn't know what to do. Obviously the most logical thing would be to continue with the plan immediately. They were the highest priority targets now, and there was no doubt there would be more forces inbound.
But how could she wrench her friend away at a moment like this? When she was crying like that?
Sometimes you had to be cruel to be kind, her mind was aware. Snapping them out of their grief and back to the reality of their situation might be the difference between life and death for all of them.
But sometimes you had to follow your heart too. And right now the only thing her heart was aware of were the anguished sobs emanating from her best friend.
In the end, the heart won out and Evelyn went to Squeaky's side, putting her arms around the little pyro and hugging her tightly from behind by the shoulders.
The rest of the world could wait.

[ＩＮＴＥＲＦＥＣＴＯＲ]

((not only did i kill ayra, it seems i killed the rest of the derps.
//talent))

[cashew jackman]

I'M HERE I think I was waiting on Sky to post but I might go ahead and try to post tomorrow haha ))

[temporalGuardian]

[[I started writing something a while ago, but then my muse shouted NOPE and jumped out a conveniently-placed window. I'm still trying to find it and get it back in its room, which is why I haven't replied.]]