Chapter Text
Ivan could only hear the pattering of the rain, drowning out any other sound. He didn’t care about the displeasure of the aliens. He didn’t care about the gunshots, not even when the bullets hit him.
Ivan refused to falter, holding Till in place as his hands trembled around Till’s throat.
His mind empty of any thoughts yet there was so much to think about. He pushes away any shameful thoughts and pitiful emotions, only focusing on Till and the greatly shifting scoreboard.
There was only the initial thought that was still rooted deep in his brain: Thank you for being the victim of my shallow emotions.
Ivan finds no enjoyment in this, how could he? He’d feel worse if he did. The only thing that eased him somewhat is that this will get Till to live. That’s all he wants.
Ideally, he wouldn’t have to go through such lengths.. Maybe he’d get his last words out, maybe he’d still get a peck on the lips.. but Till wasn’t trying… so Ivan had to do everything he could and put his all into it.
Ivan can feel his body wavering, the blood loss becoming too much and the pain unbearable. He still held himself up though. Till may have given up but he won’t. He needs to make sure that Till will make it through, even when it’s painfully clear that Ivan won’t be standing for much longer.
There was one more shot, and Ivan finds himself coughing up blood.
This is it, there’s nothing more that can be done. And he feels content with that.
He weakens his grip around Till’s neck, not like it was strong to begin with, and smiles.
Till will live.
He lets go and with all support gone his stepping falters, and he simply lets himself fall. There’s no point in fighting it now. His vision blurs but he can still see Till so clearly. He sees Till cuff his hand around his throat and watches Ivan fall.
As much as Ivan craves Till’s attention, even his gaze was enough…
He thinks, Please, don’t look at me like that.
Ivan’s body collapses onto the wet floor of the stage, a thudding sound emitting from it. Blood continues to spill and mix with the water, reflecting the words “TILL WIN”.
At that point, he loses consciousness.
It’s overwhelmingly silent. Even under the ambience of water droplets, it was a painful quiet. There wasn’t any chatter amongst the audience, and even if there was it fell on Till’s deaf ears.
He can only stare at Ivan’s body. He doesn’t know what else to do.
The light turns off, and Till can’t help but feel grateful that there isn’t a glaring glow upon him anymore. It doesn’t feel any comforting though.
Till tries to shift his mind to something else, like how he’ll be moving onto the next round– despite his displeasures– but all that comes up is Ivan.
Ivan. Ivan who died for him.
Ivan who gave Till the win and his spilt blood is proof of that.
Ivan, who kissed him…
Mizi watches as the stage lowers and the guards have already begun escorting Till and investigating Ivan’s body.
It’s time for them to sneak amongst the group.
Hyuna says it’s dangerous, and that Ivan is probably a lost cause… Mizi has to have faith that Ivan is alive.
She’s already lost Sua, someone so incredibly important to her.
Sua, the center of her universe– no, her universe entirely. And all she did was watch while she was taken.. like that . She doesn’t want to go through that again. Having to stomach it and watch as Ivan was shot down like an animal was already painful enough, but thinking of just leaving him when there could still be a chance.
To put it simply, Mizi doesn’t want to lose anybody else close to her.
After much back and forth of Mizi trying to convince Hyuna, the older woman finally gave in and agreed.
Because of Hyuna’s injury, she would trust Dewey and some other lady… Nori, to go and get him. While Mizi wants to join and check on Ivan, have some kind of clarity or something , she stays behind with Hyuna.
She wants to do more, but she can recognize that she’s needed here with Hyuna.
Mizi just hopes the other two rebels can handle it; security has tightened and expanded quite a bit because of her escape and the trouble the rebellion has caused that could interfere with Alien Stage.
Mizi just has to have faith.
It was easy fooling the guards and aliens, after all, they already did it once.
But because of that one time, it’s admittedly a bit more difficult. Thankfully, they didn’t trip off any alarms or any of the sort, and Isaac is there to shut down any alerts if ever the case.
Sure, it was still difficult the last time, but now the aliens are aware. Doing it a second time– Hyuna and Mizi even plan on trying a third.. Is daunting. Dewey and Nori would have to do everything they can to get Ivan out of here without looking conspicuous or anything of the sort.
God, this is so risky! Dewey silently panics.
At least it was easy walking amongst them with disguises– the guards practically never talk and it’s easy to imitate their behavior.
The really difficult part is more about the journey.. And how will they get Ivan out without suspicion?
Then again, that’s all assuming Ivan is alive.
Dewey and Nori are already paying a great risk even going out in the first place… the thought that the effort of getting disguised and walking to the stage could be worth for nothing when finding out that Ivan is dead.. It’s uneasy to say the least.
Sure, there’s the chance that Ivan could’ve survived, but what are the chances of that?
Nori says they’re low, but she only said that later and away from Mizi. It’s not like she has to be the one to say it though, Dewey’s sure that Mizi already knows the risks and possibilities.
Hopefully, Ivan will have a better chance at living with Nori around– it’s nothing substantial, but she knows medicine and brought a medkit along. Though, a lot of it was already used on Hyuna’s injury.
This operation is such a mess…
The two rebels in their disguise are able to successfully slip in with the rest of the guards; now they just have to check on Ivan (hope he’s alive) and get out.
They watch distantly as Till is taken away– the young man not even having the energy to fight back, much unlike how he performed in Round 3… They don’t focus on that though, they have clear priorities. (and it is much riskier trying to save two people at once)
They’re next to Ivan’s body now, and Nori crouches down to check his pulse. Dewey stands guard around her, watching the other guards look around.
It’s not too conspicuous of something to do, it would have to be confirmed whether Ivan is dead or alive anyway.
But how do we get him out of here? Dewey wondered, already trying to figure out an escape plan.
Yes, this all started out as a rescue mission but it all got so complicated. For one, they didn’t try to separate the two, they immediately started shooting. It couldn’t have been anything too extreme, but then again they only saw that Ivan was choking Till..
Either way, it’s most likely to not even give the rebellion a chance to slip in and save him.
It’d be funny to prove the aliens wrong, but that all depends if Ivan is alive.
And speak of the devil…
Dewey looked over, Nori’s disguise not showing anything, yet he got the sign.
Ivan had a pulse.