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Rage simmered quietly within Red. Purple and them stood before the desk of the CEO of Mira. They have their back turned towards the two crewmates as they look outside the window. The room is deathly silent besides Purple's shaky breathing. Whether their shaking is from anger towards Mira or fear that Red will repeat what they did last time is unknown.
Red keeps their eyes on Pink, burning a hole into their soul. They never realized how flexible they were before, how easily they moved about the room. How it was if they were a puppet attached to strings.
Pink turns the chair around, looking away from the window and towards Red and Purple. They smile widely, almost joyous that they're back before them again.
"Well, it seems as if you two failed the one job I gave you." They speak, their voice overly sweet. It's the same tone they use when they made Red do whatever it is they wanted them to. They flick their gaze towards Red and they feel the hair on their arms stand up, but they wouldn't reflect that on their face. "I knew bringing this one along would only make your job harder, right Captain~?"
"No. They had nothing to do with this, they are a--" Red tries to protest, taking a few steps forward, but Pink holds up a hand and they shut up instantly.
"I don't recall giving you permission to speak.." their voice drops an octave, just enough to make them feel more threatening than before. Red steps backwards to where they were before and looks down to the ground, away from Purple's gaze and Pink's unsettling grin.
Pink giggles once before looking back over to Purple. "Lets cut to the case, shall we?" They say, their voice back to normal as they signal to the only guard in the room to leave. Probably to fetch something.
"We've all been here before, yes? So no need to go through all the formalities like before!" They clap their hands together and hold them up to one side of their face, their smile somehow even bigger than before. "There will be an NDA coming soon, just sign it and all of your troubles will be over! If you refuse well... you'll figure out the punishment~"
Not even a beat of silence passes before Purple speaks up, standing their ground and presenting themself confidently. "I refuse to sign your stupid papers! Not before, not now, and I never will! Mira is a shitty company and the truth will come out one way or another!"
Pinks eye twitches and they almost lose their smile, but they sliently inhale and tilt their head down, looking Purple right in the eye. "I figured you'd say that.. well, the truth won't be coming out because--"
"I'll be blacklisted? Do you think that really scares me this time!?" Purple cuts off Pink. Red looks over at Purple, an intense feeling gnawing inside them. This isn't like the last time..
Pink smiles wider, almost delighted to break the news. They giggle a little. "No no, silly crewmate! Because of what you did on that ship, 9 charges of manslaughter to be exact, you get sent to rot away in the prisons~"
Purple's breath hitches almost instantly. Their confidence melting away like sugar in water. They take a step backwards in disbelief, almost as if to try and run away from the truth. But they will never sign anything for Mira, even if it means their life hangs in the balance. Red looks over at Purple, their dismayed expression allowing them to put the pieces together.
"You mean they'll--"
"Die? Yes! Very good, Captain." Pink praises Red for putting the pieces together, although blatantly obvious. Red, now aware of their fate, has a choice to make.
The room is silent, almost as if the world itself is holding its breath. Pink stares at Red in anticipation, completely blocking out Purple from their line of sight.
The rage within Red begins to boil as they stare down at the ground, balling their hands into fists. They don't even hear Purple walk away from them, the sound of blood rushing in their ears makes them feel deaf to everything around them.
"I.. I--!" Red begins, but not being able to get out a full sentence.
"Go on, Captain. Make the right choice~" Pink purrs, resting their head on the back of their interlocked hands.
"....I refuse to be manipulated by you any longer." Red says, managing to keep their voice from wavering. Pink sits up straight, staring right into Red's soul, their smile gone.
"Excuse me?" They say with an authoritative tone. They tilt their head up, as if to make themself feel bigger than Red. They already are, but the ego they carry upon themself is something that can never get any smaller.
"I said I refuse! I will not sign this NDA! I will--" Red is cut off from their retaliation as Pink is thrown suddenly to the ground. Out of instinct, Red runs around the desk to see what happened. Purple stands behind the chair, looking down at the CEO. Despite them being double their size, Purple still managed to catch them off guard and throw them to the ground.
They lay there for a beat too long. Purple and Red are filled with anxiety that they killed the CEO of Mira, but that anxiety quickly shifts to fear of their punishment as Pink moves their arms to push themself up.
They're standing again almost instantly, ignoring Red and turning to look at their assailant. Once they lock eyes with Purple, they smile maniacally and their eye twitches again.
"You little worm." They say, their voice layered with that of many others. Purple instinctively balls their hands into fists and raises them up, ready to throw a punch whenever the time is right. It's just like their fight with Green, they mimicked the voices of all the other crew members, taunting them. Pink clearly doesn't realize they're doing the exact same thing, giving away who they truly are.
"Y- you're an alien..?" Red mutters from behind them, causing Pink to twist their upper half behind them like a monster and look at Red.
"Of course I am. Are you really so dense you couldn't figure that out? All of us here at Mira are! And you would've been too." They twist their lower half so they fully face Red, bending over and putting a hand to their face, making them look at them properly. "You could have had the privilege of becoming a higher being! Of being stronger and getting to right what wrongs the world consists of! Of being someone like me!"
Their voice is sweet again, an attempt to manipulate Red into changing their mind. Red almost gives in to Pink, but instead they swat their hand away and raise their voice in retaliation.
"And die in the process, right? You want me to give up my life for some.. some cult!?" Red snaps, making Purple smile a little as they realize they won't be left alone. Not this time.
Red quickly grabs something off the desk, not looking at what they got as they keep eyes on the monster. They throw an empty mug at them, they bring up their arm in defense but it shatters instantly, leaving a few shards lodged into their arm. They suck in air in pain, but have no other reaction.
"I will kill you both for this." They say bluntly, still having the manic smile on their face. They try to charge for Red, but Purple kicks them on the back of their knees with all the force they can manage, making them fall to the ground and be at Red's face level.
Without thinking, Red swings a punch, then another, then another. Just a few swings and they hit the ground. Purple leans over them as they open their eyes. "Strong, huh? Well you couldn't even beat a few lowly crewmates."
Purple brings out the flaky salt they kept on them and sprinkles a little over top of their face. Not enough to kill them, but just enough to burn them and leave scars.
They pocket the salt and head to leave the room, but notice Red isn't doing the same. They're staring down at the floor, at something that the desk now blocks from Purple's vision.
"Red? C'mon, let's go! We can leave!" Purple smiles and gestures for Red to get over to the elevator.
Red shakes their head just once, still not saying anything. They stare down at the broken mug, one piece a big, knife-like shard. They bend down and pick it up, but it's still out of Purple's vision.
They walk over and stand over Pink, who refuses to get up even though Purple and Red didn't really try to beat them. They get down on their knees, straddling Pink, then they raise the shard. Purple sees it and freezes, holding their breath in hopes Red is just doing a fear tactic. They never planned to kill anyone, surely Pink would have just gotten the message, right?
Pink looks at Red's hand and smiles again, about to mutter another manipulation tactic, but before they can Red brings down the shard with as much force as they can.
It sinks into Pink's chest, but they don't make a sound. They don't scream or fight back. Red unsheathes the shard, just to bring it back down again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
When they're done, they stand up and look down at the mess they made. They walk away and don't even realize that Pink has wrapped a tentacle around their ankle. It slides off Red as they walk away, now that it's dead it has no muscle strength to hold on.
When Red rounds the desk, they look over at Purple and notice the fear plastered on their face. They are terrified and their back is pressed up against the wall next to the buttons for the elevator. They walk towards Purple and puts their forearms up a little, as if expecting Purple to run to them for a hug.
"Purple.. I didn't--"
"You killed them..?"
The fear in Purple's voice makes Red stop in their tracks. They drop their arms next to their side and their eyes widen. That's not a joke. It's a question filled with genuine fear.
"I.. I had to, Purps! They wouldn't have just let us go, I had--"
"Don't call me that. You.. what is wrong with you!? I know Mira has done some horrible, horrible things but... violence is never the way to get a message across!"
Purple spams the call elevator button, trying to get the doors open so they can get away from whoever is in front of them.
"Purps... you know I'd never hurt a fly! This was for us! I promise I--"
The ding of the elevator makes Red stop and Purple feels for the door and they back their way into the elevator, making sure to keep their eyes on Red until the doors shut and they can leave.
Red watches as the numbers displayed above the elevator get lower, then stop. They look over their shoulder to the desk, to where the body lay just out of view. The reality of the situation kicks in. They're going to die. Be charged with manslaughter of 10. What will everyone think?
They should've just signed the NDA.