Lost in the Fog

Tormented Without Choice

Jill Valentine knew almost everyone herem in this particular trial. They were all in Raccoon City when it happened. The Outbreak. Leon had his own troubles, Claire had her own, and they both dealt with them differently... however, now that they are here... they all have the same problems. And now, another person's guilt personified was hunting them down. When she first encountered the Executioner, she demanded to know where it came from. It was then that a man by the name of James Sunderland explained that it was a manifestation of his guilt and desire for punishment that was created in the reality bending town of Silent Hill, and that he thought it had died after he accepted it... but he was clearly wrong. It survived, and is here. His guilt punished everyone. As mad as she was about that, she couldn't exactly blame him. Nobody really can. Hell, the whole concept of Silent Hill was weirder than anything she'd ever heard of, or seen.

Putting that thought aside, she focused on the current objective. Which is why when Leon got caught, she ran to his position as quickly as possible. Carefully navigating the trails of torment left behind by the killer, she got Leon off the hook. It was then that they saw a yellow aura. A gen had been kicked.

Jill swore as she noted that, before continuing to patch him up. "Shit... The new kid won't know what that means... or worse..."

Leon told her, "I've already warned him, just focus on one thing at a time, first."

"Right..."

Izuku noticed the yellow aura, and made his way over. Nancy Wheeler has a perk that makes gens yellow... she must be one of the ones in this trial... or it could be its perk... like Leon explained earlier... he'd only met and spoke with Leon, and hadn't seen the other two yet. Cautiously, the greenette checked the room with the gen. Nothing was there, but he couldn't be too sure. However, as soon heard metal being dragged along the ground. Quickly, Izuku found a hiding place, sure to not run. They had an ability to realize if you were running in a place, extra sensitve hearing or the like. Izuku wasn't sure what kind of ability, but it was potent. Peering over the few crates in the room, he watched as Pyramid Head stomped past the first door, and went past the second at the same pace, not stopping. It was definitely him that made the gen glow yellow.

So, Izuku approached it, and started to repair it. The gens aura stopped, and he could hear his heart pound slightly in his ears. The Terror Radius was back. So as Leon said, he kicks the gen, then loses his terror radius. To stop the effect, work on the gen... as it is spotlighted to all survivors. That forces them to act... at their risk, as he could be anywhere. A good perk for him... Izuku continued to work on the gen when he heard the TR start to pick up, being cautious, he left the gen and hid behind the crates again. This time, instead of just seeing him, he saw red runes and his ranged attack. It went through the wall!!! Just like Leon said!! I have to be extra careful!

He then arrived into the room, and walked to the gen, kicking it again, before turning in the boy's direction. Pausing for a moment, he then lunged out and knocked me into the wall with his greatknife. He hit the locker awkwardly, and the boy scrambled to his feet to start running, turning right down the hall. Izuku followed it as it turned right again, and this time he passed by a massive stuffed tiger.

Running left, he ran into an office. There was a hidden door that was open near the desk, so Izuku ran that direction, into the main hall. He was about to keep running when he tripped on something. Looking down, the greenette accidentally ran over some kind of tear in the marble, full of blood and razorwire. And now, it clutched to the boy's legs, tearing flesh. In the distance, a chime of a gen popped. That's the third one, if my mental math is correct. Only two to go... quickly, he scrambled, continuing to run, now with the added pain in his legs from the razorwire. It swirled and circled around me, as it continued to build up. It didn't slow me down, nor attempt to. Izuku could feel myself tiring as he ran down the hall. There was a pallet he could drop early. He was almost there... when the ground glowed red and exploded with blood and iron. It tripped him and knocked him about on the ground. The boy was nearly about to get up when the executioner reached me. He thought for a moment, before he slammed his greatknife into the ground, and I could feel blood pool around me. Something grabbed my leg, dragging me down. It was gross, just like the sludge villain... and like that, he couldn't even resist it.

Leon sighed as another gen popped. One left... but the new kid's already on death hook. He's gotta be careful after this. It was fortunate that he was close to the cage. His eyes were wide when the man approached, clearly stressed from the cage. It was compressing inwards, towards him, sharp metal piercing his shoulderblades, and more constricting his breathing slightly. However, when Leon picked him up, the cage let him. They did this to allow people to atone their torment. Lessen it on themselves when they help others with theirs.

It was a nice thought, if it wasn't executed so morbidly.

Izuku felt the pain dissipate as soon as he was lifted off the spikes. Thank goodness... that was excruciating...

It was then that the last gen popped... and two of the others were downed by a single attack.

Shit! The stabbing headache experienced returned, and he knew that NOED was active. We don't have time to save them! One of them was sent to a cage, while another was hooked. Izuku ran through the building, looking for an exit to the outside. He eventually found one. It was a back entrance, and it was surrounded by a large fence. An exit gate was right there. Pulling down the lever, he waited for it to open. One of them had a that allowed everyone to see each other: Kindred. The other survivor, Claire, had been found, and was running this way. Looking behind him, he saw her running a few meters from him. Opening the door, he ran through. It was then that he heard her scream and fall to the ground. Turning, he saw her try to crawl, raising an arm. He would've gone back when she cried out, "Don't! Just go!" It was then that Pyramid head stabbed his blade into the ground. Blood bubbled and pooled around her, and something dragged her into the ground, feet first. She clawed the ground, but didn't find a grip...

A chime sounded, and he could see a new cage raise from the ground. There was nothing he could do against this killer, who now turned his attention to him. Swinging the blade, Izuku ducked underneath it and left the trial behind. Running along the main street, things became a blur as the city gave way to trees and fog... and he made it back to the campfire... and to safety. The three of them were already there.

The other survivors knew what happened. Leon, Jill, and Claire explained to them everything. But... they didn't say anything, but gave sympathetic looks. They knew he didn't value himself as much as he should. They knew that he would rather die then have them all die for him... and it was for that reason that Izuku cried, apologizing that he couldn't save them. Claire put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't apologize. Our task is to survive. There was nothing you could do against NOED and the killer there. We don't blame you at all. It was your first Executioner match, right?"

Izuku nodded, his tears running down his face.

The girl continued to speak, "Then take what you can from it and get better. You won't be able to save everyone. But you can try to save yourself. Although, from what I hear, you aren't the type to do that, are you?"

She hugged, him, as he still sobbed his apologies to them. Jill watched with compassion and Leon went to discuss something with Bill.

Those at the campfire tried to comfort him as best they could, but they knew it was his altruistic nature that made him suffer. While the others may have broken his body, this one broke his soul.