[And as the votes come in, the lights go out; for the third time, the room is cast into darkness, into shadow and the vague ambient light shining out from thirty spots on the podium circle – and for the briefest of moments, that goes out too.
Then the pit in the center of the room illuminates itself, that bright light pulsing behind the tiles shifting from white to blue as everyone's eyes adjust to it; those looking around the circle will become immediately aware that Archie is no longer among you.
Juri is waiting for him, and Archie seems...remarkably calm when he enters the pit through that door beneath Podium 5; his breathing is a bit sharp, perhaps, but he seems to be holding himself together, a sort of confidence that's suitable for a team leader pulsing through his countenance despite what's about to happen. Or maybe it's not confidence – maybe it's something closer to resignation, the knowledge that his mistakes and his actions are going to bear a heavy consequence, and it's one that it wouldn't be right to try to avoid.
He approaches Juri without hesitation; he doesn't seem to be putting up any resistance as Juri reaches out to lay a hand against his chest.]
Good night, Tor-
[The words are cut off by the strike.
At first glance it looks like Archie punches him; the hit connects solidly with his abdomen, and the first indication that something is wrong, that something more serious may have just happened, is the way Juri lurches forward as soon as the hit connects, one of his hands immediately moving to grab at something embedded just below his ribs. It's hard to say where the blade came from – those observant people from earlier might have seen a brief glitter of something making itself known in Archie's fist right before he took the swing – but that in and of itself doesn't seem to be what's causing the odd reaction from Juri; after all, he's taken knives before. This one, though...this one seems to be making him freeze up a bit, fingers closing around the handle slowly like he's trying to process what just happened; he slides it out of his body eventually, but he's shaking as he does it, and he shakes his head a couple of times before glaring up at Archie.
Seems Archie did something to the blade before stabbing Juri with it. God only knows what, at this point.
Archie has taken several steps back from him in the meantime; his stance implies that he's ready to fight, even if he's not used to fighting – even if most of the fights he's gotten into have been drunken, bad ones.
Juri closes the distance between them, that unnatural speed coming into play again, but he doesn't move to kill Archie immediately; instead he punches him, fist connecting solidly with Archie's face before he sweeps his legs out from under him and gets him on the ground.
Juri plants one of his knees down and punches him again a couple more times; Archie lets the hits connect, and right as Juri sets his hand down again to begin the process that's probably all to familiar by now, Archie spits in his face, small flecks of red accompanying the action and shining dark against Juri's skin.
Juri just glares at him and slams his hand down decidedly harder than he needed to.]
Good night, Torrential.
[One of those brief bursts of light passes between culprit and executioner, and Archie's grip immediately goes slack; even after he falls back against the ground, Juri gets in another solid hit to his face for good measure before sitting back against his heel, not getting up from the ground.]
There's nothing left for you to do here.
[And that's rough, agitated in a way that he usually isn't.]
ACCOUNTABILITY.
Then the pit in the center of the room illuminates itself, that bright light pulsing behind the tiles shifting from white to blue as everyone's eyes adjust to it; those looking around the circle will become immediately aware that Archie is no longer among you.
Juri is waiting for him, and Archie seems...remarkably calm when he enters the pit through that door beneath Podium 5; his breathing is a bit sharp, perhaps, but he seems to be holding himself together, a sort of confidence that's suitable for a team leader pulsing through his countenance despite what's about to happen. Or maybe it's not confidence – maybe it's something closer to resignation, the knowledge that his mistakes and his actions are going to bear a heavy consequence, and it's one that it wouldn't be right to try to avoid.
He approaches Juri without hesitation; he doesn't seem to be putting up any resistance as Juri reaches out to lay a hand against his chest.]
Good night, Tor-
[The words are cut off by the strike.
At first glance it looks like Archie punches him; the hit connects solidly with his abdomen, and the first indication that something is wrong, that something more serious may have just happened, is the way Juri lurches forward as soon as the hit connects, one of his hands immediately moving to grab at something embedded just below his ribs. It's hard to say where the blade came from – those observant people from earlier might have seen a brief glitter of something making itself known in Archie's fist right before he took the swing – but that in and of itself doesn't seem to be what's causing the odd reaction from Juri; after all, he's taken knives before. This one, though...this one seems to be making him freeze up a bit, fingers closing around the handle slowly like he's trying to process what just happened; he slides it out of his body eventually, but he's shaking as he does it, and he shakes his head a couple of times before glaring up at Archie.
Seems Archie did something to the blade before stabbing Juri with it. God only knows what, at this point.
Archie has taken several steps back from him in the meantime; his stance implies that he's ready to fight, even if he's not used to fighting – even if most of the fights he's gotten into have been drunken, bad ones.
Juri closes the distance between them, that unnatural speed coming into play again, but he doesn't move to kill Archie immediately; instead he punches him, fist connecting solidly with Archie's face before he sweeps his legs out from under him and gets him on the ground.
Juri plants one of his knees down and punches him again a couple more times; Archie lets the hits connect, and right as Juri sets his hand down again to begin the process that's probably all to familiar by now, Archie spits in his face, small flecks of red accompanying the action and shining dark against Juri's skin.
Juri just glares at him and slams his hand down decidedly harder than he needed to.]
Good night, Torrential.
[One of those brief bursts of light passes between culprit and executioner, and Archie's grip immediately goes slack; even after he falls back against the ground, Juri gets in another solid hit to his face for good measure before sitting back against his heel, not getting up from the ground.]
There's nothing left for you to do here.
[And that's rough, agitated in a way that he usually isn't.]
Get out.