Of course he had attempted to escape. But that was an exercise in futility. So this was it, this was how he was going to die. There would be no rescue this time, and no convenient way out like with the Paladin Incident. In mere moments, Arthur Watts would be no more.
As soon as he made peace with his imminent demise, Arthur took a seat. The one he had tried to use to break the window, to be specific. Blasted thing might as well serve him in some fashion. And as he waited for the end, he couldn't help but reflect on a few things. Namely that while he wasn't long for this world, he had gotten everything he wanted.
Atlas was gone. Sure, those children may have escorted most of the people to Vacuo. But Salem would return soon enough. If she hadn't already. At best, it was a stalling tactic. Even then, Arthur could scarcely imagine that the people of Atlas and Mantle would even be accepted there. So not only has their beloved city fallen from the sky, but so too are the pompous louts reduced to mere desperate refugees. Not unlike the people of Mantle whom they so disdained. All of it done largely by his hand. That would teach them to disgrace Arthur Watts.
And then there's Cinder. Sure, he'd realized that she was somehow responsible for his end. He didn't quite catch it in time, but her generosity was far too uncharacteristic. She probably thinks that she finally bested him. Foolish girl. Sure, she indirectly killed him, he had nothing to lose anymore, so he admitted it. But without his brains, achieving Salem's goals would be much harder. Not that Cinder ever cared for Salem's goals. Salem would eventually tire of Cinder's idiocy. And the fact that Cinder felt such a need to kill him just proved that she'd let him get under her skin. She did listen to him. Cinder played it smart, trapping him and no doubt leading that Neopolitan girl on as well. She only exercised her intellect after he had reminded her of how incompetent she was. Sure, she killed him, but he was right. And she knew it. If there was anything Arthur Watts had to be, it was right. He was always right. He could imagine reliving his life and antagonizing Cinder less, thereby avoiding his current dilemma. But she was simply begging for it, how could Arthur not slap her back to reality? No, this was meant to be.
He was going to die, and she was going to live. But he was right, and he had gotten everything he wanted. Not a bad way to go. Certainly not ideal, not by any means. But realistically, a person rarely had control over their own death. In fact, he was impressed that he'd even made it this far, given the turbulence of the past few hours. If he had to do it all over again, he'd take that opportunity in a heartbeat. Arthur supposed he was akin to Tyrian in that way. He doubted Tyrian or any of the others would miss him. At most, they might miss the ways he contributed to their goal. But that suited Arthur fine. He preferred to keep things professional.
If he had any regrets, it would be that he couldn't see just how much James must be squirming right now. Did he make it out? Either he would stubbornly go down with the ship, or he'd impotently flail about in the desert, roaring and screaming that he still had control of the situation. Both options sounded fine to Arthur, if only he could see it.
It wouldn't be long now. Arthur Watts was going to die, but even in death, he'd won in the way that mattered.
What more could he want?
Lately I don't have time for writing fics, but I needed to cope with this volume somehow.
I don't think this is too out of character.