The group make their way to the Judgment room once again.
"This place again…" Chikasu said.
"I was thinking it was about that time." Himeno said.
"No sense wasting time if we know what we must do…" Sojiro said. "Well then. Shall we commence the slaughter?"
"Such a pain in the ass! The one I wanna kill is The End!" Zenji said. "How much more of this crap we gotta do?"
"I can't take this anymore. Having to kill comrades with our own hands...this is too cruel." Yoko said.
"I… I don't want to kill my comrades anymore…" Marco said.
"It's a dog-eat-dog world… I can't help it, but doesn't mean I gotta like it." Agito said.
"Let's think about this for a moment. The End has to have some kind of motive behind this, right?" Chikasu asked. "Though maybe thinking about that won't do us any good. I think we'd rather just not be the one chosen."
"Let's get this started then. No hard feelings, mates." Mana said.
"I won't make any excuses to those that are killed, nor will I hold any resentment if I am killed." Nagi said. "It's a sacrifice that must be made to proceed after all."
"There's no way around it. Very well… Let's go." Sho said as the group took their positions.
The group all casted their votes, which caused the screens to flicker between different people before settling on…
…
…
Zenji.
All screens then turn red with his portrait.
"Tch! Guess it's finally time." Zenji said. "This is pretty lame. I thought I had you all fooled, and you got me. I was really looking forward to crushin' you all...but I guess not."
"Zenji, I'm sorry…" Chikasu said.
"There's no need to apologize. I shouldn't've tricked you guys and all…" Zenji said. "But hey! I guess now I left an even stronger mark on you after all, right? Proof I was here… That's all I really needed, I guess. More than any plots or whatever. I'm just glad I got to leave my mark behind. Don't forget about me, guys. Remember the face that deceived you all along. And I'll remember you when I'm rotting down in Hell, or maybe I'll cheer you guys on from wherever I end up. So you'd better not lose, you hear me?"
The group nod and salute to Zenji.
"A salute? Heh. Guess I left an even stronger mark than I thought." Zenji said as he spread his arms out. "What more can a guy ask for?" he asked as a beam hit him, causing him to vanish leaving behind his Materia.
"Damn it…! We have another victim…" Sho said.
"Let's go… We don't have any time to mourn." Himeno said. "We have to step over those that have been sacrificed and continue to move forward."
"We're making these sacrifices to save the world… but is it really the right thing to do?" Marco asked. "They all would've wanted to live in the saved world too, right...?"
"This is so disheartening. There's no way I'd ever get used to something like this." Mana said. "The day that I do is the day I die as a human being…"
"C'mon, how many more times we have to keep doing this…?" Agito asked. "There won't be any of us left alive when we reach the top. Is that his plan…?"
"We will save this world… I know it won't atone for what we've done, but it's the only thing we can do…" Yoko said. "All we can do is move forward…"
"This isn't just a numbers game. It won't be long before fatigue sets in." Sojiro said. "I simply have no way of healing our mental states. I can't treat exhaustion… If this is a battle of attrition, I think The End's already got us outmatched."
"Life as a soldier means constantly walking beside death. I'm not saying I'm used to comrades dying, but I was prepared for it." Nagi said. "I never imagined that it would be this painful to kill my own comrade. What will remain of us once we've saved the world…?"
"...Let's go." Sho said.
"Sho's right. Mourning and regretting won't solve anything for us. All we can do is keep moving forward." Chikasu said.
A/N: *sigh* Another day, another erasure. Still, I felt that Zenji hasn't really been all that popular because of his aggressive attitude and that it was only a matter of time before this happened to him. It doesn't really bother me all that much, because his Synchronization ability is a godsend for those who equip it down the line. Speaking of which, for this last poll, I'm gonna throw in a special rule. There's a five-vote limit and you'll be voting for who you DON'T want erased. As I said, only five of them will join my group further on in the main series, which means this last Judgment will be a double erasure. In this poll, the bottom two will be the ones to be erased. So if there's someone that you want to join me, don't be shy, just vote. I'll be looking forward to your votes. Peace!
