The fact there’s surprise over all of this catches Asuka far more off-guard than anything else announced. I mean, it’s a magical train, did you really think it’d be super easy to deal with?
…If Asuka told herself that enough, it’d probably hold true. It wasn’t like she was scared, even with the death game announcement - if anything, her face just portrays irritation, like she’s dealing with a minor inconvenience instead of something dangerous - but it was still a lot, the the reactions of people around her…
And then Abel acts.
It’s stupid. Asuka doesn’t spare much thought towards Abel’s condition, watching with a vague discomfort. Other people would handle it, and if that robot was as nice with others as they were with Asuka, then it’d all be fine. If Abel wasn’t being killed there and then, he was probably getting off lucky if anything.
It’s lucky, and it probably means the group’s luck has been used up entirely.
When Asuka took charge of a situation, when she commanded attention or started a fight, she operated with a one warning rule. By now, she was pretty sure most people - not here, at home, because the people here are idiots who clearly don’t see her worth - knew not to mess with her. If they were unfamiliar, they got an extreme hint she’d go farther. Something broken, something threatened, something hit. Whatever was needed, right!? And then, if they messed with her again? Asuka was capable of keeping her word! She wasn’t all bark!
…This thing clearly wasn’t about bark either. No, that was just proving that the threat was real, that one person could step out of line here. And that lucky bastard was Abel.
Abel Lazarus But it’s lost on him really. He just slumped there and waited for whatever his fate might be. It didn’t matter anymore if he’s dying here anyway—did it?
“Ugh, it’s obvious it’s not going that far now. We get it, you mean it, we can’t fight back, yada yada. We good now so long as we don’t do anything else stupid? Powertrips are so out of fashion - also, like…. I think you’re losing if you do this? Since it seems like you kind of want us to kill each other instead of just axing us here.”
She’s not scared. Everybody else has Abel covered, so why not just address the real issue instead of the distraction?
If, for a few seconds, Asuka feels a bit more in-control, a bit more secure, then that’s her business, isn’t it?
