It's quick, at least. Already mostly closed, there's no awful anticipation of watching it slowly lower. It starts to close again, and within seconds there's the thud of metal connecting with metal, a wet cracking sound, and a massive splatter of blood. It seeps out from between the plates, almost more than one would expect to come from such a small body.
Mercifully, there's nothing to see but that blood. The most gruesome part remains in the hydraulic press.
A silence follows. The Ghost lays a sympathetic hand on Dan's shoulder. Kaito remains unmoving for a minute or two before he finally seems to remember to breathe again and slumps against the control panel. Wearily, he picks up the camera and rewatches the footage, making sure the result is at least what they intended.
It is. As Dan suspected, it's a brief but wildly misleading video. To a viewer, the press appears to shut on Kaito's body, with only the briefest stutter near the end to suggest any shenanigans.
Kaito sighs and closes the camera. Packs up the tripod. Returns both to a bag in the corner. Grabs Kokichi's abandoned clothes and follows the trail of blood to a bathroom in the back with them. Returns shortly after and stands before the press, surveying the scene with slumped shoulders. His own jacket sleeve still dangles out of it, the only hint at the victim's identity.
Then he grabs the thick power cable running to the machine and rips at it with a sudden intense effort. Despite its girth, the cable tears in a spray of sparks, and just like that the hydraulic press is useless. No one will ever open it again.
Kaito staggers back with the effort of it, a cough wracking his body for a long minute. It's a wet, pained sound, distinct in the silence of the hangar. He covers his mouth with one hand, and it comes away bloodied when the coughing subsides.
He doesn't seem surprised. Just stares at it grimly for a second before clenching his fist and softly hitting it against the side of the press.
"...See you soon, Kokichi," he says softly, and turns away.
Kaito retrieves the bag of supplies, heads to one of the stationary robots at the side of the hangar, and climbs up into its cockpit to hide. Finally, the scene is empty and quiet aside from its unseen observers.
The Ghost gives a quick squeeze at Dan's shoulder and looks away. "Gruesome stuff," he says after a moment, and chews distractedly at his peppermint bark. "I know the point of all this is bringing people closer together, but...don't dwell on it too much. That's not the sort of thing you should have in your head at this time of year."
cw: death, implied gore
It's quick, at least. Already mostly closed, there's no awful anticipation of watching it slowly lower. It starts to close again, and within seconds there's the thud of metal connecting with metal, a wet cracking sound, and a massive splatter of blood. It seeps out from between the plates, almost more than one would expect to come from such a small body.
Mercifully, there's nothing to see but that blood. The most gruesome part remains in the hydraulic press.
A silence follows. The Ghost lays a sympathetic hand on Dan's shoulder. Kaito remains unmoving for a minute or two before he finally seems to remember to breathe again and slumps against the control panel. Wearily, he picks up the camera and rewatches the footage, making sure the result is at least what they intended.
It is. As Dan suspected, it's a brief but wildly misleading video. To a viewer, the press appears to shut on Kaito's body, with only the briefest stutter near the end to suggest any shenanigans.
Kaito sighs and closes the camera. Packs up the tripod. Returns both to a bag in the corner. Grabs Kokichi's abandoned clothes and follows the trail of blood to a bathroom in the back with them. Returns shortly after and stands before the press, surveying the scene with slumped shoulders. His own jacket sleeve still dangles out of it, the only hint at the victim's identity.
Then he grabs the thick power cable running to the machine and rips at it with a sudden intense effort. Despite its girth, the cable tears in a spray of sparks, and just like that the hydraulic press is useless. No one will ever open it again.
Kaito staggers back with the effort of it, a cough wracking his body for a long minute. It's a wet, pained sound, distinct in the silence of the hangar. He covers his mouth with one hand, and it comes away bloodied when the coughing subsides.
He doesn't seem surprised. Just stares at it grimly for a second before clenching his fist and softly hitting it against the side of the press.
"...See you soon, Kokichi," he says softly, and turns away.
Kaito retrieves the bag of supplies, heads to one of the stationary robots at the side of the hangar, and climbs up into its cockpit to hide. Finally, the scene is empty and quiet aside from its unseen observers.
The Ghost gives a quick squeeze at Dan's shoulder and looks away. "Gruesome stuff," he says after a moment, and chews distractedly at his peppermint bark. "I know the point of all this is bringing people closer together, but...don't dwell on it too much. That's not the sort of thing you should have in your head at this time of year."