[Round Zero: part 1]

[utopiamods]

At noon on the rest day, every screen in the campus lights up. It's the girl from the introduction again! She's grinning fit to burst, and her voice is bright and excited.

"Good morning, everyone! Round Minus-One is now officially over, so we'd like you to all report to the lobby for a special announcement, immediately! It starts in ten minutes, so don't be late."

The screens all go blank, before simply displaying the flashing text ALL STUDENTS REPORT TO THE LOBBY FOR 12:10.

Reaching the lobby, you find it empty of the usual staff. However, the doors to the tramstation are blocked by a large stage, spanning the entire south wall. In the centre stands the girl, in the flesh and just as sickeningly cheerful as her broadcast.

"Hi, everyone!" She waves, tilting sideways as she does so, and then clasps her hands together. "Wow, it's really great to see you all in person at last! You've all tried a lot harder this week, and it shows! We're really, really impressed with everyone. Ah, even though there was a bit of cheating..." she pouts, and shakes her head lightly, "But that's okay. We forgive you! You all know better now.

"But what we've called you here to say is this! We've been working extra hard too, and we've gotten a lot done with your help. So much that we're nearly ready for Round One!

"However..."

She's still smiling. It's a little unnerving, "We have to do some maintenance first, okay? And I'm afraid it would be a problem if you were all alive for that... you could cause us a lot of problems. So we're going to get rid of you for a little while. Think of this as a final test!"

She snaps her fingers, and your shadows disappear. No, not disappear. That's the wrong word. It's more like... they're abandoning you. Nearly forty pools of darkness flow up onto the stage, and suddenly explode upwards in tendrils and globs of black. The girl laughs as they finish changing, as they take on your shapes. As they reach into themselves and pull out inky replicas of your own weapons. They all laugh with her, in the emotionless tones of the Voice from your dreams.

"You can all draw your own weapons now, okay? Fight hard!"

[mod notice: NOW EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS OOC POST BEFORE THEY REPLY.]

Comments

[veepofchess]

If the thought of it had broken him before, here, he's utterly shattered. He stays on the floor, shaking. He reaches up toward the chair, and touches her leg. She is still faintly warm, but there is no mistaking it.

His eyes flew over her body. Something had cut through the motor of her chair. That probably immobilized her. Then the death blow. She'd been hunted by one of these monsters.

They were going to pay.

And Euphemia... the blood in her pink hair a few feet away said enough.

His whole body shook with rage. There was nothing, nothing left for him. Euphemia and Nunnally were dead. Kallen and Suzaku, no matter how strong they were, wouldn't stand long against the emotional warfare these creatures were capable of unleashing. And Rolo... he had no idea where he was.

He slowly got to his feet. He started pulling out his sword again, muttering to himself, "Utopia is..." he paused. "A LIE!" he shouted, jerking the sword out of himself.

If it was blood these people wanted, it was blood they were going to get.

[bitofafiction]

Another sibling. Of course.

Sherlock finds it more difficult than he expected to straighten up from where he is leaning against the wall nearby. It was only going to be for a moment. He hesitates, watching Lelouch and the shadow girl, fairly sure that he should intervene but not entirely sure that he can.

[stopwatch]

After fighting for a long time, Rolo knocks his shadow down with a well-aimed kick. He wasn't good in hand to hand. His geass is what he relied on to deliver kills. The shadow had gotten him a few times, his uniform shirt sliced and arms roughed up, and he's sure that there's something else wrong with him; his breathing is laboured, he sweats profusely and on top of that he feels dizzy. Poison. Rolo can recognize the symptoms of poisoning, his childhood being as it was. And as if to further prove this, he remembers something about poison from the dream.

Leaving the shadow behind, he steps through the chaos, dodging the swipe of a sword here and the backstep of someone there, panic quickly rising like bile in his throat. He has to find Lelouch, and fast. He'd been tied up far too long. Lelouch wasn't good in combat-- he'd been told to trust Suzaku, and he was hoping that he did as he was expected: to protect him. But it wasn't a sure thing.

Amidst the crowd, the noise, Lelouch's voice suddenly rings loud and clear, and Rolo sees him. He approaches, wasting no time. "Broth--" And then, he sees Nunnally. He takes a satisfaction in her crumpled form, but it's lost among the worry he has for Lelouch. Losing Nunnally like this and seeing her dead… yes, Rolo would have done the job much cleaner. Then, the massacre princess, another sister. It's no wonder he is as he is, and Rolo nearly looks away.

But he can't fight. Surely Lelouch would be hurt if he were to fight.

"Brother, don't--...!"

[idkmybffxiao]

Of course they were going to get blood, just not from the same place that Lelouch had in mind. It wasn't going to be 'theirs', but his.

The shadow copy of Mei had been watching his dramatics quietly, up until he drew the sword out. Her smile returned and she sprang back into action. She flung all six of her blades at his back right as he finished drawing the blade.

[veepofchess]

One of those knives sank deep into his spine, and he crumpled to the ground. The sword hit the floor with a loud clatter. Lelouch cried out in pain, and blood seeped all over his uniform. In his rage, he didn't see Suzaku or Rolo. Instead, he occupied himself with reaching for his sword again. His arms still worked, but his legs didn't seem to.

His breathing began to wheeze, and he coughed up blood. A lung, he noted absently.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku was almost there, but almost there was too far away and far too late. No... He saw the knives hit Lelouch, he was too late, he couldn't be too late... The bodies of Euphemia and Nunnally only fuelled his rage, his pain as he reached Lelouch. He had his sword out, pointing it at Mei, but he was concentrating on Lelouch.

"Lelouch..." He couldn't be dying, he couldn't be; there had to be a way to save him.

[veepofchess]

"Suzaku..." he choked out. He coughed again, worse this time, and more blood came out. His hand went back to Nunnally's chair again. He only had enough reach to barely touch it. His breathing was definitely difficult. "...estroy them... sink this pla--" He was cut off again by more coughs. "For them..." it was obvious to whom he was referring. "I can't..." his voice was fading as he went on. As was the opacity of his sword.

[swordofzero]

He was too late, he was always too late and he could do nothing but kneel at Lelouch's side as his friend spoke. "It's alright Lelouch," but it wasn't and his voice was breaking, "You're going to..." He trailed off, Lelouch wasn't Euphemia or Nunnally, he didn't have to pretend everything was alright. Lelouch knew he was going to die.

"I'm sorry...." He was crying now, this couldn't be happening, it couldn't and yet it was. "I couldn't protect you..."

Suzaku didn't need to be asked to destroy this place, this place had killed his friends, he would take it down if it was the last thing he ever did, which it would be...

[bitofafiction]

There is, in fact, no possible way he could have got there in time. Nothing he could have done. Even with two hands the best he could have hoped for—wouldn't have worked.

Sherlock's hand tightens on the hilt of his sword. He stops listening to Lelouch and Suzaku and gazes past them with blank eyes.

[idkmybffxiao]

Dark Mei stood quite still when the sword was pointed at her. The shadowy child waited, watched, suspiciously lacking in cruel remarks this time. When Suzaku moved to kneel by his dead friend...

An opening! She made her move, pulling another dreadful little blade out and lunging towards the knight.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku turned slightly, just enough to make contact with the knife. He glared at Mei his eyes screaming in pain. This wasn't Mei, this was a shadow, a twisted monster. She had killed Lelouch... he brought his sword up, ready... if he couldn't save Lelouch, then he could at least avenge him.

[stopwatch]

Rolo watches it unfold with a mute horror. Before he can so much as blink his brother is breathing his dying breath and his weapon fades with his life.

Lelouch is dead. His brother, dead. He never thought that...

He just stands there. It's surreal. He looks to his hands, the knife, and then he's snapped out of whatever it was he'd been stuck in when the little girl attacks Kururugi. Lelouch said to trust him, and Rolo hates him for having failed his brother, hates himself for the same reason, but he'll trust in him. Just a little bit.

Rolo doesn't cry. It's a weakness, after all, and to show weakness is to be eaten alive.

He lunges forwards, switchblade at the ready-- while Mei is preoccupied with Suzaku, he goes to silently bring the blade into her side. There's still a good chance she can get away, but it is worth the risk.

[idkmybffxiao]

"Let's play, Suzaku-- ah!"

The lunge from Rolo caught her eye and the girl, even quicker than her regular self thanks to her weapon, spun out of the way. She evaded Rolo's strike, but doing that left her wide open for the knight...

[veepofchess]

"Close her eyes," he whispered to Suzaku. And with that, he finally passed. His sword disappeared entirely. His body was no longer racked with coughs, but instead his blood trailed out in a small trickle.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku heard Lelouch's voice for the last time and glanced to the side just in time to see the sword fade out of existence. Tears leaked out of the corner of his eyes and he nodded a bitter helpless nod.

"Yes... your majesty," his eyes flashed hatred at the shadow and he rushed forwards thrusting the sword forwards, aiming at the shadows chest.

[idkmybffxiao]

And that was the end of the shadowy child. The sword went right through her, right through her chest, not unlike the same way the original Mei had died in this round. She gave Suzaku a surprised look before fading away...

[swordofzero]

Suzaku's tears fell steadily as, once the shadow monster was gone, he turned back towards the bodies of Lelouch, Euphemia and Nunnally. "I'm sorry..." He knelt next to Nunnally's chair and did as Lelouch had asked him, closing her eyes; eyes that had been open for a painfully short amount of time. "I'm sorry..."

He turned to Rolo, the young boy who was not truly Lelouch's brother, but who Lelouch seemed to consider as such. He was the only one left, the only one who Lelouch was trying to protect who was still alive. Suzaku had failed protecting the others, failed at protecting Lelouch himself but he couldn't give up, not while Rolo was still alive.

"Stay close Rolo, I'll look after you." His voice was still breaking; he scrubbed his hand over his eyes. He couldn't break down, he had to look after Rolo, he had to do his best to defeat these monsters that had killed his friends.

He glanced at the other boy, they should probably stick together but Suzaku was too shaken to actually approach or ask.


I didn't know what Sherlock was doing after this so I'll leave it to you to chose if he joins them or not.