[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

[themerryway]

Shadow Euphemia loads her gun, flipping the switch and aiming carefully, then firing. She's got a big smile on her face, blood splattered across her torn dress and face. And maybe the bullet she's just fired is headed in your direction!

[derpyglasses]

Akane here is always in the wrong place at the wrong time, isn't he. And this proves to be no different. It's more like sheer dumb luck than any sort of real skill on his part that he manages to lunge in time for one of those bullets to merely graze his shoulder. Shit. Please stop firing, thanks.

[allurprincess]

Luckily he's allied with someone who can generally be counted on to be in the right place at roughly the right time. Or just a little later than the right time.

Like now.

"Akane!" The yell is accompanied by the sound of ricocheting bullets, as Sora dives in front of him and uses her conveniently increased reflexes to swipe most of the next clip out of the air with a slash of her ~heroically shining blade~. "Are you hurt?!"

[themerryway]

Euphemia frowns deeply at the pair, but then her face lights up with recognition. "You two... you're Japanese, aren't you?" She raises her gun and starts to aim for them. "Please die! Thank you, I appreciate it."

Yes, that's right. Euphemia's shadow is herself as she was when under the effects of Lelouch's geass.

[frozen_desires]

The minute the shadow began to take aim, so did Tougyu.

Shifting his stance, he swung back the arm that held his scythe and bellowed a single warning, "Down!" before sending the deadly weapon flying through the air. Even if it didn't hit her with the bladed side, the sheer weight would do enough damage all on its own.

[allurprincess]

"Euphie--" Sora hesitated...

"Down!"

Oh. She recognised his voice and dropped to the ground immediately, pulling Akane down with her. The scythe thrummed past them, and she risked a glance back towards their saviour before it had even connected.

Tougyu. She felt a surge of relief that he was alive, closely followed by fear as his shadow raised a dark replica of the weapon he'd just thrown, ready to strike. Sora drew her arm back and put every ounce of strength into a throw of her own; at her shout her sword whistled past Tougyu - towards his laughing shadow - in a trail of white light.

"HAAH!"

[themerryway]

Euphie's shadow disappears without a sound and a wisp of smoke.

[frozen_desires]

As Tougyu's scythe connected with the shadow and sent it back to wherever the hell it had come from, the sound of sudden, ominous laughter behind him made him whirl around to face the threat in vain. Even if he was fast enough to raise a guard, he had no weapon with which to do so and he of all people knew there was no blocking a strike from his weapon. Even without the upgrades, the blade and chain would have done enough damage to ensure his death through blood loss.

So just as he prepared himself to face death, he was shocked when he saw a streak of light slam itself right into the shadow's chest, dispelling it with one last eerie, high pitched keen.

And as the sword fell to the ground and embedded itself into the stone, he stared at it with the strange acknowledgment that it belonged to Sora.

Of course it would be a sword, she was a knight after all.

before dark!euphie dies

[drivesahonda]

It happens before Ieyasu can start making heads or tails of much of anything. The bullet tears through his torso, leaving him alive for now, but useless. Broken.

And still he struggles to get up, hoping against everything that there is time to overcome this. It cannot be, Ieyasu thinks, that life would take him from one place of war only to drop him off in another. It cannot be, and yet--

He can feel his strength failing. Perhaps his deeds have caught up to him.

[themerryway]

Euphemia gleefully guns him down, shooting up his entire body, pausing to reload, and then shooting him some more. Overkill is fun! Though before he dies, she does wander over, grasping him by the hair and looking his face over.

"Thank you," she says, smiling.