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rakuen2011-01-24 01:48 pm
utopiamods) wrote in rakuen2011-01-24 01:48 pm
Entry tags:
[Round Zero: part 1]
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!"
"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.]
no subject
"I guess I should return the favor. You killed a lot of people that day. Do you remember? The screaming children, the grunts of their fathers trying to protect them? The cries of the women in pain? Perhaps I should make you relive the fear they felt that day."
Kallen didn't think twice about gunning the woman down. Royalty or not, this was her shadow's heart felt revenge. She shrugs and moves away from the scene before Sherlock can react, going after someone else.
no subject
And then the bullets rip through her back into her front, an insane pain blossoming through her chest and stomach, and she doesn't realize she's fallen until she's on the ground. The wounds don't hurt, as she lays there; they just sting when she moves. So Euphemia lays still. Her blood is warm, ever so warm, and it nearly feels comforting.
As she bleeds out on the floor of the lobby, Euphemia wonders where her brother is. Where her knight is. She hopes they're okay.
no subject
She looked back, pretty content with herself. Even though Kallen's too far away for the fallen princess to hear it, she spoke.
"Guess they never taught you to never expose your back to your enemy."
no subject
This is what happens while Euphemia is busy dying:
He aims for Kallen's shadow, bracing the gun with his bad arm. This is a mistake. It would have been less of a mistake if he hadn't instinctively tried to move his fingers. He can't correct his aim in time; having missed the girl on the stage already, he won't fire unless he is sure.
By the time he is sure, he doesn't have a gun anymore.
Very consciously not thinking about why that is, because if he lets himself dwell on it he will stop thinking at all, Sherlock crosses to where she started running and picks up his sword. The fact that he never once lets Kallen's shadow have a clear line of sight on him is purely automatic.