[Round 3, Rest Day] And They Said: Let There Be No Light.

[utopiamods]

Characters: ALL
Format: ANY
This log is: OPEN
Location: ALL OF CAMPUS
Summary: In a flash of lightning and the deafening roll of thunder, the power goes out across Utopia Academy.

It's early in the morning when it happens, about six o'clock. The clouds were gathering gradually through the night, the rain only getting heavier from the near-constant downpour during the previous week. Lightning crackles across the sky, the water around the academy is violent and the waves are high. And in a particularly loud clap of thunder, what lights were still on go out and the academy is plunged into darkness.

Comments

[earlofpudding]

[And so it happened to be that Lloyd had just flipped the switch to add a charge to the first iteration of the EMP weapon he'd been putting together. Sure, he could have opted for pilfering batteries and trying to make it work on a lesser power source, but...

That. That just doesn't give the same sense of mad science satisfaction that hooking the entire thing up to a grid and throwing a breaker switch with dramatic gusto does. It's about standards, people. STANDARDS. Though he does get points for avoiding the cliché maniacal laughter and the crazy monologuing, right?

In any case, when the power cuts right after the switch is thrown and the process ends up being incomplete. This usually means---]

BANG

[...that.

A sudden, short, completely unthunder-like explosion follows on the heels of the power cutting out and, while little harm is done, that device throws off enough smoke that Lloyd has to stumble out of the makeshift lab coughing, plumes of black trailing out after him. Oops. So much for keeping the experiment on schedule.]

[swordofzero]

[It was probably about five minutes after the explosion that Suzaku poked his head round the door of the makeshift lab of Lloyds. He was still a little confused, Lelouch hadn't explained how exactly they were going to escape but he trusted that Lelouch had a plan and understood that time was of an essence.]

Lloyd? [coughing slightly on the smoke looking around for Lloyd] What happened here?

[earlofpudding]

[Almost as soon as Suzaku looked into the smoking lab, he'll hear Lloyd from right behind him, right by his ear even. Just... suddenly.]

Tch! Don't go sticking your head into random smoke! [And then he'll find himself dragged back away from the doors and into the rain again by a hand on his shoulder.] It might be mildly... toxic.

[Whether he paused intentionally so the lightning and thunder that rumbles overhead just after he says that would lend some dramatic effect to those words, the world may never know. Maybe mad scientists just have really good timing for these kinds of things or something. Anyway! Lloyd is somewhat singed looking and more or less looking drowned from standing out in the storm like he has been. Not that it's wiped the smile off his face.]

Only a tiny setback~! It'll be back up and running again once the smoke clears out a bit!

[monkeystail]

The rain woke her up. Not the loss of electricity, since she and Kotarou were sungly bedded down in their hideout. Which was, thankfully, dry, though in the far corner, a puddle had begun to grow from water dripping down. But that was otherwise the only proof of the weather inside their 'nest'; it was warm and dry.

"Yu Long could do this..." Huashi sat up, careful not to disturb the covers so that they'd fall of Kotarou. Though this was hardly possible, with how many various blankets and whatnot there were, allowing the two to hog covers with ease and still have enough left to cover their bodies with more to spare.

"I miss them..." Huashi stood up and jumped off the bed (several filched mattresses and then a mess of blankets and pillows) and wandered outside, ignoring the rain. The wind was only faint here, due to the trees.

"Daddy..." She didn't manage to keep the whine out of her voice as she let the rain soak her, though considering she was only wearing a too-big shirt, getting soaked wasn't an accomplishment.

"Yu Long... Drown them. I want to go home..." Considering all the rain, a few extra drops of water sliding down Huashi's face couldn't be picked out as tears.

[tenwholeryou]

The rain didn't wake Kotarou up, nor did Huashi's early awakening. What did it was a particularly loud thunderclap, which had the boy bolting upright and reaching for Tobimaru. When his sleep-hazed mind caught up with where he was, he flopped back onto the nest of blankets and rolled over to grab onto Huashi... and she wasn't in her blankets.

"Huashi?" He called, flinching as another lightning bolt illuminated the hideout. "Huashi, where are you?"

[monkeystail]

The rolling thunder didn't drown out Kotarou's wavering call, and the monkey girl shook her head and went back inside, taking off the wet shirt and pulling a blanket off from the pile to dry herself somewhat, and then she dived back into the warm nest.

"Right here, Kotarou. Are you okay?" Her smile was dimmer than usual, and she still feels like (continuing to) crying, but she swallows it back. Kotarou didn't need to see that.

Then, suddenly, she reached out and snagged Kotarou to herself, hugging him firecly.

It wasn't the same.

Kotarou, when he hugged back (if he would, he was so cutely huffy about things like this), wouldn't be nearly strong enough to even simulate what she was looking for. And while he smelled of dirt and little-boy scent, he didn't smell of lightning and air, of rain and black, rich earth.

He did not smell like her father.

GEASS CAST LOOK HERE

[veepofchess]

Upon awakening, Lelouch took in what was going on very quickly. He tried his desk lamp, and when that didn't work, it was confirmed. He had to act quickly to get everyone before the backup power came on.

Still in his pajamas, he pushed his shoes onto his feet, and darted out of his dormitory door, headed for Suzaku's.

His plan: Get everyone together and meet at the harbor. They were leaving.

PLACEHOLDER from when I return!

[queenscheckmate]

Kallen had been in the middle of washing her face when the power went out. The hell-- She felt around for her towel and patted down her face. For a moment, she didn't even believe she opened her eyes. She sighed. Again with this place.

Already dressed, she carefully headed back into her room. There had to be a flashlight some-- Got it!

She made her way into the common room of her dorm and saw Lelouch walk by. It piqued her interest but she didn't go out.

Re: PLACEHOLDER from when I return!

[veepofchess]

Lelouch had almost passed Kallen before he caught her hair in the corner of his eye. "Kallen," he said, no shortage of urgency in his voice. "The power's out. We're leaving before the security system can get back online. We're going to the harbor." Of course, there was an assumption that she'd be coming with in the way he'd said this.

AWESOME PLAN GO!

[swordofzero]

Suzaku woke up to a loud clap of thunder. Blinking he rolled out of bed and looked around, somehow two of his roommates were still asleep. Kotarou was nowhere to be seen, Suzaku hoped he was with Huashi and somewhere dry.

A faint knock made Suzaku pad over to the door, it was pitch black and he tried the lights to realise they had gone off. He opened the door a small amount, "Who is it?"

Forested area near the Gym/Library

[shishi_sonson]

Ever an early riser, Zoro had removed himself from bed just as the sun had started to rise - one couldn't tell that it had come up at all, however, with the overcast skies painted in dour shades of black and gray. Nevertheless, with or without sunshine, he was up and about before the thunder had really started to let loose, and the campus still had power.

A little rain never bothered him; never did a lot of it. As he stood motionless beneath a light canopy of trees, his eyes softly shut and his expressions stern and hardened, he likened the day back to many others spent out at sea in rough weather. Light, wet drops touched against the top of his green-covered hair, causing him to cringe periodically, but he remained still and quiet, determined that he reason he stood outside in this rain was training, and it should not be disrupted. Instead, he remained in place, his legs folded beneath him neatly as he sat on a soft patch of grass.

Suddenly, a deafening roar of thunder filled the air, forcing the lights all across campus to vanish instantly. Zoro failed to notice it, however, lost in his own silent meditation. He barely seemed to notice the lightning, either - if he was hit by some chance, he felt, that was just what fate demanded. Nothing would disturb his focus, nothing short of a flash flood.

...well, maybe it would disrupt him if someone asked if he was only sitting out in the rain was because he still wasn't allowed to use the gym and facilities yet.

"...stupid non-Player rulers..."

Re: Forested area near the Gym/Library

[waddles]

Fortunately for Zoro, Rafiel was neither a flash flood nor a bolt of lightning. Instead, he was a heavily cloaked figure holding an umbrella partially over the sitting man with a great deal of concern on his face. He had just been on his way towards the woods carrying an extra umbrella and cloak in case the monkey girl had chosen to stay in the forests when he spotted Zoro. Now what, he wondered, would someone be doing out in this weather, sitting no less?

"Are you alright?" Rafiel inquired, tone calm despite the rumble of thunder overhead.

[greennotgold]

Fletcher is in Red dorm, room 1-A, thanks to a particularly nasty dream he had at around midnight. He's curled up in Russel's bed clinging to him, when the sudden thunder awakens him.

He squeaks.

[chainedbyred]

Russel's first instinct when startled awake is to curl an arm tightly around Fletcher. His eyes snapped open to look around them. They were still in the dorm, and after a moment he realized the sound had been a righteous thunderclap. He looked down at Fletcher. "It's alright. It's just the storm," he said quietly.

[formerly_known_as_prince]

Utena had decided to go for a morning run, like the annoyingly enthusiastic person she was. Up at first light, sneakers and track suit on. No music. She didn't need it. The sun would poke over the horizon soon, like a shy child hiding behind a pillar.

Or at least that was what she thought. Why wasn't the sun rising?

Probably because of that. CRACK. BOOM. And fat droplets came down, spattering everything. She was well and truly soaked before she found the superfluous shelter of an overhang. Pink hair stuck to her cheeks and neck.

[bitofafiction]

Heavy rain makes sleeping out of doors quite difficult.

Sherlock has not been having a good week.

He stumbles past, looking half-awake at best and very bedraggled in his leather jacket, shortly after Utena finds her overhang. He stops when he sees her and comes to join her in its shelter.

"Good morning," he says wryly.

Red 1-A

[allurprincess]

For once, Sora hadn't gone for her morning run. Rest days were days for rest, right? She deserved to sleep in. And Suzaku wasn't feeling up to training, after Euphie... well. Yuki's bed was empty to remind her of that. Hiyo and Reiko's too. She would have gone running to work out her thoughts through action and exercise, but looking outside as the thunder crashed overhead? She'd made the right choice in being lazy.

She stretched, the covers falling away as she sat up properly, and slid out of bed. Speaking of running...

"I hope Utena's okay."

[myblueskies]

Romeo couldn't sleep, he wasn't scared. Of course he wasn't he had been in pleanty of thunderstorms before and at least this time he was warm and dry and not trying to row a boat over a river or face down the Wolf Pack with Alfredo. But still it was so noisy that it had woken him up, everything was dark.

Through the ocasional lightning flash Romeo could see that Fletcher had come into their room in the night and was with his brother. Another flash of light and Romeo saw that Sora was stood up.

"Miss Sora?" He sat up in the darkness, "You're not scared are you?" Miss Sora was an adult, she wouldn't be scared of anything, especially not a storm!

Re: Red 1-A

[formerly_known_as_prince]

The object of her concern looked up through plastered on pink curls. Something had moved in one of the dorms above. She squinted as the fat droplets and thunder drummed on her skull like tiny insane monkey drummers.

WHITE 2-B

[ninjasloveme]

[Gaara was actually sleeping, since his room is empty and Sakura assured him several days ago that he could sleep in safety. Though he doesn't remember why that's the case, he trusts her.

Well, he was sleeping. He's awake now, and has been since the storm started, watching the odd person or two run through the storm past the dorm buildings like a creeper.]

[awildcatappears]

[Not being able to sleep in a bed, Mikoto was sleeping at the foot of Gaara's bed. Very cat like isn't it? Well, it's not like she belonged on the floor... more so, this wasn't even her room. But she jumped awake when the clap of thunder shook her out of her sleep.]

Red 2-A

[choseanidiot]

Enki was sitting in the open window of his room, feeling not the slightes bad about this, considering he was alone in the room, now. There had been people here before, but they'd disappeared at points these last two weeks...

So now he was sitting in this open window, getting thoroughly wet, his hair wet enough the wind couldn't whip it around anymore.

Why was he doing this?

All this wild weather made him want to be riding the wind, feel the crackle of energy in the air as lightning lashed between the clouds above, static running down his body. And he couldn't do that.

Because he couldn't change.

Enki stared down at the ground from one story above, and felt the wind tugging at the soaked clothes and hair. The wind was calling, and he couldn't go.

[ninjasloveme]

"Enki," it wasn't entirely clear why Gaara had left the White building, even to himself. The flickering of a fire in one of the windows, maybe, or just restlessness caused by the storm. Whatever the reason, he had come to visit Enki's room on a gut feeling, and stood in the doorway watching the kirin perched on the windowsill with a forehead slightly wrinkled with worry.

"Is something wrong?"

Attn Lelouch, potentially Lloyd and anyone else who managed to be convinced that this was a good ide

[swordofzero]

In the pitch black of the harbour there was a figure. A figure battered by the wind, his brown hair plastered to his head by the unyielding rain. A very very annoyed figure. Well actually there were two figures, the smaller one seemed to be carrying the taller one over his shoulder, like a sack of potatoes. When they arrived at the dock the smaller figure dropped his load unceremoniously on the ground.

"You couldn't make this easy could you?"

This should not have been as difficult as it had been. A simple task of fetching Lloyd to the harbour so that they could escape had ended up with Suzaku been almost locked in a cupboard, Lloyd with a bloody nose and Suzaku carrying/dragging Lloyd to their destination.

Here they were, soaked to the skin but ready to escape. Well Suzaku was sort of. It didn't matter anyways he sighed, there was no sign of Lelouch. He hoped Lelouch had not ran into any trouble, after all he had only gone to fetch Kallen and Nunnally, how much trouble could he meet!

/overdramatics all over this thread

[earlofpudding]

Dragging Lloyd down to the docks had been akin to putting a harness on a cat. He was very dramatic about it, did everything in his power to make every step of the trip a complete pain, and now? He was sitting on the ground.In the mud. Refusing to get back up no matter how Suzaku might try and convince him to. He won't. You see, he is sulking. But since he was sulking in the mud, that meant he would have to do laundry later. Lloyd had no freaking idea how a laundry machine worked.

This, in turn, made Lloyd sulk even more.

"...we're all going to drown," he complained as he stared out at the thrashing, wild waves in the harbor.

Lloyd Asplund, what a ray of sunshine.