ROUND 4 - NEW PLAYERS & ROUND CHANGE

[utopiamods]

You're falling, and you can't remember why. It's a sickening feeling that makes your insides lurch; the darkness and the vertigo combine, and all you can think of is a story you heard once, somewhere.

- I remember now. It's a simple story that everyone knows. A legend of a Princess, the Demon Lord who kidnapped her, and the Knight who fought to save her.

The Demon Lord had kidnapped the Princess countless times, but every time the Knight bested his challenges and rescued the Princess.

No matter what tricks and ploys the Demon Lord used, the Knight would always triumph in the end. This was because--

The world tilts on its axis one last time, and the dream slips from your mind as easily as it arrived. A new voice intrudes on your sleep.

"Next stop: Academy Main Entrance. This tramline terminates here; all change. Next stop: Academy Main Entrance. All change."

Sunlight streams through the windows of the long carriage, making the seats almost uncomfortably warm beneath its waking passengers. The air is muggy and thick, the atmosphere deeply tired. Your nausea settles, slowly. The last of the dream fades.

"We have arrived at Utopia. Repeat, we have arrived at Utopia Academy. Could all passengers please leave the tram, as it is terminating here."

The tram pulls to a stop outside the academy station, and anyone onboard is ushered off and directed to the front lobby of the school. You can't miss it; there are signs up pointing toward the main entrance, reading "New student orientation" in big, bright letters. If anyone should care to move off the path, try exploring somewhere else, a teacher will conveniently appear to shoo them back toward the lobby, assuring them that "all your questions will be answered inside".

The lobby is big and spacious, looking more like a university or perhaps a fancy international hotel than a high school. Stood around are any number of students in the uniform of the school. Some of them even look awake. There are several receptionists at the desk towards the back of the lobby, but for now they seem busy with paperwork.

Anyway, the many screens are far more interesting. Once a good number of students are gathered inside the building, they all activate at once to show a cheerful, almost cavity-inducing woman in the school uniform. She smiles, waves, and launches into her speech without further ado.

"Good afternoon to our new students here at Utopia Academy! Thank you for choosing to enroll with us for this, our first semester of the new year. Our battle system is the best in the world, set up for you, our students! I hope that you all had a fun journey here, and that you've all made some new friends! You're going to need them soon, so keep them close, okay?

"Now, I'm going to explain the rules for you. Make sure to listen carefully, and remember, you can find all of this and more in the Exaclan manual!"

She outlines the battle system for the newbies as she has every round previous, then claps her hands. The screen goes blank, and the following appears:

PLAYERS FOR ROUND 4:
Dahlia Hawthorne
Edward Elric
Gino Weinberg
Kanaya Maryam
Lelouch vi Britannia
Rudy Roughnight
Sherlock Holmes
Shiro Tougyu
Suzaku Kururugi
Takuto Tsunashi
Tomoko Oashi
Zoro Roronoa

Comments

[swordofzero]

Suzaku turned round at the voie and smiled, "Hello Yuka." He hadn't seen her for a while and it was nice to see a friendly face. He was calmer now he and Lelouch had some semblance of a plan.

Remembering how nervous Yuka had been around him he gave another smile to reasure her. "How are you?"

[brokencrane]

She nodded and smiled back at him. "Hello. I'm fine, thank you. Um, how are you? I saw you were a player this round..."

[swordofzero]

Suzaku nodded, "I'm fine and yes," he frowned at the boards, "It looks like I am a player again this round." He paused and then blinked a little awkwardly, "Were you looking for a player?"

[brokencrane]

"A-Ah, I meant that being a player isn't good...and I don't remember if you were good at fighting or not..."

[swordofzero]

"Oh," Suzaku paused awkwardly, she was right being a player wasn't great but it was better that those that could fight did fight, better than making the children fight. "Yeah I can fight," he gave a reasuring nod, "I was a knight back before we were brought here."

[brokencrane]

She wasn't entirely clear what he meant by "knight"; weren't those from a long time ago? But it seemed to mean he knew how to fight, so that was good. "That's good, then."

"Um...have you found a weapon yet? If you need one, I could do it..."

[swordofzero]

Suzaku nodded, he was glad for any help at all, after all they had to try and stop Gino. Because what Gino was planning could hurt everybody, however Suzaku had vowed already with Theta, Huashi, Kotarou and Enki. One more weapon and he won the round and wouldn't be able to battle, that would mean Lelouch would have to fight Gino alone.

He frowned before he had an idea, "I have four weapons already, however if you wanted a player, I know someone who needs weapons. He doesn't know that many people..." He waited to guage Yuka's initial reaction.

[brokencrane]

Four?! He must know a lot more people than she did, if he could get that many that fast. "Wouldn't having five make it so you wouldn't have to fight?" That was how it worked, right? So having five would definitely be better than having four, since he didn't like the fighting either. Unless there was a reason he didn't want five yet?

She frowned slightly at his next statement; she couldn't say she liked the idea of being someone's weapon when she didn't know them, but she knew it was hard being a player when you didn't know many people. "A friend of yours?" If he was Suzaku-san's friend then he was probably nice, right?

[swordofzero]

"Usually yes, but this time I have to..." He looked sad, he didn't really want to go into the details, didn't want to worry Yuka. "But I am trying to find five people to join Lelouch, he's not a fighter," of course Lelouch was adamant that he was going to fight Gino and rescue Nunnally. It was a foolish plan, the Lelouch fighting Gino part, one of the worst Lelouch had ever had.

After all Zero requiem, destroying the world and creating it anew, as insane as it sounded was so much more likely to succeed than anything that involved Lelouch beating Gino in a physical fight. Suzaku sighed, "He's a friend yes," his mind fuzzed a little and he wondered why that seemed so strange, they were friends, always had been.

"He's around, if you want me to introduce you to him?"

[brokencrane]

Had to? Was something going on? He didn't really look like he wanted to talk about it, though, so she just nodded and said, "Oh, I see."

Well, it wouldn't hurt anything to talk to him, at least. "Sure, that would be fine..."

[swordofzero]

Suzaku nodded and gave another tiny smile, "Let's fine him then," it did not take long, they walked through the crowds as Suzaku kept his eyes out for Lelouch, when he spotted him he led Yuka over.

"Lelouch?"

[veepofchess]

Lelouch still seemed to be thinking their predicament over. He looked over at the two as they approached. "Hmm?"

[swordofzero]

Suzaku nodded at him and then looked to Yuka with a polite smile. "Yuka this is Lelouch who I was telling you about, Lelouch this is a friend of mine, Yuka."

[brokencrane]

Yuka smiled at him, a bit nervously, and nodded. "Ah, hello."

[veepofchess]

He nodded slightly to her. "Hello," he responded. His eyes flitted to his Knight and back to her briefly. "Are you a friend of Suzaku's?"

[swordofzero]

Suzaku nodded at Lelouch and smiled reasuringly at Yuka, allowing her to answer the question but letting her know that he was still paying attention.