ROUND -1

[utopiamods]

This morning, the marks of ownership disappear from the bodies of every Weapon who was owned during the previous round. The woman from the introductory video appears on the Exaclan video screens across campus, and on all of the computer screens as well.

She doesn't look very happy.

"My, you weren't very enthusiastic this time, were you?" she says, frowning and waving one finger in disappointment. "That's no good. If you don't fight, you can't earn Tokens to buy your powers or your memories back! If you don't even have those, imagine how hard it'll be to earn Legend Fragments!"

She smiles; the shift from her previous expression is sudden and startling. "You know, if you hear the legend, you just might learn a few things!

"We didn't want to do this, but it looks like we're going to have to. Okay! From now on, Players, you can only go three days without fighting. After that, we'll start taking away one Token a day. And you want your Tokens, don't you?" She smiles even more widely, as though she has no idea why anyone might be upset at being forced into such a situation. "To get you all started, we've given you some free tokens! You already had three each, you know, and we've added seven more. That means you all have ten tokens, so visit a booth and get spending."

She pauses, and then snaps her fingers, "Ah, but only Players can do that, so if any of your Weapons want to buy something, you should do it for them, okay?

"I know you can do it! Believe in yourselves and each other, and you'll achieve utopia!

"Now, here are the Players for this round!"

The screen goes blank, and the following appears:

PLAYERS FOR ROUND -1:
Fletcher Tringham
Kevin Smith
Mei Chang
Meryl Silverburgh
Oichi
Suzaku Kururugi
Tsuki Aoi

Comments

[greennotgold]

Fletcher stared in horror at the screen. "Huh? But--but I don't want to fight!"

[allurprincess]

The first name on the list. Wasn't that... Oh no. Sora took a few seconds to spot him in the small crowd of students, and was then over to him in a flash. The one boy she'd met thus far who didn't want to take part in the game.

"Fletcher!"

[bitofafiction]

Some time later, it just so happens that Sherlock wanders past. Certainly not after eavesdropping on previous conversations, or anything.*

"Good morning," he says politely.

*lies!

[princesspowerful]

Molly may not be a Player anymore but she still promised to protect Fletcher and she sticks to her promises, so when she sees his name on the board, she goes looking for him.

"Fletcher! Are you gonna fight? Don't fight if you don't wanna, but then they take your tokens so do you hafta fight?" She babbled once she found him.

[thatguywhohasablog]

"Shit, already? Time flies when you're having fun I guess."

Dave looked around the lobby, apparently unfazed, and then stuck his hand in the air and raised his voice. "Yo, anyone want a piece of this? I have this massive time sword or something, it's pretty much objectively the most badass. Anyone wants to go ahead and yank that out of my chest like the once and future ninja king of all virtual reality high school fights, they are fucking welcome to it if it means I'm allowed to eat dessert and use the bathroom."

[tenwholeryou]

"Dave!" Kotarou didn't look particularly happy. He also didn't look particularly able to breathe; he'd just sprinted across the room. "Why aren't you my Player any more?" He waved his hand in front of the older boy's face, in case he'd missed the conspicuous lack of marks. "What am I supposed to do now?"

[snakesonaprincess]

A Player. This was unexpected. Even though she knew this was always a possibility, it's still rather surprising to actually come face to face with it.

Of course, no one could probably tell that just from looking at her, as her expression remained impassive as she views the screen. She would fight if she had to, she had no qualms with that at all. Especially now that a time limit had been imposed.

"So now we're being coerced, are we? Idiotic."

[swordofzero]

Suzaku blinked at the screan. He was a player? It had been a week already since they had been kidnapped and brought to this place and Suzaku was still trying to get his head around what had happened. From the video that they had just been shown those that had brought them here were not pleased that they were not playing along and battling each other.

Suzaku did not know why them fighting eachother would benifit those who had brought them here, it was one of the things that they would need to work out if they were to beat this system. From what Sora Himoto had said in her old school the reason had been merely that those running the school had hated girls, why Suzaku had no idea but those in charge rarely needed any logical reason to oppress groups of people.

But what was the reasoning here? The players changed each round so it wasn't like whoever had brought them here had decided they hated some of them. Maybe they were watching, evaluating them for something. Suzaku shook his head, he had no idea, he wondered if Lelouch had worked it out yet.

So he was a player and there were new rules, he had to fight at least every three days or loose tokens, he also had some tokens - which he hadn't realised before. He heard a voice near him speaking and blinked, "They seem quite desperate to make us fight..." He said in a half answer, talking to as many people as possible was one way to get information which could help them figure out what was going on. Sora had been right, they had to work together.

[trollofthree]

"Minus one? Wonder what's gonna happen after this one." Esconced against one side of the lobby, with a good view of one of the larger wall screens, Gino didn't look particularly concerned about the warning. Or any part of the announcement, despite being one of the scolded parties. As far as he could see, he'd had his turn, and it would probably take a while before he got tapped as a Player again. Plenty of time before he'd have to worry about losing the tokens he'd earned. Mostly he was curious as to whether anyone would try to recruit him before he went looking on his own.

Other than that, he just kept an eye out for Kevin. He'd made a promise, and had earned the tokens to keep it.

[myownfuture]

"It looks like it's counting down to something..." Reiko mused, glancing over at the boy who'd wondered.

More girls this time... including Sora's friend. Could the people running this Exaclan really be Iwahijiri? Tied to a chair and covered in snakes one week, and a Player the next. How did that make any sense?

[idkmybffxiao]

He wouldn't have to be curious about that for long. Considering how much shorter she was than the rest of the students gathered, her ability to go unseen until the exact moment she sprang merrily out of crowd couldn't be too surprising. There was now a Mei by Gino and, unlike the others, she actually looked excited by the round change.

"Gino! Did you see? My name is up there! I get to be a Player!"

Apparently she chose not to dwell on how badly he had handled her weapon in that last fight, because she is talking to him again. Hooray!

[princesspowerful]

Molly was running around trying to find Fletcher. Unfortunately, she wasn't really watching where she was going, she was too busy looking around trying to find the younger boy.

Oof, she runs right into Gino and falls to the ground, she looks up with a scowl on her face ready to tell him to watch where he's going because she's on an important mission but, "YOU'RE SO TALL!"

[forthward]

So it wasn't just her brother and Kallen... "S-Suzaku-san is here too?"

[veepofchess]

So, then it was Suzaku's turn. This made things easier. He searched around to try to find him, so that he may tell him to take him as his Weapon. But first, he found Nunnally. "Yes, he is," he replied as he approached. He'd arrived just in time to hear her. He smiled kindly to her, as ever. "He'll be happy to see you. Once he turns up, anyway."

[imperceptible]

... say what? Now they had to fight?

"What kind of screwed up school is this?" The blond muttered, mostly to himself as he watched the next list of names come up and- well go figure. He was up to fight already. Not a bad thing in hindsight, really. He was getting pretty tired of being tossed around like a trading card and his current list of players hadn't left him too eager to go back to being a weapon anytime soon.

Still, the fact that he was now the fighter was troubling. He still hadn't gotten through most of the manual and using weapons he'd never handled before was going to be difficult.

Oh well, better make the most of it. He thought and began scanning the area for prospective partners. As if to mark himself as a player this round, he pulled out his glove, ever present on him... somewhere, and pulled it on, frowning minutely at the strange feel of it.

Yeah, he couldn't wait until he got out of this place...

[trollofthree]

"Congratulations!" For such a tall guy, Gino sure could sneak up on someone. He didn't really expect Kevin would want him to stick around, so he just held out his hand and the silvery charm he'd gotten the day before. Whilst he'd been tempted to just wait until the guy called him on it, keeping his bargain would be better in the long run. Thus, "Here, as promised."

[idkmybffxiao]

Mei stared at the big screen. A new round? Already? She hadn't even had a chance to teach Gino how to not fail at using kunai, too! Wait. Wait. That list of names. At first, the tiny girl frowned in disapproval. "They can't make Fletcher fight! He'll be scared!"

...but when her eyes moved down the list to her own.

"Aah! I'm a Player?! I'm a Player!" Unlike the rest, Mei actually cheered. "Alright! I get to collect my own Weapons~!"

Oh glee.

[summerstars]

Grenn tried to hide the smile that slipped out at the girl's excitement behind a hand. It rather was strange to see someone so excited about this, in spite of the circumstances.

It was hard not to think it cute, and Grenn assumed she understood the consequences... Still, it was a bit confusing.

"Why... I mean, why so excited?" Grenn didn't sound disapproving, though, just confused, and there was still a smile lurking at the edges of her mouth.

Then she blinked and looked away, embarrassed. That was the girl Gino had used as his first Weapon. Grenn hoped she didn't hold a grudge. One would have to excuse her for not recognizing Mei at first; she'd been rather busy both during and then after the fight.

SORRY CEL 8'D

[tenwholeryou]

Kotarou, having confronted Dave, was now staring back up at the screen, back down at his unmarked hand, and then around at the other students. "Where am I meant to find any of those people, anyway?"

It's all right o/

[queenscheckmate]

"Kotarou!" Kallen called out, approaching the young boy. She had gotten wind of the message and now her 'disappearing tokens' but seemed to make more sense. Believing it would be a different story.

At least the boy seemed fine. That was her main concern for the moment.

[summerstars]

Grenn stared thoughtfully at the screen, not feeling particularly bad over the "disappointment" expressed. When the only Weapon you managed to get was an accident, considering her... difficulties, and then there hadn't been enough time to attempt to get a new Weapon.

She felt both relieved and nervous about the change; she didn't like that the situation had changed yet again, and, well... there was no guarantee she'd get a Player. At least she didn't care overly much about dessert every day, and her self-imposed lessons would have to be done in notebooks, anyway.

What she'd miss the most, if she didn't get a Player, would be the chance for (even if she couldn't use it herself) a Memory Charm. And perhaps an upgrade for her weapon(s), which she was sure most people would think were toys, at first.

[isur2ndprincess]

Yuki, after getting over the shock of wondering who will own her if, saw Grenn also staring at the screen. She wasn't worried about dessert or her rights, or even her memories. No, she was afraid of being used again, and with none of her friends on the board, she was frightened.

"Thinking about something?" She asked after walking towards the other girl.

[pinwheeling]

"So, in other words… If I wanna get my memories back, I've got no chance but to let some jerk…" Yuffie trailed off into irritated titters and grumbles.

That they were being made to fight at all rankled on her nerves; as fun as a bit of wham, BAM, pow! could be, it'd mean breaking wide open the code of secrecy that she'd been having fun with over the years. But still, she thought, glaring avidly at the screen, if she had to fight, why couldn't she just do it herself? It was her weapon, wasn't it? Clearly, she'd know best how to use it, especially since it was identical to her 4-Point back home. These dumbasses were nowhere near badass enough to match her talents.

[imperceptible]

"You're not gonna get them back if you call all the players jerks." Kevin felt the need to point out as he approached Yuffie.

No, he didn't know her. No, he didn't even want to be remotely close to her but his options were quickly running out and he needed a weapon before he lost his chance. If pairing up with the skimpily dressed girl with a headband was his only choice, then so be it. He'd do whatever it took to return his debt and get more of his memories back.

[themouthofhell]

[ Oichi is trying to find the cafeteria again when the announcement blares across the lobby's screens. It's still startling to see something so strange, but she's beginning to get used to this place.

Seeing her own name on the screen is even more confusing. She can understand what the lady is saying-- but as her rulebook collects dust, she doesn't know what to do, and looks at the screen with her brows furrowed. ]

[tenwholeryou]

Ichi! [Kotarou is doing a lot of running around this morning, apparently.] Did you see? You've got to fight this time.

placeholder until when i wake up sob

[persuades]

El had been walking, familiarizing himself with the already familiar school, when the announcement had started and he had to pause for a moment to listen. It was disconcerting enough that Utopia was not the Utopia he had known, Iwahijiri's puppet strings no longer stretched across everyone and everything. And now this, a different set of rules for Exaclan to the point that even the male population were to become possessions as well.

It was amusing nevertheless, if not ironic to some extent. The balance of power had shifted, with him placed on equal footing with the others. Not that he minded that much; he was beginning to enjoy this little charade with Himoto Sora after all. This only meant that he could no longer rely on his cohorts in fighting and would have to do it himself.

And with this, his game of pretend could continue a bit longer [though why, he couldn't really remember - could have had something to do with that memory loss]. He slipped his hands in his pockets, quickly considering the information being delivered, sorting them out and filing them neatly inside his head. It would be useful enough for him to remember all these things as well as the manual.

Ten tokens, eh? So he wouldn't be able to use it unless he had an owner.

The explanation ended and El looked up, reading the names appearing on the screen. His lips then quirked to an amused smile, an eyebrow rising, upon recognizing the last one. Well, well. Looks like the tables had been turned on him this time.

"How exciting."

[allurprincess]

"Karin, you're here!" It was just one set of good news after another. First Fletcher had agreed to protect the Weapons who didn't want to fight, then she'd found Tsuki, and now even Karin had arrived.

"Did you see the video? What do you think?"

[leftthesafetyon]

Whoa, she got to be a player already? She didn't expect this to happen for a good while. She had a rough time of finding a player, but it should be easier to rope in weapons. Now she was going to see just what they were training everyone to do. She looks around for someone lost-looking, with a decided smirk on her face.

Don't worry, she only looks predatory.

[queenscheckmate]

You plan on fighting, just like you said. [She comes up from behind, in no means to sneak attack.]

[isur2ndprincess]

Yuki stared at the screen in shock. She wasn't a Player, that she was grateful for, but neither were any of other Sora's princesses. Well, Tsuki is up there but they've only spoken once and she's not sure how she feels about her just yet.

She just felt lost. What was she going to do? The thought of being used again scared her too much, even if the people she's met have been kind to her, she cannot forget her experiences from her school.

Why couldn't that have been a taken memory?

[leftthesafetyon]

"It's only two weeks, right?"

She noticed that this other girl seemed troubled, but she had no idea what was really going on. Being a lesser person for two weeks was crappy, but why did she seem outright worried?

[scott_pilgrim]

Scott Pilgrim had just gotten to the lobby in time to hear the announement. However, he was only half-listening to the announement. His mind was on bigger things. For example, just how had his train taken him here? And without his hot new girlfriend. Man, this totally sucked. And that was with a capital S and everything.
With a frown, he started to look around the area. He needed to poke around, and stuff like that. "So, if I get a Player-person, I guess I could get outta here sooner..." he said to nobody in paticular, pondering his fate.

[greennotgold]

Fletcher was still hanging around the lobby. If he'd been a Weapon again this round, he would have left for class already; this time, though, he wanted to gather as many Weapons as he could. If he could get five, he wouldn't have to fight.

Just his luck: He heard a new voice speaking from somewhere nearby, saying something about getting a Player. "Ah..." he spoke up. "Did--did you need a Player?"

[warpwhatsir]

Being a Starfleet officer, there are a lot of things Sulu's used to that'll probably come in handy for this-- following orders, hand-to-hand combat, simulations, blah blah. The thing is, though, he's... kind of more used to being the one in the front lines, not one to just sit back and watch other people fight. It comes with being a Starfleet pilot, after all.

Still, he wants out of here, so... he should probably find a Player, huh. Damn. "Where the hell..."

[leftthesafetyon]

Escape or not, she had to play along, at least for one round. Finding a weapon who wasn't suspicious of her or the system in general was tough, but it couldn't take that much longer, could it? She just had to find a weapon and convince someone to fight.

"The Utopia academy." She responded to his mutterings. "Not much of a school though, if you ask me."