Conquest Round Five

[kingofpoisons]

Just like every week before there are announcements on every board, "Please report to the lobby at 12 noon for assembly." Anyone who get lost or try not to attend are dragged there by Santana.

And really, there is good reason not to go. Anyone who has seen the battle records for this week and can count will know that Conquest has lost. Anyone who was in the city two weeks ago, knows how Day feels about losing.

This time Day isn't just annoyed she is livid. Thanks to the attack on her person on Friday night. Adding that to the fact conquest had lost again. She is stood on the stage with Santana, Flynn, Feferi and Gino. When everyone is gathered she glares at them and starts talking, hitting anyone who doesn't shut up with a warning penalty.

"You lost. Again." She wasn't smiling, she wasn't even holding anything to eat in her hand, she meant business this time. "What is wrong with you? You lose by one round winner. If just one more of you had won the round, and really how hard is it? You would have won!"

She glared at them and everyone who had been players the last round would begin to get a headache that built. "I don't care about your excuses, I don't care if you tried your best. You lost. You are pathetic and you will work harder this round. You will work harder or you will be sorry."

The battle records appeared behind her. "Do I need to even go through them? Will hearing about how you losers failed make you fail less?"

"Golbez and Suzaku Kururugi, Golbez won," she shot a blast of penalty towards Suzaku, sharper and more violent then the ones she had used the last time they had lost. He buckled and she smirked. "Suzaku Kururugi and Sis Strider, Sis won." Another stab of pain, "Golbez and Tear, Tear lost but since she is incacipated in the infirmary due to Golbez's win I will deem that punishment enough. Congratulations Golbez, you put a fairy in a coma!" She actually sounded impressed.

Her mocking grin faded and she continued, "Our head Prefect Santana Lopez fought this round, winning both times of course. Congratulations Santana, Golbez, Suzaku Kururugi, I guess it's applaudable that you even tried." She still hit them with penalties though.

"Onto the battles that truly matter, against Fortitude." The page changed, "Suzaku Kururugi won against Sadaharu Inui, Cirno lost against Jade Harley," Here Cirno would get the stab of pain, only lasting a few moments but painful enough to make her stumble.

"Suzaku Kururugi lost against Spain, Golbez lost against Nanashi and Spain." More pain as she pressed onwards, Tear won against Nanashi and Sadaharu Inui, Suzaku Kururugi won against Spain, but lost against Dave Strider and Jade Harley. Are thirteen year olds too difficult to beat?" More pain went his way, "Cirno lost against Marisa Kirisame," and her way also, "Yuki Yagizawa and Sis Strider both beat Dave."

"Finally Santana Lopez won against Jade Harley, which is no surprise, well done Santana."The records disapeared from behind her and she shook her head, "Yuku Yagizawa and Sis Strider both won the round. I can only hope the next group follow do better."

With that the next round players came up on the screan and she read them out.

"Kotaro Mochizuki
John Egbert
Flynn Scifo
Brienne of Tarth
Lemina Ausa"

Usually this is where the assembly ended but this time Day raised her hand, gesturing people to stay still. Her eyes glinted dangerously.

"Losing the round, as bad as it is. Is not what has made me angry today." Okay it was a big part of what had made her angry, but, "On Friday evening I was attacked, in my office. We have told you time and time again, it is not our fault you are here, taking your anger out on us is not necessary or smart." Her eyes glinted again, "I have my suspicions as to who my attacker is, and they will learn. That disobedience is met with punishment. That I cannot be threatened, and it is unwise to try."

At that she turned to Flynn and he crumpled, her and Satana focussed the warning penalty on him. The pain would be too much for him to stand or talk. It lasted for ten minutes, anyone who moved or talked was hit with a warning penalty strong enough to sink them to their knees.

When it was over she stepped away from Flynn, who was curled up on the floor. It would be a few moments before he had the strength to stand. "Dismissed."

Comments

[pennypincher]

Ordinarily, Lemina would have been excited to hear her name called. A Player? After reading the manual the previous night, she knows what that means. Hurray!

But from the flinching she saw all around her as the headmistress read out the results of the last round, she knew this wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. And then, that horrible ten-minute silence at the end... She called out partway in, demanding to know what Day thought she was doing, and was hit with that penalty herself.

She forced herself to her feet once it was all over, blinking back tears. Okay.

So she just had to win.

[whitestknight]

"Ms. Lemina, wasn't it? Are you alright?" Flynn had apparently managed to take note of at least some of those hit during the ten minutes, and offered Lemina a slight smile as she steadied herself and her resolve.

[igirisu]

[ he was one of the few teachers in the room, noticing that Lemina was called.

he could read the look on her face that.... she wasn't very pleased, stepping over towards her ]

Crying won't get you anywhere.

[bloodbrother]

Sam was making rounds to people that had taken the ten minutes of pain. This girl was new. "Excuse me, Miss? Are you alright?" He hoped his white coat served as enough to show who he was.

[smupette]

She would never tell that beating her own brother is a thing that happens anyways. She did it on a daily basis back at home and nothing from those fight to this fight had changed. Not even the bare handed punches.

Sis watched as player by player from the past round crumpled onto the floor, and a warning penalty was set on Flynn. Sis had observed far too much. Who would want Sis as a weapon anyhow. She was intent on hiding this week. But who would want to be a discard anyways.

So she simply stands in the back of the meeting room. Letting her glasses cover the look of her orange eyes. The way they would perce right into Day if they could.

[maidenknight]

Brienne was outraged.

To treat comrades -- no, not even, just children in this way was despicable. Watching them be punished was something she couldn't stand for; as she moved forward, the splitting pain in her head caused her to lurch back. So instead of being able to help, she stood sullenly, hands pressed against her head until the pain faded.

But her name was called upon. To fight. She'd never seen proper battle -- sure, defending Lady Catelyn had been quite an honor, and Renly's melees had always kept her busy. But now she was to fight the innocent people in the other school. The least she could do was find an appropriate Weapon, though she doubted if she would want to raise a hand against anyone else.

Approaching the woman in the strange eyewear, she nodded. "I'm looking for a sword. My name's been called, though I know not why, other than I'm being forced--" she pauses and coughs "-- excuse me. Forced to fight against those I do not know."

[straightupzorra]

[come yell at Santana?]

[smupette]

[any time bb.]

Santana. [Sis isn't yelling. Just. A stern kind of hello.]

much later, Day's room

[kingofpoisons]

Day walked out of the lobby before anyone could recover from their shock. She actually felt a little bad about leaving Santana to deal with the students but, she knew her being there would just aggravate the situation.

She went back to her rooms still angry, but more than angry she was afraid, which in turn made her more angry. The attack hadn't surprised her, she had been ready. She knew someone would move against eventually. Relished the idea even, was prepared for it.

It hadn't gone totally plan, despite all her caution. But Day knew that life rarely went to plan, which was why she had a plan B.

She hadn't expected plan B to scare her so much and she was angry at herself for it. Death meant nothing here, it was the perfect escape.

She had died a few times since first arriving, but not by poison. Remembering the time she had, actually truthfully died by poison, was just weakness.

And it was a weakness she couldn't afford, she had to be strong. Conquest had to be strong, they had to stop losing. They had to win.

None of them could be weak, she sat at her desk and stared out of the window at the students beginning to leave the lobby.

[isur2ndprincess]

Yuki watches in horror as Flynn is hit with the warning penalty. At first she doesn't move a muscle but her flight or fight instincts clicked over to flight and she took a few steps back, earning herself the warning penalty as she falls to her knees clutching her head.

When the whole situation was over Yuki shakily rose to her feet and looked around. Conquest was usually unhappy, but this had to be a new low.

[doesthewindything]

Once John had gotten up and gotten a bit more oriented, he began to seek out Weapons. Of course, he didn't know many people who were called, so he had to make a guess.

His guess led to Yuki. "Are you okay?"

[heroiccia]

"Hey there kiddo, how ya feelin'?" He just had to ask, she seemed scared at the moment. Or at the very least traumatized. Of course Alfred did not like that one bit, considering that she was an alright girl, just needed to learn to loosen up a bit was all.

[bloodbrother]

Sam came up to Yuki in turn. It'd been a bit since the penalty, but he was only one person. She seemed alright, but it wouldn't do for him to ignore her.

"Excuse me," he said, approaching her from the side. "Are you feeling okay?" He came to a stop slightly in front of her.

[frozenmemories]

Each stab of pain made Cirno frown even more. She had lost twice and this had her frustrated. But sense she was not a player this round, She had the time to figure out where she went wrong. She nodded at this, a determined look crossing her face once more.

She stood back up and then started fidgeting, Which brought upon that penalty that brought her down to the ground again. This time, she wisely just lay there, curled up, trying to make the pain go away.

Once the pain ended, she slowly got to her feet and rubbed her head, looking about. She wanted to prove herself and this was not doing that.

[babysage]

Kotaro had taken most of the assembly in her stride, unlike the others he wasn't horrified at the punishment at the end because, if someone had broken the rules then they had to be punished. It was the only way to learn not to break rules in the first place!

He saw Cirno and ran over to her and gave her a hug. Even if he could see why they were punished he knew it still hurt. "Are you okay Cirno!"

[doesthewindything]

John didn't know what to think. Watching someone get hurt like that wasn't fair to him. He tried to start to speak, but then he felt pain wash over him like nothing he had ever felt before. It took a while, with him falling over to the ground unable to stand again, but finally the pain ended and he was able to, dusting himself off. What... the fuck... was that?

He was a Player this round. Well, better find some people to vow with and get the hell out of here. Last thing he wanted to do was feel that kind of pain again.

[smupette]

Though Sis is already a taken weapon, she can offer her hand out to John. This was the John that could speak. But still, she wasn't letting Day treat anyone she so much as might care for later on be treated awfully.

"Are you alright?"

[bloodbrother]

And again, he was making another stop. To another child that had been hurt. He tried to keep a better attitude, but he was getting annoyed, as he had more stops to make on his rounds. Flynn had obviously got the worst of it, but these others could be in trouble too.

"Hi, I'm Sam, I'm Conquest's medic," he figured that was the short way of introducing himself. "Are you alright?"

[whitestknight]

If he was honest, Flynn had known something like this was coming. It hadn't prepared him for the viciousness or length of the penalty, but he was at least disciplined enough not to make any noise. In fact, he'd managed to stay as still and as silent as possible, because signs of distress would only provoke the others to move or speak, and thus face punishment.

Likewise, when he finally managed to get to his feet, his expression was calm. He wiped a smear of blood from his mouth where he'd bitten through his lip, straightened his blazer, and put his crumpled beret in his pocket as a lost cause. He was a Player this round, after all, and whilst he didn't have any trouble with Weapons - if the system worked, Yuri would already belong to him, so to speak - more would need vowing with if Discards were to be minimised.

[bloodbrother]

"Excuse me! Coming through!" Sam pushed through the group that stood staring at him, and arrived too late to keep Flynn from getting up too quick. "Hang on, let me get a look at you."

[infallibleblade]

The silence at the end went for perhaps a mere half a minute before Nari realized what was going on. That all the people falling around him weren't experiencing anything compared to the man at the end, who was getting punished for a prolonged period of time.

But why? What was his punishment? Wasn't he an authority figure like them? Why were they attacking him if she only had "suspicions" as to who had assaulted her. With these questions on his lips, the taller man finally bit his lip and started moving forward, opening his mouth to speak. This wasn't right. Wasn't this sort of cruelty the exact thing he had set out to fix?

"Ma'am, please stop." He began, voice carrying through the silence as his feet started to carry him forward.

[kingofpoisons]

Day's eyes flickered with annoyance at the words and she flung a warning penalty at him, to level him to his knees before turning back to Flynn as the punishment continued.

[babysage]

Kotaro was probably one of the few people not too horrified by what was going on. He figured that if they were going to break rules and not try hard enough they probably needed to be punished. And it was only pain.

He also didn't seem bothered that he was a Player this round, that just meant he had to fight! And try his best to win!

He looked around to see if anyone he knew looked like they needed a Player.

[bloodbrother]

After making rounds to everyone that had gotten the worst of the pain, he finally sought out Kotaro. "Did you move?" he didn't hear him cry out, but he wanted to make sure. Otherwise, he was being a bad older brother, right?

[swordofzero]

After Suzaku had spoken to Flynn he waited a little while longer, too see if anyone needed help. He felt anger towards this school, that they should do such things. It heightened his resolve that they should do everything within their power to win this game.

[stoppedhiding]

After vowing with Flynn, Golbez was about ready to leave the auditorium, but first he had to sit down and catch his breath. That rapid succession of penalties, especially the last one, had taken quite a bit out of him.

[bloodbrother]

Sam made his way over to him last, after a run-in with a certain heroic redhead. Turns out it had all been a big misunderstanding. One that his jaw was still recovering from. As the nasty blue and purple bruise vanished steadily, Sam rubbed his face. Making obvious on the chain around his wrist and the lack of memory charms on it. "I think asking you if you're okay is pointless." He meant it in a friendly kind of way. He smirked.

[overthroen]

As introductions to her new home went, this certainly wasn't the most pleasant. Rose heard the cries of pain around her, each after a name was called. But she couldn't help feeling a twinge of pride in her gut when she heard that Dave and Jade had won their battles.

Yet John was fighting. And Brienne, the woman on the train. Would they be similarly injured? She knew she had to find a way to help them.

[france]

"Mademoiselle, frowning does not suit you."

There he stands, head fallen to a tilt, brows slanted as he regards the young girl with some amount of sympathy. He doesn't know what she's thinking, and even he isn't arrogant enough to guess, but he figures its nothing pleasant or uplifting. Had he a rose, he would offer it to her simply to have her wipe that expression off her lips.

"Perhaps you should try smiling instead." said France, taking a seat beside her. "There is always something to smile about, if you care to search for it."

[notanangel]

Sherlock stood at the back, his hands clasped behind him--a tall, narrow dark figure, displaying no particular interest in the setting. He was really paying only partial attention to the actual display at the front--of course he heard the woman and was aware of the goings-on, but really paying attention?

This kind of thing, even new as it was, didn't require his full attention.

Instead he was sizing up the people around him, the building, their clothes and faces and fingernails and shoes and all the myriad little details that would tell him what he actually wanted to know--far more than the despotic preparoatory school charade they were all so entranced with.

Of course, it quickly stopped being quite so farcical. Sherlock's gaze flicked frontward again at the change in tone, at the shift in expressions on the faces of the people around him--just in time to see people start folding up, stumble, and fall. Just in time to see a blonde drop like a sack of cement--and stay down, immobilised by an obvious rictus of pain.

At first, his response was an open, blatant combination of surprise, confusion, and--increasingly--disbelief, his forehead wrinkling as he stared at the scene around him in growing consternation. What he saw was impossible; it made no sense. It took only a couple repetitions for the reality to become blindingly obvious, however, impossible or not, he opened his mouth to speak, his face creasing in disgust--and staggered, the pain in his head radiating outward like a corona, his vision hazing out as he gasped for breath. He dropped to his knees, barely aware of it as his senses betrayed him, shutting down under the overwhelming locus of pain.

When she was finished, he stayed down for a second, his head swimming; he was shocked, yes, and angry, but far from impressed.

In fact, he was distinctly unimpressed, and it wasn't with the power.

[pennypincher]

As soon as she got finished directing Sam to Arthur, Lemina turned to storm out of the auditorium. She stopped, though, when she noticed one man still looking pretty out of it.

"Hey, are you okay?"