The Twelve

[wkz]

Theodarus looked on with resignation (and almost disgust) as Fwupo ate his contract. "Well, at least I snared one" he thought to himself. "Now lets see how good the guy is."

He then winced as the opposing team member took a punch to the face. "Talk about uncooperative teamwork" he said aloud "That party does not look very well-meshed together... I probably could scatter it apart if I spend a few moments in their company...."

Following that sentence, he sat up with interest as he absent-mindedly chewed on the meat. The next match's a mind game, and he needed to spot all the details he could for his own match later on......

[FF Fanatic 80]

Adarl moved toward the other team's area, stopping short a few feet and glaring directly at the greasy haired man.

"...I would not be so quick to strike a teammate who gave their all. For you may very well give her reason to do the same soon enough." he told the man, before turning around and heading back to the others.

Truth be told, he was tempted to try his earlier threat to the woman on him. However, he knew doing so would be foolish, not just for himself, but for all involved.

He only hoped the man's opponent would beat the living sh#$ out of him.

"Well, that was rather enjoyable, albeit dangerous." Adarl comments to the others when he arrives back.

[wkz]

"Ya. That was..." Theodarus mumbled through the food in his mouth. "Nice victory."

He looked towards the greasy haired man. "Most likely that man would be one of the fighters.... wonder who would be up against Jemyle here....."

[The Great Nevareh]

Zachary shrugs.
"Nice going, Adarl. Care for some corned beef or crackers? I would pat you on the back or shake your hand, but I'm kind of stuck here, y'know?"
He smiles, then continues to snack. He's up next, so he might as well sate his hunger before this match starts.

[Molokidan]

"Okay. . ." the bat man spoke, after a few minutes had passed. "It is now time for the second match to begin. Our next contestants, Jemyle and Roto, please make your way to the center."

As everyone turned to face the center platform once again, they noticed two small additions. Facing the right wall with the large panel on it, were now two pedestals. On each pedestal were four buttons, reading "A", "B", "C", and "D". The panel was now no longer displaying the previous score, but was pitch black.

Jemyle stepped up to the center, looking back at the group and giving a small, uneasy nod as he made his way towards the center. Roto, a tall, lanky man with a large brown beard and thick eyebrows, made his way to his respective pedestal.

"This round is a mind game." the bat man said. "More specifically, however, it is a trivia game." he said, motioning towards the screen. "In a few moments, a question will be displayed on the screen. Following the message, four options will appear. If you know the answer, please hit the respective button. If you are wrong, your opponent will have a chance to try." the bat man turned to Roto and Jemyle. "Whoever reaches five points first wins. You can not get negative points from losing. Please also note that any violence or interference whatsoever-" he stopped to turn and stare at the other members. "-is strictly prohibited."

He pointed to the screen, which now displayed a "Roto - 0" and "Jemyle - 0" in small type at the bottom.

"Now. . .START!" he shouted.

Suddenly, very slowly, a message began to appear on the panel of the wall. The text did not appear all at once, but in a serial fashion, as if someone was typing it. Jemyle and Roto both watched the screen intently. The question finished:

"1. What color is a banana?"

The answers then soon began to appear.

"A. Green."
"B. Black."
"C. Red."
"D. Yellow."

Jemyle and Roto both stared at the screen in astonishment. Suddenly, they looked at each other, and then their hands shot out to the buttons on the console.

On the panel on the screen, the "D" answer abruptly lit up.

"Jemyle has selected the correct answer, D!" the bat man cried. "He recieves one point."

The screen cleared, and sweat began pouring down Jemyle's face. "Something's wrong here. . ." he murmured. ". . .this. . .there's something definitely wrong about this."

Suddenly, the second question began to scroll across the screen. Jemyle stared over at Roto. His opponent's face showed no emotion.

The second question finished. "2. What is 10 x 10?"

Then, the answers began to scroll.
"A. 1000."
"B. 100."
"C."
Suddenly, Roto's hand smashed down onto the "B" button of his pedestal. Jemyle ripped his eyes from the screen and stared at the barbarian-looking man, in horror. "Wait! The question wasn't finished yet!"

The bat man seemed not to hear Jemyle's cries. "Roto has selected the correct answer, B! He recieves one point."

The screen cleared, except for the score at the bottom. It was tied.

A small smirk began to appear across Roto's face. "Don't you see?" he smiled. "This is much more than a stupid trivia game. This is more like a mental game of 'chicken'."

The third question began to scroll. "3. What is the seventeenth letter in the alphabet?"

"A.-"

Suddenly, Roto smashed his hand down on the "C" button.

"Roto has selected the incorrect answer." the bat-man spoke. "Jemyle may now try to select an answer."

Jemyle stared at the screen, a look of peril on his face. There was no way to tell! Although Roto had already deleted one of the choices. . .there was still only a 1 in 3 chance that he would select the correct answer. He tried to think back to the previous questions. The correct answers had been "D" and "B". Roto, then, had picked an incorrect answer, "A". It was a longshot, but he really didn't have another choice in this situation.

He pushed "A", and gritted his teeth.

"Jemyle has chosen the correct answer, A!" the bat-man shouted. "He recieves one point."

Jemyle breathed a sigh of relief, his body beginning to relax. There were seven questions left. This was not going to be easy.

The fourth began to scroll. "4. How many continents are there in the-"

Roto once again brought his hand down, this time on the "B" button.

"Roto has selected the incorrect answer!" the bat-man spoke. "Jemyle may now try."

Jemyle's heart skipped a beat. He should have picked C! his mind screamed. He's obviously not thinking conventionally about this. . .or was there a clue that I missed?

He decided there was no use in worrying about it. He was one point ahead, anyway. He threw his hand down on the "C" button.

"Jemyle has selected the incorrect answer! Roto may now try again."

"Thanks, buddy." Roto grinned. "You're really predictable, you know that?"

He threw his hand down onto the "D" button.

"Roto has selected the correct answer, D!" the bat man shouted. "He recieves one point."

He was using me! Jemyle's eyes seemed as if they were going to pop out of his head. He used the last question to see whether or not I was going to think that way about the answers, and then he manipulated me! he stared back to Roto. No. . .it's impossible. He's gambling as much as I am. But then. . .why does he seem to have the upper hand?

The fifth question began scrolling. "5. The-"

Jemyle's hand shot out, smashing the A button. He stared across at Roto. Roto returned his glance, a smirk creeping its way across his face.

"Jemyle has selected the incorrect answer! Roto may now try."

Roto quickly pushed the "C" button.

"Roto has selected the correct answer, C! He recieves one point."

The screen cleared, preparing for the next question. The score was Roto - 3, Jemyle - 2.

"Hey, can't we just play this the right way?" Jemyle spoke softly, desperately looking for a way out of this.

"Don't you see?" Roto said, not removing his eyes from the screen. "This is the way it was meant to be played. Otherwise, the questions would not be scrolling. Not to mention, the ridiculously easy level of them all. What's wrong, you don't like games of chance?"

"I. . .I just feel like you know something that I don't." Jemyle said sternly.

"It's self-confidence." Roto grinned. "You should look into it someday."

The sixth question began. "6.-"

Roto smashed his hand down onto the "D" button.

"Roto has chosen the correct answer, D! He recieves one point."

Jemyle bit his lower lip, staring intently at the screen.

"7."

He threw his hand upon the "B" button.

"Jemyle has chosen the incorrect answer! Roto may now try."

Roto hit the "A" button.

"Roto has chosen the incorrect answer! Jemyle may now try."

Jemyle hit the "B" button.

"Jemyle has chosen the incorrect answer! This question's point goes to neither contestants."

Jemyle looked to Roto once more. "Please. . ." he said. "Just these final questions. It's not fair!"

"Quit your whining." Roto spat out. "This next question, it'll all be over for you."

Suddenly, Roto hit his hand down onto the "B" button. The "8" hadn't even appeared.

"Roto has chosen the incorrect answer! Jemyle may now try."

Jemyle pressed the A button.

"Jemyle has chosen the correct answer, A! He recieves one point."

The score was 4-3. Roto smirked. "If you don't get his next one, you lose, you know."

"Shut up."

Roto smashed his hand down again, this time on "D."

"Roto has chosen the correct answer! He recieves one point, and wins this match."

Jemyle turned to leave, staring at the ground.

"Better luck next time, shrimp." Roto laughed, sauntering back to his group.

Jemyle made his way back to the lift. "I'd say sorry, but. . .there was really nothing I could do." He stepped back onto his light, his squeezing his hands into fists. "It's always the same, no matter where I go. . ." he closed his eyes, and spoke no more for the remaining minutes.

"The third match will be Zachary vs. Krist!" the bat-man shouted. "Please make your way to the center when you are ready."

A man with black greasy hair picked up a long, thick poolstick, and began to move towards the center.

Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=molokidan>Molokidan</A]&nbsp; at: 10/14/04 8:35 pm

[wkz]

Theodarus frowned. "This is an advanced game of chicken. If the next mental game's going to be like that....." He looked as Jemyle walked onto the platform

"Also, that Roto is a skilled manipulator. An air of confidence, a few choice words here and there, and Jemyle...." Theodarus sighed, "I CAN See Roto was sweating in his boots just now, which you cannot because you were concentrating on the game." He lied, trying for damage control as he patted his teammate's back "Don't sweat it, it was only a game of luck"

Theodarus's face was released from a look of kind compassion as he turned and looked towards the arena. "I hope I have a chance at Roto later..... I'll shatter that bastard's confidence..."

[JoshuaDurron]

Fwupo picked a few shreds of paper out of his teeth and chimed in, "Don't worry about it-kupo. We'll make sure we don't get sent back down-kupo, so cheer up-kupo."

[The Great Nevareh]

"My turn!"
Zachary steps out of his circle, pulls out his staff, and holds it in a traditional manner as he approaches the point from which he will begin the match. He then begins to make a tally of things he knows and things he can infer according to what he's seen thus far...
His opponent is a perfectionist- that woman made the best choice in her situation, but she was punished for her actions.
His opponent might be a sadist- the strike against that woman was unneccesary, not to mention pointless.
His opponent definitely has at least a few tricks up his sleeve. Why else would he be using such an odd weapon? Pool cues don't make great arms.
His opponent is either very fast or able to attack at a distance, or both- Otherwise he'd be wearing more protective clothing.
His opponent has greasy hair. This can be set on fire.
His opponent...

The mental list goes on.
In the meantime, Zachary tightens the straps and buckles on his greaves and vambraces, checks himself on a few places, and makes sure that whatever he has that can be thrown to off-balance someone else is throwable. Finally, he makes a cursory search of the landmarks of the area, wondering if he can use his opponent's allies as shields, or maybe he can dis-able them during the fight... you never know.

[FF Fanatic 80]

"One must often think outside 'conventions' in order to be victorious." Adarl commented to Jemyle, as he took a few bites from the food from Zachary, "Unfortunately for you, your opponent caught onto this sooner, and had a bit of luck on his side. "

He glanced across, and noticed the greasy haired man was up next against Zachary.

"...good luck." he whispered, as the Runic Knight left his circle.

He silently hoped Zachary was as strong as he claimed, for this was the one opponent he desired to see beaten more than anyone. The man needed to be taught he was far from perfect himself.

[Molokidan]

The two men met at the center of the platform. The two pedestals that had been there before were now gone. As they finished traversing the gap, the bridge between the two platforms dissapeared.

The screen also turned back to its previous state. There was a "1" next to each team.

The bat man looked down at the two contestants. "In case you don't remember, this match will be a battle. You can not kill your opponent. The match will ends when an opponent forfeits or steps onto anything other than the main platform. There is no time limit."

The bat man nodded at each contestant. "You may now. . .START!"

Krist ran a finger through his glistening hair, pushing some dark strands back from his forehead. He had tanned skin, and dark brown eyes. There was the hint of a mustache, but otherwise, his face was sharp and smooth. He wore a dark black pinstriped suit, with a purple silk shirt underneath. He was slim, yet muscular, and stood a few good inches taller than Zachary. The poolstick was slumped at his side, and he stared down at the Runic Knight with a smirk on his face.

"I hope you can entertain me for a while." he said. Suddenly, his fingers tightened the grip around his poolstick. In a flash, he turned it straight and thrust it forward to Zachary, a grin spreading across his face.

[wkz]

"Watch out!!" Theodarus shouted. And promptly choked on his food.

Remember boys and girls, don't talk while eating.....

[The Great Nevareh]

"Eagh!"

Zachary, clearly caught off-guard, twitches his own staff sideways in a standard parry-block that would derail the thrust of the pool cue while also backpedaling to put some distance between himself and his opponent.
This is also a test to see what the cue is made of- if it breaks from the blow against his own staff (as a normal wooden cue ought to), then it is made of wood. If not, then it is not made of conventional wood.

Zachary continues to, while fighting, make his list of potential abilities his opponent has, including speculation that the pool cue is filled with some kind of poison that he has yet to use, though he might be reluctant to use it since he probably has a limited amount of it.

Zachary also begins to plan... It is probably in his best interests to make this fight as long as possible, since a swift victory can only happen if his opponent makes a mistake...

[Molokidan]

The cue was momentarily redirected, but soon came back at Zachary, this time in a flurry of random thrusts from its holder. Zachary blocked each one, with relative ease from his staff, but there wasn't even a chip of the paint, let alone a crack.

Eventually, the assault let up. Krist tossed the cue up into the air, and caught it by the thinner end this time. "Time for part 2." he said, rapidly swinging the thick, blunt part of the stick down towards Zachary's head.

[The Great Nevareh]

Zachary is less caught-off-guard than he was, and is surprised by the incredible inefficiency, nay, stupidity of his opponent in using a staff-like object in this manner. Zachary therefore raises the staff to block the arc of the attack, then after contact twists his own staff sideways to bring one of the ends around at his opponent's head/neck region. Pool cues don't offer good range, and since his own staff didn't break from earlier contacts, he can guess that it won't break now.

[Molokidan]

Krist let the staff seesaw his cue, watching the massive weapon come towards his head. Suddenly, Zachary felt a sharp kick to his stomach, just as the staff was about to come in contact with the man's head. Zachary took a step backwards. While the kick wasn't strong enough to knock the wind out of it, it had surprised him, and the man's steel-toed shoes were anything but forgiving.

"Nice job." he smiled, taking his cue away from Zachary. "I'm eager to see what else you can do with that thing."

[The Great Nevareh]

"Mrph. If I may ask- why are you eager to see me do anything? I would think it would be in your best interest if I were completely incompetent. Honestly, that whole "Put up a good fight" rubbish eludes me."

Zachary is backing away from his opponent as he says this- Not as though he's trying to sneak away- He just doesn't see the point in being surreptitious.

[Molokidan]

"You must not enjoy fighting that much, huh?" the man said, fingering his cue. "Too bad. Well, I'll have to make this quick on you then."

He dashed towards Zachary again, backed up against the side of the platform. Instead of attacking with his cue, however, he keeps it in his right hand, and pulls back his left in order to punch Zachary in the face.

[The Great Nevareh]

Zachary, seeing this, ducks out and to his right- The other man's left, and throws out his own left arm to catch the man in the small of the back with his own staff. Zachary is assuming that the punch is much too obvious to be an actual blow, and by actually diving forward into the feint he is throwing his opponent off-balance. The duck isn't a traditional kneeling move, but rather a move where he spreads out his balance so that his torso isn't changing its orientation much at all.
If he succeeds in doing this, he won't wait for any outcome at all, and rather continue moving forward to put himself temporarily out of the range of his opponent's right hand.

[Molokidan]

Krist looked down to Zachary. "This time's for real." he said, bringing his knee once again up into Zachary's stomach. The Runic Knight fell backwards, coughing. It had been a strong, close-range attack to his gut. As he got re-orientated, he noticed his head was only a few feet from the edge of the platform.

"You're not even going to make this interesting for me, are you?" Krist said, approaching once more.

[The Great Nevareh]

"Why *Cough* should I? There's... no point, really. What an empty existance."

Zachary grips his staff, not quite sure and yet exactly sure what he's going to do. He doesn't move, really. He spasms a bit, bites the interior of his cheek and then spits out the blood.

"If you really want... interesting, then... attack the referee. He'll give you... interesting."

[Molokidan]

"I'm not interested in the referee." Krist says, moving up to Zachary. "I'm interested in you, pal." he said, administering another kick, this time to Zachary's side.

[The Great Nevareh]

"Thank you."

Zachary then stakes his next move on his ability to do flash calculations. He's been doing the math, now let's see it work- If he can negate gravity in just the right way, this kick will lift him to his feet without causing much (or any) damage and also cause his opponent to flip up around himself, since he no longer would have the ability to stop his foot from moving- usually he can rely on gravity to do that.

(100Gs inverse-effect, same thing that Zachary did to help himself and Theo cross that hole in the staircase.)

[Molokidan]

As Krist's kick made contact with Zachary's ribs, Zachary found himself flying upwards, once again on his feet. As for Krist, it was as if the man had stepped on a very slippery floor. He was thrown backwards, and unable to catch himself, being caught totally off guard. His head cracked on the ground, and he grabbed it in pain.

"Fuck. . ." he muttered. "What the hell?" he began to pick himself. "What the hell did you just do to me?"

[The Great Nevareh]

Not wanting to give his opponent ANY time, Zachary prepared his new skill to use upon his opponent, acting in swift succession to bring about his strongest blow against his opponent's upper thighs- the most difficult part to maneuver out of the way, especially in a taller man. If THIS succeeds, then the man's bones would have to be made of steel to prevent them from breaking- and breaking is exactly what Zachary intends to do. The entire process would be underway by the time that Kryst finished uttering the first "The" in his statement.

("Paint it Black" on Kryst's lower body, away from the vitals.)

Edited by: The Great Nevareh at: 10/15/04 11:57 pm

[Molokidan]

Zachary hit Krist before he even knew what was coming. As he made contact with Krist's body, he noticed that he hadn't stopped moving. He continued to smash through the floor of the platform, Krist's body acting as an output for all the inertia behind Zachary's attack. The two tunneled through the surprisingly thin floor of the platform.

What was underneath, Zachary soon realized in horror, was air. The platform itself was supported by four large white beams, but other than that, there was about a six-story drop to the bottom of the room itself. If he continued at the rate he was going now, he would surely die.

Krist opened his eyes, barely, his body battered and his bones broken. "We're going together, pal. . ." he wheezed, as they finally broke free from the stone and began sailing downward.

[The Great Nevareh]

"You know, what really sucks is that I have to save you."

Without thinking much of the consequences and definitely without actually doing any of the math, Zachary inverted gravity- He took his negation to the next level, and just doubled the energy he was putting into the previous action to make "up" into "down." Of course, so many things could go wrong, but there really wasn't any time to think about it. Since he isn't fueling his own movement anymore, he hugs Kryst and hopes to G-d that they fall upwards.

[Molokidan]

They were about halfway down when Zachary did his next trick. Although his aim was a bit off, they were propelled upwards with enough speed. This time, they went crashing through another part of the platform. Zachary's head was luckilly out of the way, but his right side went smashing through the platform, dislocating his right wrist and giving him more than few hard bruises along his body.

The two lay on the destroyed platform, Krist's body absolutely beyond help, Zachary's more than a little tattered.

Krist tried to pick himself up, to no avail. Both arms were broken, and he had cracked a few ribs. Blood was splattered across his suit. His poolcue was absent, and must have fallen fate to the large pit below the platform.

"Shit. . ." he muttered. "And I'm not allowed to die, huh. . ." he coughed up some more blood.

[The Great Nevareh]

"You're not allowed to die, no."
Zachary starts picking himself up from the ground, looking at his tattered opponent with a cold, hard gleam.
"However, you are allowed to hurt. So I'm going to make you hurt. Until you yield. But I'm going to do it as gently as possible so your body can't even consider shutting down."
Zachary winces as he attempts to use his right hand, then hefts himself up with his functional left hand.
"You are going to be afraid. But first, why don't I tell you about myself? I'm a schoolteacher. I'm glad I didn't go up against that woman- she would have ripped me to shreds. It's good that my opponent was a foolhardy, insecure sadist."
He then retracts his staff, puts it inside of his coat, pulls out one of the empty pistols, and brandishes it like a club.
"You have five seconds to yield before I mash your left foot into unrecognizeable jelly."

Edited by: The Great Nevareh at: 10/16/04 12:31 am

[Molokidan]

Krist turned his eyeballs up to the sky, where the bat man was watching, with no particular expression on his face. "I give up, this guy wins. Although I'm going to need some help getting out of here. Can a teammate take me off? I don't trust this guy."

"Very well then." the bat man said. "Zachary wins the third match. Zachary, you may proceed back to the lift. Krist, you may call one team member to call and pick you up."

"Alrighty then. Roto."

Roto, the tall, hairy man from earlier, came over and lifted Krist over his shoulder.

"I can't wait till my wounds heal. . ." Krist said, his groggy, thin voice weaking. "The first thing I'll do is kill some weak bastard. Just for you, Mr. Schoolteacher." he said, with a chuckle like dry bones on pebbles, as Roto carried him back to the other side.

The bat man looked down at the platform, and then back to each team. "Unfortunately, it would take too much time for me to repair this." he said. "We will have to go on as it is. Very well then, Theodarus and Lyle, the fourth match contestants. . .please make your way to the center."

From the other team's side came Lyle, a man with olive skin and dreadlocks, wearing a lot of colorful beads and light-colored clothes. His eyes had a sleepy glaze to them, and he stood with his hands in his pockets, staring off into space and looking truly uninterested in anything that was going on.

Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=molokidan>Molokidan</A]&nbsp; at: 10/16/04 7:18 pm

[The Great Nevareh]

"I can wait. Forever. Do you wonder at all why your legs don't hurt as much as they should? That's nerve damage. Nerves don't heal. Even with magic to accelerate the process, nerves don't heal. I will love to see you try to walk with only half the muscles in your legs. Education is a blessing, don't you think?"

Zachary meanders over to his platform, where he resumes eating as though nothing had happened. He's a damned mess and he can't use his right hand, but that certainly doesn't stop him from munching on cheese and crackers.

"Knock 'em dead, Theo. I'm rootin' for ya!"
This is said with the previous enthusiasm that he had fostered for his WOOO WOOO ADARL!!! stuff. He actually seems... pleasant.

Edited by: The Great Nevareh at: 10/16/04 2:20 pm

[FF Fanatic 80]

"You fought very well, Zachary." Adarl told the Runic Knight as he returned, "I must confess, I was uncertain if your skill would live up to your claims."

He managed a glance over his teammate's shoulder, to see the greasy haired man being hauled back over. He could not help a smirk of content at the sight. Once the man arrived back, he was eager to see the dual-wielding woman's reaction.

[JoshuaDurron]

To say Fwupo had been staring wide eyed at Zachary's battle would have been to understate the facts. His jaw had practically been on the floor the whole time.

"Kupo! With the way you can fly around-kupo, someone should teach you to dance-kupo! You'd be really good-kupo."

[wkz]

All Theodarus did was to pat Zachary on the good shoulder before he moved onto the platform. He was stunned by both the strength of his fellow bookish-looking teammate, and the totality of the victory (and damage) he did to the "Grease Guy".

As he got onto the platform, he gave himself a little grin, laughing at his own, stunned thoughts. "What was I thinking of.... I use my own weak-looking appearance to trick people all the time...."

He continued grinning at the person opposite him on the platform. It never hurts to appear confident, and the guy called Lyle was recognized as a "thinker" by the bat-judge; there's more than a big possibility the sleepy glaze is a fake expression.

"So, what do we do?" Theodarus asked the judge, all the while radiating confidence....

(OOC: Edit: Stupid darn spelling errors)

Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=wkz@rpgww60462>wkz</A] at: 10/18/04 12:26 am

[Molokidan]

As Zachary stepped onto the stage, Roto had just dumped the bloody mess that was the remains of Krist onto his respective place on the lift. Jessika briefly looked down at her defeated "teammate", but soon turned her eyes back to the stage, her eyes seeming to open a bit wider than they had been before.

"Very glad you asked." the bat man said. "As you know, this is the second `mind game` match. However, this is a bit of an interesting game. . .in fact, it's my all-time favorite." he looked at Theodarus and Lyle, grinning widely. "This game, in itself, has over 10,000 rules that can be broken. I am only going to tell you one of them. That, being that you can only break a total of three rules before you lose. And that's all there is to it." he spoke, his fangs gleaming in the flourescent light of the room. "Gentlemen, you may begin."

Lyle's eyes lazily rolled in their sockets, from the bat man to Theodarus. His face retained that glazed expression.

"This is perfect." Roto whispered to Jessika, only loud enough for her to hear. "Lyle hasn't shown as speck of interest in anything we've done so far. In fact, he's been a blank slate this whole time. All he has to do there is stand there, silent and motionless, like usual, and wait for the other guy to screw up. We may have a chance at winning this after all."

[wkz]

"What the hell" Theodarus thought to himself... "10,000 rules that can be broken, and only 3 chances..... and the worst part is I do not know anything about the rest...."

He almost frowned before he caught himself. Even frowning can be consided breaking a rule..... dammit, even sweating can be consided breaking a rule. He did not move his gaze from the bat-judge, his entire body frozen in the exact same position as when the bat-judge signaled the start of the competition.

"Calm....... calm......." he continued thinking, "The only way to win is to do less than the opponent.... now what am I going to do......"

Theodarus began to think of the wording of the rules, trying to find a loophole inside them......

[JoshuaDurron]

Fwupo sat silently for a minute, then burst out, "WHAT THE HELL KINDA GAME IS THAT-KUPO?! JUST KICK 'IM IN THE NADS-KUPO! THAT'LL MAKE HIM BREAK MORE RULES THAN YOU KUPO!"

The moogle then folded his arms and ended his tirade with a loud "hmph" as he glowered at the field to watch the outcome.

[Molokidan]

The two stood on the platform like statues, each of them not daring to risk breaking a rule.

"This is going to go on forever. . ." Jemyle muttered, rubbing his shoes into the ground impatiently. "Can't he force them to do something?"

Time dragged on, the two men standing in the center. Lyle stood, the same glazed expression on his face, but staring straight at Theodarus. He didn't seem to be feeling any fatigue at all.

An hour passed. It looked like some sort of eerie stalemate.

[wkz]

Theodarus had been staring at the bat-judge all these while, and he probably had noticed, by then, every detail of the humanly ugly features. Enough to draw it out in perfect detail in his sleep....

Another memory that he would probably be able to remember five years later are the final words the bat-judge said. They keep rolling over and over again in his mind:
>This game, in itself, has over 10,000 rules that can be broken.< Ok, that's straight forward....
>I am only going to tell you one of them.< .......
>That, being that you can only break a total of three rules before you lose.< Three rules only..... three chances
>And that's all there is to it.< .........

"Dammit" Theodarus thought, and not because of the ways the rules teased him with traps all over. There seems to be something that he could use in the words, something that he just could not grasp. He repeated the rules in his mind once more..."Ten Thousand Rules.... One of them is.... Break three rules.... that's all...."

Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=wkz@rpgww60462>wkz</A] at: 10/18/04 9:55 pm

[The Great Nevareh]

"Hmm. I've played a card game like this before. It's called Mao. Though not nearly as many rules and many more chances. There are rules against not taking your turn, rules against moving, rules against not moving, rules against making up rules, rules ABOUT making rules... Hell, I might be breaking one of the rules for Theo right now by talking, since there might be a rule against being on a team that converses with itself. Boy is this sparkling grape juice good!"

Zachary takes another sip from his thermos, once again using his left hand since his right hand isn't in its most functional state.

"There's probably a trick to this, and I'm willing to guess it involves psyching out your opponent just like with Jemyle's game. Say, do any of you know anything about anatomy? My right wrist is hanging in a way that I don't think it should, and I don't think medical tape will help. Boy am I glad my body's blocking out the pain right now. Otherwise I think I wouldn't be as chatty as I am now. Anyone want some more corned beef before I put it away? "

Edited by: The Great Nevareh at: 10/19/04 12:29 am

[Molokidan]

As Theodarus wracked his mind looking for an answer, his opponent made a move.

Lyle drew one of his hands from his pocket, carrying a blue whistle. He was gripping it with two fingers, with his pinky and his index finger outstretched at strange angles. He held his hand out in front of him.

The bat-man said nothing.

A very slight indication of a smirk crept onto Lyle's face. It was hard to tell what it was, because it hadn't fully evolved into a facial expression at all, whether it was due to Lyle's fear of breaking a rule or just to his idle nature. He began twirling the blue whistle through his fingers, moving no other part of his body.

Lyle then opened his mouth. No sound came out, but the way his lips moved, if one was looking intently and a bit trained in the arts of lip-reading, could make out the three words he had mouthed:

As I thought.