The Twelve

[JoshuaDurron]

"Actually, I'm just here for fun-kupo," the moogle commented, none put off by the way the girl acted. Fangirls are part of the job when you're a moogle. "My subbordinate here-kupo," Fwupo nudged Riley, feeling free to catagorize him however he wanted, since he was suddenly a part of the guitarist's band, "came along for support-kupo. I take it you people are actually after the prize-kupo?"

[FF Fanatic 80]

Adarl stared back at the other man, for a brief moment thinking his answer obvious. But as he looked over the blonde swordsman, contemplating a subtle or direct response... that nagging voice started to kick in again in his mind. There was a very loud portion of his mind that wished to ignore it, to simply enjoy some time with Saffron. But past experience proved a louder voice, for said nagging feeling had saved him from making haste decisions several times in the past. He truly did need to talk with the man... despite how much he wished to simply do otherwise.

"There are a number of things I can think of to do right now..." Adarl starts to say, reaching out and gently massaging the man's shoulder, "...though I must admit... we are in a rather... unusual situation here."

He moved himself closer to the blonde swordsman, looking deep into his eyes.

"We still know little about one other, and what complications could arise due to this tournament. We could very well regret persuing the feelings we share. But..."

His hand moved up Saffron's neck, gently brushing against the swordsman's cheek.

"I think I would regret... not trying to pursue my feelings for you as well."

The half-drow then let his hand slide slowly down the man's cheek, and back to his side.

"...but I would like to know how you feel, Saffron. If you feel it to be a mistake, then... so be it. But if not... we may have more to discuss as well."

And so he waited for the swordsman's response, his earlier fear of revealing his feelings replaced with the fear of rejection.

[The Great Nevareh]

"Thank you. What's to bother me, really? I entered this tournament knowing full well I could die, and if I die one way or another matters very little to me since I've already accepted that my death is a very plausible outcome of my presence here." Zachary thus begins to shovel the rice into his mouth, chewing voraciously and swallowing before he continues talking. "But if there are really sizeable bounties on these zodiac people, then I wouldn't mind bringing in one of their heads. Could always use the extra income, and I might be able to finance my own research."

[wkz]

"I could also use the money myself" Theodarus added, entering the conversation. "I'm a bounty hunter by trade, although I do not look it. And I've not had much luck recently with my bounty-hunting, especially here with Zach..."

You could hear his mouth slam shut from across the table, and he hastily tried to recover, "Anyway *cough**cough*, what's the bounty on one of these guys? Given their reputation, it has to be big...."

[Molokidan]

(OOC: Sorry for the little abscence the past few days, I was working really hard on getting The Hit in fic form. If any of you are bored, I suggest giving it a read! Especially you, Dave, since we both know your characters play huge parts in it.)

Riley moved with Fwupo, making it back to their room. His eyes turned to slits. "Hey now. . ." he said, pointing to Fwupo once they got back to the room. "In case we run into those girls again, you'd better not act like some pompous little twit." he said.

"We're equals, as far as I'm concerned." he turned around placing his guitar on a chair and then falling into bed. "Anyway, I'm gonna get some shuteye. If you stay up, try not to make too much noise." Riley said, pulling a CD player out from his bag and strapping the headphones over his head.

Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=molokidan>Molokidan</A]&nbsp; at: 11/3/04 7:55 pm

[Molokidan]

Zander stroked his chin. "That's a good question." he replied to Theodarus. He turned to his side, and shouted down the table to Negi.

"Hey! What IS the bounties on these, anyway?"

Negi considered this question for a few moments. "Hmm. . .I don't really know." he said. "But if you bring in one of them, and show their tattoo as identification. . .I would bet that the guild would give you pretty much anything and everything you wanted. Just catching one of these guys would make the guild immensely popular by the people around the world. It'd be amazing publicity, and they'd be showered with gifts from the kings and queens of the nations that have suffered due to the Zodiacs. They'd probably make you agree to shut up about anything, and reward you with whatever."

As Negi spoke, the girl replied to Fwupo. "Yeah right!" she shouted. "I don't even know what the prize of this thing is! I'm just here to have some fun." she said, winking an ambiguous smile at the moogle.

Riley stood aside, eyeing Fwupo. 'Should I really have let him say that. . .?' he wondered.

As the groups continued talking, suddenly, a large bell went off through the entire three floors of the tournament. It was followed by a woman's voice.

"It is now Ten O'clock." the voice spoke. "It is advised that all those wishing to get proper sleep tonight return to their rooms. Any others who do not require sleep must also return to their rooms, and find something to occupy themselves with. You have ten minutes."

Everyone looked around the table at each other oddly. "We have a CURFEW?" Rall shouted. "Aw man, this is ridiculous!"

"It's a good idea, though." Kamome spoke. "Who knows when we'll get to sleep again. And since the tournament is starting tommorow, we'd best get a good night's rest." he stood up. "I'm returning to my room now." he said, snatching the bill off his table. He smiled at Theodarus. "Meal's on me."

Christopher took the tab from the other table, smiling. "My dad is rich." he said, and paid it quickly. "Zachary, let's get going."

****

Saffron and Adarl heard the woman's as well, and Saffron sighed. "So late already. . ."

He turned around to face his drow partner. "I don't make mistakes anymore." Saffron said, taking Adarl into his arms. "Just trust me on that." he quickly stood up, to switch the light off. "I'm not the kind of person who likes to talk about his past." the warrior said. "Likewise, it's not that interesting." he fingered the light switch. "Any objections?"

[JoshuaDurron]

"Kupooo..." the moogle's ears noticably drooped. "Looks like we gotta sleep now-kupo. Too bad we couldn't talk more-kupo. Perhaps we shall meet again, laidies-kupo. Sleep well, for tomorrow we may die-kupo!" The last sentence, despite it's dire message, was said in a cheerful tone.

"Let's get moving, Riley-kupo!" Fwupo finished turning with an authoritative air to head back towards their room.

[FF Fanatic 80]

Adarl's initial reaction was to agree, anything to give them the evening alone together, to be in those arms again.

But what Saffron said disturbed the half-drow, even in his somewhat amourous state of mind. He had to speak up about it, as he looked into the other man's eyes once more.

"...you ask me to trust you... yet you are immediately evasive about your past. I know you would find that somewhat disturbing, were our positions reversed."

He got up off the bed, crossing over and placing his hands upon the blonde swordsman's shoulders.

"I do not expect you to tell me everything at once, even I would be hesitant to do so." Adarl tells him, a serious look on his face, "But if were are to trust one another, be more with one another, we will need to find out more about one another."

The half-drow then closed his eyes, leaning forward slowly until his lips pressed to Saffron's in a gentle kiss.

"...and I truly do wish to know you."

[Molokidan]

Saffron sighed, looking down at the floor again. After a moment, he drew his head back up, staring into Adarl's eyes. "I. . .I don't know." he said, now removing himself from Adarl's touch, stepping backwards.

He looked up to the drow with deep blue eyes, blonde hair hanging down off his forehead. "I beg you, Adarl. . ." he said. "Give me one night. Tommorow morning, I'll tell you everything. But now. . ." he said, breathing heavily. "I'm too overcome with these emotions I've been feeling. I. . .I just can't do it now."

He stepped closer to Adarl again. "Just give me this night."

[wkz]

"What? 10pm already?" Theodarus thought to himself... "Not exactly a relaxful night so far. Talk about plans gone sour. Well, at least I got a new bounty to hunt, and definately not one of the pocket-change cheapos either."

He stood up from his finished plate. "Well, I guess that's it then. I bid you all good night." and bowed with a florish. He then proceeded to the living level and started searching for his room....

[Molokidan]

Theodarus made his way into his room for the first time, which, surprisingly enough. . .was empty.

"That's weird. . ." he muttered, moving forward and beginning to situate himself on the bed.

After a few moments, however, the door creaked open. Theodarus turned himself around to greet himself with his new roommate. . .

"Aw, for the love of. . .I'm stuck with you?" Negi moaned, making his way into the room.

[FF Fanatic 80]

Adarl stared back with his green eyes, allowing a small smile on his face.

"Consider this my first place of trust in you." he says, squeezing the man back in an embrace, "Believe me... I know how you must be feeling."

He pulls back, looking into his eyes once more.

"I can wait another night to find out more about the mysterious swordsman before me. It will gives us both something to look forward to in the morning."

Then he smirks.

"No matter how you may try to... 'distract' me over the course of this evening."

[Molokidan]

Saffron smiled, clicking the lightswitch off with a sharp snap.

"I'm sure I could manage to do that." the blonde swordsman's voice mused.

And with that, Saffron and Adarl were 'out' for the night.

(OOC: 1 down. 3 to go. Get posting people, so our friend Adarl doesn't have to wait too long. . .)

[wkz]

Theodarus also looked in chagrin at his roommate. Finally, after a significant pause, he said, "Look, just switch off the light, would you? Keep things short, sharp and peaceful, and we most probably will not annoy the hell out of each other..."

With that, he started the almost automatic motions of getting ready for bed...

[Molokidan]

"Hmph." Negi snorted. "My thoughts exactly."

And with that, the darkness set in for Theodarus.

(OOC: 2 down. . .)

[The Great Nevareh]

Zachary arrives at his room, settles down into his bed, whispers something, and promptly falls asleep with no fanfare- as though he had been switched off.

Edited by: The Great Nevareh at: 11/4/04 3:01 am

[JoshuaDurron]

"Sure-kupo," the moogle replied to Riley. He then checked all his gear once, and turned out the lights himself, flopping down on his bed without bothering to undress or pull down his covers. Like always, he was almost instantly asleep.

[Molokidan]

The contestants slept soundly.

The tower was quiet through the night, except for the sound of the tournament commitee shuffling around outside, closing down the shops and all the medical areas. . .

And then, at 6:00 AM in the morning, a siren went off, blaring. The volume was ridiculously high, and rung in the ears of every contestant in their bedroom. Some grabbed at their ears in surprise, being willfully ripped from their slumber.

After five minutes, the siren subsided, and the same voice from last night appeared.

"That was the five minute wake-up." the voice said. "If you're still not up by now. . .too bad.

"As you may or may not know, there are one hundred of you currently positioned on this floor. The tournament is scheduled to start today. However, if we went through every single one of your matches, one by one, in the tournament, it would be very long. It would also be very boring."

The voice paused.

"That is why we are having the Exhibition Round here." the voice seemed to show no emotion. "You will still get to fight, however, you will not be supervised, nor be in order. You could call it a sort of 'Battle Royale'. There is only one rule."

The voice paused again, as if it was letting the words sink into the contestants' heads.

"You should remember each getting a white circular badge from my friend Momo upon entering the tower." she continued. "It has your registration number. Well, anyway, for holding this badge with you, you will recieve three 'points.' To pass the exhibition round, you must proceed to the large doors on floor three with a total of five 'points' in your possession.

"How do you claim this five points, you may ask? The answer is simply taking them from your opponents. Each badge you take from another counts for one point. Please note that there is no limit to the amount of points you can accumulate, but you only need five to pass. Momo will be waiting for you. The ones who pass through and return the badges to Momo will be admitted to the final tournament bracket. Also, do note that you these badges are magical items created from Momo's power himself, so they cannot be destroyed, copied, or recreated. Have fun."

And the voice dissapeared.

****

Adarl drew himself awake, even though his body was arguing to stay asleep. The sudden change in situation was still sinking into his mind. And not to mention. . .he obviously didn't get much sleep last night.

He moved over to feel the touch of Saffron. At least, during this chaos, they were still together. . .

He touched air.

Saffron was gone.

The door to the room stood glaring open, like the mouth of a beast.

****

Zachary sat up abruptly, quickly taking note of the situation and thinking about what to do.

Christopher was staring at him. "Well, this is interesting, isn't it?" he said.

Zachary said nothing, as he was lost in thought.

"Sorry for doing this, but I really have no choice, Zachary. . ." Christopher said. At first, Zachary didn't know what he was talking about, because the boy was making no move to attack him.

It was only until he saw the large, thick vines creeping out from under his bedspread that he realized the danger he was in.

****

Fwupo woke up at mid-speed, rolling out of bed onto the floor, and picking himself up.

'Well, this certainly makes this interesting. . .' he thought, standing up and looking around.

Riley was going through his things that he had left on the nightstand, and was currently holding Fwupo's badge in his hands.

He turned to the moogle suddenly, staring into his eyes like a cat in a spotlight. "Hey. . .don't get mad." he said. "You would do the same."

****

Theodarus opened his eyes like vaults on an ancient, adbandoned building. He sat up slowly, rubbing his face and hair.

Negi did the same. It seemed they were equally heavy sleepers.

"Well. . ." he said, shrugging. "How do you want to do this, exactly?"

****

Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=molokidan>Molokidan</A]&nbsp; at: 11/4/04 4:57 pm

[FF Fanatic 80]

Adarl was not sure what infuriated him more, as he sat alone in the room. His trust being betrayed yet again by Saffron, or trying to trust him again in the first place. He got himself out of bed and began surveying their room. He already suspected his badge would be missing, from the announcement given. However, the half-drow hoped he could still find his equipment.

He intended to make sure Saffron would not be pleased to see his face again...

..and to think, I actually thought for a short time you were sincere... Adarl cursed to himself.

[Molokidan]

Adarl searched the room. While Saffron had vacated all of his belongings from the area, Adarl was surprised to find all of his stuff, INCLUDING his badge, in tact.

The order of it, however, was a bit different than he had remembered. All of his things sat in their same places, however, on top of them, lied Adarl's badge.

It was if Saffron had put it there himself, on purpose. But why?

Outside in the hallway, Adarl could hear the beginning of explosions, weapons clashing, and the screams of the other contestants.

[The Great Nevareh]

"If you were sorry about this, then you wouldn't do it. People today try to tell themselves that the ends justify the means, but honestly what they do makes their purpose vile and pointless. If you so believe in your cause that you think this is entirely right and without a bit of wrongdoing, then I will have to become violent and this entire situation would become much more messy for the both of us."
Zachary, in his head, takes an inventory of the room, and looks around- he switches off most of his more high-level conscious processes and begins to set himself into a thought-pattern of calculation and logic. This detatchment is what makes him dangerous in combat, more than his magic or his physical prowess. The only part of his reasoning being that he is keeping intact is the part that would hear Christopher agree with him and stop whatever he is doing. Zachary would not only regret being killed, he would also regret both having to fight and potentially disable Christopher and also regret having to explain the entire situation to the people who run the tournament.
Of course, he is still groggy while thinking this and he hasn't heard the announcement- and then realizes what he must do. Summoning his skill with gravity, he uses that inverse-trick that he had used earlier to deflect his falling in a much more violent way against Christophper- making the wall directly behind him a powerful puller of gravity, and dumping all of the power he can into the move.
This might do such awful things as liquefy everyone in the room, everyone in the NEXT room, or perhaps even kill everyone in the complex by accidentally creating a black hole- but then again now isn't the time for silly calculations.


Edited by: The Great Nevareh at: 11/4/04 10:44 pm

[wkz]

( That badge thing is straight out of Hunter x Hunter! :D )

"How do we do this? Simple." Theodarus replied. He was looking at Negi carefully for any sudden movements in case of a sudden attack, but other than shaking the sleep out of his head, he was calm as he explained his plan. "We team up on other contestants. Remember that all of them are bunked two to a room, and with that announcement, almost all the contestants will be fighting with each other.

"Those walking alone on the hallways will then be the victors of such fights, and given that most people who reached this point in the competition are of some amount of skill, most of those victors will be injured. It will be easier to take them down, especially if we double-team them..."

Theodarus gave a pause, then continued, "I still do not like you much, but I will still ask: Do we have a temporary alliance?" Visibly, he tensed himself. The wrong answer from Negi will mean sudden, short and bloody violence, and he has no doubt who would most likely be the victor. Especially since his pens, paper and pad are on the nightstand, clearly in Negi's sight...

[JoshuaDurron]

(Indeed. Hunter x Hunter was what I first thought of... knew I should have hidden the thing...)

"Don't sweat it-kupo. But stop for a minute and think-kupo. We can make this a lot easier-kupo." The moogle got up and began casually putting his bandana and elbow pads back on. "We work together, and pick up a good four tags easy-kupo. Then, just for good measure-kupo, we grab a half dozen or so more so fewer progress and this all happens faster-kupo."

The moogle picked up his knee pads and ripped the padding out of them, then tied them on. "Of course-kupo, if you really want to keep that tag-kupo, my prediction of last night will come true-kupo, and I will be your opponent-kupo." As he spoke, Fwupo took the padding and casually wadded it into his ears, holding them in place with his headband. It wouldn't block all sound, but it would block a lot.

"Sorry if I seem paranoid-kupo, but I'm just hedging my bets too-kupo." He folded his arms with a satisfied grunt and though, This is why I said you shouldn't talk about your powers.... "So do you wanna be in a team again-kupo, or will it be a guitar solo-kupo?"

[FF Fanatic 80]

Adarl stared at the badge, blinking several times. He thought for a moment his eyes played tricks on him, or that this was simply a fake made to throw him off. But as he picked it up, he knew it truly was his badge. Now instead of anger, he felt a great sense of confusion and uncertainty.

...why did you do this, if you intended to leave on your own once more? Was this... your act of trust for me? Adarl wondered. Regardless of the confusion, he was quickly aware of how vulnerable he was without his equipment on. He placed the badge in the pocket of his dark pants, quickly getting into his studded armor and strapping his sword to his back.

Saffron said before, that he did not wish to hold my hand through the tournament... Adarl thought, as he approached the door to the room, Perhaps, this is his own odd way of testing my worth...

Unfortunately, Adarl had little time to think of this, as his very life could be in jeopardy. He cautiously peeks his head out slightly, trying to get a view of who is currently in the hallway.

If I make it through this... I will find you again Saffron, and hold you to that promise.

[Molokidan]

(OOC: Hey! Glad we have some HxH fans in the house. Obviously, I took the badge-point idea from that, since I was so interested in it. Of course, the situation/rules/mechanics are different, but the same general idea of badges being worth points and stealing them from your teammates applies. But sorry, no Hisoka. :( Also, I was out of town for the past 24 hours, so sorry about that! No more delays on the horizon, so stuff should continue on schedule from here on out!)

****

Negi stared into Theodarus's eyes.

The funny thing was, the only visible part of Negi's actual body WAS his eyes. The man was covered in so many different-colored robes, scarves, and scraps of cloth, that his dark brown eyes were the only thing peeking out of the mess. It made Theodarus realize how much emotion could be felt, just from staring at a pair of eyes.

Finally, the bounty hunter sighed, and nodded his head. "Alright. We have a tru--"

Suddenly, the opposite wall to the duo's beds exploded outwards, showering the room with wood, plaster, and scraps of wallpaper. Theodarus and Negi weren't hit by any of the flying debris, but still shielded their eyes to the dust.

After the dust cleared, they could see a monstrous contraption standing before them. It had the body of a tractor, with four mid-sized wheels on each side. Coming out from the front were eight long extenstions, each brandishing a different type of bladed weapon: a buzzsaw, a sword, a pair of scissors, a chainsaw, a mace, a long spiked pole, a scythe, and a bladed propeller.

Sitting behind all these dangerous-looking blades was a kobold, wearing a hard hat and work clothes. He worked the levers and dials of the machine almost obsessively, switching two every seconds, making the blades fly around madly.

"WAhahahahaha!" he laughed, moving the machine closer to the beds of the two. As it moved out of the forced passage, Theodarus could see the bloody body of what could have only been the kobold's roommate, lying motionless on the floor, its four limbs detaches, its body littered with slashes.

Negi moved to a crouch on his bed, his four arms revealing themselves from under his clothes. "My sabres are across the room. . ." he said. "I'm not going to be able to get to them without getting cut to pieces." he turned to Theodarus, his eyes wide. "Any ideas on how to handle this?"

****

(OOC: Nev, if I'm understanding this right, you're turning the wall into the inverse, as in, sucking the other person toward it? Sorry if I misunderstood, I am not so sharp in the field of science. If I did, edit the previous post and I'll change this.)

Zachary set gravity into motion, and in split-second, Christopher was flying backwards, smashing his fragile body into the wall.

He fell to the ground, picking himself back up and supporting himself by his arms. He stared at Zachary. "If I didn't try. . ." he said, looking down. "You'd kill me and take my badge, wouldn't you? Don't try to lie to me. I know how you think. I'm just trying to protect myself."

Zachary looked to the door, only to see it that every inch of it was covered in an undergrowth of thick vines and roots. They were growing, eveloping the entire room like a virtual rainforest.

"You won't get away with it." Christopher muttered, tears falling from his eyes.

****

"Y. . .you're right." Riley said, placing down Fwupo's badge and stepping back. "I. . .I'm sorry. I just can't shake off this paranoid feeling. . .it's as if my entire world has been turned upside down." he said.

He walked over to his guitar, picking it up and slinging it over his back. "I'm really too lucky to have found such a great friend as you, Fwupo." he said. "I really don't know what I was thinking." he said, smiling for a second, and then looking ahead seriously.

"But what should we do?" he said. "If you take those things out of yours ears, you'll be able to hear the commotion going on outside. We can't just run out flailing, or we'll die immediately. We have to think of some sort of plan that will allow us to get to the third floor alive."

****

The hallway was a bloodbath.

There were at least twenty people crammed into the fourth hallway of the dormitory floor, hacking each other to pieces with a multitude of different weapons.

Then, Adarl saw a familiar face. It was Ginn, the man he had met earlier up in the desert room. He was swinging his bladed wheels with expertise, doing well against a tall ogre with a mace.

Adarl looked around for Winslow, and soon found him, in a corner, waving his arms about madly, laughing. He tried to look for a weapon, or even an opponent, but couldn't see anything.

Then, something whizzed by his eyes. It was the two small scythes Winslow had been wearing around his belt earlier. They were flying through the hallway, hacking people left around. Their precision was deadly - they only hit in vital spots, such as the neck, stomach, or wrist. And. . .they were moving by themselves.

Directly next to Adarl a man in a dark brown cloak, with silver hair and blue eyes. he had a large beard, and seemed to be pretty built. . .however, he had no visible weapons on him. As soon as Adarl's head came into view, a gleam came into his eyes -- he had found an opponent, and started to make his way over to him. . .

[The Great Nevareh]

"Idiot. Why would I do that? You're a good enough person, and you've got a whole life ahead of you. And, honestly, we've had something like fifteen minutes of conversation. How can you possibly predict what I'm going to do? Keep your badge. I'm not sorry for being forceful, but I am sorry if I hurt you irreparably. Though now that I know we're supposed to be badge hunting, I think somewhere much closer to my person would be the safest place to hide mine. You need a hand up?"

Zachary doesn't appear to even notice the encircling of vines as he treads over to Christopher and offers his hand.

"We've both got dreams we have yet to live, and this is definitely an awful place to end both of our lives."

[FF Fanatic 80]

Adarl wasted no time drawing his blade, getting into a defensive posture. He backed away slowly, not daring to make the first move against an unknown opponent. He waitied and watched carefully.

[Molokidan]

Christopher backed up, protectively at first, and then stared at Zachary, as if expecting to explode into some horrible beast.

Slowly, but surely, Christopher extended his small, pale hand, and grasped Zachary's, pulling him to his feet.

He stared at Zachary in disbelief. "I shouldn't but. . .I believe you." As he said this, the vines around the room began to dissipate, drawing them back to their original source of growth, the wooden floorboards. It was if their power was drawn from the very heart of the boy himself.

He stared at Zachary. "Do you have some sort of plan?"

****

The man in the brown cloak approached Adarl, grinning. "You look like a worthy opponent." he stated. "Let's see if you are."

Suddenly, he brought a hand out from his cloak, placing it on the wall. As he did so, a tremor seemed to run through it, and then suddenly, the wall extended outwards, with a sharp end, coming straight for Adarl. Adarl saw this in the corner of his eye and immediately ducked, the sharp white stone ending right before the point where it would have drilled into the drow's brain.

"Not bad." the man said, crouching down to the ground and extending his hands again. "Let's get it on."

[JoshuaDurron]

As soon as it became apparent that Riley was willing to work with him, Fwupo had taken his ear mufflers back out, it was enough to hear the action in the hallway, and catch the question about his plan. Which, of course, beyond "beat a bunch of people up-kupo" he didn't have to clearly. And he said so.

"But-kupo, from what you've said-kupo, it seems like you could confuse people at range-kupo, while I sneak up and pound them-kupo." He slammed one hand into his fist to emphasize his point. "We only need to take out four for this to be worth while-kupo, so we could also try to lure them into the room and then hit them-kupo..."

[Molokidan]

"Alright. . ." Riley said. "That's not a bad idea." he sat down, and quickly put his guitar into tune. "I guess I should explain more about my power, however."

He brought his guitar up and slung it around his shoulder. "While I can confuse people pretty badly, it takes not only my own concentration power, but the opponent's as well. As in. . .they need to be able to hear me. While just playing this and projecting my energy into it can send out 'damaging' sound waves, if I truly want to confuse others, they need to be able to hear it clearly enough for it to work. The problem out there is. . .there's so much sound that that might not be possible. I don't have an amplifier with me."

He moved to the door, and cracked it open a bit. Sure enough, the sounds of screams and clanking metal flooded into the room. He quickly closed the door. "It's not going to be that easy. However. . ." he ran his hand over his guitar. "Don't think I'm only a long-range fighter." he smiled. "This baby packs a punch."

[wkz]

"Alright, Negi," Theodarus said, as he grabbed his writing materials from the stand, charging the brush almost instantly. "On my signal, go get your weapons. Don't ask how, but I'll grab that kobold's attention so hard he would not notice you...."

"Hey you!! Ugly!! Over here!!" Theodarus shouted, moving away from the robed four-armed ally while hastily stuffing most of the paper messily into his pockets. Then in a language obviously not Common (read: not English, or whatever it is they are talking so far), Theodarus proceeded to curse and swear in the vilest ways he could remember, all of which was aimed at the kobold.

In a corner of his mind, taking only a moment to glance at the kobold's hacked roommate, he thought to himself, "I really Really REALLY hope this works...."

(The pen is still charging, and the writing pad in his other hand.... tell me how many seconds I got when the kobold charges, if it does so...)

[FF Fanatic 80]

Adarl was not about to give the man a second attempt at sending the stone shooting for his skull. Sword ready, he charges the man, trying to strike before he can do so again.

[The Great Nevareh]

"Plans are for people who know what they're doing, and I obviously don't. But, since two people are probably better than one, and since I'm not so vain as to think I'm the only one who has thought of it, there's probably roving twosomes going around obliterating their foes. So, I don't think forming a twosome is that bad of an idea. Though- to prevent any strife that might form, we can't think of our score as two separate people in need of five points- Since we could be a team, we'd be a team with six points, and we need ten. You all right? I hope I didn't hit too hard, though you certainly didn't give me much time to think. You've got some good moves."

Zachary rattles all of this off while searching the room for his armor and his coat (which still contained two empty guns and whatever else he kept in it).

[Molokidan]

The kobold's eyes quickly flickered over to Theodarus, staring at him, its mouth curling into a growl. With the jerk of a few levers, the machine began making its way over to Theodarus' bed. Negi took the advantage of this and began dashing over to the closet, to remove his sabers.

It would be about four seconds before one of the blades was in range to chop Theodarus in half.

****

Adarl ran forward, his sword out before him. The man put his hands on the ground.

As Adarl was running, with his eyes focused on his assailant, he did not notice a small jutting stone bar that appeared out of the ground below him. His feet hit it with a smack, and he fell down face-first, barely catching himself before he smashed his face against the unforgiving ground.

"Hehehe! That's my favorite one." the man laughed, stepping forward to Adarl.

****

Christopher blinked. "Yeah. . .that's a good idea."

He moved over to the door, and opened it a crack. The sounds of death and weapons came in from outside.

"Alright. . ." he said. "I have an idea."

He placed his hands on the wooden frame of the door. Out from it, roots and vines sprouted, making their way outside into the hallway. "I'll make sure there aren't any people out there to ambush us."

After a few moments, he took his hands away, leaving the growth in tact.

"That should block any people for a while." he said, stepping out behind the small barracks he had created.

[wkz]

"Ah!! Too soon!! too soon!!" Theodarus thought. The charge would definately not be enough for what he had originally thought of: writing something vastly defensive ("immune to damage"?) on himself "Two words..." he thought "... better make them count!"

With his brush, he wrote the word "Repulse" on his writing pad, then charged forward towards his foe, using the pad as a shield. With the amount of hands on that machinery, he will have only one chance, when the kobold is surprised, to write a single word that might decide this fight.

"Off"

( Theodarus uses Word of Power: "Repulse". In this case, to deflect attacks backwords )

[Molokidan]

(OOC: Remind me again, is there a time limit for this type of thing, Theo?)

Theodarus held the pad in front of him, just as the buzzsaw came down for him.

As it came towards his general vicinity, there was a large spark, and it was immediately flung backwards.

". . .eh?" the kobold eyed this new development oddly, and came in with the mace. It took was deflected with a spark of light.

"Hmph. . ." the kobold pressed some more buttons, and suddenly, all 8 came straight for Theodarus. Held the writing pad up, and all eight blades were deflected.

"You gotta teach me how to do that sometime." Negi appeared next to Theo's bed, brandishing his four blades. "Alright, let's get this party started."

Negi jumped onto Theo's bed, knocking the chainsaw away with his top left hand, and sprung into the air. He held out his lower two arms below him, deflecting the buzzsaw and the nail stick, and fell onto the kobold.

Some wrestling ensued, but, lucky for Theodarus, the blades had ended their attack on him. Negi slashed the kobold's throat with a quick flicker of his wrist, and returned all four arms to the depths of his robes.

"Well, that's a job well done." he muttered. "And we seem to be rather lucky, because this guy has two badges on him." he grinned, tossing one to Theodarus.

[wkz]

"Thanks," Theodarus caught the badge from the air, then proceeded to re-arrange all the hastily stuffed items in his pockets. (All the while lamanting at how some of the paper had become creased and folded)

Finally, with everything, including the writing pad stored where they are supposed to be and within easy reach, Theodarus said to Negi, "You ready to venture out now?"

(OOC: Charging up depends on the effect and the number of words. Charge time will be 5 seconds minimum per word, and at the most the effect will last 15 minutes...

Some effects however, drain so much power that extra charge time is needed and/or effect time is lessened)

[Molokidan]

"Sounds good to me." Negi said, jumping off the metal monster and joining his newfound teammate. "Well, one more for each of us, and we should be fine."

He made his way over to the door, opened it, and then quickly closed it. It was open just long enough for Theodarus to catch a bit of the mayhem outside.

"Hmmm. . ." he said. "There's about four people fighting directly in front of us. You think we should just dash out there and join 'em?"

[JoshuaDurron]

"OK-kupo," the moogle answered Riley. "I'll open the door and look confused-kupo. As soon as someone comes running in-kupo, hit 'em with your music-kupo. We'll keep going until we got four badges-kupo, or no one else comes in-kupo, then make a break for the exit-kupo." The moogle quickly shoved his padding back into place, then cried out, "Whenever you're ready," as he rested his hand on the doornob...

[Molokidan]

"Okay." Riley stood behind the arc the door would make, to protect his prescence from being seen. He pulled a pick out of his pocket and placed his hands near the strings. "Ready."

Fwupo opened the door, and looked outside, doing his best "confusing" impression.

He could see, a bit farther down the hallway, a man with spiky red hair that he recognized from dinner. Connected to the man's arm was a large metal clamp-like contraption, which currently had the head of another combatant in its grasp.

"Gimme your badge, buddy, or your head's gonna be crushed!" he shouted, promptly recieving the badge and letting go of the man.

On the other side of Fwupo, was one of the women he had met earlier. It was the older lady, wearing the suit, and she was standing in front of a dead person that Fwupo figured she had just killed. Next to the corpse was another. . .they seemed to be side by side. She was moving forward -- it seemed as if she hadn't claimed her prize yet.