Clockwork Souls [IC]

[Maeriberii Haan]

[hr]Several Days Later[hr]Freed[hr]
 
The last few days passed like a breeze for Freed, as all things happen to do when one is enjoying oneself. Seph came down to the Great Hall at breakfast the morning after the party and sorted everyone into their classes. While Freed sensed that the division was less than random, he made no comment. After all, they never said it would be random either. It would likely accelerate their learning when the classes are sorted this way.  

Freed got to know mostly everyone in his class, they all had their certain quirks and Freed found it interesting to learn about everyone and everyone's individual talents.

The teachers certainly were interesting as well, their homeroom teacher's name was Leticia Christie, or Letty for short, an expert in the application of Animus on the human body while instruction was occasionally received from Assad Alexander, a Noctylic man, very rare in the Empire.  

It was on the morning of the fourth day which everything changed. Seph was supposedly sick and did not come to announce like he always did and Annika stood up in his place. Alfred was seldom seen around the Academy safe for the training grounds where he often rode his automaton and wielded his bastard gunsword with deadly force and speed, leaving a trail of decapitated training automatons.  
It seemed that what Annika had to say this morning was truly amusing to her as she wore a big smirk on her face which stretched from ear to ear, while the seniors had began to mutter frantically. Some even got up to go to other tables, one man sitting in the corner especially got attention from his peers. The freshmen could only stare dumbfounded, oblivious to what was going on.  

"Attention, students!" While Annika's voice was not amplified by Animus, it was still quite audible above the din in the dining hall.
"Today we lift the No Combat Rule. Fighting is now allowed everywhere except inside dorms, in the mess hall or during classes. Any methods are allowed, no rules. After every fight, one must claim their victory and back it up with proof that they were indeed the one who defeated their adversary while us in the Daedalus Council shall decide whether to count your victory. Each victory counts for 1 point and each loss subtracts 2 from your score.  

"Your score can go into negative as far as -10. Any student with less than 2 points is not allowed to leave school grounds, not even on weekends and if you fail to accumulate those 2 points by the end of the semester... you fail, while those who go above and beyond will receive shining recommendations from Daedalus College depending on how well you do on behalf of the interim principal, Seph von Steinsberg. Good luck to you all. It starts now."  

Interim principal? Freed thought, but there were more pressing things to be worrying about at this moment. Did she just start a massive competition and all-out brawl between students? Undoubtedly, the freshmen would be targeted by the more experienced seniors who would be seeking recommendations that would secure their future careers especially that their graduation would be approaching. He glanced around at his classmates worriedly. What was going to happen?
 
[hr]Caeil[hr]
The past days after the messed-up first day had been quite uneventful for Caeil. She has managed to fully fix her Gliederfüßer and managed to strenghten its joints. She also finished a new defensive automaton system placed inside it, using the scraps she had salvaged.
 
The smug boy from that day visited her inside her room once, to give her some lectures on projectiles and bullet motion, which eventhough she looked like she didn't care at all about it, she actually took the lesson and started fixing her Totenmesse according to it. Apparently, the boy's name is Isaiah, and Caeil half-heartedly believed he'll be a major rival to her, despite how smug and unskilled he looked to her.
 
Nothing eventful happened in her class, and apparently she was in the same class as Isaiah, the birdie-girl, her roommate Amelia, and the mysterious man from before. She couldn't really remember much about her homeroom teacher, but the only thing that she know was that she apparently took some interest in her, by giving her some extra assignments that other students didn't get. She didn't bothered with it yet though, since fixing the Gliederfüßer is the most important thing as of now.
 
Also, her relation with Amelia was kind of shaky, due to how inconsiderate Caeil was, and how Caeil always worked all night long, disturbing Amelia's sleep. Caeil had put some interests in Amelia's automaton though, but so far Amelia hadn't allowed her to touch it, let alone studying it.
 
The fourth day of school, an announcement was made by the all high and mighty casual from the academy's council, Annika.
 
"Attention, students!" While Annika's voice was not amplified by Animus, it was still quite audible above the din in the dining hall.
"Today we lift the No Combat Rule. Fighting is now allowed everywhere except inside dorms, in the mess hall or during classes. Any methods are allowed, no rules. After every fight, one must claim their victory and back it up with proof that they were indeed the one who defeated their adversary while us in the Daedalus Council shall decide whether to count your victory. Each victory counts for 1 point and each loss subtracts 2 from your score.  

"Your score can go into negative as far as -10. Any student with less than 2 points is not allowed to leave school grounds, not even on weekends and if you fail to accumulate those 2 points by the end of the semester... you fail, while those who go above and beyond will receive shining recommendations from Daedalus College depending on how well you do on behalf of the interim principal, Seph von Steinsberg. Good luck to you all. It starts now."
 
"Combat?" Caeil thought, and suddenly she smiled. She was always prepared for combat, and she had the ability to escape when things didn't go her way.
 
"Things are going to be really interesting.
 
 
But first, I must finish my meal and maybe eat some more. This can be really tiring fast."

[StealthyTyranitar]

Lukas had managed to make it past most of his classes without having to reveal anything. After about a week of lasses, he felt he could control the little dragonfly like automatons he had brought with him, but the bag of parts required to assemble a steed for Automaton Building still sat uncreated. He had also learned to heal himself with Animus, but only minor injuries. The announcement at the end of that week worried him. Fighting? With anybody? The lat part is what truly scared him. "2 or more or you fail!?" He whisper yelled to one of his friends. "Well, I guess I better start practicing with my Verass and other weapons." He thought to himself. Instead of building regular weapons like he was supposed to for class, he had designed a second musical weapon. It was a violin, that when struck creating medium voltage bolts of electricity. He had made a rubber bow, to prevent the user from getting struck, and had created a sort of aiming mechanism to be able to hit enemies at a range. Lukas quickly finished his breakfast, and rushed back to the dorm so that he could grab his weapons to protect himself. [hr] Sarah had breezed through the week. There was a lot of staring, gawking, and a little flirting, but nothing serious. She saw Freed quite a bit, but decided to play hard to get, only waving to him when she saw him. The announcement at breakfast made her a little happy, and a little scared. "No holds barred? Does that mean they could, kill us?" She said, looking at the seniors in fear. She immediately grabbed her bow staff off of her back, holding it in a ready striking position. "Let them come. She said, thinking about a single person, Vicky. Her eyes scanned the room, but there were far too many people to see her. " I guess I'll have to look out for her."

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

At the entrance ceremony

Aegis didn't expect Zeta to shake her hand with both of his, and she certainly didn't expect one of Zeta's hand to be metallic silver. "Zeta.. Your hand.. Oh wait, don't tell me, you're using metal gauntlets as armor? That's really cool!" At first, she thought something was off about Zeta, but she chalked it off to the possibility of it being just a gauntlet. She also noticed that his accent sounds a bit weird, almost like something not of Britannian decent. Still, Aegis is in no position to call him out on that, as her own accent has been said to resemble that of a Draszeran.  

 

Aegis

[hr]

Time flies by quickly during Aegis' first week of school at Daedalus College. Her new dormmate turned out to be Zeta, the boy she befriended during the school entrance festival. While there's no conflict between them, she didn't exactly talk to him much. She's spent most of her free time experimenting with different chemicals, which resulted in her room being quite messy and smelly. She was able to pass most of her class with ease, either by listening well to the lectures or sleeping through them. She didn't find the classes very interesting, safe for science and Automaton classes. She knew a thing or two about them, but thought that they were big lumbering machines with not enough firepower to justify their maintenance cost. The classes has changed her opinion on them slightly, but still not enough to convince her to make an Automaton for her own. 

 

And so, four days passed and an announcement took her by surprise. "No-combat rule lifted? Wait, for a rule to be lifted, doesn't that mean the rule has existed before? Eh?! There was a no-combat policy all this time?!" The new rule wouldn't affect her too much, as she believed her explosives are more than enough to handle any surprise attackers. Still, she found it odd that a military school had such a restriction in the first place. 

 

Once the announcement was over, Aegis returned to her dorm to grab Laevateinn and headed towards the outdoors school shooting ground. She had no intention of facing anyone today, but she was prepared in case anyone attacked her. Her explosive vials and harpoon gun are fully loaded, and she brought extra ammo for Laveateinn. "Now then..." Aegis muttered to herself as she loaded her gun and aimed at the targets. "Let's see how this bad boy does..." 2 loud bangs can be heard to those who weren't in their rooms. One from the shot itself, and the other from the bullet turning several targets in the range to dust. "Ha.. hahaha! Take that, logic! Whoever said guns are useless are unable to tell their elbows from their asses! Woo-hoo!" Aegis was very pleased at the results of her test shot, as Laevateinn's explosion force has increased since she last used it a month before entering Daedalus. 

 

Audrey

[hr]

Audrey was surprised, in a happy way, when he found out that his dormmate is a girl. He heard that the dorms are co-ed, but he never expected the girl with him to be so cute. Of course, he haven't put the moves on her yet. He spent most of his free time practicing his control over Animus and fighting off random punks outside school grounds at night. Class was a problem for him though. No matter how hard he tried to focus, he simply couldn't understand anything other than subjects that involve Animus.

 

And so, time passed until the fourth day when Annika made a surprise announcement. "Heh, so the school's turning some kind of.. what was it? Battle royale? Battle zone? Whatever, I'm just gonna beat up anyone who ticks me off." Audrey snickers upon hearing the announcement. His immediate response was to crack his knuckles, as if saying "I'm ready" to everyone else. After the announcement was over, Audrey left the dining room, and headed straight to the main lobby, awaiting those who might challenge him to battle. Spending almost a week without any real fighting has worn him out quite badly, and he is now anxious to fight his fellow schoolmates, which he thought would be a more equal match. 

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

A Few Days Ago...

Helen was not one for parties, and, in the commotion caused by the Student Council, had slipped away to her room with her attendants. They braved the hailfire of the turrets a few more times to bring the rest of her trunks into her room, and fortunately, no one noticed them. Helen had requested for a single room, and the college had allowed her to have the privacy she desired. One of the attendants locked the door during the party and stood as a guard, while the other watched as she unwound her bandages, then sat down to read a book in the comfort of her room, away from any potential watchers. He placed his hand to her back and started to charge her with Animus, the whirring of her body growing louder as her mechanisms accepted the power surge. This continued for a few hours until the raucous outside died down, and Helen felt sufficiently charged up with extra Animus to help her through the night and the day that was to come. Both burly porters then took their leave as Helen wrapped herself back up and retired for the night.

 

This Morning...

 

As classes were decided, Helen became more and more anxious about having to interact with other students, especially in her current state. The assistants that the Imperials had given her came in the evenings to help her fill up her Animus Core with enough energy to last for a while, and no one had thought the wiser, but she was afraid something might happen that could delay them, or prevent them from coming at all. As she passed by the Mess Hall on the way to the Library, she overheard this announcement, causing her to pause in abject terror. While her mask was incapable of expressing fear, and her eyes were covered by one-way lenses, she felt like she was going to shake herself apart from the fear setting in. She had to FIGHT?!? And she would be kicked out unless she could garner two victories, and prevent any losses?!? No one had ever mentioned anything about combat! And from what she had seen, so many students had so many useful tools for these kinds of things! She only had...herself...Just her body, in all of its imperfection. She hurried to her class room, praying that she would not encounter any students that might wish to take pot shots at a poor unarmed bandaged girl.

[The Warden]

As time goes by

 

The past fews days were something of an interesting wake-up call; well, more of a curfew call really. It seems that the academy was relatively soft on new recruits, though Johannes had to agree they had to. After all, not all trainees were from a military academy, and so they need to work from the base level up. The classes were something new, though Johannes didn't pay much mind to the engineering classes. Let those too weak to fight hide behind their automatons, a warrior like himself only needs himself, and his Animus.

 

He proved his use of Animus quite well in the class with Miss Christie. Through some light instruction form the Noctyle man, Johannes had already mastered a new combat technique: Animus Sonique. It worked on the same principle as his Animus Kinteca, but required a good deal less effort. By channeling his Animus through his knives, they would vibrate at an intense frequency. The vibrations themselves enhanced the cutting power so well he could cleaves through sheets off metal no less than 1 & 1/2 centimetres thick. It does do a number on his wrists though, and he's still working on fortification through Animus.

 

As for interactions, he didn't, not much anyways. As the usual meet & greet teachers made new students do, people were mildly amused as he gave a short greeting to them all through Polly, then sat down completely stone faced. Most of his comrades int he class were commoners, though he took special notice in those that made peculiar noises. His notice was especially on the girl covered in bandages. She whirred like most machinery, and by the looks of those bandages, Johannes had to conclude she was a burn victim. There was also another student who whirred like she did, but not as much. He was interesting, since his tone suggested he was constantly trying to hide an accent. Most people wouldn't notice, but to Johannes' own keen hearing, he could detect it. When the time is good he should probably ask what country the boy, Zeta wasn't it? Well, he should ask where this Zeta comes from. There was also that unusual lady boy. She, or he, appeared feminine, but it was impossible to miss the break in falsetto for a slightly deeper one. It was curious, but maybe 'they' weren't real. As for the other students? They were a collection of pyromaniacs, smart-alecks, trollops and know-it-alls, so basically your usual club of students.

 

His roommate was a bit of a wallflower, for lack of a better description. Incredibly shy, as well as easily spooked. He certainly didn't appreciate the 6 am wake-up call Johannes had set for himself; nor did it seem, that he appreciated Polly's presence. Birds of prey have a habit on preying on the weak, and Polly could smell Ezeltainn's social weaknesses a mile away. To date, he has hidden Ezeltainn's goggles and gas mask at least 5 times, and his nest now consists of Johannes' torn apart pillow, three pairs of Ezeltainn's underwear, and also a pair of Sarah's panties that he stole during that one time she left her window open at night. When inquired about the losses, Johannes didn't say a word.

 

But, on the morning of the fourth day, finally, just, FINALLY, his itnerest was piqued. It seems, to the amusement of the rather dense redhead who seemed to be running the school, that there would be a ban on no combat. Johannes, through military training had read the school manual, found it rather amusing there had been one in the first place. Military academies strive for survival of the fittest, but with this place being a place for commoners, it would be best not to let too many die.

 

He was sharpening his knives as the girl talked, and after another strike of the whetstone, he gave a small smile. Let the games begin he thought to himself as he looked up to the other students.

[Maeriberii Haan]

[hr]Caeil[hr]Caeil immediately went back to her room after she finished her meal. Along the way, she could see the chaos that ensued after the announcement.
Many of the students tried to attack her, but her Gliederfusser and her new experimental barrier automaton had been holding the attacks just fine. Battle was not in her mind at that time though, so she continued to run into her room.

Once she arrived there, since it seemed that Amelia hadn't arrived yet, she decided to start disassembling her Totenmesse.

''A rifle like this won't be useful in a closed environment. If only I have the ability to install it into my Gliederfusser, then I won't have this problem....'' she thought.

''Dammit, I have no idea how this could work! At this rate, that smug boy might be able to walk all over me!

That's it, I guess I need a rest. Maybe a nice warm bath can help me focus.''

So she went into the bathroom, and prepared her bath. She had learned from her classes on how to use Animus to generate heat, and she decided that this might be the perfect time to do just that. Minutes later, Caeil was in the bathtub, resting her head in its side.

But, eventhough she tried her best to not fall asleep, she did just that around half an hour later, mainly due to the fatigue from overworking on her Gliederfusser lately.

[Darj]

Several days later

 

After waking up the next day, Ezeltainn introduced to his roommates and learned the names of him and the bird-like monster. It appeared Johannes was indifferent towards him, but the same couldn't be said about Polly: He has been taking his clothes and also hid his treasured headgears 5 times so far, and it was a pain for him to go search around the whole campus for them, especially during busy hours. However, he noticed that after each quest he gradually lost his shyness, which was a great: if things keep going the same way in the following weeks, he might lose his shyness entirely, altough he would probably still wear his mask ans goggles because he simply likes how he looks with them. Nevertheless, he told himself that he would have to face that annoying bird some day to put him in his place, as he wouldn't tolerate being picked on.

 

Everyday in the morning, he woke up early with Johannes alarm and got into his excercising clothes to jog and parkour as he was used to do, around the collegue. He took the liberty to explore the buildings, classroom and pretty much everywhere. After 1 or 1 1/2 hours of running and jumping around, he returned to his room, took a shower, and then worked on his automaton which was damaged since the turret assault, while waiting for breakfast hour and then classes.

 

Ezeltainn was interested in both Animus and Automaton classes, as he can manipulate both. From Assad, he learned how to improve his speed and reflexes further through Animus, and found his classes on automaton-disabling simply awesome, as Ezeltainn is a fan of shutting things down. However, he still cannot use his Animus to heal or strengthen himself, but hopes to eventually learn through Letty's classes.

From the Automaton classes, he learned a couple of tips for improving the movility and reaction time of his automaton, and also requested stronger materials to further strenghtening it and his weapon.

 

In classes, he stood or sat close to Aegis and/or Zeta whenever he could, but he still tried to get along with the rest of the group, especially with the students he already knew such as Stellar and Sarah. However, Aegis was either asleep, or too interested in the class that she would barely pay attention to him, so Ezeltainn usually ended chatting with Zeta the most. Still he learned a couple of things from both of them, such as Aegis being an explosives expert, and Zeta's combat style. He had not yet asked Zeta where he was from, but he is not interested in his personal information yet. Ezeltainn shared them things about him, such as an overview on his abilities and his interest in "disabling" things.

 

On the fourth day, Ezeltainn was having breakfast when Annika made the announcement, which caught his interest.

"Of course, after the welcome they gave us, I should have seen this coming." Then, he immediately thought. "Wait, this is my chance! I will look for Polly and show him once and for all that he can't mess with me." While he knew that Johannes was strong and as an non-core user his anti-automaton abilities would be useless, Ezeltainn was confident in his abilities, especially after the few tricks he had learned from classes. But first, he needed to research on the bird. After finishing eating, he went to the collegue library and at the monster section searched for information about the species of Polly, including their weaknesses [he learned what can be found in the OoC database]. After returning the books to their stands, he knew what he would do: He will first try to make peace with Polly through a food offering, which according to the book works on wild Empyreal Birds, but will still prepare for battle in case it doesn't work in bonded birds. That's when he thought in looking for Aegis to ask her for a favor. But first, he needed to retieve his weapons from his room, now that the collegue had turned into a battlefield.

 

Ezeltainn rushed to his room and managed to get in without troubles. He put his automaton on his back and his weapon Kaxovor on his belt (carrying it with a hammer holder designed for his weapon).

 

After that he left his room to look for Aegis. A couple of minutes before he heard 2 bangs coming from outside, and rushed to the place where the bangs most likely came from to see what was going on. He was relieved to find Aegis at the shooting ground, as now he didn't need to look for her. Then he looked at the destroyed targets.

 

"Hey, Aegis! How are you? Woah, your gun did that?! Awesome! Before I forget, can I ask you a favor? Do you got any kind of substance, gas or grenade effective against bird-like monsters?"

[encapturer]

"This is nonsense..." Amelia whispered to herself after hearing the announcement.  So far, everything had been going relatively well.  She was doing well in her classes, besides ones for Animus control and engineering, of course.  Although, her seniors had been very standoffish whenever she went to ask any of them any kind of questions.  And when she spoke to the teachers about measuring her ability; they pretty much dismissed her, saying they'll be able to 'get all the data they need soon,' probably referencing this battle royale thing.

 

While she didn't really get engineering, Amelia was good with math, which basically told her everything she needed to know about this situation.  Glancing around the cafeteria, she noticed more than quite a few of the upperclassmen looking around the cafeteria, for targets - no less.  'A vicious cycle,' Amelia thought, figuring that most of the seniors were probably sitting around at -10 points or thereabouts, from their losses from when they were freshmen.  And so on, and so on.

 

Classes were cancelled, so Amelia figured she needed to get back to her dorm room.  The only problem was that Claw Crusher was still in her room; she didn't need it for the current classes... which meant she had no way of defending herself.  Once done with her meal, she stood up and walked nonchalantly out of the cafeteria... at which point she broke into a run.  She had run through the campus before, so she knew her way around, though she was not prepared for an ambush.  About 80% of the way to her dorm, a large, intimidating mountain of a man shoulder-charged her from behind.  She barely got a look at his face before passing out, though she etched that large, toothless grin he wore into her memory.

 

When she woke, she was by the entrance to the dorm complex, off to the side, so most would not notice her.  The memory of what just occured came flooding back, causing her to curse herself for not being prepared.  Most likely, she was at -2 points now, which meant she needed to defeat 4 foes in order to be considered passing.  Just thinking about it caused her to almost throw up in disgust at the amount of opportunistic bullying that will be going on because of this rule.  Just getting 4 points would not be enough now.

 

This whole system needed to be broken down.

 

First, though, she needed to get back to her room.  She still was aching from the collision earlier, so she was not surprised when the room looked like a mess; Caeil probably got back first, after all.  While Caeil was not the perfect roomate (she was actually pretty obnoxious) Amelia knew that she was a prodigy when it came to machinery - she had been itching to take a look at Claw Crusher, after all.  Amelia chuckled, Caeil might get her chance, after all.  For now, though, Amelia decided that taking a bath would be best to help ease her aching body.

 

Once she was finished preparing for a bath, she entered the bathroom.  It was full of hot steam, surprising Amelia.  "...Caeil?" she called out nervously.  No response.  Working her way around the corner, Amelia saw the cause of the steam: an unconscious Caeil had fallen asleep in the bath.  Dropping down to her knees, Amelia attempted to gently shake the sleeping girl awake.  "Caeil?  It's no good to fall asleep here.  Wake up!"

[a bad post]

Vickky had gone to sleep quite perturbed that night that the blonde had totally blown her off. Jeez she was 0 for 2 now... disappointing most disappointing. Her dormmate seemed to be the quiet type, and they hadn't really conversed... that might've been because Vickky had not been in the best of moods when they had first met. She hadn't done anything bad though, just been kind of grumpy, aftwerword though she had been pretty nice. She hadn't even come on to him yet!

 

As the days had gone on Vickky had been learning a bit about her classmates, who she found quite interesting in their own respect, she'd even found someone like Freed, except he wore dresses himself, which she'd found adorable as well as attractive. The big breasted girl that he was with a lot made Vickky slightly nervous to approach him, considering her track record with that type. There were a few notable others, but that's not the point.

 

The point was with this morning's announcement they were officially able to fight one another. And Vickky new exactly who the her first target.

 

"Aww hell yes," A wide grin spread over her face as she scanned the crowd not finding her desired opponent at first glance she pushed through the crowd until she accidentally found something squishy...

 

"Oh, so-, nevermind not sorry," Vickky said realizing who she'd bumped into. You see normally she was a nice person, and actually felt a small pang of guilt for treating the other girl this way... but come on she had it coming! I mean really who knocks someone on their back for no reason at all, and gives death threats on their first meeting!? "Good thing I found you mega melons I've been looking all over. So... uh... bumping into you saved me the work of doing to much searching. So you and I both know that you and wahwahs have been itching for a chance kick my can, so now's a good a time as ever to get it done."

 

As Vickky said this she pulled a knife that had been strapped just above her buttocks, and flipped in her hand, "so what do you say no automatons, just our weapons and our fists in a good old fashioned fight." Vickky smiled cockily trying to cover up the fact that her automatons we actually turned off and in her room. 

[Maeriberii Haan]

[hr]Caeil[hr]

 

"Aahhaahah, seems like I passed out in the bathroom yet again....

 

Hmm, I think I know what I should do to my rifle. A nice, warm bath actually worked!"

 

After Amelia's effort in waking her up, she immediately got out of the bathroom and started to work on her rifle again, while Amelia went to bath.

 

"I think the reason so far why I can't install Totenmesse into my Gliederfusser is because the arms are not strong enough to handle the recoil from the blast of energy. Same reason why I can't really turn it into a simple and small gun, it'll break really fast. I can opt to find some true cores to control the input and output of energy so that I can safely make the gun smaller.

 

But finding a true core is quite unrealistic. Hmm, maybe if I use some false cores in its place, I can achieve the same result..."

 

She then checked her suitcase. "Only 3 cores, eh? With the additional core from the Totenmesse, that only put it at 4.

 

No, that's not enough. I guess I can fight some weak-looking casuals for them, while racking up points."

 

She then immediately equipped her Gliederfusser to her, and immediately went straight out of her room, just as Amelia appeared from her bathroom, and immediately lashed at her.

 

And then Caeil realized that she wasn't wearing anything just before she opened the door.

[StealthyTyranitar]

Sarah's search didn't last long, as she bumped into the exact person she had been looking for. "Yes, I would love to kiss your ass no-tits. After the fight though, can we be cool? I'd rather not half to look over my shoulder I try to take a piss." She said, genuinely me jig it. "Besides, I need to focus on classes, and, well, boys. I can't worry about other girls." She pointed to the door. "Why don't we take it outside? Bow staffs aren't exactly the most effective weapons in close quarters, and well, a knife works in both places." She didn't wait for an answer. She strode outside into a an open courtyard, where a few boys were staring at her. "You might want to run along. Things might get ugly." The boys, who looked like seniors or juniors, found places to sit, and one left to get something, she couldn't tell what. A few moments later, he came back with a notepad. "I guess not." She readied her bow staff, going over the strategies she had learned about knife combat in her head. "Short range, can be thrown, useless after thrown, lethal, slashing and jabbing motions." She thought in her head.

[Magikarp!!!]

[hr]

TIMESKIP POWERS, ACTIVATE!!!

[hr]

 

Aquilla had managed to remain relatively calm for the first few days at the school. Unlike the first day, there was a pleasant lack of turret-based doom. Her roommate, some guy named Audrey, seemed nice enough, but he hadn’t done much to really impress her so far. As a matter of fact, the only person that she met that she was genuinely impressed by was that Dragonfly, whose name she still had not yet learned. Getting dressed for the day, she thought about the Dragonfly. “Maybe I was too hard on her. Even if the crash was her fault, she couldn’t have done it on purpose. Perhaps I will try to make amends… maybe.” Having woken up late due to a night of studying (those teachers were relentless), Aquilla was one of the last to enter the hall during Annika’s announcement. "Today we lift the No Combat Rule. Fighting is now allowed everywhere except inside dorms, in the mess hall or during classes.” Aquilla’s heart skipped a beat. “Fighting is allowed? But… but… I can hardly even fight!” In her panic, Aquilla ran from the room, noticing a surprisingly vicious look on the face of the Dragonfly. “She is going to come after me, for sure. I saw that gun, it was crazy! I don’t even stand a chance!” Aquilla ran as fast as she possibly could, not toward the door, but toward the window. “I need to get out of here,” she thought as she burst the window open and jumped out, her Pinnam Ensis opening and catching the wind, preventing her from falling to her death. Rather than seeking out an opponent, she flew, onward and upward, until she was at the school’s highest point. She landed up there on the room and looked around her, Pinnam Ensis folding back up into its compact form. “What am I going to do? I’m not a fighter? I don’t even know exactly how I would intend to defeat an opponent, dropping them?” For a moment, gears turned in Aquilla’s head before she realized how utterly horrific of an idea that was. She couldn’t deal with this. She couldn’t go back down there. She wouldn’t stand a chance. They would crush her. So, instead of returning to her breakfast, she flew over to the window of her dorm room, and climbed in through there. She sat on her bed and pulled her covers up and around her, trying to push out the fear.

[Astolfo]

Enjoying the delicious Dire Boar that had been served, Zeta had eaten his portion, and was satisfied, and was greatly happy that he got to eat with his… friends. It was an alien concept to him, never having gotten to experience true friendship back at Crescent Isles, but as he grew to get friendly with Aegis and Ezeltainn, he had a warm feeling in his chest, and realized that he was growing dependent on them, but in truth, he didn't mind. The feeling of being able to trust some people in such a long while, and relax with them was so new and wonderful to him.
 
When he realized he had accidentally revealed his automaton left hand, he froze, not wanting to hear her response. There was a friend lost. People would think he's a freak once it got around. When she mistakenly thought it was a gauntlet, he sighed in relief, but not confirming or denying it either way. I can't tell her… I hope she doesn't find out… I don't want to lose a friend… Everything seemed alright afterwards though, and he smiled, although his heart was beating a little faster from the shock of his accident. I can't make that mistake again… I need to be more careful…
 
A few hours later…
After having made his way to the dorm as everything was wrapping up, he realized his dorm mate was Aegis, the girl from before, with her bubbly personality, although she smelled of explosives and chemicals, and realized she was probably the person who blew up a turret. It wasn't an altogether unpleasant smell either, being used to the like back where he was from, although it was different. Waving his hand, he greeted her happily. "Hi Aegis! Guess I'm your room mate. I figured you're the girl to try to blow up things, but try not to accidentally vaporize our room. It would be sort of a shame if that happened." When the girl immediately smiled, agreeing with a nod, Zeta sighed internally, knowing something would probably happen within a few days. After setting up his things, he waved to Aegis goodnight, before closing his eyes. Knowing she would probably experiment, he left the lights on, so she would be able to see, partially out of the issues of his own safety, as well as her's, in addition to what the masters of the school would probably say, drifting off into a deep sleep.
 
Several days later…
When the weird boy that had revealed himself to be one of the rulers assigned classes, he realized he was with Aegis and Ezeltainn, and smiled happily. Classes flew by without much event however, with Letty, the Animus instructor, and Assad, a Noctylic man, which was rather rare for the Britannian Empire. Getting along with Aegis and Ezeltainn in his classes well, he grew to enjoy their presence, and liked to be with them when he could - which was almost always, due to the rather coincidental arrangement for the students. On the fourth day, Annika - the redheaded woman who was another ruler - declared that a "No Combat Rule" had been lifted, proceeding to say that fighting with no holds barred was no allowed, besides inside dorms, the mess hall, or during classes. She continued to say that the Daedalus Council - consisting of her, Seph, and Alfred - would judge all victories, with each one counting one point, and each loss two against you. She wasn't done yet though. Students with less than two points were not allowed to leave school grounds at all, and if they hadn't attained that much by the semester's end, they would be failed. Looking around worriedly, he knew he would be a prime target, due to his fragile appearance - which was rather accurate in truth, as of his state now. His former powers would not be with him, and he wondered if he would manage to evade them, but attaining two of his own points would certainly be a problem. When Aegis had left for the shooting ground outside, she took a massive gun, before vaporizing several targets altogether, laughing about someone saying that "guns were useless". That would certainly intimidate most opposition. He himself could manage Blade Arc for maybe a minute, but the toll it would take would be too high, and it would make him the target for everyone. Noticing that Ezeltainn decided to follow Aegis out, he decided to catch up with them, and walked through a hall, jam-packed with people going in every direction. As he struggled through, he was suddenly taken aside with a forceful push into a nook.
 
A slender male with black hair and cold eyes was smiling at Zeta, but not one of kindness. One of cruelty and sadism. Pulling out a rather sharp-looking knife, he proceeded to flick it out, his eyes taking on a mad look. "My name is Zan'In. You best remember it. Guess I'm getting some easy points. You're going to get me to the top of the seniors, and you best not say, or this will be your last day." Sharpening his knife with a small whetstone, he made sure Zeta was looking. By now, pretty much all the students had left, except maybe Ezeltainn, Aegis, and a few others hanging around randomly. After Zan'In decided it was sharp enough, he put it up against Zeta's throat, pressing just hard enough to break skin, a small trickle of blood running down his throat. Zeta wasn't scared, or angered, but rather upset that it had already happened. Deciding to just agree to let him take his victory, he put up his hands in surrender, but that would not be enough. "You know, I would just let you go, but the high and mighty Daedalus Council needs some proof, don't you agree?" Speaking in a tone showing he really didn't mean to let Zeta go either way, the larger kid's face lit up in a grin, as he punched Zeta across the face with a powerful blow. When Zeta was knocked out of the corridor and against the wall on the open hall, he realized that the blow had been much stronger than usual. Some sort of weapon or Animus had to have gone into the strike. As Zan'In walked to him slowly, with a devilish look, he picked up Zeta, before throwing him against the ground almost three yards away, and Zeta just barely managed to tuck his head in to avoid brain damage. The wind being heavily knocked out of him, he was stunned, his vision blackening slightly, as the senior crossed the space smoothly. Catching a glint of metal around the male's hands, he realized that Zan'In was using gauntlets, and feeding Animus into them. How ironic… Aegis thinks I use gauntlets… but I'm the automaton… here… As the senior jumped, stomping on Zeta's right side, he shouted in pain as several ribs cracked, but he sighed in relief as Zan'In didn't notice his automaton left side yet. Coughing up blood violently, Zeta could only hope someone noticed, as his purpose here was to be an envoy, not a warlord, and his skills were too dangerous in a situation like this.

[InfernaLiza]

[hr]

Days after the "Combat-Ready" announcement...

[hr]

 

After several hours of studying every day (which was honestly, not necessary, as Arthur aced every test sent his way), Arthur enjoyed being able to get back to his dorm. That is, until he realized that he had to knock on every door humanly possible to not piss either of his roommates off. Girls... sexy, but as irritable as hell.... 

 

I may need to battle someone soon.. Need those points... Wait. Are fire-balls allowed on school grounds?

 

Still wondering around, as he had nothing to do, he heard from a window "Yes, I would love to kiss your ass no-tits.", and being as he was bored, he went towards the window and lept outside to see what was about to be (or, at least sounded like it) a great cat-fight.

 

After nearly landing on one of the girls (Vickky) about to fight, he quickly back-flipped multiple times to get out of the way, and drew his sword. 

 

After realizing who was fighting, he said without hesitation, "Kick her ass Sarah!". "And if you can't.... I'll get her for you"

 

 

 

 

[Aix]

Freed suddenly realized that he would be a prime target, he had the appearance of a little boy, and he hesitated on leaving the Hall. Taking a deep breath, he convinced himself that he was strong enough to deal with anything that came his way. With a hand perpetually placed on Lasen's hilt, he jogged through the corridors, dodging people in his way and using Animus to burst past people who meant him harm.
 
"Zeta!" he called, catching a glimpse of a familiar figure, but his elated expression turned to worry as he realized the situation. Driven by the instinct to help a friend in need, he drew the ivory white rapier and lashed it at the tall black-haired senior. A warning blow, not an actual attack, but Freed's intent to merely drive the assailant away backfired as the man caught the blade in his gauntlets and nearly pulled it out of Freed's hand.
 
Narrowing his eyes, he activated the sword's rotating mechanism. The sudden high-speed rotation of the immeasurably sharp edge cut off bits of the man's gauntlets and he had to draw back before his fingers were sliced to ribbons. Realizing that his combat strength was suddenly reduced by a large margin with the destruction of one of his weapons, he took another step back.
 
The two of them simply stood there as seconds ticked by. Freed wore a darkly menacing expression on his face while the senior seemed to be weighing his options. The senior's demeanour took a drastic change and Freed's eyes widened as he realized why.
 
"Hummingbird," murmured Zan'In with a smirk as four automaton birds dived from the ceiling like razor darts, striking Freed's arms and legs, pinpointing exactly his tendons on his arms and legs. Like a doll with his strings cut, he collapsed onto the ground.
 
"What... the... hell...?" managed Freed. He was in serious trouble and with the hummingbirds still stuck in him, he was unable to regenerate.
 
"You can just stay there," said Zan'In and Freed's anger boiled from deep within him looking the senior's smug grin. "Next is you, boy. Don't think you can escape me. A weakling like you has no hope. Be glad it was me and not someone else less humane."

[Maeriberii Haan]

[hr]Letty[hr]

 

"Oh my, it seems like it's time for full-on war, yet again."

 

Letty sighed, as she walked calmly to her class from the main hall.

 

"...Even after all my pleas to the principal about how stupid this rule is, nothing has been changed.

 

Such a waste that a building as beautiful like this got ruined just because the petty desire to see who's the strongest..."

 

As she was about to finish contemplating, a quite slow-moving round projectile almost hit her in the head, if only she didn't dodged it at the right time. She immediately pulled her gun and fired it at the source of the projectile, the automaton of a senior student, who's now frozen in fear after seeing what happened to his automaton after Letty shot at it. 

 

"Students are not allowed to shoot at a teacher, and I am free to retaliate if that happened. If you mis aimed your weapon once again, then enjoy your detention."

 

After the student apologized to her profusely, she then continued her walk until she finally arrived at her class without any more accidents. But, she noticed something was amiss, due to the unnatural silence. She found out why when she opened the door to the class.

 

"Wha? Where is everyone.....?"

[Astolfo]

As Zeta was getting attacked, he realized that a green-haired boy that he recognized as Freed came to his aid, and he yelled out to him to stay away, knowing that Zan'In probably had the advantage. When the older kid kicked him brutally across the face to get him to shut up though, the blow nearly dislocated his jaw. As Freed drew his needle-sharp sword though, cutting at Zan'In, unfazed, with the advantage of the gauntlets, he just caught the sword, the metal protecting him. His face turned to surprise when the sword started to spin like a drill, and he was forced to let go, before it would slice his hand to shreds. It seemed Freed managed to get the advantage, and Zeta was hopeful, but noticing a movement up in the roof, he was about to shout out to Freed a warning, but it was too late. Small birds with thin, but extremely sharp beaks struck the tendons, disabling his classmate's motion. Dropping like a sack of potatoes, Zan'In watched, and laughed. Freed's Animus would not be able to heal, as the hummingbirds were still embedded in, and Zeta desperately wanted to help. As the senior dismissed the disabled opponent, he turned to Zeta, boasting arrogantly. Zeta most certainly believed him when he said there were less humane people, but he was certainly not glad to be in this scenario either. Struggling to his knees, he almost collapsed in pain, but managed to force himself up, unsteady on his feet.

Zan'In saw the weak effort, and just laughed cruelly. "Is that the best you can do? Then I believe it's GOOD GAME!" Leaping towards the young envoy with a burst of speed, he took out his knife from before, drawing it out in a smooth motion, aiming to stab Zeta in his left lung. Analyzing the danger as it came towards him, the young man from Crescent Isles dismissed it, being a plain weapon, and not too good of a quality either. Bracing himself for the trouble that would arise once it was revealed he was half-automaton, Zan'In mistook it as fear, and smirked. Zeta knew the bully's Animus strength resided in his gauntlets, not his own self, and thus, the blow would be strong, but not anything major, and as the older boy's hand punched forward, Zeta leaned to the side slightly. As it deflected off the high-quality alloy, it completely shattered, fragments landing on the ground, although Zeta had to take a step back from the force. The fabric around the target had torn in a linear fashion, but he could fix it, and cover it until then.

Calmly breathing, his own calm began to soothe Zeta, while the bully looked at him in shock, and at the gleaming metal. "Y-Y-Y-You freak! You're part automaton, and on your left side too! You probably don't have a h-heart! Monster! Get away from me!" The bully was out of weapons except his own body now, and sighing, Zeta spoke. [font='courier new', courier, monospace]"What do you have against me? I'm just minding my own business, and you come up and attack me. When Freed here from my class tries to help, you attack him back? Don't you think you're being a bit too rough?"[/font] When Zan'In realized Zeta wouldn't attack him probably, he pointed and sneered at the boy. "You're weak and childish. Do you even have a weapon? Or do they not sell things to freaks?" Spitting on the ground when he said the last word, his vitriol was evident. "You might've beat me now, but don't worry. I'll most certainly come back with a much better and deadlier weapon, and with the fellow seniors, and we'll pound you into the ground, and we'll take our time." When Zeta realized that Zan'In probably wasn't going to change, his face took on a sad, resigned look. [font='courier new', courier, monospace]"So that's how it's going to be then? You're free to attack me. I have nothing against that, but the fact that you can clearly see that I was in a weakened state, yet you picked on me is weak, and is something those who know they can't win in a fair fight would do. You certainly aren't going to attack my friends though, and you're not going to try."[/font] Almost the split second that he said his last word, Zan'In spat out an angry retort. "Oh, please. You and what army? You're up against us seniors. We're way stronger and better than you."

Closing his eyes, Zeta bowed his head down slightly, as to be looking at Zan'In's toes, if his eyes were open. Speaking slowly, a strange hum could be heard. [font='courier new', courier, monospace]"Star-fallen design, convergence of [acronym="The blade"]ice[/acronym] and [acronym="The blaster"]fire[/acronym], Åśtræł. Grant upon me your strength, but with mercy given, spare Zan'In's live. Bequest thy energies onto my mortal form.

Transcend."[/font]

As Zeta had been murmuring, something strange had been happening. Glowing with Animus, a large amount could be detected suddenly rising up. The swirling lights illuminated the metallic surface of his automaton arm, but what was even stranger was something pushing itself out of the arm. Upon the final, grand word though, it revealed itself to be a long sword, although appearing strange and having various grooves and parts. Any fighter half-decent in Animus would recognize this as a True Daedalus Weapon. What would also be fairly obvious was that three slots near the hilt contained three glowing spheres, which would be obviously recognized as Daedalus Spheres - and genuine ones too, of a high-quality. Zeta knew this was a great risk, and would raise many questions, but he hoped he could rely on Freed to keep quiet, and deal with the bully somehow. [font='courier new', courier, monospace]"Blade Arc."[/font] At this, the blade Zeta was holding floated over to his back, before splitting into eight identical copies, rotating around to form a circle just behind his back. Zeta was certainly strong, but this power had a toll on him, still healing. Beginning to cough up blood violently, large spatters could be seen on the ground, his face strained and perspiring. He would not be able to use it for long. However, he certainly could help his scenario. Remembering to not kill Zan'In, he snapped his hand at the senior, spreading his fingers as he did so. Five of the blades detached, before hurtling at the bully. The top one just barely skimmed over his head, missing intentionally, but close enough to cause fear. The next top two pinned the older male through the fabric of his thick coat just above his shoulders. The final two embedded themselves deeply into through the fabric and into the wall, on either sides of Zan'In's hips. The Animus drain continued to feed on Zeta's life though, and blood began to trickle out the side of his mouth, and the pain forced him to a knee, but he refused to crumple. The blades were buried deep enough into the wall that they were securely pinning the bully against the wall. Moving his hand in front of his face, the remaining three blades moved forwards, spreading out in a flourish. Snapping his hand vertically, they shot towards Zan'In in a vertical line, one towards his head, another towards his upper torso, and the last towards the intestines. Pulling his hand back at the last second though, they stopped a hair's breadth from the senior, floating there. Zan'In gulped in fright involuntarily, and Zeta took this chance to speak.

[font='courier new', courier, monospace]"Zan'In. You will not ev-"[/font] By now, the pain was evident, and it looked like Zeta was about to pass out any moment, but he still struggled to stay conscious, fighting for awareness. [font='courier new', courier, monospace]"Zan'In. You or your friends will not ever attack my friends again. Do it, and I will most certainly kill you. Understood?"[/font] This was a bluff, as Zeta didn't have the heart to kill another human being, but he knew Zan'In wouldn't probably think so. After the cruel senior hurriedly nodded, Zeta sighed in relief, trusting Zan'In, his naïveté hazing his normal thought, from all the demand the Animus drain took from him. As his vision turned black, the blades all clattered to the ground, before siphoning into Zeta's automaton body with the hissing sound of steam. Zan'In would most certainly have thoughts otherwise though. Although he had been genuinely frightened for a bit, he could see Zeta weakening, and when the boy's consciousness finally cut out, he would be all too glad to put Zeta in a much more permanent sleep. He could always pass it off as a battle accident, with no holds being barred anyways, and a vicious grin of triumph made its way across Zan'In's face. He would enjoy this, oh he would enjoy this very much...

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

'Well fuck...' Minori thought to himself, the second he heard the new rule regarding fighting, 'Not only am I not a good fighter to begin with, but the only thing that can possibly protect me doesn't even specialize in combat. Not to mention I fail if I don't get two frags. I'll have to go back to Sigil."

 

With that, he [acronym='anime style, he's sure as hell not using his ability']zipped[/acronym] back to his dorm. He needed Sigil to protect him. He needed to ensure he didn't fail, and blacken the Rutherfords' name in the process.

 

And most importantly... he needed a plan of attack.

 

...

 

Eventually, however, Minori finally mustered the courage to leave the dorm and return to his classes as per usual. Yet Sigil never left his side. Thankfully, it was intimidating enough to prevent the juniors from getting any potshots, but that wasn't enough. As soon as any seniors showed up, particularly those that were ballsy enough to take Sigil on, Minori was done for. He continued to look over his and Sigil's shoulders as he walked until...

 

A WILD STROKE OF LUCK APPEARED!!

More specifically, two freshmen that Minori didn't recognize, and were about to duke it out. Minori sneaked outside the crowd that had gathered.

 

"Now that we're safe from prying ears, here's the plan,"​ Minori told Sigil enthusiastically, "Now, hopefully one of those two doesn't outright own the other one, but once they're both weak, you go jump into the fray and BASH 'em! They'll probably be after our blood considering that, as well as..."

 

"Current plan does not follow Protocol of Chivalry," Sigil intervened, rather rudely at that too.

 

"Look, I know it's cheap," Minori said after a brief sigh, "But it's our only chance at not failing, and we sure as hell don't want that. Anyway, as I was saying; we're here, the library's there, and... actually, the infirmary's even closer. Once you're done, we can just run like hell. Understand?"

 

"Acknowledged," Sigil then turned to scan the battlfield, "Battle between targets being prepared to initiate."

 

"Brilliant!" Minori exclaimed, before he and Sigil watched the two combatants (Sarah and Vicky) about to duke it out.

 

...

 

Meanwhile, Stellar was still trying to find Ezeltainn. It had been a while since they first met, and she had yet to return his jacket to him. Stellar was also looking over her back every so often too, just in case. Anyway, she eventually found him asking something to Aegis.

 

"Ah, there you are, Ezeltainn," Stellar announced, before placing Ezeltainn's jacket back over his shoulders, "Apologies for not returning your jacket earlier, but I couldn't find you. So... who's this girl you're speaking to? I don't think we've... actually, we have met. But only in passing."

[encapturer]

Amelia took the time in the bath to reflect on what happened this day.  Sure she resolved to go and 'break the system', but she had no idea how to go about doing it.  The points system as a whole probably tended towards certain trends besides mere 'bullying', but Amelia's challenge was to figure out what those trends are, and how to capitalize on them.  "Urgh..." Amelia muttered to herself, eventually deciding to get out of the bath and act.  At the very least, Amelia could stand to fight better, as to not have a repeat of that embarrassing defeat she had earlier.

 

'Guess I should really just ask her...' Amelia thought to herself, thinking about her roommate Caeil.  Even though she already had decided to speak to her about her automaton, Amelia kept putting it off, not knowing why.  As she opened the door out of the bathroom, Amelia figured it out.

 

Caeil was completely and totally nuts.

 

Screwed in the head.  Insane.  A few gears short.  Whatever term Amelia thought of, it was not sufficient a descriptor.  Caeil herself suddenly lashed out in frustration, wearing pretty much nothing but that armor automaton thing.  Amelia grabbed Caeil's shoulders and began yellling.  "CAEIL! I don't know what you think you're doing BUT YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN!"  It was a gamble, hopefully, Caeil wouldn't decided to lash out at her instead.

[Darj]

Before Aegis could answer her, Stellar arrived.

"Ah, there you are, Ezeltainn, Apologies for not returning your jacket earlier, but I couldn't find you."

"Stellar, hello. Oh, thanks, don't worry about it."
[hr]
Minutes later. Ezeltainn was with Aegis when he noticed Zeta was being attacked in a nearby hall. He wouldn't tolerate that and was running towards the hall to help him when another familiar face appeared. He recognized the boy from the classes as Freed, and saw how his sword destroyed Zan'In's gauntlet. He thought the attacker was done for without his weapon, when suddenly 4 bird automatons came from nowhere and stuck on Freed, who inexplicable collapsed afterwards.
He then witnessed Zeta's transformation, and again thought that they wouldn't need his help after all, but he was wrong again. Zeta passed out shortly after.

All of that enraged Ezeltainn, who snapped out and his maniac "shut everything down" side took control of him. He turned his automaton Ryzewik and calmly gave it a command.

"Ryzewik, crush those birds"

The lizard-like automaton dropped from his back and ran towards Freed like a flash, while Ezeltainn charged towards Zan'In with his weapon on hand, with a mad laugh.

"I WILL SHUT YOU DOWN" Ezeltainn shouted at Zan'In.

This alerted Zan'In from Ezeltainn, and managed to avoid his hammer attack. "What do we have here? Are you friend of this show-off freak, too? I will kill you!" Zan'In said, who was still disturbed from Zeta's threat.

However Zan'In failed to notice the lizard, and by the time he did, it had already removed the birds from Freed's with its sharp teeth and was chewing one of them. Zan'In called for them to fly out of range of Ezeltainn's automaton, but only 3 of them responded.

"Damn you, I will kill you all!" threatened Zan'In.

"Hummingbird," Zan'In summoned his automatons once again, this time aiming at Ezeltainn's heart and lungs. The lizard reacted and ran towards Ezeltainn, while he, knowing how the birds attack, started to run in hopes of evading them. When the birds were close enough, the lizard jumped and caught one in the air, while Ezeltainn managed to avoid just one, the remaning striking him on his chest right above the heart.

"Is this all what you got?" provoked Ezeltainn, while removing the bird attached with the claw of his hammer, and then hitting it with the flat side. He felt his chest and left arm numb, now understanding why Freed wasn't moving, but he could still fight with his lizard and block attacks by wielding his hammer with the right hand.

"Let's see how you handle an automaton. Ryzewik, to him!" Ezeltainn ordered his automaton, which ran towards Zan'In while still holding the bird with his jaws. With no weapons and a single bird automaton remaining, there was little Zan'In could do, except for aiming towards Ezeltainn's heart once more...

[Maeriberii Haan]

[hr]Caeil[hr]

 

''Well, this is kind of awkward.. Thanks for reminding me, Amelia.''

 

Just as she tried to go back to wear something, Amelia grabbed her shoulders and started to scream at her about how Caeil needs to calm down, while she's also still naked. This obviously shocked Caeil

 

''.....how hypocritical of her asking me to calm down while she's pretty much in a worse position from mine. I guess I should-''

 

Before she was able to finish her train of thought, Amelia had already summoned her automaton to try to pin her down to the wall. Before she got completely immobilized though, Caeil could immediately activated the Gliederfusser to hold Amelia's automaton so she could escape the lockdown attempt. 

 

''WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO AMELIA?''

 

She then quickly moved into the other side of the room, while activating her barrier system to protect her from Amelia's attempted attacks.

 

''Damn it, I cannot afford to lose energy for something petty like this. And I also can't really escape outside too, except if I want myself to be the laughing stock of the school. No other choices then.''

 

Sighing, Caeil activated the morph function of the Gliederfusser's arms, turning all six into some sort of edgeless mace.

 

''Sorry Amelia. I think you deserved some early sleep today. ''

 

Caeil then charged at Amelia while laughing maniacally, while the target was getting her automaton ready as a shield.

 

''When this mess is over, I swear I'll disassemble the shit out of her automaton.''

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Stellar was merely walking along the hallway when all of a sudden, she saw Freed, the green-haired boy that accidentally caused the cider machine to spill, lying there seemingly unconscious. Zeta appeared pass out as well, and Ezeltainn was busy fending off a senior by the name of Zan'In. He was doing rather well at least; this... Zan'In character had lost all the weapons he had, and his sole hummingbird-shaped automaton wasn't nearly strong enough to take on the larger lizardesque one. As soon as he saw her, Zan'In turned to Stellar, who'd locked eyes with him just as she was about to pick up Freed and take him to the infirmary.

 

"H-... hey! You're a senior, right?" Zan'In asked nervously, "You gotta help me; I was challenging this one guy, and then these other clowns jumped me from outta nowhere and... th-that's a long story; I just need help with this big-ass automaton here. So whaddoya say? Huh?"

 

Unfortunately for him, the senior had holes in his story. For one, the sound in his voice was... desperate. And for two, for someone who claimed to be jumped, he seemed to be holding his own; a little too well to evade suspicion. This called for a look at the battlefield. There were at least four different piles of scrap metal, so Zan'In can't have started off with only one automaton. Then again, even if this hastily-thrown-together tale was to be believed, then that would explain why Freed and Zeta had fallen. But that's where the final deciding thing came into play; Stellar recognized the voice commanding the lizardesque automaton.

 

"Hmmm.... no," Stellar answered flatly.

 

"NO??!! Have you seen this thing?! It's a huge freakin'... dinosaur! Please help me; I'll even give you credit for the OOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW!!" Zan'In's foot was slammed straight into the floor with a size 11 boot enhanced by superhuman strength.

 

"I already said no the first time, but the prospect of you promising me a frag at my friends' expense?" Stellar said in a cold, monotone voice, "That only turns me off even more. Besides, the only people who deserve a frag at this point are the juniors who've worked so hard for it."

 

"Alright fine, I don't need your help!" Zan'In spat in return, "I'll just call upon some more reliable, more loyal seniors! And y'know what they're gonna do?! They're gonna scour the entire campus to look for you, they will find you, and they'll put you down like the traitorous, stuck-up bitch you are!"

 

"That's fine," said an unphazed Stellar, "I was actually hoping for a senior on senior battle,"

 

With that, she turned to leave. But now, Zan'In was furious; how dare Stellar treat his ultimatum like it was nothing? He couldn't move thanks to Stellar, both his weapons were destroyed earlier, and his hummingbird-shaped automatons were gobbled up by the lizardesque one. But he still had one left.

 

'F*** it,' Zan'In thought to himself, "HUMMINGBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR-...!!"

 

At his command, the hummingbird-shaped automaton soared past Zan'In, aiming straight for the top of Stellar's spine. However, having caught wind of this the entire time, Stellar quickly snatched the automaton from behind. Zan'In could only gasp in response; Stellar didn't even get stung by the needle, as he saw that it was between her fingers. That was the last time he saw it, as Stellar began crushing the automaton in her hands, as if it were nothing more than an empty soda can.

 

"Nice try," Stellar littered the floor behind her with pieces of broken automaton as she said this, "But next time, try not to yell when commanding your automatons..."

 

She picked up Freed in her arms and left, leaving a sunken Zan'In behind.

[The Warden]

Johannes was still sharpening his blade as this tom foolery occured, and after Zeta & freed got their asses handed to them, Johannes was prepared to enter the fray. However, his grand plan was ruined by the sudden appearance of Ezeltainn. The young man was a bit of an interference, but oh well, someone was dealing witht he problem.

 

After Stellar also interfered, Johannes had to do a fair bit to restrain Polly. I mean really, a girl having to stand in for a boy was a bit of shamejob as is, but one that's even more masculine than him? Polly woul have a field day, and Johannes did suspect that a few more pairs of underwear will go missing. But a rather good opportunity presented itself. He idled over to the remains of the fray, and knelt down by Zeta's side. "Can you move?"

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

Aegis

[hr]

While busy reloading her gun, Ezeltainn suddenly sprung out of nowhere and asked her a question about an explosive that's effective against birds. She thought hard to herself about what explosive work against something that moves fast, but even with her expertise, something like that is only a dream at the moment. Still, she couldn't bring herself to respond with something that might displease him, so she just continued thinking while her hands reload her beloved weapon. Luckily, one of the big-chested girls she noticed at the entrance ceremony approached them and gave her an excuse to not answer Ezel's question. Still, Stellar's sudden appearance put a hamper on her mood. She didn't respond to Stellar's question and pretended not to notice her. 

 

Minutes later, she found herself walking down the hall with Ezel when suddenly, she came across quite a spectacle. Based from what she can gather, Zeta took down a a senior, but is badly injured in the process. However, she also noticed that half his body is an Automaton. The sight made her freeze in place with surprise, excitement and curiosity, so she just stood there while Ezel and his Automaton fought off the senior's own. The battle was a fun watch, and she learnt quite a lot about automatons in the process. 

 

Soon enough, she came back to her senses and aimed her gun at the senior's head, aiming to take destroy it in one blow. She figured he was the one that injured Zeta, which was something she couldn't forgive in the first place, but the fact that he had the guts to assault another of her friends ticked her off quite a bit. But before she could pull the trigger, Stellar appeared out of nowhere. The small hallway was now beginning to feel crowded, and a shot from such a powerful weapon might not be a good idea, so she lowered her weapon and waited for whatever would happen next. 

 

Surprisingly, Stellar took out the senior with ease and left with a green-haired boy in her arms. Of course, this only made her more jealous. "Grrr... You know I could've easily taken him down, right? Why the heck did you have to be such a show-off anyway? Like that 'I was hoping to fight a senior' line." Aegis said in a mocking tone to Stellar. After finishing her short tantrum, Aegis immediately rushed to Zeta's side, only to find a very tall, very scary looking man with an equally scary bird-thing on his shoulder. Aegis tried to act as if the man's not there, and knelt down so she can look at Zeta eye-to-eye. "Are you all right? Er.. I mean, what do you need? Medicine? Or maybe, Animus. Because you're... Automaton... Haha.." Aegis tried to brighten up the mood while gently caressing Zeta's cheek. 

 

Audrey

[hr]

Half a day passed, and lunch time was over. Audrey hasn't had a single exciting thing during the day. He heard loud explosion sounds earlier in the day, but he thought it was nothing more than a special science class. And thus, Audrey just sat in the main lobby, half bored to death. "Guh.. It's been half a day and not single person has challenged me... I mean, I'm sitting down in the school lobby, making subtle gestures requesting for a fight and nobody even came up to me? What's goin' on here?" 

----

Half an hour passed since Audrey begun to question his "foolproof" plan. He can barely take it anymore, the boredom is killing him and his fists are aching so much for a fight that he's willing to fight just about anything. And then, he can't take it anymore. "Alright, all of you guys! Whoever dares to challenge me can just step right up! Come on!" Audrey shouted loudly to anyone in the school lobby. However, he mistimed his announcement. Most of the people there are the juniors who just left class, and Audrey's imposing stature probably diminished their fighting spirit. So, they just looked at him for a bit and went about their business. "Dammit! I shouldn't have done that!" After what was a pretty embarrassing moment, Audrey walked back to his dorm room in shame. 

 

Usually, Aquila would be back at the room before he was and it would often be locked, so he gently knocked on the door and asked her to open it. "Yo, Aquilla. It's me, can you open the door?" Oddly, there was no answer. He figured it might be unlocked, and he was right. He walked in only to find no-one was there. Curious, he took a peek inside her dorm-mate's room. When he saw a huge bulge under the bed covers, he knew something was wrong, so he pulled back on the covers only to see a terrified looking Aquilla. "A-Aquilla? What's wrong? Are you sick? You look afraid some reason." He tried to ask her. 

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

"I don't know who you are or why you have a problem with me," Stellar turned to the girl throwing the tantrum (Aegis) as she said this, "But you should know that I was dead serious when I said I wanted to fight a senior like myself. It's better they stick to his word and go for me than ambush juniors like yourselves."

 

Stellar turned back to leave, figuring she wasted enough time not getting Freed to the infirmary. He wasn't going to recover out here while she was responding to that other girl. However, just as she turned the corner, Stellar decided to poke her head back round it again, this time with a smile on her face.

 

"Oh, and you're all welcome to take the frag," she said warmly, "I only stopped him from moving after all."

 

With that, she left for the infirmary like she was headed the whole time.