Arc 3: Canon Z-2: Traitors Among Us

[Zeich Yajuu]

OOC: As it has been a week and a half and I have not received a post from either of the remaining two posters, I will be adding a strike to both Zack and Vannan. I am aware that Vannan asked to go last; however, due to wanting this canon to continue moving forward, I will be enforcing the week time limit listed in the opening thread for both participants. They are each at one strike.

The next one-week limit begins today. Please post or send me a PM/PC informing me as to the delay if you cannot.

[Deleted]

Her silence to what he had said really bothered him, he could handle when someone yelled and lashed back, but silence, that was an entirely different beast. Still he had taken this path and would follow it to the end, no matter what the end meant for him. It seemed like cross had planned two different paths for those depending on how they voted, one for those that trusted their partners and one for those who betrayed them. He had hoped that he could of helped Beatrice pass her challenge, but that wasn't going to be the case. He didn't say another word as he watched her enter the door to her challenge, he hoped that she would be able to get through her challenge without any trouble, he was sure that he could get through his own.

Entering the room the first thing he noticed was the gun and the targets, looking over them he saw each one had it's own value from 10-100. At first he was happy to see that there was an actual gun here grabbing it he tried to pull it away not noticing that it was on a chain anchoring it to the table. It gave a few feet of length to be able to move it around, but no where near enough to get it far enough to get it to the door. He noticed that each time he picked up the gun a number popped up, 600. It was much higher than any of the numbers next to the targets. It seemed simple enough, fire at the targets and get out. This was easy.....too easy there had to be another trick.

Vannan stopped for a moment and looked around at the room a bit closer, that's when he saw two other numbers, one on the exit door for 100. The other target was next to a small panel on the wall, it read 550..... “Why is that so much higher than the rest of the things in this room....” Such a small thing shouldn't of drawn so much attention, and yet because of the number next to it drew all of his attention. He sighed, there was more to this whole thing and yet at first glance it looked so simple. He knew just standing around would do nothing, so he had to take action, he had to play this game, but maybe not the way cross wanted. His curiosity about the panel had been gnawing at the back of his mind and so he turned the gun to face the wall and fired right at the panel to break it open. After one shot he placed the rifle down and walked over to the panel to inspect it and see what secret's it held.

[Zeich Yajuu]

As Kazura and Reynard made their way towards their challenge, the man remained silent, even to Kazura's query. The man had not spoken even once during their time together, and it would leave the question of whether the man was mute, or simply did not want to speak. Whenever he communicated, it was with small, slight gestures, as if he didn't have the energy to do more. Reynard was certainly a mystery, but it was a puzzle that they didn't have time to figure out right now. The two of them descended in the elevator with no words exchanged between them, even making it to the challenge in silence. They were a team in name only, it seemed; they were able to work together, but they were doing so without communicating. They trusted one another, yet the lines of cooperation were limited when Reynard didn't say a word.

They came to their challenge, and the two of them stood in the circle, armed with the laser guns given to them. Reynard stood confidently despite his blindness; the man held his gun with an almost practiced ease, his eyes staring into nothing as he waited for the challenge to begin. Kazura started taking out targets with his own gun, but Reynard matched him almost point for point without even seeming to put any effort into it; it was like he knew where the targets would be, and he shot the bats even as they descended from the ceiling, far beyond the range at which they would be any risk. But how could he have such foreknowledge? Just who was this man?

When Kazura offered him the modified gun. Reynard shook his head, declining silently once more, and pushed it towards his companion, allowing the entrepreneur to be the one to use it in his favor. Indeed, it would make the bats much easier to handle, refracting the laser and causing it to fire out at multiple targets. While Reynard continued to eerily predict every target's location, Kazura's enhanced gun would have no problem keeping even the faster bats at bay. Soon, the rest of the bats would fall, and a buzzer would go off, indicating the end of the challenge. The guns would stop functioning, Kazura would discover, but Reynard would drop his instantly, no longer concerned with it. Instead, the man walked over to where one of the bats had fallen, picking it up and bringing it over.

The bat in question was unusual compared to the other metallic ones; this one was made of a bright golden alloy, and it had a slot in the back along with a button. Reynard pushed the button, and a card slid out from it, almost like a small key card with the number “3” on it. He handed it to Kazura without a word, and waited for his companion to make the next move. But that action had raised another question; how had Reynard known that bat was there, and that it was different from the others? A look at the man's eyes showed the filmy indication that he was indeed blind, so there was no way he could have known that there was one different there. So how, then, had he done it? The mystery continued to grow...

The door at the far end of the room opened, and it led to another small, square room. This one wasn't a challenge, however; there were two couches, one on each side, for the two of them to rest in. Another closed door was opposite the entrance, and this one had a digital display above it that said “Challenges still in progress... please wait.” It seemed that they would not be advancing until everyone else advanced. This would give the two participants time to rest and perhaps converse, to learn a bit more about one another. That is, assuming that Kazura could get a single word out of Reynard, as the blind man moved carefully to one of the sofas, feeling about with his hand before sitting down and leaning back, his expression contemplating.

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Vannan's efforts would yield no effect as he shot at the wall panel, his gun firing a harmless laser much like the one that Kazura's had in another room. It seemed that the “blast” that it fired was nothing more than light, designed to hit some sort of sensor that would recognize it and have an effect from it. The wall panel, despite having a number on it, did not seem to possess a sensor, and as a result the gun's shot didn't actually do anything. Perhaps something else triggered the panel, and the 550 had something to do with that, like a hint. Vannan was just surrounded by numbers, really; the 550 panel, the 100 door, and then all of the targets with various indicators. And then there was the gun, the one that listed 600 when he held it; did that have a specific meaning?

Either way, it seemed that Vannan's first attempt had failed, but there was no penalty for it; he simply had to try again. Hopefully Beatrice was doing better, though given her state before going into her own room, it was likely that she hadn't made much progress either. It seemed that their team was in trouble, but that was the result of Vannan's own choices.

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As to be expected in a game where Energy Sensory was used, Zack was completely decimated. Iian matched up pairs of cards with a practiced ease, and as a result he soon won. It was only a single point, reducing Zack's score from 3 to 2, but every point counted when there was an unknown penalty at 0 points. He would have to be wary of upcoming challenges, or else he'd find himself losing this “game” completely. But while there was nothing he could have done in this particular challenge; he had been dropped into a lose-lose situation. All Zack could do after this point was try and make up for lost points, if he could, if he intended to stay in the game and, by extension, likely stay alive.

But before Zack could make his next move, whether it be confronting Iian or just advancing with the game, he'd suddenly find himself paralyzed, unable to move. Cross's voice would echo through the room, as mocking as ever. “Dear me, you're just not enjoying this game, are you? You could really learn a thing or two from Iian. See how eager he is to play?” Well, eager might not have been the right word, but Iian was certainly willing to go along with the game. Old as he was, in his early teens, one could imagine that he understood the gravity of the situation, but it was just as possible that he was that naive. Either way, it was not a comparison that Zack would be pleased with. However, that's where the next part came in.

“Since you don't seem to be enjoying yourself... I suppose I can let you opt out this one time. You're certainly no fun. All we'll do is pull you from the game, erase your memories of this place, and hope that the process doesn't scramble your brains too much. I've got backup players, just in case of boring fellows like yourselves!” And with that, Zack would feel his bracelet tighten, a dart stabbing into his wrist. His head would spin, and he'd feel dizzy before collapsing to the ground. The world went black, and as he lost consciousness, he'd hear Cross's voice, one last time in the background. “Alright, bring in the new subject. Hopefully she'll be more entertaining than this one was...”

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Shizuka would wake up in an empty room that looked like the interior of an elevator, much like the others had a short time before. Her head felt heavy and foggy, and her concentration would be shot. Worst of all, she'd find herself reduced greatly in all parameters; she'd feel slower, weaker, and less focused. It wouldn't take her long to get back up to speed, but the changes to her physical and mental prowess remained; even as her vision started to focus and the dizziness began to fade, she'd still feel generally weaker. Where was she? What was she doing there? All memories before waking up were still there, all except for how she had been kidnapped in the first place.

Well, first things first. Shizuka would notice the watch-like bracelet on her arm, and on its face would be the number “2.” What she wouldn't know was that she had inherited Zack's points before he had been removed from the game, as well as his unlocked skills... which was a whopping zero of them. This put her at something of a disadvantage, not that she'd know it. But for now, she had more important things to deal with; she had to figure out where she was, and what she was going to do to get out of it. The first step would be to escape from the elevator she was in, and from there, determine her location and how to act from there.

Any attempt to open the doors would, of course, lead to failure, and Shizuka would be left to sit there waiting for a few minutes. Fortunately, after about ten minutes or so, a screen above the keypad lit up, showing the same cartoonish fox that the others had encountered. “Ah, hello little missy! Glad you could join us. You were supposed to be a player in the next round, but because we had a sore loser who didn't want to play nice with the others, you've been volunteered to take his place! Hurrah!” The fox's antics were appropriately childish, pouting at the mention of the “sore loser” and cheering up immediately after. “We're playing a game of betrayal! Unfortunately, since you're late to the party, you'll have to pick up the rules as you go, but it's okay; you've already passed the first round, so that should make up for it, right?”

The doors suddenly slid open. “Just head on in; there's a young boy named Iian in the room ahead, and he'll be your partner for the remainder of this round. Ask him any questions you have. But walk and talk if you could; this round has gone on long enough, and I'm growing impatient!” The screen would fade to black, and Shizuka would be able to exit into a large, warehouse-like room, where a young boy was indeed waiting, watching the room she came from. He smiled and waved, letting her approach, and then caught her hand, leading her towards a set of doors on the other side of the room, particularly towards one labeled “ES (50).” It wasn't a hard tug or a forceful one, but more like that of a kid leading his parent towards something he wanted.

“So, you're the new player, huh? Don't worry, we'll have lots of fun! Just follow my lead, and we'll win this game in no time! If you have any questions, ask me on the way!”

((OOC: Zack's out, Shizuka's in. No posting order, but there is a maximum one week wait between posts allowed before all participants who have not posted will receive a strike. Keep that in mind.))

[Kazura Uzaki]

The bats went down without too much of a fight, especially with Kazura's enhanced gun and Reynard's eerily practiced sense of ease at which he handled the event. It was amazing the way he shot down the bats like he knew where they were, especially when all of his stats and techniques were supposedly shut down. Honestly, there was no guarantee that everyone had been weakened like Kazura was, he could only speak for himself. And Reynard was turning out to not be the speaking type of person. Wordlessly he went to a single golden bat, withdrew a card from it, and handed it the Kazura. A small card, emblazoned with the number 3.

Kazura hoped that this card would grant him 3 points, but he was unsure. He desperately needed those points to restore his instincts, to the point where Betrayal even felt like an option... but he would maintain his Moral High Ground. After all, he had to be a mentor and role model to a dozen spiritual employees, and hundreds more "normal" ones. For him to have been discovered as one who let his greed get the better of him... He would lose face to Marcus, Iwamichi, and even Yo... never mind, not her. Thinking about lost colleagues was not going to do any good right now.

Settling down on the other end of a couch, waiting for the other challenges to finish, Kazura once more tried to get a conversation started. "Your first time in this game, Reynard? Testing the card, he waved it in front of his wrist watch, even touched the card to it, hoping to get a reaction out of it. If neither of those actions did anything, he would examine the card more closely.

[Deleted]

As he walked to the panel he noticed that what he had done did absolutely nothing. It seemed that the rifle only shot out beams of light. “Huh.... so I guess that just shooting the wall won't do anything, but I had six hundred... wait..” Vannan turned to the range with the ascending numbers. “Ten....thirty...” Slowly he added the numbers up and got to one umber five hundred and fifty. Then the things started to click in his head. “So that's how you're playing this game huh Cross?... so then that means the door at a hundred means all I need is to shoot the lower ones.... this seems too easy.”

Stepping back to where the light rifle was, grabbing it once more in his hands he took aim and fired at each numbers. Adding up the numbers all the way to five fifty whatever would come his way would come he was interested in seeing what would wait him. Walking over he tried once more to mess with the panel to see if it would budge this time.

(OOC: Shit post is shit sorry)

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Shizuka's eyes shot open. She was staring straight at the ceiling of the small, square-shaped room that she was in, but nothing around her was registering. Nothing was making sense. Her anxiety began to rise as she slowly regained the feeling in the rest of her body, realizing that she was laying down with her back against the floor. Her right arm was to her side against the ground while her left was laying across her stomach. Her legs were bent slightly but in line with each other, representative of the fact that she was knocked out somehow. She quickly tried her best to assess her health, and once she realized she wasn't hurt aside from the nausea, Shizuka slowly turned over and pushed herself up. Her knees and calves gathered beneath her to provide some form of stability as she gave herself time to adjust.

"Ugh..." Shizuka groaned as she tried to fight the sick feeling. "What on earth am I doing here?"

She had no idea where she was or what happened to her. She groaned and held her hand to her forehead, trying to remember what happened. Unfortunately, nothing she tried worked. Her memory seemed to be fine except for how she got here. It frustrated her and she felt herself getting angry, but she was too tired to use any energy on useless emotions right now. Shizuka needed to think of a way out of here as fast as possible. But as she was thinking of a plan, she noticed the bracelet that was newly attached to her with the number "2" on it. This freaked her out a bit, as well, since she didn't know what any of this meant. Shizuka began to panic again and started trying to knock the walls down in an attempt to escape, but nothing worked.

Just as she was about to practically break down because of the amount of anxiety built up in her system, a screen popped on above all of the buttons. A strange character was displayed on it, but it somehow calmed her more than she figured it would. Just knowing that something else was in here, even if it was fake, was relieving. It explained something about some weird game that she was newly introduced to, but she had absolutely no idea what this fox was talking about. She honestly found it mildly annoying, but she was a sucker for foxes so she thought it was cute. Well, she was a sucker for any animal, especially the fluffy ones. Anyway, she huffed at the fox for telling her that she'd have to learn the rules, but she figured it could be worse. Her face displayed obvious distrust, but that probably made sense with entering a game called 'betrayal.'

After learning she'd somehow passed the first round (still confused about that, too), the doors to the elevator opened and she felt a full swing of relief move over her body. Most of the anxiety washed away with it but some remained; probably just enough to keep her head on her shoulders and stay analytical about the whole thing. She entered the room with the random stranger which, again, heightened her anxiety. She did not like strangers. She knew she would have to push herself to talk to this guy, especially after how she was introduced to this game. Nothing was making sense to her, but at least she was feeling a bit better than from when she first woke up. She wasn't at full capacity yet, but it was a start.

The boy immediately grabbed her hand after she got closer, surprising her and leaving no time for any questions. Well, not yet, anyway. Shizuka gasped at the sudden unwarranted touch but tried to brush it off as much as she could since this kid seemed like a decent person, she hoped. She prayed. She wished. He dragged her along and said they would both easily win the game if she followed his lead, but something about him threw her off. She didn't know why she couldn't trust him, but she assumed it was partly because of the fact that she had no idea how she even got her or what was happening.

Actually, this whole scenario made her uncomfortable. Aside from her feeling less than adequate with anything at this moment, she knew that being suddenly teleported into a so-called 'game' was dangerous and that this couldn't possibly end well. She didn't want to have to fight anything and, for some reason, she knew she would. It was only a matter of time at this rate, which meant she needed to keep her guard up for the remainder of her involvement. Although, apparently she could opt out at any time. The guy before her did, right? She didn't actually know how that worked, though. It was a bit concerning.

She figured asking the main questions would probably be best, so she tried to mentally jot down a couple that would make sense and aid her in figuring out what was going on. One or two came to mind immediately, but she didn't want to bother the poor kid. This was probably his entire purpose and she thought the worst of his situation, meaning she figured he was captured, as well. If she asked the wrong thing, it may trigger something. Then again, she could be totally wrong. She just didn't want to be insensitive depending on what was really the truth around here.

"So you said you're my partner, right? What all does that mean? And what's this game?" Shizuka paused for a moment, then continued once another question came to mind. "Who was the player before me and why did he leave? Did something happen?"

Hoping not to come off too clueless (although that was going to be pretty obvious at this point), Shizuka used her tone to plead with the boy and hoped he would answer her with as much detail as possible. That was what he was supposed to do, right? Act as a guide? Well, she kind of assumed that part, but that was fine. Shizuka sighed and calmed herself down once more by grounding her emotions so that she was stable again. Her anxiety lessened as she conditioned herself to force it down over the years. She taught herself how to deal with that since she struggled with it, but it also rarely ever flared up like this. Actually, this is the first time in a while. The last time she felt it was when she saw Sozen beat up Kento.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Shizuka's Skills}

[Analyzing] {3}

[Weapon: Gun] {3}

[Stealth] {3}

[Strength of Will] {3}

[Honeypotting - The art of manipulation to obtain information. Basically, a girl gathers enough information about her target - male or female, doesn't matter - and dresses accordingly or changes how she acts to be able to get them to do whatever she wants or tell her what she needs to hear.] {3}

[Zeich Yajuu]

Kazura and Reynard had their downtime, and to try and pass the time, the former tried to start up a conversation with his otherwise silent companion. Reynard had been a good partner, to be sure, especially with how well he had performed in the last challenge. So far he had proven trustworthy, and he was skilled atop that. Yet at the same time, there was something suspcious about him. Despite his blindness, he hadn't seemed particularly lost in the facility, and in the last challenge he had pinpointed each bat with a surprising efficiency that even a sighted person would have a difficult time matching. Reynard was certainly an enigmatic figure, but that was why Kazura asked his question. What better time to get to know his companion?

Reynard looked troubled at the question, his gaze lowering despite not fixing on anything, but after a moment he shifted and slid down the couch so that he was sitting next to Kazura. Gently he caught his companion's hand and lifted it up, holding it in one of his own before pressing the pointer finger of his other hand into Kazura's palm. After a moment he began to write; it seemed that Reynard was truly mute as well as blind, but he had figured out a way to communicate despite that. Each letter was spelled out slowly, but they had time, and Reynard seemed to want to ensure that Kazura understood what he was communicating. Slowly a message would begin to make itself known, though Kazura would have to separate the words himself.

“I don't know. I feel like I have been here before, almost like deja vu, but I know I haven't, as I've only just woken up in the room we started in. But then again, I've had that same strange feeling the entire time I've been here; I feel as though I used to be able to speak. Weirder still was that I feel like I remember saying that, or rather something similar; 'I feel as though I used to be able to see.' I feel as though I've done this before, more than once even, but at the same time, that's impossible. Yet you saw the last challenge. I don't understand this at all.” He paused, but then continued. “But maybe if we win, things will become clearer. So trust me, and I will trust you and never betray. We can get through this, and get out of this, if we work together.”

There was a beep as he finished writing, and they looked up to see the door open, the display above it reading “Challenges complete. Please proceed forward.” Reynard waited patiently, not even looking up; clearly that same odd feeling was coming over him again, and perhaps he already knew what it said. It would be up to Kazura to get them moving forward again, and if he did, Reynard would follow, as quiet as ever. They would come to an elevator, one that would take them up just as the last had taken them down, and soon enough they'd emerge in a new room...

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Vannan's second round of shooting was far more successful than his first; each time he shot a target, it glowed briefly before disappearing, and this happened for each of the targets struck. Each time he hit one, however, the number on his gun went down; when he hit the “10” target, the number dropped to 590, and then when he hit “20” after that, it went to 570. Vannan didn't feel any weaker, and indeed his spiritual strength wasn't getting any weaker; perhaps the gun could only hold so much energy, and each target that he destroyed drained a little bit of it? Either way, it had more than enough to hit all of the targets which, conveniently, all totaled up to 550 once they were all counted together, leaving the number on his gun at 50 as further confirmation.

After hitting enough targets to drop his score by 100, there was a beeping sound, and the door at the far end of the room slid open. However, Vannan kept shooting, ensuring that he had taken out each of them, and soon there was a second beep, one that came from the panel that had been near the door. It slid open, revealing a small slot in the wall with a button next to it which, when pressed, caused a small card to slide out. On it was the number “5,” though what that number meant was a mystery; perhaps it was used in a challenge in the future, or perhaps it was free points; either way, it was probably not something he wanted to leave behind.

Beyond the door was a waiting room similar to the one that Kazura and Reynard were sharing now, complete with two couches, though one of them was occupied. Beatrice was laid out across it, looking as though she were sleeping... but one did not sleep draped in a mantle of blood that soaked everything around them. The woman's eyes stared into the distance, but they were empty, devoid of life. Blood poured from a wound in her head, right against the left temple, but there was a second wound as well, one over her heart. Both looked like bullet wounds, and indeed, on the ground not far off was a small revolver whose six-bullet chamber was empty. The smell of gunpowder was present in the room, and the scent of blood was heavy enough to make anyone not experienced with it gag. What had happened here?

Beatrice, the woman that Vannan had betrayed, sat there so still, so quiet; when they had met, she had been scared, but willing to trust him. And then, when he had stabbed her in the back, the woman had gotten so quiet, so timid, so terrified; both of those were bad enough, but now to have her permanently stilled like this was a horrible experience. Lines traced through the streaks of blood on her face, where tears had dribbled down and washed away the crimson liquid; she had not died immediately, though it was likely that she didn't last for more than a few seconds after the shot to the head. Either way, she was certainly dead, and Vannan was now faced with the woman's corpse laying on the couch before him.

How had she died? Was it murder? Or was it, perhaps, suicide? If the latter, where had she gotten the revolver to kill herself, and why had she shot herself twice? If the former, who would have done it, and why? Could Cross have been behind it? So many questions, and no answers... it would be up to Vannan to act as he saw fit. But even as he entered the room and had time to get over the shock of finding the body, a bell went off with a single chime, and the far door opened, its display showing “Challenges complete. Please proceed forward.” The game was not over yet, it seemed, and if Vannan wanted to survive, he had to move forward. But would he be able to? That was the final question posed to him. What would he do?

Beyond the door would be an elevator, one that would take him up. When he was ready, Vannan could proceed.

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Iian was more than happy to see Shizuka, and even as the two of them started forward, her hand held in the boy's, he began to explain the game in a way that she would understand. After all, it was a kid telling it; it would be a simple explanation as opposed to one that could come from an adult. “Well, the game is on a points system. We vote to either “trust” or “betray” someone, and get points based on what the two of us choose. As you get points, you can spend them to unlock your powers—you have powers, right? Everyone here seems to, and I'm sure you're special too—and stats and stuff. Then after voting, you have to complete a challenge. I think when you beat the challenge, you get to vote again, and try to earn more points. If you get enough points, then when you get to the exit door, you can spend them to win the game and leave. Pretty cool, right?”

The boy was exceptionally eager, though it could partially have been because Shizuka was a rather pretty young woman; at his age, the boy was probably smitten, and because of that, the Xcution member had something of an advantage in what she could consider a trustworthy partner. Indeed, as the two of them walked and made their way towards the elevator, he began to describe the game so far in detail. He talked about how he had picked “betray” on his last opponent, and he would have gained a lot of points from it, but “mister assassin” had done the same, causing them to both get zero points. Still, Iian—he had given his name at some point during his chattering—had earned some bonus points, and had spent them to unlock something already. He even showed off his watch, which said “2” just like Shizuka's. “I got my Reiatsu Strength, isn't that great? I'm not too strong, but I can at least get through the challenges alright, I think. Hope you've got a decent amount too; if we can get you enough points to unlock yours too, we'll be unstoppable!”

The two of them entered an elevator, but rather than going downwards, after the door closed the entire chamber rotated, and they were released out the far side. Rather than being put into a challenge room like the others, the two of them were introduced to a long, clear hallway that continued a fair distance before stopping at another door. As they walked, Iian continued to talk; he spoke of his last partner, a man he just called “mister assassin.” He said the guy wasn't very interesting, sort of grumpy and not a lot of fun to talk to. He was too serious, for one thing. But he had disappeared, refusing to play the game and simply being removed from it. Who knew where he was now; perhaps he was dead. Iian said that without flinching, as though it were nothing more than getting a Game Over screen in a video game; a lost human life didn't seem to bother him at all.

The door they reached at the end read “Challenges complete. Please proceed forward,” and indeed the door was already open. Together they walked through, the calm child and the nervous woman; what lay ahead for them?

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The new room was a familiar one to all of those present as they entered the room; though it wasn't the same room, as any of them could have guessed by the direction they had moved in, they were in a large, warehouse-like area that was very similar to the first one they had been in. There were even eight panels scattered around the room like last time; the only thing missing was the “elevator” rooms that they had started in. It seemed that this would be another chamber in which they would be voting, and, as Cross had promised, the room in which they'd learn about the ultimate penalty that came with hitting zero points. Hopefully more would be explained, but they would have to see what Cross felt like telling them.

Each of them emerged from their rooms, and each individual would have their own worries and doubts. Kazura had his enigmatic partner who seemed to have played this game before, while Vannan had just witnessed his partner's corpse. Shizuka had just been introduced to the game and, indeed, the others would notice Zack's absence. If they chose to ask about it, that was their prerogative. Things had certainly changed in the time that they had gone into their respective challenges, however, and they would have to sort things out. It seemed Cross was in no rush to give the next round of instructions either, so the individual groups would have a chance to compare notes and catch up on what had happened. They would need all the information they could get.

[Deleted]

Each target fell and vanished as he fired out at them. He didn't notice that the number on the gun was slowly decreasing in increments each time he took down a target. It was only after a beeping sound that he looked down at his gun to see that the number was slowly going down. At that point in time his gun read 500, it seemed that he had to pay to get out, so that meant that whatever was behind the panel also had a cost, a cost much higher than just escaping, and now he wanted to know what it was. The last shots fired and he heard a second round of beeping the panel slid to the side and reviled a button.

Placing the gun down he walked over and pressed it, a card slid out, nothing was special about it besides the fact that it had a five on it. “All that for this... points?.... maybe,.... whatever it is I should hold onto it.” The card in hand he looked once more around the room, nothing new had appeared, it seemed as if his challenge was done and there was nothing more to do. There wasn't a point in staying any longer. So silently he opened the now unlocked door and left, with a lingering though in his mind as to what this card meant.

As he opened the door he smelt it, the smell of freshly fired gunpowder engulfed the room. He didn't even need to look to know that someone or something had been firing a gun in this room. His eyes saw Beatrice, she was laying on one of the two couches that were in the room, but he didn't have to look twice to see that she was dead. Her blood was everywhere. He was speechless, the nun he said he would protect was now dead before his eyes and he knew it was his fault. The challenge had claimed her life,she was dead and now her soul would join those in the soul society. “Wait..... where is her soul?”

Looking around the room he didn't see her soul anywhere, after death someone's soul should appear nearby where they died at least so soon after death it should, yet here in this room he saw nothing. Could it be due to the metal ban around his arm, or was it something else? Had Cross done something to her soul. Either way he didn't like this one bit. He wasn't in the mood to stick around watching this, so he headed towards the elevator to move up, but not before grabbing the gun laying on the floor and tucking it away from plain sight. Even if it was empty, a gun could be very useful later on.

Inside of the elevator Vannan leaned back and sank to the floor. Holding his head, trying to process what he had just seen. She was dead, it was clear that Beatrice was dead and that someone had shot her, but where did the gun come from? Who shot her? And most of all, why was she shot? If she was in that room hadn't she completed her challenge? If so why was she killed? If she didn't then someone staged it to look like she had, but why? Just to get a rise out of him? Letting out a heavy sigh he stopped thinking about all of that for a moment and focused on one thing, if someone did kill her it meant that this place wasn't as sealed off as he first thought and that other people had access to come and go as needed, which meant that there was a way to move around, maybe even a way to get around without cross knowing it. He would pander on this thought as he rode the elevator. As the doors open he would simply exit without saying a thing.

[Kazura Uzaki]

Kazura sat on the couch after his examining of the card had failed and listened, well, paid attention to what Reynard was communicating. The spelling in the hand was a slow process, but they had plenty of time. As Reynard spelled out his sad story, Kazura became more and more horrified. The man had lost his sight, then his voice. He had been through this game time and time again, not knowing just how long that he had been playing. He was stuck.. Kazura was determined now to get him out.

While the blind man was talking with his hands, Kazura tried to see if the man's bracelet was within sight. If it was, then Kazura would take a look at it to see what the man had unlocked, to try to better understand his partner. If it wasn't, then Kauzra would leave it alone and instead just ask Reynard directly. "Do you remember what you've unlocked that Cross sealed away from you with that bracelet?" If he answered, great. If not, the fullbringer wouldn't press the issue. It wasn't that big of a deal.

The Fullbringer could be being duped for all he knew about Reynard's committal to pushing trust every time, but he was determined to follow through with this. For the time being, Reynard had shown himself trustworthy, and Kazura had no reason to betray him. When the door opened up, the CEO showed his partner to the door and they rode up the elevator together. If they both pressed trust every time, they would slowly make their way forward in the game until they reached the escape door, hopefully with enough points between them and their allies to make it through. If not... Kazura wasn't sure what they'd do.

When the elevator opened and everyone walked out, Kazura was immediately on his guard. He got extremely suspicious when Iian walked out with a woman instead of Zack and when Vannan walked out without any partner. Just what had the Quincy done? He had betrayed the sister, forced her to tears and depression, then came through his trial alone... Kazura wasn't aware that depending on the Trust/Betray dynamic that there was a difference in challenge, he was just aware that his own challenge had been a teamwork oriented one. That had the risk of death...

"Be right back, Reynard." Kazura marched over to the Quincy, feeling a bit indignant right now. He stopped about two feet from Vannan, lifting up his hand in an accusatory manner. "Just what the hell did you do to that nun? You broke her spirit, then broke her body? How could you? What if that had been your sister, and not in a religious way? What about your family?" Obviously not fully able to process everything because of his reduced instincts left the man struggling to come up with reasons for Vannan's actions, so he would just have to loudly renounce the man for now. Maybe then he would get an answer.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

This place was odd. Nothing made sense and no matter how many times it was explained, that just seemed to make it worse. So many questions remained and most of them had to do with how players entered the game in the first place. Was it a kind of lottery system? Or maybe it was something like they were being chosen specifically because of some quality they had. Either way, Shizuka was wanting answers but she had no idea how to ask for them. Her head was still super hazy and she was having trouble recalling a bunch of things, but she decided following Iian for the time being would be the best option.

As soon as he told her that the game was based on trusting or betraying someone, Shizuka's heart sank. Even as an assassin, being overly trusting was a huge weakness of hers. Iian hadn't done anything for her to not trust him yet or even remotely dislike him, so that already made everything relatively complicated. In fact, she realized that he was kind of adorable, especially when asking about her powers. She blushed and smiled a little at being called special, even though she knew, deep down, that he was referring to all of the players. Shizuka wasn't conceited or anything, but she always loved being complimented, even if it was indirectly. She nodded in response to his mentioning of them, though, as her own way of agreeing and understanding.

What she hated, though, was the fact that it seemed to be based on a point system. Despite all of her athletic prowess and supernatural abilities, Shizuka sucked at a lot of games. It was actually kind of silly, especially since she was so limber and agile. Unfortunately, it didn't matter. She wasn't coordinated enough to play things like sports unless it was volleyball simply because she'd never tried to before. Whenever she attempted a game, she had the strength and stamina but none of the general know-how to actually be good at any of the games. If this whole thing was based on that, she was screwed. Then again, she had a feeling it was more like a giant battle of sorts. That was something she could handle.

Shizuka's hand didn't leave Iian's for the duration of his explanation. In fact, she gripped on it a little bit. She had terrible social anxiety (and bad anxiety to start with, but she managed) which meant she didn't feel comfortable around strangers and strange places. Iian was a bit of a stretch but since he was so young she had no reason to suspect him yet. She could usually push herself out of the anxiety and move on, but some people made it a lot worse than others. Lucky for her, Iian was not one of them. As he continued on with his story, she heard him mention something about some "mister assassin" or whoever who was being a bit of a stick in the mud. She laughed and immediately thought of Zack, wondering how funny it was that he was the first face that popped up in her mind.

Still, Iian seemed cheerful as he talked about the points he has. Shizuka glanced at her wrist as well, eyeing the number that matched his. If he had his Reiatsu Strength, did that mean that she also had hers? Or was it different? That was probably something she could bring up. It was a fairly legitimate question, right? Besides, she had no idea what it was that was unlocked for her if that's what these numbers represented. Or was it the challenges they completed? Shizuka raised her free hand to the back of her head and played with her hair the way she did when she was nervous. She was so confused. Honestly, it was bad enough to where she barely even noticed the room changes as they walked.

"Well, Reiatsu Strength is something I have more than enough of. But what does this mean for me?" She motioned to her watch. "Do I have powers that are unlocked, too? And why do I still feel so hazy? It's like I'm totally incapable of doing anything at all."

Iian continued to talk about the former partner that suddenly stopped playing, and Shizuka couldn't get the image of Zack out of her mind. It was stupid that he kept popping up because there was no way he'd let himself get captured and forced into a game like this. Then Shizuka sighed. Actually, she let herself get captured, too. She had no right to judge him like that. Nevertheless, they finally entered the last room. The Fullbringer had no idea what any of these completed challenge signs meant, but she assumed she'd find out in due time. As she entered, she noticed two other men in the room with her. One seemed to have had been there for a while, and the other entered the room at about the same time as she did.

Actually, the more she looked at it, the more she realized that she recognized one of them. His face was slightly different but she could still see what he used to look like. Since she didn't trust anybody else, though, she refused to show any sign that she knew who he was. Instead, she remained silent on the matter. If it came up, fine, but she assumed he would most likely do the same. It was probably the smartest move for them both. The other man, however, was new to her. She'd never met him before. His face was foreign but there was a weird, familiar feeling about him that she couldn't place her finger on. It's not like she could sense him, and even if she could in the first place, it would be impossible to tell what he was with the way she was feeling with the fogginess she experienced. It was then that the man started yelling at who Shizuka remembered to be Vannan.

"Just what the hell did you do to that nun? You broke her spirit, then broke her body? How could you? What if that had been your sister, and not in a religious way? What about your family?"

"Oh?" Shizuka questioned quietly, raising an eyebrow immediately after he spoke to signify her interest in the gossip.

Obviously, they didn't seem to have any friendly relationship going on right now so Shizuka was a bit concerned. Still, she sat back for a while and let whatever happen between them before she decided to speak up. Between the three of them, it was super certain that she was the only person who had no idea what was going on, and even though Iian was such a huge help to her with answering her questions, it didn't make up for the lack of experience. She needed to talk to these two and that wasn't going to happen unless she stopped the argument.

"Uh, guys?" Shizuka started, taking a few steps towards them after finally letting go of Iian's hand. "I know that what you're talking about is probably very important, but I'm sure that you've noticed by now how I'm not a man. That being said, I'm the other guy's replacement. Mind telling me a couple things about this game? You would be helping out a very thankful, albeit slightly confused, woman. So what do ya say?"

All she had at this point was hope. She hoped Vannan would be understanding but not release how they know each other, and she really wanted the other guy to not be evil for once. She had enough with the opposition she's had to deal with in her life time from people who refused to calm down about their opinions.

[Zeich Yajuu]

((OOC: Skip the GM post this round, it's a chance for you guys to exchange what information you know, beat Vannan up, etc.))

[Deleted]

Vannan hadn't been paying any attention to who was still in the room. However that changed the moment he saw Kazura heading right towards him. He had an idea as to what the man would say, after all his actions hadn't been exactly noble so far. So he kept silent as Kazura started to yell at him. He wasn't about to react, at least until he said something about his own family. Vannan snapped, grabbing Kazura's shirt with one hand before flaring up his reiatsu around him. Surrounding him was a gasses green aura that gave off the feeling of death. His eyes were full of rage and his other hand was balled up in a fist about to hit Kazura in the face, but he saw her there, Shizuka.

He hadn't spoken to her since they first met, but he knew that the two of them left on good terms. Taking a deep breath he calmed down and stopped flaring his reiatsu also letting go of Kazura's shirt. “Me and the nun were separated.” Vannan wasn't about to tell Kazura any more at the moment, given that he didn't trust who was around him. Cross could have had this place bugged or even have people working for him playing this game. Still it seemed that Shizuka's words held some sense of truth to them. However he didn't know how she recognized him. Given how much he had changed, his hair was no longer long and deep purple with blue highlights, but now short and white with a light blue hue to it. His face had changed a lot as well, most noticeably is the scar going from his chin down his neck. Still he just assumed that she was being nice as she always was.

Looking at her he smiled “ I'd be more than happy to help such a cutie. Why don't we get a bit of space and talk?” He winked at her before facing Kazura again. Leaning into the man and using his body to block Shizuka's view he discretely pulled out the gun he had taken pressing it barrel down against Kazura's body before whispering into Kazura's ear. “Cross can interact with us, don't trust anyone..... I couldn't save her.....” The final few words were said with with sincere tone of sadness and if Kazura looked he could see that Vannan's face was somber. Pulling away he quickly hid the gun and looked back at Shizuka. “Well how about it cutie lets go talk.” He extended out his hand to her to lead her away from where the three of them were standing.

If she took his hand he would lead her away from the rest of the people in the room, still visible, but out of earshot. Once there he would lean up close to her and whisper into her ear. “I have to be quick, pretend I’m flirting with you like before Shizuka. Don't trust that kid, his last partner didn't come back. He voted to betray, don't trust that kid. Don't let your points get to zero, the points can be used to unlock things... and most importantly don't trust anyone..... It's nice seeing you again Shizuka even if it's under these circumstances.” After speaking he would simply smile and wait for Cross to come back on and speak to everyone. If Shizuka didn't take his hand he would simply smile and walk away leaving Kazura to explain things to her. Either way Vannan now had someone new to try to get out of this place.

[Kazura Uzaki]

Vannan had been ticked off by Kazura's remark about his sister. It seemed that he did still have some shred of humanity left in him. His reiatsu flared around him, and while it felt sinister and violent, it didn't bother Kazura. His own pressure surged out in response, and while it wasn't a huge difference between the two of them, it was enough to show Vannan that he was superior in that regard. They both calmed down, though, as Shizuka approached them. Vannan appeared to recognize her, so Kazura felt she could be trusted. For now.

Though, he really didn't have a lot of confidence in her intelligence. Of freaking course they could tell that she was not a man. What did it matter? It was a very... odd thing to say, and one that made an awful first impression in the playboy. True, he wouldn't hesitate to sleep with her, but she wasn't the kind of person that he wanted to be seen with. At least, not with that kind of first impression. It was almost as if she was trying to get things out of them just based on the fact that she was a woman. Well Kazura was too stubborn for that.

Vannan didn't seem as resilient though, and completely changed his attitude and started flirting with her. Though, not before he revealed to Kazura the true stakes of this terrible game. The gun wasn't pressed to his body aggressively, though it confused the fullbringer. If his instincts had been sharper, he would have immediately realized that this was a weapon that the nun had used to kill herself or a weapon that had killed her, but as is Kazura was slowly piecing it together. At least he now understood Vannan's interior motives a bit better, hidden behind the mask of a heartless jerk.

As Vannan and Shizuka started talking, Kazura headed back to Reynard. The blind/mute man was still thinking about his answer to Kazura's question regarding the unlocked characteristics, and the fullbringer wanted to be there when he remembered. He also had no more to say to Vannan and Shizuka, so he let them flirt it up as much as they wanted. He didn't need to hook up right now, he needed to get out of here alive.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Shizuka already wanted to vomit. It wasn't like she hated Vannan but she really didn't appreciate how much he flirted. He was trying to hard to make it seem like they didn't quite know each other, but she had a serious sneaking suspicion that the other guy was going to see through his act. Anyone could. Shizuka didn't have to focus her analyzing skills much to figure him out, so she worried for her life a bit. Her head still hurt from when she was knocked out and her senses were seriously shot because of that, as well. The Fullbringer actually felt threatened by Vannan, but not because she thought he was going to kill her. No, she was threatened because she didn't want to deal with men.

The woman didn't even need senses to feel when Vannan and the other dude flared their Reiatsu, either. That was definitely a component that played a huge part in her feeling anxious and small, but they were nothing she couldn't handle. Even if she couldn't fight them right now, she could whine their ears off if they really annoyed her. Then again, she wouldn't put it past them to cause her bodily harm. In the end, Shizuka decided it would be best if she stayed out of their way whenever major arguments happened. It would probably be the easiest and safest way to stay calm.

Once Vannan pulled Shizuka away and whispered to her to play along, she found that it really wasn't hard. Actually, it was easy to stare back at him with the blankest face in the world as if she was telling him to shut up because she wasn't buying it. She didn't hate the guy or anything, but as Shizuka stood there, her golden shoes stuck against the ground as her arms crossed in front of her torso with zero signs of amusement, she knew Vannan would get the hint. However, the information he gave her was relatively helpful. Truth be gold, she still had no idea what she was doing in this game and it freaked her out every second.

"So I see. I don't know, Iian's been pretty chill so far. I figured I'd just let him do this thing for now and kill him if he gave me a reason to." Shizuka spoke softly back to Vannan when she said that, knowing no one could hear her. Afterwards, she raised her voice again. "And I suppose that man over there is some kind of narcissistic, self-involved and incredibly selfish person with only all of the ulterior motives in the world and barely anything else but the thought of survival on his mind? Seems like the type. Whatever, though. I don't care what it takes or who we work with as long as I can go back home alive."

Did she care if he heard her? Not really. Something about him put her off so unless he gave her a reason to give a crap about him, she wouldn't. Shizuka was an incredibly loving and generous person until someone rubbed her the wrong way, and something about him majorly put her off. Maybe it was just her. She'd come in contact with plenty of socially awkward or rude people in her life time and did nothing but ignore them. Then they wouldn't bother her. Then again, she could be wrong. She'd never met the guy in her life and felt bad judging him immediately, but she couldn't help it. It was just a feeling Shizuka had.

Vannan and Rando aside, Shizuka did not feel safe in this game at all. She had no reason to not trust Iian yet, so she was planning on keeping that relationship pretty solid. He knew how to play this game better than she did and she did not trust her skills when it came to this stuff. Shizuka was never the type to give up a challenge so she knew she'd somehow make it, but something picked at her brain over and over and told her that this place wasn't okay. Still, she was here now and had no choice but to make it through one way or another.

Actually, now that she thought about it, what did her number mean? Her watch said "2" but she didn't know what that number represented. She scratched her head questioningly and tried to remember whatever it was that Iian had said about it, but he wasn't exactly the most helpful. All she knew was that the watch basically becomes a part of her life now and dictates what she can and cannot do. That wasn't cool. She had no powers! And she didn't even know what powers she actually still had, if anything. Her head was foggy but even she could tell when her spirit was all but drained out of her.

Regardless, she was willing to listen to advice here and there. For now, she was the one who knew the least about this whole game. She needed to figure some things out before moving on and quick or else she would be in for a world of hurt. Shizuka thanked Vannan for talking to her about everything and agreed that it was good to see him, but she wasn't exactly happy about the flirting. She could ignore it for now, though. He wasn't hurting her and she doubted he ever would so it wasn't worth stressing herself out. Her anxiety just recently started dying down with the introduction of a familiar person (though not familiar face), so she wanted to keep it that way.

[Zeich Yajuu]

“Hidey-ho, people!” The blare and squeal of a speaker roaring to life would deafen everyone briefly, and would silence all conversation for a few moments. “Ah good, I've got everyone's attention! Thanks for taking the time away from your busy schedules to listen to what I have to say. It's nothing important, really, just the effects of letting your bracelets drop to zero. Right? So why don't you all go back to your conversations, and I'll just get the next round of voting set up.” There was silence for about two minutes; did Cross truly intend to leave them in the dark after such a tantalizing hint? It wouldn't be that surprising, given that the man had a sick sense of humor, and truly enjoyed screwing with them whenever he had the opportunity. Fortunately, his voice echoed through the room only a short time later. “What, no laughter? Why, you all are just no fun...” A melancholy sigh rang out, but it was followed by a short laugh. “Oh, lighten up a little, folks! It wouldn't kill you to laugh! It might kill you not to, though...” With that ominous warning given in an entirely joking tone, Cross continued his little speech with his normal mocking attitude.

“Alright! So, zero points. Naturally, you lose points in the game of Betrayal, or by spending them to unlock things. But what happens when you hit zero points?” There was a dramatic pause before Cross spoke in a very soft voice. “You... die.” Another pause, before Cross started laughing again. “Oh c'mon! It's okay! I'm not that bad, really! The boss man might be upset if I killed you all, something about betrayals and whatnot. But that's why we have the bracelets! When they hit zero, you'll be injected with a special substance that will travel through both your bloodstream and your Reiatsu network, and exactly three minutes after it starts, we'll be the bestest of friends! And I'm not joking this time, either.” There was no punch line to it, no laughter; it seemed that cross was truly serious about his last comment.

“Anyway! Voting time, and we're shuffling up the partners! Pick a stand, put in your vote, and pray you aren't stabbed in the back again! Ta-ta!” With that, Cross's voice ceased, and the party was left to ponder their next action. Eight panels had risen up from the floor, familiar to everyone except Shizuka, who was only seeing them for the first time. None of them were marked, but last time partners had been chosen by having two people on the same side of the room as each other. These panels were arranged the same way, with two by each wall, though they were far enough apart that no one could look at another's choice from their panel. When a player approached, the screen would light up, listing the player's name and locking it in. Then, two choices would appear: “Betray” or “Trust,” along with a number at the top of the screen from 1-8. Each panel would have its own unique number.

The players would have to pick a panel, and pick an option. Who they would be up against was unknown, but soon enough, they'd know. Their numbered panel may have been a clue, but there was no way to easily interpret it. Cross didn't have to keep the rules from last time, after all.

((OOC: This time, players are in charge of your own fate! You'll pick a number and then your choice of “Betray” or “Trust.” First come, first serve on a number, as there's no posting order this round. We'll even make it easy and include a template for it! Post it up with your answer, and don't peek at anyone else's!))

SPOILER: Click to show

{Vote Template}[spoiler]{Insert Panel Number Here}Vote Here[/spoiler]