Intense Struggle! (Round 7 - The Database)

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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The contestants found themselves disoriented once more, as the swamp around them vanished in an instant, and was replaced with a sprawling desert.

The landscape was largely featureless, with little to obscure the contestants' view into the distance. But, in every direction, at the edge of the horizon, there were signs of water. Was this desert on an island, or was the water a mere mirage?

What few features there were appeared to be ruined buildings, as though a civilization had once stood on this spot, only to fall victim to erosion and decay.

As the combatants took in their surroundings, the Monitor spoke.

"This is a world known as the Wasteland. There was a civilization here once, but like many 'civilized' people, they sought increasingly powerful weapons in order to destroy one another. What you see before you is the result of the endless escalation. This island is the only remaining landmass of any significant size, and it is nothing but a barren desert."

The Monitor's words were suddenly interrupted by a loud rumbling in the distance.

"Ah, and it is also home to a rather unpleasant creature, which lives below the sands. You may want to avoid it - or perhaps feed one of your opponents to it in order to end the round and ensure your own safety. Oh, and incidentally - those weapons I mentioned, which created this wasteland? A few of them are, miraculously, still intact. Perhaps you can use this fact to your advantage."

The Monitor's voice faded, and the contestants were once more left to fend for themselves.

SpoilerShow

Welcome to the Wasteland! This arena is actually based off of one of the sections of Grand Battle 1's Pop-Up Land. Since it didn't see much action there, I thought I'd bring it back for this - the original suggestion was mine anyhow.

Basically, you're in a large desert, with water surrounding it. There are ruined facilities containing who-knows-what... and there is also a monster under the sands. The nature of the monster is up to you guys. There may be monsters in the water if you go that far, too.

Oh, and a summary of the death post for anyone too lazy to read it all, since there are details that will likely affect character interactions:

-Everyone except D'Neya and Aph was present for Bae's confession. (Well, Larus was unconscious, so he'll have to be filled in, but he did see Bae shift. D'Neya and Aph have seen him shift as well.) They know the Monitor had an agent among them, and may be wondering if he has others.
-Nobody saw B kill Bae. Therefore, the rest of you will probably be looking on him with suspicion, having no way of knowing which of them actually survived.
-B is feeling pretty messed-up about killing someone. It's up to cyber to elaborate on that, but if anyone else interacts with him first, know that he's not going to be happy.
-The Monitor is a bastard. But you knew that already.

Have fun, guys!