Re: The Fatal Conflict (GBS2G7) (Round 3: The Infinite Playground!)
07-31-2011, 07:53 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.
“Mister Hand of Silver?” One of the kids asked, raising their hand into the air.
“Yes, what is it?” Kaja replied irritably. His claims that he was not ‘Mister Hand of Silver’ had fallen on deaf ears. He was pretty sure that they’d already decided who he was before even talking to him. All Kaja had managed to glean was that he and ‘Mister Hand of Silver’ were both ‘bigtalls’, a word he took to mean adults; he guessed they didn’t see many.
“What’s a battle to the death?” The kid asked. Kaja was taken aback.
“Who told you of such things?” He asked.
“You did,” the kid replied, “and you told us about standing up to the Grandmasters.” There was a chorus of kids chiming in on how they were going to stand up to the Grandmasters. Kaja listened in stunned silence. After the kids had finished their extremely vocal opposition of the Grandmasters the kid reiterated his question: “What’s a battle to the death?”
“It’s a tournament. Eight people are forced into bloody combat until only one of them is left alive.” Kaja replied plainly, demonstrating his exceptional people skills. “How did Mist-” He paused. “How did I tell you this?”
“Sounds cool!” One kid said enthusiastically. “Let’s play tournyments!” There was a general murmur of agreement from the rest of the group.
“No.” Kaja replied. “These battles are awful things; brutal, violent and merciless. If you value your lives you will stay well away from anything to do with these battles to the death, including me myself.” But this fell upon deaf ears, as the kids had already started battling. Lacking any weapons they had more or less just started pummelling one another. The particularly enthusiastic kid from before was atop another child, his hands locked vice-like around her neck.
“Stop it!” Kaja yelled, rushing into the midst of the scuffle and hauling the enthusiastic kid from atop his victim. Kaja spun the kid around; he had short red hair, freckles and a furious scowl. If Kaja had to guess he would have guessed he was about six or seven years old. The other children had stopped attacking one another to watch.
“What’s your name?” Kaja asked.
“Don’t have no name.” The kid replied. “The bigtalls used to say ain’t no point givin’ no name to a sac-ri-fice.”
“Well I believe that you should all have names.” Kaja said, diplomatically. “How about Bartleby?” He asked. “That’s a nice name.” The kid nodded enthusiastically, astonished at having a name of his very own. “And I don’t think you should be fighting one another. The Grandmasters want you to fight but you have to work together to beat them.” Immediately the other kids clamoured for names and Kaja did the best that he could, though he did end up calling one of the kids Bellona Junior out of desperation.
“What now Mister Hand of Silver?” A kid newly named Vergil asked.
“Ultimately I am undecided.” Kaja said, more to himself than to the kids. “For the moment the goal is to get down from this structure and meet up with my allies so as to better assess the situation.”
“We use the slides.” Victoria said helpfully, gesturing towards them. Kaja walked over to the slides and peered down the tubes. The principle seemed to be that it was a safe and quick route back to the ground but he was pretty sure that should he get in, the twists and turns would cause his apparatus to slam into the side and begin to leak his vital fluids.
“I think they aren’t going to be an option for me.” He said, walking past the group of kids, towards the spiral staircase, that he supposed he would have to descend instead. He did not notice as one of the light-fingered kids lifted Zaire’s blade from him. But he did notice when the kids started screaming. He spun around to see the blade sink in, blood splattering across the bright yellow floor and marring the perfect white robes of the children. Bartleby…
Bartleby stood over one of the kids (Kaja guessed it was Gwendolyn) a massive grin upon his face and both hands wrapped around the handle of Zaire’s sword which was far too large for him to use easily. One foot planted on Gwendolyn’s body to give him leverage he pulled the crimson sword free of it’s latest victim.
“Bartleby!” Kaja yelled. “Put that sword down!” He hesitated for a moment, staring at the kid’s unwavering grin. “We want to stand against the Grandmasters remember?” Bartleby clumsily swung the blade around into the side of Bellona Junior. She screamed in pain and fell to the floor. There were further screams and some of the kids fled down the slide.
“I don't want to fight no Grandmasters!” Bartleby said, his manic grin not faltering. “I want to win!”
“Mister Hand of Silver?” One of the kids asked, raising their hand into the air.
“Yes, what is it?” Kaja replied irritably. His claims that he was not ‘Mister Hand of Silver’ had fallen on deaf ears. He was pretty sure that they’d already decided who he was before even talking to him. All Kaja had managed to glean was that he and ‘Mister Hand of Silver’ were both ‘bigtalls’, a word he took to mean adults; he guessed they didn’t see many.
“What’s a battle to the death?” The kid asked. Kaja was taken aback.
“Who told you of such things?” He asked.
“You did,” the kid replied, “and you told us about standing up to the Grandmasters.” There was a chorus of kids chiming in on how they were going to stand up to the Grandmasters. Kaja listened in stunned silence. After the kids had finished their extremely vocal opposition of the Grandmasters the kid reiterated his question: “What’s a battle to the death?”
“It’s a tournament. Eight people are forced into bloody combat until only one of them is left alive.” Kaja replied plainly, demonstrating his exceptional people skills. “How did Mist-” He paused. “How did I tell you this?”
“Sounds cool!” One kid said enthusiastically. “Let’s play tournyments!” There was a general murmur of agreement from the rest of the group.
“No.” Kaja replied. “These battles are awful things; brutal, violent and merciless. If you value your lives you will stay well away from anything to do with these battles to the death, including me myself.” But this fell upon deaf ears, as the kids had already started battling. Lacking any weapons they had more or less just started pummelling one another. The particularly enthusiastic kid from before was atop another child, his hands locked vice-like around her neck.
“Stop it!” Kaja yelled, rushing into the midst of the scuffle and hauling the enthusiastic kid from atop his victim. Kaja spun the kid around; he had short red hair, freckles and a furious scowl. If Kaja had to guess he would have guessed he was about six or seven years old. The other children had stopped attacking one another to watch.
“What’s your name?” Kaja asked.
“Don’t have no name.” The kid replied. “The bigtalls used to say ain’t no point givin’ no name to a sac-ri-fice.”
“Well I believe that you should all have names.” Kaja said, diplomatically. “How about Bartleby?” He asked. “That’s a nice name.” The kid nodded enthusiastically, astonished at having a name of his very own. “And I don’t think you should be fighting one another. The Grandmasters want you to fight but you have to work together to beat them.” Immediately the other kids clamoured for names and Kaja did the best that he could, though he did end up calling one of the kids Bellona Junior out of desperation.
“What now Mister Hand of Silver?” A kid newly named Vergil asked.
“Ultimately I am undecided.” Kaja said, more to himself than to the kids. “For the moment the goal is to get down from this structure and meet up with my allies so as to better assess the situation.”
“We use the slides.” Victoria said helpfully, gesturing towards them. Kaja walked over to the slides and peered down the tubes. The principle seemed to be that it was a safe and quick route back to the ground but he was pretty sure that should he get in, the twists and turns would cause his apparatus to slam into the side and begin to leak his vital fluids.
“I think they aren’t going to be an option for me.” He said, walking past the group of kids, towards the spiral staircase, that he supposed he would have to descend instead. He did not notice as one of the light-fingered kids lifted Zaire’s blade from him. But he did notice when the kids started screaming. He spun around to see the blade sink in, blood splattering across the bright yellow floor and marring the perfect white robes of the children. Bartleby…
Bartleby stood over one of the kids (Kaja guessed it was Gwendolyn) a massive grin upon his face and both hands wrapped around the handle of Zaire’s sword which was far too large for him to use easily. One foot planted on Gwendolyn’s body to give him leverage he pulled the crimson sword free of it’s latest victim.
“Bartleby!” Kaja yelled. “Put that sword down!” He hesitated for a moment, staring at the kid’s unwavering grin. “We want to stand against the Grandmasters remember?” Bartleby clumsily swung the blade around into the side of Bellona Junior. She screamed in pain and fell to the floor. There were further screams and some of the kids fled down the slide.
“I don't want to fight no Grandmasters!” Bartleby said, his manic grin not faltering. “I want to win!”
Heaven Help Us | Make Room!!!! | I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
Hang 'Em High | The Only Hope For Me Is You | Zero Percent | Early Sunsets Over Monroeville | DESTROYA | Demolition Lovers | To The End
Surrender The Night | Disenchanted | The Ghost Of You | Party Poison | Vampires Will Never Hurt You | The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You
Hang 'Em High | The Only Hope For Me Is You | Zero Percent | Early Sunsets Over Monroeville | DESTROYA | Demolition Lovers | To The End
Surrender The Night | Disenchanted | The Ghost Of You | Party Poison | Vampires Will Never Hurt You | The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You