Okay, now that that's out of the way- this is a product of myself and Shadow's (Gryphonlady on having watched Battle Royale, and after having finished our cosplay costumes for a con (Katsucon, to be specific) came up with the idea of what would happen if characters from different anime universes would be forced to undergo the same situation as those ninth grade students.
In order to put this together correctly, I researched a great deal of the Battle Royale concept (including purchasing/borrowing the original novelization as well as the novel-based manga) and placed characters with similar attributes to those in the novel. However, one thing that is largely different between the manga and this version is that after several discussions, Shadow and I agreed that the characters should keep their basic abilities (such as in the case of Vash, an angel arm, etc.) to make things more interesting.
BLAH! Now that all my ranting is out of the way, I hope that you enjoy this fic and please review. However, one thing I ask is that you don't ask that anyone survives/doesn't survive because I already have them planned out (like I said, I'm methodical in doing this, lol) With everything said, please enjoy and review!
Disclaimer: I own in no way or function any of the anime quoted from for this fic. This includes but is not limited to: Sailor Moon, Gunmetal Dream/Battle Angel Alita, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Cardcaptor Sakura, Digimon, Fushugi Yuugi, Kare Kano, Witch Hunter Robin, Ah! My Goddess, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Fruits Basket, Tokyo Mew Mew, Fullmetal Alchemist, Wolf's Rain, King of Bandit Jing, Pokemon, Hellsing, and Trigun.
"You're certain that you want to do this again?"
A blonde haired woman stood, her voice pointed towards a man sitting at a closeby desk. His white gloves were spotless, their fingers curled inward so as to prop his head off of the flat surface. A pair of brown eyes sat behind a pair of curved glasses, their pupils dialated as they watched a nearby television screen.
"Of course. The Committee wanted it this way." The commercial currently showing halted to show a reporter who was quickly blabbering about the results.
"But sir, your own son-"
The man seemed to start for a second, but he remained at his chair, collected. "He has nothing to do with this, and as I've said before, it's by impartial lottery. She's- she's going too, you know."
"She's easily replaced."
A moment of silence passed between the two adults as they watched the screen play out its scene, the reporter almost bouncing up and down in excitement as she rushed with the rest of the military troops through the long wet grasses of the island.
"-gone on for almost two days and five hours, and we already have a winner! No one expected this term's contestants to go by this quickly, but according to the sources we have, the winner apparently went ballistic and took action quickly-"
"She may be easily replaced, but he's not," the man sighed. "If only-"
The reporter fought through the foilage, pushing back greenery as she ran on. Finally, the reporter stopped and turned to face the camera as the soldiers nearby stooped down to pick up what looked like a frail form on the ground.
"-Becky here, and we have the contest winner! It's-" the reporter turned to the soldiers, who lifted up a brown-haired head, while another one whispered in the reporter's ear, "it's a boy! His name is Ryuuichi- apparently an up and coming pop singer-" the reporter motioned to the camera, which focused on the young man, who was holding what looked like a stuffed pink rabbit in his arms. The stuffed animal had blood splatters on it, but that didn't seem to hold him back from cuddling it in his arms.
"-and he's awake! And alive-" Several guns fell from the body as the soldiers laid the young man in the car, which jolted the young man awake.
"If only what?" The blonde observing woman asked the man, continuing to watch the television.
"Nothing," the man answered, actually looking interested in the scene playing out on the screen, which was apparently solely focused on the young man now.
"...oh my god... what did I..." the young man looked as though he was about to cry. The reporter smiled and held out her microphone to him.
"How do you feel now, Mr. Ryuuichi? All your dreams of becoming a pop star will now come true, thanks to your winning the contest! Of course, the viewers were worried there for a bit; it looked like the young Griffith was going to give you a tough choice of either dying with him and holding you back, but it looks like you prevailed. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I... you say I'm going to be a pop star?" the brown-haired man asked, his conciousness obviously fading. He formed a weak smile before he passed out, holding his pink rabbit in his arms. The reporter then took over the camera's view once more.
"And there you have it! This Anime Royale is finished, with young Mr. Ryuuichi as the winner! He'll of course, be known as a pop star in his universe of Gravita-"
The glasses-wearing man pressed a button, and the screen fell silent. He glanced up at the blonde haired woman and raised an eyebrow.
"Is everything in preparation?"
"We're just about ready to commence with transportation of the individuals." The blonde woman took a step back, about to leave. She turned. "Am I assuming that I'm to get everyone on the list then? You're sure you don't want him replaced?"
The man pushed his glasses up on his nose and shook his head. "No. We will still have two pilots after he's gone, and I'm certain that with your science, you can revive him again. The Human Instrumentality Project can live without him as he is."
With the obvious dismissal, the woman left Gendo Ikari to sit alone. After a moment, he leaned forward in his seat, placing his hands on the desk and folding them. A small grin came upon his face.
"Time to let the games begin."
"...what...?"
A brown haired young girl yawned and pushed her bangs out of her eyes, confused. Blinking, she realized that she didn't recognize any of her surroundings- it certainly wasn't the bedroom she had in the Sohma family's quarters- and she wasn't laying on her bed for that matter.
Shaking her head, Honda Tohru pushed herself off of the wooden floor she seemed to be lain on and took a better look at her surroundings.
All about herself were bodies laying on the wooden floor- people sleeping; all of them ones she didn't recognize. The young woman bit her lip, then shook her head. Wherever she was, it must have been because of something happening at the Sohma's- at least, that's what always was the explanation if something strange happened. However, this time... felt different. Tohru hugged the picture of her mother that she'd had in her pocket and prayed that everything was going to be okay, just as it had in the past.
"Knives-!" A blonde young man breathed in and out in halted breaths as he shot up from sitting down. Seconds ago, eons ago... he'd been watching outside a ship window as Rem's ship had burned up in the atmosphere, and it was then that he had jumped up and tried to hit his brother...
His damned awful wicked brother.
Vash pulled his arms around himself, confused. Where he was... looked nothing like the normal surroundings of the SEEDS ship... and it looked nothing like that dusty planet they'd been headed to, either. Glancing downward, he found himself shocked again.
His normal bodysuit was gone, replaced by what looked like a long red jacket. Glancing at his hands, he noticed that both were gloved. Blinking, he pulled both gloves off to see his normal enfleshed hands, and relief sank through him... although why, he didn't know. He hadn't lost an arm, after all...
It was just then that a boy wearing a white shirt moaned from beside him, and Vash jumped back in slight fear. When the young man didn't attack him, Vash sat up on his knees and gently shook his arm, trying to wake him up.
"...Asuka..." the boy groaned for a moment before blinking awake. When he did, he nearly jumped from seeing the blonde haired young man in the weird red outfit. He looked about him, his head jerking from side to side in fear like a meercat's.
"Dad? Where is Captain Misato? There's a man who's trying to- Asuka!"
"Shh!" Vash clamped his glove over the boy's mouth until the young man quieted down enough. After a raised eyebrow, the teenager let go of the young man's jaw, leaving him there to stare at the former SEEDS occupant.
"Who are you?" the young man asked, his eyes wide.
"Vash. You?"
"Ikari Shinji," the young man said, fearfully glancing around himself at the slumbering bodies. "Where-"
"I don't- I don't know," Vash answered truthfully, joining the somber young boy in looking around. Just then, a few more bodies moved around in the vicinity, and they looked at each other with fear, keeping silent.
Jyou woke up just as the two other Chosen Children on either side of him did. Taichi and Koushiro were both glancing at their surroundings, the redhead's eyes as slitted as Tai's were wide. The navy-haired Child bit his lip.
"Guys... where are we?"
"I have no clue," the Yagami answered, glancing around himself as well. To the left, what looked like a blonde kid in some weird red getup and another in a white dress shirt were talking quietly. To his right, a brown-haired girl was murmuring something to herself; probably praying, most likely.
"It seems to be..." the red-haired teenager paused, "it seems to be some sort of... school room." The other two teens looked at him with ludicrous expressions.
"No, seriously. Look there," he said, pointing to the farthest most wall, "those are sliding doors like we have in Tokyo," he murmured. Looking about himself, he placed a finger and thumb against his chin. "It looks like to me... like everyone around here is a teenager, at least."
"Are any of the other Chosen-" Jyou started, and Taichi shook his head in negative at the high schooler.
"Not that I can see. We seem to be the youngest here, actually," the bearer of the crest of courage answered. He pointed nearby to what looked like a group of girls, of which two or three were awakening. "Even of those girls, the youngest can't be less than thirteen-" He blinked, then realized he was blushing while looking at the black-haired girl.
Just then, more movement seemed to come from around the young men, and Jyou started.
"This does not look good."
"L-Li?" a light brown haired girl asked as the boy beside her groaned. The girl with sandy brown locks shook the boy awake. "Li! You need to wake up!"
"S-Sakura? What-" blinking, the young man saw for himself what she was pointing at. All around him, teenagers seemed to be groggily waking up from their dreams, either through natural process or being shook awake by others. He gazed up at the young woman in front of him and held out his arm to her.
"Don't- please don't cry," he smiled, looking into her expression. It was then that a glimmering light coming from around her neck got his attention, and he peered at it. Looking down at it, then up at her, he lightly touched it with his finger.
"Sakura, what's-"
"Where... where are we?" a nearby blonde young man started, being joined by what looked like a man with a long brown braid and another with darker hair. Li glanced at them, then Sakura.
"I think we-"
"This isn't the Vatican," another teenage girl stated, raising an eyebrow. Her hair were forced into what looked like gravity-defying handles on either side of her head. "...where the hell-"
"HUGO-" a young woman screamed upon waking up, only to find that the young man was right beside her. Shakingly, she embraced him. That woke up the entirety of those who were still sleeping, and within moments, approximately forty teenagers were all confusedly staring at each other and their surroundings.
"Um..." the blonde man beside Li and Sakura turned to them. "I wouldn't suppose you'd know where-"
"I'm sure he wouldn't suppose-" his short-haired companion grunted. "Quatre, I swear that-"
"Don't be down on him. Maybe they know," the braided companion halted the interrupting teen. He looked at Li and Sakura. "...do you know why we're here?"
"...no," Sakura stated with a shake of the head, then looked down at her throat, seeing the metal piece on it. "But... I think it must have something to do with this," she said, pointing at the piece. The blonde haired boy glanced downward and placed his own fingers on his neck, his face blanching.
"What the hell-"
"They're collars," another teen added from the back of the room. Dressed in a black suit, he appeared to be older than most of the other teens were, as well as less stressed about his situation. "It looks like someone wants us to stay here."
"But why?" a redhaired girl asked. "I mean, what-"
"Maybe... we should try and get out of here," Li suggested softly, rising up. He saw that another boy (whom he had to admit had the largest mound of brown hair he'd ever seen) had seemed to have the same idea, and was walking slowly to the door with a pair of red and navy haired teens.
"Then let's get going," the brown-haired boy stated. Shaking his head towards his red haired compatriot, he quickly tried to open the door, only to find a gun pointing straight at him.
"What- WHAT THE F-"
"Stay. In. Here." the holder of the gun told the young man.
"Taichi-" The navy haired boy whispered, his face as white as a sheet. Taichi fell to the floor and slowly crawled backwards away from the gun, his brown eyes wide. The girl with the head-sided pigtails stepped forward and stared at the gun as though it would melt before her eyes. After a moment, she blinked in confusion and stepped away from the doorway.
"I- I don't understand," she muttered. "Why don't my powers-"
Just then, a loud noise came from the outside of the room, past the windows. Sakura ran towards the blinds, accompanied by a redhaired girl, and proceeded to pull them up, to reveal a chopper outside, its lights pointedly straight at the teens.
"...Vash...?" a boy asked aloud of his red-clad companion, his voice loud against the chopper's noise. The blonde turned and looked at him.
"What- what, Shinji?"
"That-" Shinji pointed at the helicopter. As he did, a light blue haired girl walked over to Shinji and stood beside him. With a gulp, he looked back at her and then back to Vash. "That's- that's my father's-"
"That's NERV's logo," the girl supplied. Vash raised an eyebrow. "Who-"
"Her name's Rei," Shinji said, stepping back and placing his hands on her shoulders. "Rei," he said, focusing on her. "Rei, what's going on? What's this got to do with my father-"
"NO TALKING!" A voice suddenly sparked from the helicopter. "SIT DOWN AND BEHAVE. YOUR TEACHER IS COMING-"
"Your father set this up," Rei said simply. Shinji's right eye twitched, and he glanced at Vash.
"I don't like this."
"Gee, you think?" Vash asked, falling to the ground as he took a wrong step backwards. Around him, the rest of the teens were looking for an exit, but between the loud chopper outside and the soldiers with guns in the hallway, it ended up simply being chaos. A girl with long brown hair fell into his arms, shaking with fear.
"What- where- Mom!" she cried, then fell against his red-clad chest. Vash blinked, then cautiously put his arms around the girl, whose blue ribbons were flying against his face.
"Um... maybe things will get better?"
The girl looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "But- they have guns, and- where is Kyo? I can't find him or Yuki-"
"I- I don't know," Vash answered, then smiled and looked down at the girl. "But- here's this. My name's Vash... what's yours?"
"Tohru. Honda Tohru," she said, wiping tears from her eyes as he helped himself and she up from their awkward position on the floor. She suddenly gave a weak grin. "I'm sorry for seeming so weak, I just-" she swallowed a lump in her throat, and smiled. "The guns, and everything-"
"Don't worry about it," Rei told the both of them. "If Ikari is behind this, then everything is under control."
Shinji gave the blue-haired teen an incredulous glance. "You think that means it's UNDER CONTROL?"
"Who's Ikari?" A red haired teen interjected. He was followed by the brown and navy-haired teens that he'd been with earlier, the brown haired one rather shaky in his approach. Shinji bit his lip.
"He's- he's my fath-"
"SILENCE!" Suddenly a large shadow loomed from the doorway of the classroom, causing all of the students inside to back away from the doorway.
A man clad in a flowing red jacket and a large brimmed hat strode into the room, followed by a few of the soldiers, one of them recognizable by the long orangish braid that rested on his shoulder. After a few strides forward, he turned to face the teenagers, who were all backing away from the front of the classroom, save for the boy with the short brown hair.
After a moment, the brim of his hat lifted enough so that the teens could see a pair of red-tinted shades. Sakura turned towards Li, to see if he had any idea as to the man's identity, but his eyes were just as clouded from knowledge as hers. A nearby girl with dark skin and black hair cowered against a pink-haired boy in fright.
"Utena, what-"
"Be quiet, Anthy," the male voice loomed, and when the dark haired girl moved, Sakura could see that the pink haired 'boy' was actually a girl with very short hair, and blushed.
The man placed his hands onto the table, revealing a pair of white gloves. Sakura bit her lip, but watched as he carefully removed his hat and laid it onto the table before him. Long black hair tumbled downward onto his shoulders, and it was now clearly seen that he was wearing a long red jacket as well as a collared shirt fastened together at the top by a long ribbon.
"Welcome, class," he said, his words coming out with a slight hiss at the end. "I would surmise that you are all comfortable?"
"What's going on here?" The pink-haired Utena questioned, pushing herself up from kneeling next to the girl called Anthy and standing up. She pointed at the man at the desk. "Why are we here?"
The man smiled for a moment, showing off the large canines he had. He took a step towards the board and picked up a piece of chalk, grinning wildly as he did. With his hand, he wrote out a set of kanji on the board, then turned to face the teenagers in front of him.
"Does anyone recognize this script?"
Utena sat down, confused. Sakura looked to Li, who shook his head. All of the students in the room didn't seem to recognize the odd kanji in front of them.
One of the girls in the back, whose short blue hair seemed to match her same colored eyes, raised her hand. The man nodded and gestured towards her, and she cleared her throat nervously.
"That... that says, 'Anime Royale Act'," she said, standing up to report, then sitting down quickly.
"That's correct, Miss..." The man looked at a file in front of him, then nodded, "Mizuno." He raised an eyebrow. "Does anyone know what this law means?"
Everyone in the room seemed to be silent, including the girl who had answered. The man raised his hands out and scoffed at the youngsters in front of him. "Surely you must be joking. At least one person must know why you're all here."
None of the students responded, and the man tilted slightly forward, smiling.
"Well, then. Perhaps I should start from the beginning." He grinned, and the light seemed to reflect slightly off his glasses, showing off the red irises hiding behind him.
"Welcome," he started his speech, standing up and smiling with that all-too-toothy grin. "This is your ninth grade class. I am your Teacher, Alucard. Let's be friends."
He took a step to the left and nodded. "I realize that some of you may not realize what you are here for, so I shall explain. The Anime Royale Act-" he paused, nodding to the board, "was put into action because of a balance of power that has been tipped one too many times. Too many of you- heroes, whatever you will, have overcome odds impossible by any standards. As such, the AR act came into being so 'cull the flock' or so it were by reducing your numbers."
He smiled with a wide grin. "Today's assignment then, if you haven't guessed, is to kill each other." He glanced around the room. "All of you. Until there's only one of you left."
The young people in the classroom held their breath at the instructor's announcement. A girl in the back with brown hair began to sob.
"But-" the one named Utena stood up again, holding up her hand. She appeared confused. "What about our parents-"
Alucard laughed. "What about your parents? Most of them hardly get any screen time, or are never present in the first place!" He stared at her until she sat down. "They've all been notified of what is to happen, so don't worry your little head. And those of you with no parents, your closest family has been told," he said, boring his vision into Utena's blue eyes.
"I-I see," she said, quieting against the dark skinned girl. Sakura blinked, then mentally nodded to herself. They were just like her brother and Yukito.
"How-" Another young person, this one a female with dark black hair, raised her hand. "How were we chosen?"
Alucard smiled. "Impartial lottery, Miss Alita- simply put, we went through different lists of anime universes and chose ones out of a hat. People that were main characters or overstepping their boundaries in power were taken."
"But-" Alita stopped, speaking slowly as if for effect. "If that's the case, there's plenty of others-"
"We wanted young people," Alucard continued. "Not older ones- not that we don't trust their skills, but youths have greater vitality and strength."
"You bastard..." a short haired blonde that sat with a group of girls nearby said, her hands clenching into fists. She looked as though she might rise up, but was stopped by the aqua-haired girl on her side.
"Haruka... don't."
"That's right, Haruka- don't," Alucard smiled, his teeth glistening. "You should put all that energy towards the battlefield."
Vash sat back on his haunches in the awkward red jacket he'd been dressed in. Forced to... forced to kill each other? What- what kind of madness was this? He glanced over at Shinji and bit his lip.
The young teen had his hands balled into fists, and was holding them against the sides of his head.
"Mustn't- I mustn't-"
Vash bit his lip, then glanced at the boys around himself. The boy named Jyou bit his lip and looked perilously afraid. With a nod to Vash and Shinji, he raised his hand and stood up. Alucard glanced at the young man, then nodded.
"If... if- well, I mean... if we win, do we get to go home?"
Everyone in the room glanced at the instructor. Alucard smiled, then nodded.
"Sure. But only if everyone else here is dead."
Jyou fell back onto the floor, shocked, but more shocked to hear that it was confirmed what they had to do rather than anything else. He glanced at his companions Koushiro and Taichi and gulped.
"What..."
Koushiro shook his head, then gave Jyou a signal to calm down. Taichi nodded at the young man, holding his hand out flat towards the teen. Jyou intook a breath, then nodded. Vash then glanced back at Shinji, whose anger seemed to be surmounting.
"Damn it... Father... FATHER!" Shinji stood up and glared at Alucard. "My FATHER did this, didn't he? All the NERV symbols everywhere- you can't fool me- Where is he? WHERE IS MY FATHER?"
Alucard raised an eyebrow, then looked down his list. "You're Ikari Shinji, correct?"
"Yes," Shinji answered. Rei glanced at the young man, her red eyes unclear of what she was feeling.
The teacher glanced at the young man. "Perhaps I did not make myself clear. You will be killing each other to the death until there's only one of you left."
"I want to see my FATHER!" Shinji bellowed.
Aucard sighed, then glanced at the red-haired soldier with the long braid. "Pip?"
"Certainly, Sir."
The armed man walked up to Shinji and took him roughly by the shoulders. The teen's eyes grew wide, and Vash made a move as to stop the man, but Koushiro held him back with his hand, giving him a hopeful smile- maybe everything would be okay.
"Ikari, you seem to think that you should get some special preference just because your father's the director of this program," Alucard drawled on. "And this insubordination complex you seem to have will just not do if you are to participate in this program."
Shinji held his breath until Alucard continued.
"This game makes everyone in here equals, do you understand? It removes natural advantages between each other by making each of you no more or less important than another. This is your only warning. Sit down and be quiet, or else you will not even see the battlefield. Do I make myself clear?"
Vash and Koushiro glanced at each other once, afraid that Shinji would stand up against this threat. Thankfully, Shinji was a coward, and nodded with what little courage he did seem to have. The officer grinned and shoved him back towards the little grouping of young adults that he'd been with previously. Vash caught the young man, then looked into his eyes.
"...you okay?" he mouthed.
Shinji nodded shakily.
"Now then. If we have no other objections," Alucard stated, holding his palms out, "Then it is time for the instructional video."
"Instructional video...?" the girl with the handles-like hairdo asked, blinking.
"That's right," Alucard confirmed. He then glanced at all of them and pointed. "In your seats. Now."
Some of the young adults seemed to hesitate for a moment, but did as they were told.
Alita held her breath, watching the man order herself and the other young adults into their seats. After a moment, she nodded to Hugo, and both of them quietly slipped into seats. A few seconds ago, unnoticed by the rest of her peers, she'd tried to call on her most angered attack, to see if she could break herself and Hugo out of this disaster.
Her Panzer Kunzt had not even flickered for a second- no sign of blue light, no electric sparks. After a moment of double-checking, she'd sworn underneath her breath. Whatever was keeping them in here was also keeping her abilities in check.
She glanced around, then saw the young woman who was wearing that large black dress -how constraining- she thought to herself, then blinked. As she sat at her desk, she seemed to be furrowing her brow in concentration. As Alucard turned around towards the soldiers, who were bringing in a television, Alita hissed at the girl.
"Hey- you-"
"Huh?" The brown haired girl asked, blinking before she hushed herself and stared at Alita. "What?" she whispered quietly.
"I'm guessing- your powers not working too?"
"You have-" the other girl sat for a moment, hushing up as Alucard glanced back their way, then waited until he turned back about, directing the soldiers on what to move where. "You have powers too?"
Alita nodded. "My Panzer Kunzt isn't working. You?"
"I'm a Hunter, and my fire isn't-," she told the cyborg girl with a slight cutoff, then held out her hand slightly. "I'm - I'm Robin. Robin Sena."
"...Alita," the girl answered, taking her hand quietly, then returning back to a seated position. She nodded towards Hugo, who had been listening intently. "And that's Hugo."
"Pleased to meet you," Robin said quietly before Alucard cleared his throat. Staring up at the teacher, she and Alita faced forward in attention. Glancing past Hugo, the cyborg saw a young man in a red jacket watching the teacher with what could only be described as intense anger. Blinking, Alita scrutinized him. What was a kid doing here? He couldn't be older than twelve!
"Ah-hem." Alucard cleared his throat again.
Vash glanced over at his new acquaintance Ikari Shinji as Alucard continued to speak. "This part here is a film that we have to show you- but before we do..." Shinji didn't look so good- he looked like he was about ready to snap.
Alucard gestured towards the same red-haired soldier to go out for a moment. Koushiro glanced at Vash and Taichi, just as confused as the rest of them.
Their question was soon answered as the soldier returned with what looked like a gurney that was covered by a bedsheet. Red splotches seemed to form on the outside of the sheet, and Vash bit his teeth back. It seemed... he got this odd feeling in the pit of his stomach, as though he'd seen this before... even though he couldn't place where.
"Remove it, Commander Pip."
The officer did as ordered, and the sheet came off within seconds. Vash held his breath, then clenched his teeth as he saw the bloody scene before him.
A man with golden hair lay on the gurney, his blonde hair streaked with a dark sticky substance that came from a deep hole on his left temple. His body was riddled with bulletholes and had been callously ravaged by hands, most likely to check his deceased state.
Three girls in the back screamed, including the one with brown curls that Vash had noticed earlier. It was then that he noticed Shinji. The young man was standing up, heavily breathing with anger. Large beads of sweat ran down his forehead.
"Ikari, don't-" Vash said, only to be ignored.
"This man," Alucard started in a very uncaring manner, "was meant to be your instructor. However, he would not agree to the terms of this contest, and so we had to silence him."
"Silence- you mean KILL?" Shinji yelled, his hands balled into fists. "Did you even know his NAME?"
"It was Onizuka Eikichi, " the instructor said carefully, glancing at his gloves. His red eyes then pierced Shinji's own. "Didn't I tell you to sit down earlier?"
"This is LUDICROUS- where's my father? Why won't he come out and tell me himself why he's doing this? What does this have to do with NERV? The Angels? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"
Alucard shook his head, 'tsk-tsking'. He nodded to his Commander once again. "Pip?"
The man went forward towards Shinji. The young man tried to get away from him, but the soldier was stronger. Within a matter of seconds, he was holding him from the back, both his arms forced back by the stronger, older man's. Alucard sighed for a moment, then stood up, pulling a device of some sorts out of his pocket.
"I told you that if you didn't behave, you'd regret it," Alucard said, taking the device and holding it towards Shinji. Vash gulped as he saw the screen on Shinji's neck start to pulsate red.
Pip then let go of the student, who glanced around. Shinji turned towards Alucard. "What did you DO TO ME?"
"Activated the self-destruction on your collar. Students, I'd get away if I were you," Alucard said off-handedly to the other teens.
Shinji's eyes balled in terror, and he clutched at the neckpiece, trying in vain to remove it from his throat. After a few moments, the glowing red light began to increase in pace, and he fell onto his knees, tears in his eyes. He glanced around.
Most of the students had backed away from the young man, including the girl named Rei that he'd been talking to earlier. Vash swallowed as he saw Shinji turn his frightened eyes towards the young Plant.
"Vash-" he called, holding his hand out to him.
"Shinji-" Vash whispered back, beginning to reach with a gloved hand of his own-
Only to pull it back to cover his eyes as the collar on Shinji's neck exploded, causing a stream of blood to jump into the air and surrounding area. It spewed for a few moments, Shinji's body jerking as the liquid in his body left in a forced exit. After a few moments, the jerking stopped, and he fell back onto the ground, his white dress shirt now dyed a permanent red from his blood.
A girl with dark red hair screamed, falling against a young man in a black school uniform. "Arima..." He shushed her, holding her hand as tightly as he could between their desks. Alucard shook his finger. "Now- none of you leave your seats, okay? It's time to watch the movie."
Vash's anger seemed to surmount, and he felt as he had before he'd come here- unbridled rage flowing through his veins- this time directed at the Instructor Alucard rather than Knives. He made a move as though to stand up, but felt an arm clutch at one of the odd red straps on this overly-complicated coat he now wore. Turning back, he saw the young man called Koushiro leaning across his desk holding the piece of leather.
"Not now," he mouthed. Vash swallowed. Those eyes were filled with as much anger as they were intelligence. After a moment of cooling down, he sat down in his seat.
Alucard watched the exchange, then raised an eyebrow behind his red-colored glasses.
"Are you done, Mr. Stampede?"
"Stampede?" Vash asked, blinking.
"Oh, I'm sorry- I forgot that we removed you before you landed on Gunsmoke-" Alucard said, glancing at his roster once again. "Mr. Vash. Are you done?"
"Yes," Vash answered, glaring at him with a cold anger. Slight confusion played through his mind. 'Gunsmoke'? What the hell was that...?
"Then let's start watching the video. Lights-" Alucard said, pointing towards one of the soldiers. Just as the darkness started to swallow his surroundings, Vash glanced back towards the now-immobile body of Ikari Shinji and swallowed. Whatever hell Knives had planned to inflict upon the humans on the SEEDS ships was nothing in comparison to what was about to happen here.
Closing his eyes for a moment, he recovered enough to look straight ahead at the television that Alucard had just turned on.
He could only pray at this point.
STUDENT(S) BOY #5 IKARI SHINJI DEAD
41 STUDENTS REMAINING
Well, that's it for this chapter. I will try and update this as often as possible, probably about once a month. Please R/R.