[center][b][u]ALL OF THE COLLAB-ING BULKHEAD 12:[/u][/b] [i]The Dirty Dozen[/i] [b]Summary:[/b] *spoiler* an Athalia student wins. Also, a friendly message from our sponsor, Apophis.[/center] Alistair smiled when she agreed "thanks" he gently took her hand "follow me, i think the finish line is over here" he starting walking, not entirely sure if she was actually going to follow or not. he was pretty sure he was going the right way, there was one of the other contestants washing paint off, he walked up to the lady who seemed to be in charge he held up the paper and gestured to Little Feather "a feather, is that it?" Ryuu began to make a run for the finish line, gritting his teeth as he did so. He then glanced at Carmen when she surprisingly asked him with a playful manner about whether he was pleased with picking her up. The otaku simply grumbled, averting his gaze away from the particularly playful lady, "Er... I guess so. I'm surprised you're not trying to slap me like most women did." The sunglasses-wearing student looked up at the finish line, only to feel disappointed with how there were people ALREADY at the freaking- "[b]ARE YOU SERIOU-[/b] oh my God," Ryuu rolled his eyes in disbelief, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. Not only did he get one of the fastest headstarts among the students [i]AND[/i] miraculously lose, but they were men that obviously looked more decent than he did. Still, he attempted to kick his feet up toward them. "Hold on!" Ryuu shouted to Carmen, clutching her a little tighter to prevent himself from somehow dropping her. He then sprinted as fast as he could. The otaku genuinely hoped that SOMETHING would determine him to rank at least at second place, but then again, luck never ever took his side. Putting as much effort into his run, Ryuu finally entered the finish line. The otaku panted a little. While his energy had not run out, he never really was the best at running. With that said, he gently put Carmen on her feet, quickly putting his paper down on one of the tables. He then cheekily apologized to Carmen with a disappointed mumble, "Sorry 'bout... you know, kinda snatching you away from your fun like that." Ryuu shook his head. He wondered what place he was exactly in, but right at the moment, he felt quite dizzy. After all, his nuts just got hit by a rock a minute ago. He wondered what Carmen had to say, for she sort of did have the right to complain. With all the guys having moved on to the item hunt, Kathy decided to just stand back and watch the rest of the race, thinking there was nothing more she could do to get involved. “Hm?” Hearing her name being called out, she turned to see Darwin in a burlesque dress. She couldn’t help but laugh. This race was really turning out more like a costume race than simply cross-dressing. She was about to agree to help when… [i]‘Huh? Blue? Like a smurf?’[/i] She blinked, wondering if she had heard him wrong. “Um… What do you mean by ‘turning me blue’..? You mean literally?” Feeling a little apprehensive at the idea, she held her hand out but didn’t quite grasp his offered hand yet. He had promised it wouldn’t hurt, but nothing else yet. “Er, it’s perfectly safe right? You’re not going to do something that will affect me permanently in any way..?” Darwin tilted his head and smiled. Oh how people acted around him, he'd have to convince her.....some other way. He laughed like a mad man and began turning her blue. "Don't worry I can just turn you back to normal afterwards.......well it might be a while till your hair changes back though....so..." He began to grin as her skin became blue along with her hair and her clothes. He loved doing this sort of thing...not only did it freak people out but it was good practice.....but it also turned his own hair blue as well. That was the only downside. He stepped back to see the adorable blue girl. "Now come on, I WILL NOT LOSE!" he grabbed her hand and dragged her after him to the finishing line. He arrived and jumped on the finish line. "WE MADE IT!" He laughed and ran over to Ryuu."Oh hey Ryuu!" He said as he changed back and his burlesque outfit somehow stayed in one piece. "!!!" As Darwin had promised, the actual transformation did not hurt but it she couldn't help but feel worried as she saw her skin turning blue. [i]'On one hand I'm curious, but on the other I'm not sure if I want to see...'[/i] Kathy thought, wondering if it was a good or bad thing she didn't have a mirror on herself at the moment. There was also the slight worry about the fact her hair would remain this shade of colour for a while, but at the moment she was just praying that her skin would return to her normal colour soon. She was pretty sure all the blood had drained from her face from the fright. Under normal circumstances her complexion would've been as white as a sheet now, but she had no idea how that looked with her unnatural shade of skin. Kathy ran quickly to keep up with Darwin, not wanting to be the one to slow him down after she promised to help out. Carmen could tell the guy that was carrying her was also extremely competitive - he was acting like he had to make a buzzer-beater or a game-winning touchdown run or something. Her head was certainly very close to the ground as he sprinted, and she certainly very noticed. But, thankfully, the two reached the finished line without Carmen being killed, maimed, or even slightly injured. In an about-face from what just happened, the guy put Carmen on her feet gently, as if trying to make up for the cataclysmic dash that had just occurred. Carmen could tell that he was both disappointed at his apparent result and at least a little disappointed at what he had just done to her, a point made clear with his sheepish apology. She chuckled at him. "Oh, it's quite alright. It was a welcome change from decimating the guys on the bridge...not that that wasn't fun," she replied. "But, thank you for not killing me," she finished with an out-of-place dramatized polite curtsy. "[i]Then[/i] I would have been a little upset." Ryuu gulped, though it was only because he felt tired. With that said, he was glad to hear that Carmen did not feel [i]that[/i] offended with him being some sort of princess-snatcher, or whatever the heck could describe what he did. The sunglasses-wearing student responded to Carmen's "polite curtsy" with a confused look. Alas, he was an idiot. He actually began to wonder on whether she had some sort of revival spell whenever she died, seeing how she talked of death so simply. He then began to wonder if he was just being plain retarded. The otaku chose the latter, for he realized that he was overestimating his own thinking ability. "Er, yeah," Ryuu nodded with a nervous, yet tired look. "It would've been problematic if that actually happened..." He then turned from her momentarily, sighing again. While he did have way more stamina lying within him, the disappointment was sort of killing him. He needed something to punch on. Or slice apart. Something that did not involve having people as his targets. Something that he could pent his frustration upon. After all, he pretty much had a girl (Andromeda) cheer for him for [i]two[/i] games, both of which he surely lost in. From what his sister told him, it was best to apologize to people that supported him in whatever he failed at. It was a good practice, though Ryuu was seriously not used to it. Nevertheless, he would try it out if he sees Andromeda. Still, he felt a little curious about the woman he just picked up. Not only did she not respond with some sort of outburst, but she also did not seem to mind how he literally tossed her around due to his rough running abilities. And not to mention, but he did not expect someone who used a trumpet to simply dismiss something vulgar that happened to them. Maybe he needed to stop using the "stereotypical views" his father accidentally taught him when he was drunk. "So, uh," the otaku said, diverting his attention from his disappointment, "you're... [i]Carmen[/i], from what I've heard during the race? I saw you use a trumpet several times, though I never actually got to talk to you." Ryuu would be lying if he cheesily added "I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN, GURL." The shade guy continued to stumble through conversation, clearly tired from the race. However, he [i]was[/i] making conversation with Carmen, and it was somebody she hadn't met yet, so she had no objections. She smiled as he asked about her. "Yes, I'm Carmen. You probably figured that out from that Ara guy yelling at me, huh?" she chuckled. "Not easy to miss. ...anyway yes, I do have a trumpet that I use. It enables my abilities in my human form, you see...although my other form isn't exactly useful at the moment," she said with a slightly dejected tone. "Without my trumpet with me I'm just an ordinary girl really into fashion. And fun," she said, looking a little disappointed at herself for her very lackluster description of her trumpet-less self. She pondered for a moment, and decided to return the favor. "What about you? I've seen you around usually doing something ridiculous but I know nothing about you. What's your name? What's your story?" She was entering into Eternal Questions mode and she knew it, but she figured she would be cut short any moment by the megaphone lady announcing the race results, so she didn't really care. Ryuu felt a little taken aback by the sudden amount of questions Carmen sent to his direction. He then put up a thoughtful look, quickly forgetting that he had just finished a race right at the moment. After devising a good outline for a short introduction he could use, the otaku gave himself an extremely quick fist-pump. He turned to Carmen again with a bit of his confidence returned. "So... I'm Ryuu. Just an anime-loving punk, if you put me in a nutshell. I can control plasma and sorta morph it up to make weird stuff... such as flashlights and chef knives. Local city spoilsport fits my background, I guess." The sunglasses-wearing student blinked, giving Carmen a curious look. Then, a relieved sigh came out of him. Putting some honesty into his next words, Ryuu told Carmen, "Honestly, [i]ordinary[/i] sounds [b][i]extraordinary[/i][/b] in this academy, from what I could tell so far. At least you're talented with something music-related. I only know how to scream 'Barotone' at scary-looking punks..." Ryuu seemed to grumble out the last part, though he was visibly fascinated by the fact that he just met someone capable of using a trumpet that granted them [i]magical powers[/i]. He always enjoyed music, though he never got the chance to actually lay his hands on a single musical instrument after he somehow made his father's car explode just by playing the drums. The otaku did not feel like asking Carmen about her 'other form' simply to not intrude into her privacy. "You really play that trumpet well, though," Ryuu admitted. "Where'd you learn how to play it?" Little Feather was rather surprised when Alistair gripped her hand, she felt the blood rush to her face before she could stop it. She followed Alistair as he led her towards the finish line, she thought better of starting up a conversation as they walked to the line after all he was technically still in this race. She lifted her other hand and waved at Mercy as Alistair made his way towards her, she opened her mouth to speak when the winged boy beat her too it she fell silent again waiting for the silver haired woman's reaction. Mercy had been throwing paint bombs ruthlessly at the contestants aware she probably should have been at the finish line, responsibly waiting for them to finish...but responsibility was the last thing on her mind, she wanted to be a little reckless. She laughed heartily as she managed to catch Crash with a neon pink balloon to his face, pulling back her arm she was about to aim a balloon at another brown haired student (Ara) when she realised what he was wearing, the balloon slipped from her fingers falling onto the sand with a small bounce. She put a hand to her head exhaling when she realized it hadn't exploded everywhere, she didn't particularly fancy being covered in paint...surprisingly. Distraction aside she moved along the assault course grinning as Carmen and Kathy created havoc at the rickety bridge unbeknownst to all of them Koop had been flying around snapping pictures left right and center, catching memorable shots. She made sure she was at the finish first, watching Brako as he looked at the piece of paper listing his item she couldn't help but wonder what he'd got his facial expressions were confusing, she tilted her head to the side as Maria pulled the paper from his hand and read it before bursting into laughter. Although her curiosity was peaked further, she had to turn her attention back to the other contestants who were flooding towards the finish line. --------------------------- (Hell - Apophis' Chamber) There were times when Apophis did not feel well, but today was not one of those times. Lucifer had granted him some free-time, mainly to give him a short moment to cool down. But in all of Apophis' honesty, he never really was mad at anything during his visit on Earth. He simply wanted to give off the impression that he was a foolish, weak demon that could easily get aggravated, though he never suspected that Thane would actually shove a spear through his face. Or neck. Or both at once. It seemed that many people truly believed that he was the foolish, weak demon that he wanted to look like. Things were going his way. Even now, his plans were progressing smoothly. But there were bound to be mistakes, yet Apophis had prepared plans if he actually made such mistakes. He was a mastermind. A genius. A truly novel piece of intelligence. He was someone who served Lucifer loyally. For [b][u]now[/u][/b], that is. Deep within Apophis' chamber, a shrill cry echoed violently. But as soon as the voice of agony raised its voice, it immediately grew silent. Apophis, the Eater of Souls, put his freshest victim next to the grindstone he just used. He placed the head on top of the inactive, gore-covered stone in a satirically humorous fashion. He let out a quick "Tsk," wiping off a tear of blood that streaked down one of the victim's eyes. "A tear of loss," he said, wiping off one tear before wiping yet another with a gentle smile. "A tear of joy." There were still victims that still had their souls intact, though he simply shoved them all in a single, tight closet. He liked hearing the vibrations of shrill screams reflecting off of brass furniture. It was simply how he worked. Picking up the scattered flesh around him, Apophis immediately headed deeper into his chamber. It was slightly darker in the depths, but it was enough for him to see things. Red water splashed as his feet create paths between them. "One day, I'd like to path the seas like Moses did," Apophis said to himself with deep thought. "Seas of blood, that is." The man proceeded to work on... something... for an entire hour. During this time, he did not speak a word, carefully crafting something. Something he could use to test Athalia Academy's courage, mentality, and power. Foot soldiers were out of the question due to how they needed more training. Apophis began grinning by the time he finished crafting a brand-new creation. "How beautiful," he whispered, his dead eyes sparkling with childish joy. After he was finished working on the creation for the moment, Apophis returned to the entrance of the chamber again, blood splattered over his entire face. They were his blood, but at last, they had been used to serve for a greater purpose. Apophis honestly did not require blood; they just gave his opponents hope whenever they managed to hit him. His wounds had healed as if nothing happened in the past few months. Just when he opened his closet filled with people, the chamber's doors were smashed open. Apophis turned to face a familiar, angry face with a ridiculously wide smile. "Apophis," Thane growled. "THANE! HE HA HE HA HA!" Apophis screamed with joy, his mouth slightly tearing itself apart again. "Oh, it's really nice to have you around. Want some coffee?" The Eater of Souls carelessly placed the man on a flat, bloody table, still staring at Thane with an exuberant expression as he picked up a chainsaw. Placing the saw dangerously close next to the man's face, Apophis carelessly gave Thane a salute, sarcastically complimenting the ninja, "You're good at hitting people with that spear of your's, my man." Thane's eyes were still furious, though he visibly attempted to calm himself down. It had been several hours since he left one of the interdimensional-warp gates, and he already heard that Apophis had done something drastic. It turned out that Apophis did [i]something else[/i] just as drastic as what he did while Thane was missing from Hell. "Apophis," the ninja growled, "where did you get all of those people? Why didn't you inform the Lord that you were capturing them, anyway?" The Eater of Souls laughed once, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He then looked at the man he just took out of the closet, who stared at him with a horrified look. A rag had been tied over his mouth to prevent him from speaking audible words. Turning back to Thane, Apophis shrugged. "I originally went you guys to get some supplies," the flesh-wearing deity said, pointing at the terrified soul. He then grinned violently, his eyes glowing a little, as he continued, "So I paid some people... a visit. A fair amount of people, actually. Enough to make me a [i]little[/i] satisfied for about... ten minutes." Thane's face scrunched up, which made Apophis giggle at him. "Then tell me," the ninja whispered dangerously, "how were [i][b]you[/b][/i] able to meet the Madministrator [b]AND[/b] take back the fallen angel? And knowing you, something's wrong with her life being spared." The Eater of Souls shrugged, suddenly turning on his chainsaw. Before the victim was able to even scream, Apophis cut him up into twelve pieces in a millisecond. Putting aside the bloody cutting tool, Apophis ate yet another soul. He did not need to exactly eat any of the victim's limbs: all he needed to do was to sense the soul and absorb it. With one task completed, Apophis stood up and took a small, exotic cup from a cupboard, quickly returning to the table. He then used one of the limbs to create a "cup of coffee." "Here!" Apophis said with a gentle smile. "This cup is [b][i]yours[/i][/b], my good friend." "Answer my question, Apophis," Thane said, though this time, he did not act harshly. "I need to know just how you thwarted someone as strong as that man and complete a mission [i]I[/i] was supposed to finish." The one who wore his brother's flesh raised an eyebrow. He slightly shook the cup, motioning for Thane to grab it, though the ninja did not seem interested in drinking blood as if it were a beverage. Apophis shrugged, drinking out of the cup instead, before he told the warrior, "You see, all you need to know is that I can... trick a lot of people. And I specialize in being tricky. I tricked the Madmin, and I completed that stupid mission. End of story." Apophis downed all that was left inside the cup, tossing it aside once he was finished with it. "Thane, tonight, I am going to use my free time productively. I want to have some fun, just for a while. You don't need to mind me [b]all[/b] the stinking time, do you?" The warrior of Hell made a thoughtful look. As much as he hated the flesh-wearing deity, following him around might make him lose his reputation. And he simply did not want to see Apophis in his sight for now. Lucifer had him under control, so even if the deity went out to meet the students again, he would probably not dare to try and kill them. Thane stood up, simply asking Apophis, "Where's the captured target now?" "Uh," the Eater of Souls thought to himself before answering, "she's probably at the prison at this point. I dunno." Thane nodded before walking away. Soon enough, he had left Apophis' chamber. Apophis grinned. He then made an absolutely mad smile as he quietly questioned Thane, who had left the chamber, [center][b][u]"Do you really think I don't know, my friend?"[/u][/b][/center] --------------------------- Just as she turned to move over to Seven another young man whom she didn't recognize (Alistair) approached her her eyebrow twitched up as she noticed he was firstly dressed as a maid which made her lip twitch in mirth and secondly he had Little Feather in tow, she smiled at the pair of them. A surprised look crossing her expression as he held out a piece of paper and asked her a question, she looked at the paper before shifting her golden gaze to Little Feather. "That! Is genius" She giggled looking between the pair with a grin on her face "I hadn't been expecting that, well played" She admitted turning her attention to the winged boy (Alistair) checking his costume over she gave him a thumbs up. "Costume intact so you've passed, hang around a while longer we'll announce the winner and such" She grinned at them before walking over to another contestant. Moving over to Seven first she danced around the sopping wet bakeneko holding a hand to her mouth to suppress her laughter as she glanced at his piece of paper, nodding her approval. "Ocean water check, nicely done" She grinned at the bakeneko. "And you're still in costume! So you pass, hold tight whilst I check the others and then we'll announce the winner" She told Seven, hoping he heard her over his frenzied cleaning. After that interesting exchange Mercy hopped her way over to her favourite unicorn, unfortunately not recognizing it was Kathy stood next to him straight away though her eyes were drawn to the smurf colored person. "Wow...I think I can already guess what you got" She grinned at the now blue haired boy, glancing back at the blue person beside him she finally clocked who it was. "Looking good Kathy" She playfully commented to the embarrassed girl. "Don't be embarrassed honey, you have seen what the guys are wearing right?" She placed her hand on Kathy's unoccupied shoulder smiling at her even if she didn't see. Of course at that moment she noticed the rather adorable blue haired chibi on her other shoulder, her response was very tame as she smiled at the boy. "Hey, you're rather cute aren't you?" She murmured to him with a warm smile before she looked back at Darwin. "He is adorable and has blue hair so I'll take it" She grinned at the unicorn. "So are you of course Kathy...but if Darwin was submitting you as his item that would mean he was breaking the rule of not using his powers" She commented to the pair, a small twinkle in her eye. "Hang around I'll announce winners soon" She grinned at them as she moved away from the trio heading towards the sun glass wearing Otaku and the extremely fashionable Carmen who still had a hold of her larger-than-life hat by the looks of it She was more cautious when approaching the pair, seeing as they were clearly deep in conversation she felt a little intrusive as she walked towards them but she had to check out Ryuu's item..."Hey you two!" She cut in, offering a small wave of her hand as well as a smile. "Excuse me for interrupting but I just need to check out your item" She spoke to Ryuu indicating the paper in his hand as she reached for it. Her golden eyes quickly took in the printed words as she pinched the edge of the paper stretching it just enough that she could read it without taking it from Ryuu. "Fabulous" She smiled at the pair. "Although I'm a little confused as to why your costume looks this way...I can see its a complete costume therefore you have also passed" She admitted to Ryuu. "The results shall be announced in just a moment don't disappear just yet" She explained, taking a step back. "I'll let you get back to what you were doing" She grinned at the pair as she moved over to the paint riddled shapeshifter. With that it was onto the next contestant...the brown haired student in the rather colorful wedding dress (Ara), Mercy felt her chest tighten but she bounded over to him with enthusiasm once he had crossed the finishing line. "Hey!" She greeted him brightly. "I'm Mercy" She introduced herself with smile. "Lets see what you've got there hmm?" She grinned at him, tugging the crumpled paper from his hand before he could object she smoothed it out between her fingers quickly reading it before she moved closer for a brief moment inspecting the swimsuit. "That's great and you're still in your costume so you passed, if you want to hang around a few more moments I'll announce the winner and such" She grinned at him, offering him back his piece of paper before she moved away from him. Last but not least Mercy walked over to Crash who was still sat in the sand, with his arm in the air, she snatched the paper from his fingers making him flinch as she came to stand next to him, reading the paper and looking down at him to see he was still wearing the high heels. "You couldn't find a matching pair?" She grinned down at the red haired shapeshifter. "They are a pair!" He grinned at her, chuckling as she whapped him upside the head with her hand. "Sure, you still a bunny under all that paint?" She asked him. Crash reached down and pulled the devil made shoes from his feet exhaling in relief as he did, once they were off he discarded them in the sand and got to his feet lifting a hand to his head to straighten his ears. "Unfortunately I am" Crash sighed at her grumbling something under his breath as she burst out laughing at his paint splattered appearance. "Oh your face!" She grinned at him, reaching up to ruffle his hair between his ears. "On the plus side you passed, so hang around I'll announce the winners in a moment" She told him with an affectionate smile before moving away from him, the shapeshifter waited all of two seconds before he walked over to the blue colored Kathy, tilting his head to the side and raising an eyebrow at her appearance. "What's with the smurf look?" He asked her with a cheeky grin nodding at Darwin. “Ara, nice meet you.” With a nod of his head, Ara returned Mercy’s greeting. Then looking at her as she offered the paper back he asked, “Do I still need that though?” Regardless of the actual answer she gave him, he accepted it back and decided to wait patiently for the announcement to be made. More importantly (since he knew he wasn’t in first place anyway), for the okay to go back and get the dress off of him. He looked around to see that Carmen was hanging out with someone he recognized but didn’t really know. Going up to join them, he held up a hand in greeting and called out, “Hey.” They probably didn’t have a very good impression of each other at this point, but since Carmen looked like she was having fun Ara decided to at least go through with a proper introduction to the guy (Ryuu). “Hey, Ara. I recognize you from the water balloon game, but don’t really know your name. Mind telling me what it is?” Ryuu turned to face a familiar face. A face he sort of wanted to punch, but... it would be bad if this guy somehow got him suspended or something. And giving him a slightly brighter chance for a decent conversation seemed better than having to fight everyone. Giving Ara a curious look, the otaku raised an eyebrow as he held a hand back in greeting. "Uh... 'sup?" Ryuu said, wondering if he could end some tension as soon as possible. "Name's Ryuu. Sorry about... you know, trying to go all ham on you and stuff at that balloon fight. I didn't really know what was going on, honestly." Carmen was about to respond to the guy she now knew as Ryuu's compliment and question about her ability when Ara showed up...in a completely ruined wedding dress. As he began to talk to Ryuu, she went through it in her head. [i]Let's see. He had to military crawl underneath his net. Not really his fault. He had to climb up a slippery slope where he may have gotten hit by paint balloon bombs. Not really his fault either. Then he had to cross a rickety bridge where I sort of obliterated him with a foam cannon. Definitely not his fault. He had a 0% chance of getting that dress through unscathed or even decent condition. But am I still going to blame it on him? Absolutely.[/i] With her inner thoughts sorted, she waited for a break in the interaction between the two men and interjected simply and curtly, "Nice dress," with a completely deadpan expression that said "I am not amused". Of course it was somewhat in jest, but she didn't want him to know that just yet. Kathy peeked out between her fingers to look at Mercy when she approached them. “Yes but… This is a little different.” She mumbled as Mercy placed a hand on her shoulder and attempted to console her. Actually, despite the fact she was covering her face, she didn’t feel [i]too[/i] embarrassed yet. She was actually dreading something that hadn’t quite happened yet and was covering her face for that reason alone… Listening to Mercy talk to Darwin, Kathy wondered, [i]‘Just why was I turned blue again..?’[/i] She lowered her hands and gave the unicorn a sheepish smile. “Ha-ha, I guess I couldn’t be too much help this time. Sorry about that.” Then looking at Alex she commented, "Though you were able to save the day." Then noticing that Crash was approaching them, she visibly stiffened up a bit. Kathy didn’t really want to be seen by him as she was right now, even if he just seemed to find it amusing. Turning to Darwin she gently poked him on the arm and asked, “Can you please just change me back now?” Complete with a slight puppy-eyed look, she seemed quite ready to get back to normal.