SS (!!) - Into the Fray Chapter 10
Jun. 25th, 2022 06:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shivalriesSeason: Winter
Context: Every unit at ES has passed the SS qualifiers and has now been sorted into one of two teams--red or white--to face off against each other at the SS finals later that day. Hiyori and Nagisa plot together to pass out letters called "revelations" to the other units in the white team, upon which are written instructions for what to do and when to perform during the finals. Meanwhile, Knights rent a practice room to warm up before the finals, and are interrupted by Subaru, Mao, and Makoto.
---
Location: Practice Room
(Meanwhile, in an idol-only practice room in the ES Dome)
Tsukasa: Enough of your antics!
You are a hindrance to our practice, Trickstar!
Subaru: Oh, don't say that! Let's practice together, Kathy!
Tsukasa: Do not call me by such absurd names! If you wish to practice, then that grass over there should suffice, should it not? Why must you insist on practicing with us?!
It pains me to say such disrespectful things to my seniors, but I must: get out of my sight!
Subaru: Mrmgh? Gee Kathy, you're just as Kathy as ever!
Tsukasa: There is no one here by that name! If you have a request to make of us, then should you not show us the proper recompense?!
Subaru: Recompense? Oh, like money?! You want money, you greedy guy?! We're always out of money, though, so we'll pay with our bodies! I choose you, Ukki~, Sally!
Mao: Uh, what do you even want us to do...?
Makoto: We're not your Pokemon, Akehoshi-kun...
Well, glad to see you've returned to your usual weird shenanigans.
Mao: Feels a bit like he's forcing it, but I guess it's better than last year.
Subaru: Yep! Since nothing's been confirmed, it's be silly for me to bother everyone by getting all blue about it!
I'm not sparing any thoughts for anything that isn't real yet!
If I'm gonna think, I wanna think about dreams and hope and justice and all that sparkly stuff!
Makoto: Eheh, that sounds like you, Akehoshi-kun.
Mao: You wouldn't be "bothering" us at all, though. Let's share our worries and our pain, and get through this together, Subaru ♪
Ritsu: Could you not flirt with other men while in the practice room we reserved, Ma~kun?
Izumi: Yeah, it's stressful! If it was Yuu-kun alone, I'd think he came for a little pampering from his sweet Onii-chan, but...
Who are these other two creatures? Did you come here just to stress out your opponents?
Trying to throw us off our game? Well, aren't our previous champions such sly little foxes?!
Makoto: Ahaha... This wouldn't be nearly enough to trip Knights up.
Arashi: Same goes for you. Both of our units are still standing even after all the horrible stuff we went through.
Mao: We had it kind of easy with our seed status, but I heard you guys were put through the wringer.
Arashi: Yeah, those nasty little bees just blew us clean out of the water.
We managed to hang on by the skin of our teeth in the Sudden Death round, but it really feels like they poked a hole in our inflated egos.
Now that the times and our surroundings have changed, we can no longer win with our usual strategies. The prelims really drove that home.
Tsukasa: Indeed—we are seen as powerful adversaries that must be defeated, and this means that others will investigate us and think up countermeasures.
From now on, we must be aware of our position and find a new survival strategy...
...So that we may never again taste such bitter defeat.
Makoto: We're in a similar spot. Seeing everyone look so taken aback in Hokkaido... it's clear we're no longer the same people we were back when we first formed our unit.
Tsukasa: Yes, if only we had noticed it sooner. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.
Makoto: Ahaha. Knights are already strong as it is—if you guys are on your guard now too, the other units don't stand a chance.
Tsukasa: You are no different.
You four are a disaster that annihilates all in its path.
If you were to approach your battles calmly and strategically, then not even the sturdiest of castle walls could withstand the threat of your might.
Makoto: A disaster with a mind of its own, huh? That does sound terrifying.
Tsukasa: As if it weren't yourselves we are talking about here.
We see each other as threats—this is what makes us rivals of equal standing to this day, Trickstar.
Makoto: We're honored you think so, Knights.
Subaru: Yeah! With an opponent like that who we can duke it out with, sparks flying, we can get even stronger! Just like in a shonen manga!
So on that note, you should do as many practice fights with us as you can before the main event! Let's go at it with everything we've got! And get stronger! Together!
Tsukasa: As I said, I must politely decline. We would not want to needlessly exhaust ourselves before the performance, either.
Besides, fighting you as you are now, without your leader Hidaka-senpai, would simply look like we are bullying you.
Arashi: Ufufu. With everyone together, Trickstar is invincible, but without Anzu-chan and Hokuto-chan, you're barely even half as strong. ♪
Tsukasa: Speaking of which, Onee—er, the producer does not seem to be here. I'd had it in my head that she was working with you all.
Subaru: Yeah, so about that, we were at least able to see each other's face during the break period and calm each other down... but then after that, it seems she got busy with the Producer Association again.
Tsukasa: Ah yes, she met with us as well. I would guess she is going around offering her greetings to every unit.
Arashi: All the while giving each one her little producer "suggestions".
From her position, she could have easily given us orders instead, but she didn't—one of her best points, but also one of her worst.
Mao: She probably knows that we'd just rebel if she tried to order us around. That's why those orders and secret orders from the prelims ended up backfiring.
They weren't meant to provoke us into rebelling, I assume.
Makoto: I can imagine some of them were intended that way, but I dunno about those secret orders... I never encountered anything quite as malicious at Yumenosaki.
Well, actually—we weren't part of the turmoil at the time, but it does kind of remind me of the war era. That all ended pretty badly, didn't it?
Arashi: Well, it was more like in the final hours, the evil was exposed... But if you were in the thick of it, that was just nothing but hell from start to finish—right, Leo-kun?
Leo: ......
Subaru: ? What's up, Tsukinaga-paisen...? You've been lying there in the corner all quiet this whole time. It's kinda scary.
Izumi: Isn't he just jetlagged? He's been insanely busy lately after he made some huge successes in that event in Europe.
Ritsu: It's like he's in demand all across the globe—even today, he was the only one late to our meetup. Way different from you, Secchan, who didn't get that far in the event.
Izumi: Sorry? It was important that I took part in it, though?! Who do you think you are, daring to criticize ME when you're responsible for slandering Knights' name?!
Ritsu: I'm sorry.
Leo: Come on, don't blame Rittsu... Everybody's responsible for everything, which means it's everybody's fault but Sena's...
Izumi: That's right! It's everyone's fault but mine!
Tsukasa: Leo-san, it's because you keep letting Sena-senpai off so easily that he goes and takes advantage of it!
Leo: But... I promised myself I'd never blame Sena again.
---
Sudden Death Masterlist || Next >
Context: Every unit at ES has passed the SS qualifiers and has now been sorted into one of two teams--red or white--to face off against each other at the SS finals later that day. Hiyori and Nagisa plot together to pass out letters called "revelations" to the other units in the white team, upon which are written instructions for what to do and when to perform during the finals. Meanwhile, Knights rent a practice room to warm up before the finals, and are interrupted by Subaru, Mao, and Makoto.
---
Location: Practice Room
(Meanwhile, in an idol-only practice room in the ES Dome)
Tsukasa: Enough of your antics!
You are a hindrance to our practice, Trickstar!
Subaru: Oh, don't say that! Let's practice together, Kathy!
Tsukasa: Do not call me by such absurd names! If you wish to practice, then that grass over there should suffice, should it not? Why must you insist on practicing with us?!
It pains me to say such disrespectful things to my seniors, but I must: get out of my sight!
Subaru: Mrmgh? Gee Kathy, you're just as Kathy as ever!
Tsukasa: There is no one here by that name! If you have a request to make of us, then should you not show us the proper recompense?!
Subaru: Recompense? Oh, like money?! You want money, you greedy guy?! We're always out of money, though, so we'll pay with our bodies! I choose you, Ukki~, Sally!
Mao: Uh, what do you even want us to do...?
Makoto: We're not your Pokemon, Akehoshi-kun...
Well, glad to see you've returned to your usual weird shenanigans.
Mao: Feels a bit like he's forcing it, but I guess it's better than last year.
Subaru: Yep! Since nothing's been confirmed, it's be silly for me to bother everyone by getting all blue about it!
I'm not sparing any thoughts for anything that isn't real yet!
If I'm gonna think, I wanna think about dreams and hope and justice and all that sparkly stuff!
Makoto: Eheh, that sounds like you, Akehoshi-kun.
Mao: You wouldn't be "bothering" us at all, though. Let's share our worries and our pain, and get through this together, Subaru ♪
Ritsu: Could you not flirt with other men while in the practice room we reserved, Ma~kun?
Izumi: Yeah, it's stressful! If it was Yuu-kun alone, I'd think he came for a little pampering from his sweet Onii-chan, but...
Who are these other two creatures? Did you come here just to stress out your opponents?
Trying to throw us off our game? Well, aren't our previous champions such sly little foxes?!
Makoto: Ahaha... This wouldn't be nearly enough to trip Knights up.
Arashi: Same goes for you. Both of our units are still standing even after all the horrible stuff we went through.
Mao: We had it kind of easy with our seed status, but I heard you guys were put through the wringer.
Arashi: Yeah, those nasty little bees just blew us clean out of the water.
We managed to hang on by the skin of our teeth in the Sudden Death round, but it really feels like they poked a hole in our inflated egos.
Now that the times and our surroundings have changed, we can no longer win with our usual strategies. The prelims really drove that home.
Tsukasa: Indeed—we are seen as powerful adversaries that must be defeated, and this means that others will investigate us and think up countermeasures.
From now on, we must be aware of our position and find a new survival strategy...
...So that we may never again taste such bitter defeat.
Makoto: We're in a similar spot. Seeing everyone look so taken aback in Hokkaido... it's clear we're no longer the same people we were back when we first formed our unit.
Tsukasa: Yes, if only we had noticed it sooner. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.
Makoto: Ahaha. Knights are already strong as it is—if you guys are on your guard now too, the other units don't stand a chance.
Tsukasa: You are no different.
You four are a disaster that annihilates all in its path.
If you were to approach your battles calmly and strategically, then not even the sturdiest of castle walls could withstand the threat of your might.
Makoto: A disaster with a mind of its own, huh? That does sound terrifying.
Tsukasa: As if it weren't yourselves we are talking about here.
We see each other as threats—this is what makes us rivals of equal standing to this day, Trickstar.
Makoto: We're honored you think so, Knights.
Subaru: Yeah! With an opponent like that who we can duke it out with, sparks flying, we can get even stronger! Just like in a shonen manga!
So on that note, you should do as many practice fights with us as you can before the main event! Let's go at it with everything we've got! And get stronger! Together!
Tsukasa: As I said, I must politely decline. We would not want to needlessly exhaust ourselves before the performance, either.
Besides, fighting you as you are now, without your leader Hidaka-senpai, would simply look like we are bullying you.
Arashi: Ufufu. With everyone together, Trickstar is invincible, but without Anzu-chan and Hokuto-chan, you're barely even half as strong. ♪
Tsukasa: Speaking of which, Onee—er, the producer does not seem to be here. I'd had it in my head that she was working with you all.
Subaru: Yeah, so about that, we were at least able to see each other's face during the break period and calm each other down... but then after that, it seems she got busy with the Producer Association again.
Tsukasa: Ah yes, she met with us as well. I would guess she is going around offering her greetings to every unit.
Arashi: All the while giving each one her little producer "suggestions".
From her position, she could have easily given us orders instead, but she didn't—one of her best points, but also one of her worst.
Mao: She probably knows that we'd just rebel if she tried to order us around. That's why those orders and secret orders from the prelims ended up backfiring.
They weren't meant to provoke us into rebelling, I assume.
Makoto: I can imagine some of them were intended that way, but I dunno about those secret orders... I never encountered anything quite as malicious at Yumenosaki.
Well, actually—we weren't part of the turmoil at the time, but it does kind of remind me of the war era. That all ended pretty badly, didn't it?
Arashi: Well, it was more like in the final hours, the evil was exposed... But if you were in the thick of it, that was just nothing but hell from start to finish—right, Leo-kun?
Leo: ......
Subaru: ? What's up, Tsukinaga-paisen...? You've been lying there in the corner all quiet this whole time. It's kinda scary.
Izumi: Isn't he just jetlagged? He's been insanely busy lately after he made some huge successes in that event in Europe.
Ritsu: It's like he's in demand all across the globe—even today, he was the only one late to our meetup. Way different from you, Secchan, who didn't get that far in the event.
Izumi: Sorry? It was important that I took part in it, though?! Who do you think you are, daring to criticize ME when you're responsible for slandering Knights' name?!
Ritsu: I'm sorry.
Leo: Come on, don't blame Rittsu... Everybody's responsible for everything, which means it's everybody's fault but Sena's...
Izumi: That's right! It's everyone's fault but mine!
Tsukasa: Leo-san, it's because you keep letting Sena-senpai off so easily that he goes and takes advantage of it!
Leo: But... I promised myself I'd never blame Sena again.
---
Sudden Death Masterlist || Next >
