[b]Michael Faye / Red King Stuffed Rabbit[/b]

Michael arrived just before the speech had begun and sat himself down beside Sten. He had seen him before, but never really talked to him, they were in the same class, but then again when every seventeen-year-old in the world is in your class it's easy to never speak to most of them. Michael offered him a shy smile as they made eye-contact while he was sitting down before focusing on the president. His heart skipped a beat and he gulped instinctively as he looked down at her. She looked quiet, reserved, bookish almost. But it was during these student-body addresses that he was reminded just what he liked about her- the power she commanded. 

A bile of disgust built in his throat as he considered the pretenses of this meeting:

Four people had died - murdered in cold blood. One of them, the White King, was in the very same room as she was. She's on that stage because her friend was murdered and all he was thinking was how attractive she was on that stage. He refocused his attention back towards the president as the auditorium erupted in applause. When it had quieted down, the ultimatum of the Black King was given. A declaration of open war on all guilds with the aid of Deep Ground's own bounty hunters. Michael gulped as the effects of that sunk in, of course he had known the the Black King was taking Red Guild land left-and-right, but an official statement. It didn't set well with him.

Sten's whistling broke his meditation on the Black King's words, "Seems like I've got some big choices ahead of me."

Michael looked over to him and back to the stage; he looked directly at the president before speaking out to Sten, "You and me both."

The smirk across the President's face unsettled him, she seemed almost pleased by the announcement. Pleased by the breakdown of the natural order of the game. She must be one of the Strykers he thought to himself. A fleeting notion passed him by, what if she was the Black King? He shook his head mentally. No, the School President as the Black King? It's almost [i]too[/i] cliche. Besides, a wave of students had joined the Ebony Strykers since it was opened up to the rest of the students. Odds are she's one of those, the ones trying to choose the winning side.

But the thought never quite left him alone.

The Ebony Strykers, in their alliance with the Sweepers, now held a dangerous trump card. The loose organization of the Sweepers means that not only would the Scarlet Harleys be pitted against the Strykers - but also potentially against [i]any[/i] unaffiliated player. It seemed apparent that there would be only one course of action: a meeting with the remaining five Kings to form an alliance against the Strykers. If the Strykers were Persia, the color guilds would be Greece. 

And the Harleys would be Sparta.

After the assembly ended, Michael filed back to his dorm room and began laying the foundation for the new Anti Black King Force Six. He sat down at his computer and typed up a group PM via the Deep Ground forums. He sent out the message to all six of the other Kings - Gleeful Jackal, Tender Fern, Shooting Star, Conquest Pantheon, and Stalwart Bruiser - in hope that at least one, if not all, would be willing to join into an alliance with the Scarlet Harleys.