Class Warfare Got Nexon'd

Chapter Four: Blame the Name Game

Summary: Maplestory has been Nexon'd once again, and this time no one is coming out unscathed...with the exception of Mercedes, Phantom, and Aidan. Rated T for mild to heavy cursing.

Author's Note: Okay, I did mention in the summary there were going to be swear words but haven't come up yet (I don't remember OTL). Well now they are a couple of really bad ones (Hawkeye cough cough) so beware!

Disclaimer: Maplestory belongs to Nexon.

As the heroes reached the area, Luminous noted the chairs were rearranged to form a wide circle. Neinheart quickly thrust each of the heroes into red seats. The advisor was correct when he said the heroes were the last to arrive. Angelic Buster was brooding in her chair, everyone else standing a very clear distance away. The Battle Mage was affectionately petting the Wild Hunter's jaguar, Canoneer was inspecting the explosives inside the canon, Kaiser was checking their eyelashes in a compact mirror, and most of the members just looked completely out of it. Empress Cygnus came up to a sculptured stand on a stone platform. She cleared her throat and everyone became quiet.

"A-as you all have experienced and heard, there has been a concoction that switches bodies with another person. We the Cygnus Knights have no details about it. So for now, we should identify who is in whose body," the Empress announced. Murmurs of agreement erupted from the crowd and then shushed by the Dual Blader.

"To remember each other better, we're going to play a name game as instructed by Neinheart. He will explain the details of the activity," the adolescent stepped off the stage, replaced with the older man.

Neinheart pushed his monocle up, "Before anyone objects to such a silly game, I shall tell you this will not only identify the victims or culprits of this prank-"

"Yea, no one wants to call Demon Slayer 'Angel' the rest of their lives!"

A few snickers arose in the conference area and Neinheart glared at the direction the rather girly voice came from. Hawkeye, in Irena's body, was doubled over in silent laughter. If looks could kill, there would be a hundred daggers sticking in the Thunder Breaker's body. The Wind Archer was next to him, obviously refraining from hitting her own body.

"Could you stop from saying anymore senseless things with my voice?" She hissed. Hawkeye grinned sheepishly, "My bad Irene. Continue Neinheart. I'm done with the side comments, I swear!"

The blue-haired man gave the universal sign of 'I'm watching you like a hawk' before starting where he left off.

"…victims or culprits of this prank, but to have a…bonding time…by the suggestion of Empress Cygnus. When you call your name, you have to put an adjective before your actual name. My name would be nodding Neinheart. Everyone would repeat the name with a greeting. The next person will have to repeat the previous person's name and their own. The process is continued by the third person. Be warned, the game will take longer to progress as you HAVE to say everyone's name before yours."

A collective groan erupted from the older members. Neinheart banged the stand for order.

"I know it will be tedious, but remember the reason! And please," Neinheart snuck a look at the little girl behind him, "have...fun with this. We will start with Empress Cygnus and go around clockwise."

"Oh come on!" the Chief Night Walker stood up and raged. He was near the end of the circle. People near the man also became dejected. Hawkeye laughed bitterly, "At least you're not DEAD last."

"Mr. Tin, get back to your seat," Neinheart growled. He immediately sat down with a shout of 'yes sir!' The advisor gestured Cygnus to start.

"Hi, my name is cheerful Cygnus. Nice to meet you all!" she curtsied.

"Hello cheerful Cygnus," the whole group said monotonously.

Neinheart hit the stand once more, "Say it with more enthusiasm, as if you're really excited to see her! Don't make me make you run laps around Ereve!"

"Hello cheerful Cygnus!" they repeated in higher volume.

As the game was going on, Evan looked around the open grass area. A giant tree grew behind him, indicating the edge of the Alliance Hall. A couple of chairs were unoccupied. He turned to his chair buddy and nudged the black-clad man. The boy froze. The Demon Slayer's face rotated toward him. The successor never met the man personally, but from what Mercedes has mentioned in the past (with venom in her voice) that he was a bad man even though he joined the Resistance. Goosebumps rose on his tan arms. It didn't help that Aran wore so little material.

"U-u-uh s-sorry Mr. D-demon Slayer-" Evan stammered. Instead of the usual frown Evan expected, the Demon Slayer gave a warm smile.

"Don't worry. I'm not scary at all! In fact, I'm actually Luka, the Battle Mage," he explained. Evan relaxed a little. Luka then noticed the multiple spots forming on Evan's arm. He chuckled softly.

"Oh my, are you cold? I guess you can't help it Evan. Aran really should wear warmer clothes," the Battle Mage chided. The Dragon Master laughed too, albeit a bit more nervously. Luka reminded him of his mother; which was disturbing in a nostalgic, tender way.

"Ahem," Evan jumped a little as the advisor of Ereve disturbed his thoughts. He scanned the circle and saw everyone's eyes were on him. The silver haired gulped, becoming self-conscious of the fact that he wasn't listening at all.

"It's your turn. Go get them!" Luka encouraged him. Evan didn't feel his confidence rise at all. Neinheart crossed his arms, half-expecting the successor of Freud to answer.

Please, I don't want to look like a fool right now Evan prayed to whoever was listening up in the heavens. Cygnus was giving him a look of pure hope! What should he do?

The tree above the boy rustled. A flash of gray flew past his eyes. Evan followed the trajectory and found a throwing knife wedged too close to his right thigh.

"Ah!" in shock, he flipped the chair backwards, sending him skull first into a tree. A collective gasp went off as Luka rushed to his side. Evan's eyes were spinning, but he could hear the worry in his voice. He focused his attention to the branches above. Up there, the Chief Blaze Wizard was sitting and pointed at the star. On closer inspection, a paper was in between the knife and chair. Evan reached for it and opened the document. On it were all the names of the Alliance members with their adjectives. He grinned widely.

"Thanks Ms. Oz!" he said. Luka tilted his head to the trees and shouted in surprise. The rest of the Alliance spotted the Blaze Wizard. Some jumped while others fell out of their chairs like Evan.

"When did you get there?!" Angelic Buster gawked, who was in Kaiser's body.

"I was there the whole time. And I'm eager Eckhart."

"Eager Eckhart? Yea, eager to scare the living daylights out of people!"

Neinheart slammed the stand with a hammer, "Everyone quiet! And it's not your turn Eckhart."

Eckhart shrugged and adjusted his position on the branches. Evan cleared his throat. He took out the paper and read.

"Er, cheerful Cygnus, mild Mihile, outrageous Oz, vigilant Valfor, kingly Kaiser, adorable Angelic Buster, killer Kim, magnificent Mercedes, persuasive Phantom, bilingual Belle, and my name is evolving Evan-"

"Hey I call foul!" Tin shouted. Neinheart breathed through his nose, obviously not wanting to deal with the situation.

"I didn't say anything about not being allowed to use paper. However," he stepped off stage and walked toward the boy. The advisor gestured for the paper. Evan gave it to him obediently as Neinheart pocketed the paper within his white cape, "this will be the first and last time it will be used."

The bluenette marched off, not before giving the tree behind Evan a death glare.

The game, as the advisor predicted, progressed extremely slowly. Most of the Alliance had messed up after the Dragon Master. Evan's eyes were threating to close. Cygnus was already dozing on the advisor's back. It was 10:35 (according to Belle) but it felt like hours. It finally got to the last person. Everyone silently sighed in relief.

"YES! I'm going to end this off with an amazing feat of saying it the fastest," Hawkeye stood up and posed.

"Get it over with Hawkeye. Don't make us wait any longer," Neinheart snapped. The more he had to 'hang' with his fellow Alliance members the less time he could work on papers. As much as he obliged to Cygnus's requests, this one was too much!

"Well since I can't use the paper, I'm just gonna try my best!" he breathed in and exhaled, "cheerfulCygnusmeekMihileoutg oingOzvillainousValforcrazyK aiserallusiveAngelicBusterki llerKimmanhunterMercedesperv ertedPhantombarbaricBelleevo lvingEvanlittleasskickingpsy choLukaeagertoscaretheshitou tofpeopleEckhartloonyLumitry butfailseverysingletimeTinas toicmotherfuckerAraninsaneIr ene, and hot Hawkeye!"

The area was then in silence. The circle of allies stared in confusion. It took exactly three seconds to process the information. The first person to respond was the Dual Blader, surprisingly.

"I don't even think any of them were right," Kim informed.

"Of course not! He just made everything on top of his thick skull!" stated Mercedes with a hint of frustration in her voice.

"Yea and you totally called some of us really rude things. You have something against archers?" Belle hissed. Black Jack was growling at Hawkeye as well.

"Not in particular, though most girl archers I've met are completely ballistic-" Hawkeye leapt out of his chair as several arrows whizzed past him. Neinheart coughed, silencing the Thunder Breaker and archer duo.

"It doesn't matter," he said, "I have a high suspicion on who the culprits might be."

He examined the paper from Evan.

"The only time all Alliance members were fully present was last night, during Empress Cygnus' inauguration party. There are two people in this area that haven't switched bodies and were there yesterday. That is Mercedes and Phantom."

"You're not suggesting…" Mihile asked, glancing over at the thief and royal archer. Phantom smirked in amusement. He liked where this was going. He couldn't wait to see Mercedes reaction. As foreseen by the hero, the queen of elves was confounded at the accusation. She opened and closed her mouth several times. Her face was drained of color.

"Oi! Why did you do it? Answer to the mighty Kaiser this instant!" Kyle demanded. Angel Buster face palmed, restraining her friend's cloak to keep him from mauling the two a second time.

"It wasn't me; I swear on my title as queen, and please be more wary of Phantom. He's been smirking the entirety of this game!"

"Isn't that Phantom's default face though?" Luminous commentated off handedly. Tin snorted, him and his monkey giving the light mage a thumbs up.

"If my smirk is a default, then yours must be that retched grimace you carry. Didn't your mother ever tell you to stop making such a hideous expression? It's going to get stuck. Oh wait, too late," Phantom snarked back, smirk loosening up to a condescending grin. An echo of 'ooooooo' resounded through the forest. Neinheart, in a subconscious fury, tore the paper in half. He quickly gestured Mihile to carry Cygnus to Shinsoo as Hawkeye and Tin were quietly chanting fight.

"Enough!" the advisor bellowed just as Luminous was about to sick Mir on the thief, "Phantom if you have ANY idea who the culprit could be, that would be most helpful."

The blond glimpsed at the man, his lips curving upward once more, "What makes you think I'll tell?"

Neinheart pushed his monocle up. There was a dangerous glint in his feral eyes.

"I can blame you for this little incident and you'll have to spend the rest of January and February facing adventurers off for the Class Warfare competition. Alone. "

The thief's almost vanished. He quickly regained his composure and stared Neinheart dead in the eye.

"Unfortunately I do not know who they are, but I have a theory of how everyone changed."