Let the Games Begin
The Characters
Dawn: {Played by Dream_dancer14, font color Deepsky Blue.}
Spike: (Played by Dream_dancer14, font color Tan. }
Brad: (Played by Darkblade, font color Royal Blue. }
Gabrielle: {Played by Amazonwarrior7, font color Deep Pink. }
Que: {Played by Amazonwarrior7, font color Silver. }
Riley: {Played by Moonwarrior13, font color Purple. }
Aislin: {Played by Megabookworm22, font color Teal. }
Quinn: Played by Prof_snape, font color Olive. }
Veronica: {Played by Pixie_312, font color Dark Gray. }
A sigh escaped from Brad as he stared at the sliding door in front of him, his gaze locked forward, waiting for it to lift and reveal the battle field. The newest competition involving solo challenges worried Brad. Though the last was similar, atleast he still had the chance to pass on that baton. He felt more like he was on a team then.
But now he felt alone, as if he was the only one representing Earth. And he was somewhat right. He would be the only Earthling competiting in this game. The thought worried him slightly. But there was no sense in being stressed out. He needed to keep his hopes high and be positive. Otherwise his pessimistic thoughts could get in his way, therefore costing him the competition. He just hoped the others would do okay.
Before he had been escorted to this small, metal room, he and the other competitors had been briefed on the game. He soon learned it was practically the game back on Earth known as “Capture the Flag.” Yet, there were many aspects that made it far from the terrestrial version.
Terrestrial was also a good way to describe the difference. The game was played without the force of gravity. They had been told they would be in a large metal chamber that could cancel out gravity. They explained little about how it scientifically worked, but Brad didn’t care at the moment. He was listening intently to try and figure out a strategy.
He soon learned that there would be four large cubes inside the room to allow places to push off of besides the walls. Both the cubes and the walls were lined with handle bars in case one needed something to grab onto.
He later learned the main purpose of the floating cubes was in case your velocity was to begin to slow down and you were nowhere near a wall, for if you were to cease movement without being near something to grab onto and create motion, you would be stuck. He thus figured that there was not much of a way to change directions once you had begun to move in a certain one until you were able to stop at a wall or cube. The best way to describe it is by thinking about how one moves underwater. Yet, underwater, there was water for you to displace, therefore allowing you to move even if you had stopped. This was not the case.
They were then told that there would be flags of different colors inside holes in the walls. The object was to get to the roof, hit some sort of button to find out what color you were supposed to get, then retrieve the color and return to your “station,” which is where they would start off.
He also learned that it was also like laser tag. They were each given a little gun-like contraption that fired out small beams of red light. If hit with a beam, you would stop moving for a matter of seconds, depending on where you were hit. If hit in the chest or the very square of the back, you were out. Once the seconds of desisted motion were up, you would continue to move in the direction you were. This was done with the suits they were to wear. At this point they were given the uniforms they were to wear.
The suits were a dark blue, made of some thick fabric with wires running through the inside of it. The suit detected the beams and would then stop the person. Once the time was up, they would begin to move just as they had been.
He later learned the main purpose of the floating cubes was in case your velocity was to begin to slow down and you were nowhere near a wall, for if you were to cease movement without being near something to grab onto and create motion, you would be stuck. He thus figured that there was not much of a way to change directions once you had begun to move in a certain one until you were able to stop at a wall or cube. The best way to describe it is by thinking about how one moves underwater. Yet, underwater, there was water for you to displace, therefore allowing you to move even if you had stopped. This was not the case.
Yellow… I have no idea where that is…” murmering as he grabbed onto some handle bars above him that were on the roof. Turning himself towards one of the far away cubes he pushed off.
Thoughts of being shot in the chest or back worried Brad as he moved, for he was fairly open. ‘I know…’ he thought. He then brought his knees up to his chest as he put his hands over his back. “Heh, simple, yet useful.”
So he moved along like this, being shot twice before he was about to reach the cube. He managed to fire at the same people who did on him, so he was getting some shots in. Smiling, he grasped lightly onto a handle bar, soon spotting the yellow room. “Found ya…” he muttered as he kicked off. He was heading straight for the room. It seemed nothing but a few freezes stood between him and victory. But these thoughts seemed to fling out of his head as he suddenly felt a sharp kick into the square of his back where his hands were covering and flipping forward violently. His velocity in spinning increased, his arms flinging everywhere, desperate to figure out what had happened. A slight glimpse behind himself as he was spinning showed one of the competiting creatures had shot off from a distant wall and had kicked him, utilizing this to change directions and knock Brad off course.
Brad’s gaze narrowed as his eyes faded into a white hue. That was enough. He let go of all decency as he turned towards the being that had thrown him off. He was going to slam into the wall, yet he bent his knees to absorb the shock. Using this change of motion he pushed off, moving at a dangerous speed towards the being for revenge. Before his opponent could even respond Brad had him in his grasp, holding him outward to where his back would slam into the roof.
“See ya,” he muttered just as the creature made contact with the metal, a painful look coming across his face. Brad then shot him in the chest with his laser, then turned in one swift motion and sped back off towards the yellow flag.
Brad flew towards the yellow chamber at a rather fast pace, yet made sure to go slow enough in case someone was to pop out and fire on him. His thoughts were correct, for another opponent came whizzing by in front of him from behind one of the large cubes, his laser pointed as he began to fire. Luckily, Brad was moving head first towards him, making it virtually impossible to be hit. However, it would be just as easy for Brad to his the competitor, who was taking no precautions, as to hit the broad side of a barn. After just two fires, Brad managed to take him out of the game with a shot to the chest. Smiling, he zoomed off past him, but not without shoving his motionless body towards a wall.
Eventually the flag’s chamber was coming nearer. Knowing time was of the essence, he didn’t bother to think much about coming to a complete stop. He flew into the chamber, stopping himself by moving his feet outward, they pressing against the outsides of the chamber. He stopped violently, being flung backwards a little. He immediately grasped onto the flag that lay on the ground, picking it up just before it went out of reach. He then floated back until his hands were now outside of the chamber. He grabbed onto handle bars to the right of the chamber, turning himself around until he could see his station. Eventually, he found it, and smiled. It was straight ahead. A perfect launch would get him there in no time.
Yet, his gaze suddenly focused upon a figure already moving towards its own station. Brad immediately pushed off the wall with all the strength he had, putting his arms to his sides with his toes pointed back to make him as aerodynamic as possible.
He moved with amazing velocity, picking up momentum with each passing second. He was slowly becoming a blur as he moved towards his station, not showing any signs of stopping. Any mistake could cause a tiny slowing of speed and cost him the game.
His eyes quickly darted behind him, checking to see how far his opponent was. Smiling lightly, his eyes turned back. He was going to win. The problem was that he could only win by not stopping. Man, that wall sure seemed to moving dangerously quick towards him.
Brad soon entered his station, flipping a little as his back slammed into the wall. His body jerked as he bounced off, then hitting the floor of the station. A smile passed his lips slightly, though you could tell he was in pain. “I…won…” was all he said as he slipped into unconsciousness.
“Combat? Hand to hand? By myself? Not without my powers, I don’t..” Despite her rather argent protests, it was only a matter of time before the blonde found herself in massive, metallic chamber. As it had been with the other events, swarms of life-forms filled the stands on the perimeter of the room, pushing and shoving each other out of the way, aspiring to obtain prime seating. In the middle of everything, blue force field-like beams enclosed a rectangular shaped area, and already positioned inside it was none other than the same breed of giant that the Mutant Force had competed with in their first event.
“What the hell?” Frantic thoughts raced through the young woman’s mind as she was being directed to the ingress point of the ring. Mainly, she was concerned with the sheer size and strength that her opponent possessed. And what did she have? Well, as far as Gabrielle knew, the chance for an even playing field had been ripped away when she was exposed to the gas.. Oh sure, fighting had always been one of her strong points, but that was always with the aid of her offensive power. The only thing Gabrielle could sense as to the outcome of this confrontation would be a whole lot of pain on her part…
Once the force-field had been reactivated upon her entry, the lithe frame of the blonde could be seen standing just a few yards away from the mound of muscle that severely dwarfed its opposition. And the strange thing was? The giant knew it had an upper hand. Despite it’s rudimentary development of it’s facial expressions, an air of certainty surrounded the beast, and an unmistakable smirk spread across it’s scarred face.
“That face…” Gabrielle muttered, eyes narrowing in.. There was something familiar about that sneer.. A gasp was ushered as she realized exactly -who- she was up against. “You stole my homerun!” She shouted, as she bravely, perhaps foolishly, walked up towards the giant. With her hand placed on her hip in that self righteous pose she pulled off so well, the young woman waved a finger in the air, “I’m gonna kick your --”
A sharp piercing noise resounded throughout the room, signaling the commencement of the first match. Almost instantaneously, the colossal form charged at Gabrielle, it’s loud, heavy footsteps sending vibrations coursing through the room until he stopped, and simultaneously swung his large arm at the girl below.
Instinctively, Gabrielle held out her hands to block the attack, just as she would if she happened to be facing any other normal sized foe. And instead of being plummeted into the ground as she thought would be her fate, the force of the giant’s swing was easily stopped by the mere grasp of her slender hands. Sparing no time for awe, she rotated her arms, and sent the giant crashing into the boundary beams to the side.
“Strength like that is not normal to humans.
Surprised comments such as these could be heard murmured throughout the audience, as Gabrielle herself was left in astonishment. -Now- she could feel the changes that had taken place within. Though the pulsating energy was absent, a new feeling of strength and readiness surged through her. Blue eyes watched with content as the giant‘s unconscious, but relatively unharmed body was dragged out of the ring.
“So, I’m a super-fighter, eh?” She laughed, tilting her head back, shifting her gaze towards the next challenger. Positioned in a loose fighting stance, Gabrielle waved him over tauntingly. “Bring it on…”
In the extreme opposite of the giant, stood a truncated creature no taller than four feet. It’s structure -seemed- nearly intangible, as it appeared to be made of pure electricity. Though Gabrielle feared this to be troublesome, the brilliant bolts of energy were simply deflected, much to her own surprise. Though she could feel the pressure of the blast, it was almost as if an impermeable shield enveloped the blonde, enclosing her in a veritable suit of armor that had amazing resiliency. It was only a matter of time before the being was drained of all it’s power, and it too, met the same fate as the giant.
“Electricity? Please. I had that before it was.. You know, cool.” Came a remark, followed by an enticing wave to her fans…
And among those seated on the cold, hard, uncomfortable benches in the chamber was Que, who had, for a time, been pleased that Gabrielle’s former mutant ability had been replaced with some just as, if not more formidable. But as the competition wore on, something began to worry the dark-haired male quietly watching the events unfold.
“She’s growing over confident..” He whispered, shaking his head slowly. Que had been in this business long enough to know that everything had a down side. And at times, it was worse than the benefits… His mind raced as to what it could be in this case, but nothing seemed to fit. Que could only hope the girl realized it herself before it was too late…
“I’d calm done if I were you, Earthling.” The official growled, tossing over a sword made of transparent crystal. “This next one is not unlike you mutants, wielding some sort of exotic ability.”
After this warning, a chime echoed off the cool walls, and the competitor took his place. The next being’s size was more closely related to that of Gabrielle’s, and if it wouldn’t have been for the purple glow the man’s outer layer produced, he could almost pass as human.. With quick, fluid motions of his near joint-less wrists, the blade was rotated swiftly in the air, causing a distinct ‘whooshing’ sound to follow his rapid movements. This one, it appeared, would not be quite as simple as the ones who had fallen before him…
The battle began much like the rest, Gabrielle waiting for the other to throw the first punch before beginning to exchange blows. It was not long before the odd-colored alien noticed the extraordinary gift that the young woman seemed to have. No matter how hard he lanced, slashed at, or jabbed, the strikes had no affect on her. There had been a few times where his own sword had gone under her block, aimed for the torso, but simply bounced off. A sense of desperation swept over the being, as he quickly distanced himself from the mutant, placed one hand on his temple, and the other in front of him.
A look of utter concentration was all that Gabrielle could register on the man’s face before jumbled visions raced through her own mind. The first few were a nuisance at worst, rendering her immobile by sheer mental power of her opponent. But what would come next distorted her perception of what was real, and what were the images being imposed upon her.
Replacing the idle scene before her, Gabrielle saw the metallic chamber, the spectators, and even herself, standing motionless inside the ring. Suddenly, a strange, massive object of unknown origin but solid composition flew in the air from behind the stands. Unable to will herself to avoid it, the mass slammed into Gabrielle, sending her flying into the nearby wall…
And then there was nothing.
To those who had been watching the match, the two seemed at a literal stand still. Neither had moved. No weapons were any longer in their hands, and a fair amount of space lied between the two. The instant the lustrous creature had slumped to his knees in fatigue, Gabrielle was released from his mental grasp. But the damage had been done. What had been presumed to be benign hallucinations had actually been bent at the command of the mind controller, who fabricated the side-effects of the visions and making them reality. The result was precisely same as if Gabrielle had actually experienced what she was subjected to see…
Confusion claimed the crowd as they watched the mutant crumple to the hard floor. In an instant, Que had teleported to the young woman’s side, unable to comprehend the drastic changes that had taken place. Moments ago, there was little if any sign that the girl had sustained any impairment during the course of the event, but Que’s dark brown eyes soon observed what toll she had taken. A thin line of blood trickled slowly down her forehead, and the very way she was lying suggested that there were unseen injuries.. “Oh god… Gabrielle…”
After gently gathering her limp form from the ground, a bright flash of light filled the ring, and neither were again seen…
Shaking slightly, the rival struggled to hide his signs of wear. The once soft glow the purple being had emanated mysteriously vanished, his weakened and battered limbs could no longer support his weight, causing him to clutch the floor in attempt to stabilize himself.
Using what little verve he had left to hold his head up, his gaze slowly wondered toward the officials. “I win..”
“Wrong. Your lives our in -our- hands, not each others. Seriously injuring other contenders disqualifies you. Your species forfeit this event. The mutant wins...”
Riley paced back and forth in her room on the ship. She had recently been informed that she would be doing an event on her own and that the rest of the mutants would be doing the same as well. She couldn’t believe this was happening because it would no doubt be some event that tested her physical limits and not her mental. She found that to be horrible, because physically she wasn’t so good. For what had to be the millionth time since she had arrived, she questioned what she was doing here. The thing she hated the most though about the single event was that she had no clue what she was doing and wouldn’t till she arrived
She stopped pacing as she heard the call for her to go to the meeting area. She took a moment and took a couple of breaths before leaving. She pushed and shoved her way through the crowded streets and finally arrived at the building. She entered the room in which she would be briefed and found the place already full of the aliens she would be competing against. She glanced around the room sizing up her competition and hoped to God that what ever her event was she hoped it didn’t involve having to use any upper body strength. She hoped this because most of the aliens she was competing against appeared to have enough muscles in their upper body to be able to lift the Sears Tower.
Riley’s stomach churned as she felt the weapon being pressed into her hand. Her face contorted in disgust. She hated the idea of carrying a weapon. She was more for peace and harmony and had to restrain herself from dropping it to the ground. She didn’t want to use it, but knew that it might be necessary in the upcoming event. She hooked the sheath of the dagger to the belt of her pants and then followed the rest of the group into another room.
She stared in amazement. She had thought they would transport them to some forested planet, but she had been wrong. There was a forest on this ship though it wasn’t like any forest she had ever seen. The trees were all different colors. There were purple trunks with red leaves and neon green trunks with orange leaves and the variety went on and on. She stared down at the grass for a moment. This thankfully was green. She didn’t know if she could handle everything being different.
The sound to begin was sounded a minute later and everybody competing took off for the forest. Riley ran as fast as she could trying to reach the forest before the others. It was a vain attempt, but she still ran hard. Entering the forest, she slowed down and watched as others continued running ahead of her. In this forest, the scroll could be anywhere and there was no point in running hog wild. You had to be clever and patient. Riley was beginning to see the upside to this event.
She walked slowly and carefully taking in the area around her, trying to see if maybe there was anything strange or not natural about something. She had no idea how they would hide the scroll and she wanted to check everything. She followed no particular trail and basically just sort of wandered around looking
To her it seemed like an eternity. She tried to stay alert, but everything just sort of blended together and looked the same. She sat down on a rotting log and sighed. She had to make a plan, but how did one come up with a plan when one had no idea where to find what she was looking for? She didn’t know and sighed lightly. She almost felt like giving up. She was pretty sure it had been about two hours or more and she had yet to make any progress. The only good thing was that she hadn’t run into anybody, though she had heard cries of pain and anguish from far off.
Burying her face into her knees, she tried to concentrate on why she was here. Reflecting on it for a few minutes seemed to give her the boost she needed to continue. She had remembered that this event wasn’t just about her, but about every human being. She smiled a little as she started off heading southwest.
She hadn’t walked very far, when she tripped over a root from a tree that she hadn’t seen. The fact that she had tripped at a point when the terrain started down hill only made the fall worse. She rolled down the hill for what seemed to be awhile. She finally stopped at the bottom. “Ouff!” She groaned a bit and lay still for a moment. It seemed like every inch of her body was hurt. She knew she had cracked a rib on the way down and her hand moved slowly to hold it. She had scrapes covering her arm and a small cut on her forehead.
Finally willing herself she stood up and didn’t even bother to brush the dirt and such from her clothing. She had a feeling she would be getting dirty again soon enough. She glanced around and saw a small glint of light coming from a clearing that wasn’t to far away. She walked over and gasped in shock. She had found the scroll.
She ran over and picked it up off the pedestal on which it had been waiting. She picked it up and held it in her hands for a few moments, just staring. It was plain scroll with a blue ribbon that kept it rolled up, but the fact that it would help her win the event made it seem even more special. She slowly took off the ribbon and unrolled the paper. “Congratulations you’ve found…blah blah blah…okay here it is…go southeast until you reach the next marker.”
Riley had been so intently reading the scroll that she hadn’t realized that another presence had entered the clearing. It was a male alien with bluish gray skin, who stood to be about 7 ft in height. He wore a blue outfit made of what appeared to be some sort of weird leather. His dagger was drawn and he slowly crept up behind her.
Riley finished reading the scroll and tucked into the pockets of her pants. She turned around and immediately stumbled backwards, landing hard on her rear. She grimaced in pain and then frantically grabbed for the dagger, but only found the sheath. She realized with a panic that her dagger must have lost the dagger when she went down the hill. –This is great. I’m going to have to defend myself with nothing.- She thought angrily and rolled to avoid missing another swipe of his dagger.
She hurriedly stumbled to her feet and turned to face her opponent. She was little late and felt a pain in her upper left arm. She backed up a bit and took that time to glance at her wound. It was just a flesh wound, easily enough healed. She didn’t have time to think about healing though. She had to get out of this little brawl before she could actually think of healing.
She dodged a couple more of his wild slashes and finally had a chance to deliver a blow. She dodged a particularly wild swing and had then surged forward to deliver a punch to the stomach. She knocked the breath out of him and watched as he fell to the ground. “Good day.” She told him with a small smile on her face. She took off to the southeast.
She traveled slowly, the pain she felt the reason. She knew she should heal, but that would only exhaust her and she didn’t want to fall asleep in the middle of the event. She continued going in a straight line as best she could. After a ten minute walk she found the marker she was looking for and it told her to go east. She did as she was told and walked east for awhile. Another marker told her to go south and so she did.
Soon she emerged from the forest, with a wide grin on her face. She was through or so she thought. She now faced a wide plain. From a distance she could see a flag and guess that it was the finish line. She sighed a little bit. –This is great now I’m going to have to walk always the way over there.-
A noise from behind her, caused her to turn around and she found her attacker from earlier running towards her. –How did he find me? He must have watched which way I went and followed the markers. Oh well looks like I’m running to the finish line.-
She took off a sprint hoping to put some distance between her and the alien. That was not to be the case though since apparently his race was extremely fast. He soon caught up with her and knocked her to the ground. She landed hard on her stomach and groaned. “This is not helping my rib.” She muttered as she watched her attacker start off for the finish line.
She got up as quickly as possible and grabbed a rock, she had found. She had no idea where it had come from, but she was going to use it to help her. She took off running again and tried to aim as she did so. Finally thinking that she had it aimed right. She let the rock fly and watched as it the alien in the back of the head. He went down.
She contained a cry of glee and continued her running. Soon she had passed him and then a few moments she had crossed the finish line. She stopped running and then let out a shout of elation. She couldn’t believe she had done it. She felt so good…and extremely tired. Sitting down on the grass, she tried to catch her breath and keep from passing out. She had lost a little too much blood she supposed.
When Dawn was told of her challenge, she just placed it in the back of her memory, more interested in the events that her comrades had to compete in instead of her own. But now that the challenges had commenced, she was a little discouraged that she hadn’t had the time to be briefed on the event that awaited her. All she knew was that she was called to the transportation center, which was being prepped at the moment. Pacing outside the door of the building, Dawn tapped her fingernails along the metallic stone, huffing as she eyed the gathering competition. They all looked to be rather humanoid in size, perhaps to her advantage…
Though all of the alien races differed from each other, Dawn couldn’t help but feel that all that had gathered was casting an odd glare at her arm. Rolling her eyes blatantly, she backed against the building, then slid down to a sitting position, mechanical arm resting on her bent knees. Just a few feet away, Dawn noticed a young woman, around her age, which she had encountered a few times before. Would she be competing in this challenge? Dawn couldn’t help but wonder what that girl’s home planet was like; she looked to be a warrior, garbed in light armor similar to that of a Tiger.
Hearing the doors to the building whir open, Dawn stumbled to her feet, brushing off her back before falling in line behind those around her. It just so happened that she got in front of the Tiger Girl, and heard a little laugh come from her. About to become defensive, Dawn spun around, then realized that the comment of “A new addition?” wasn’t meant in any sort of offensive manner. Shrugging slightly, Dawn began to chat a bit with the girl as they passed through the halls, making their way towards the teleportation center. By the time they had reached the center room, the stakes had been discussed.. If Dawn lost, there was a chance that the mutant force would suffer another day in the gas chamber. If the Tiger woman lost, her entire planet would be destroyed. Tough luck, huh?
When all of the participants made their way into the center room, it was obvious of the alliances that had been made; the people had basically split amongst themselves into four groups. Eyeing each of the corners, Dawn tried to catch a glimpse of any familiar face, preferably one that had caused her the last race. But, her search was to no avail, and she turned once again to face the instructor, listening intently to the instructions.
As it turned out, all there would be given special suits that were immune to a certain degree heat. That was the first thing that was stated, which began make Dawn a little nervous. One of the little bars on her arm whizzed loudly, retrieving her a number of smirks and glares. Huffing slightly, she crossed her arms across her chest, nodding towards the front of the room, trying to get the attention away from her. Back to the events.. Participants there would be transported out of the glass dome surrounding the huge planet, to an asteroid sized rock that was orbiting their sun. Once there, they would be on their own to battle in Zero gravity competing to retrieve a number of colored gemstones from the asteroids surrounding the sun. Then they were warned, the suits they were to be issued wouldn’t only resist a certain degree of heat, so if they ventured to close to the sun, they were doomed to be incinerated.
After all the instructions had been given by the android at the front of the room, all were directed to put on the suits that fell into their hands from the ceiling above. Sadly, Dawn still hadn’t managed slipping on spandex style suits with only one working hand.. Not that she had tried recently… Anyway, after a brief moment of trouble, and some mental work of removing the left sleeve, Dawn was suited up in the heat resistant ensemble.
Dawn watched as one by one those in front of her were shot with a blinding flash of light, and their molecules slowly dispersed to reform in space. On a screen in the corner of the room, Dawn could see where they were appearing on a set asteroid, and guessed that the event would be televised to the whole planet. Wonderful.. Feeling a bit apprehensive, Dawn stepped up to the circular pad, exhaling shakily as the beam of light hit her, straight in the chest. And then she was gone!
Though the past few weeks had been in space, Dawn had never experienced the galaxy like this. Stars gleamed brilliantly, not dimmed by distance viewing, and the air was extremely thin, making it hard for one to breathe. They hadn’t been issued a helmet; of course, the atmosphere here was different than that surrounding earth. Feeling her feet strike rock, Dawn held her arms out for balance, carefully trying to adjust to the gravity change.
A deafening blare of a trumpet announced the beginning of the challenge.
Kicking away from the rock, Dawn took flight, using her mental powers to steady her flying from rock to rock. Pouncing on one, she dug her metal claws into the corner, balancing herself on the flying rock. A flash of light blue caught her gaze, and the attention of others, but before they could even consider making a move, Dawn had taken flight again and was tucking the stone in the leather pouch at her side. “One down, four to go…”
Crouched on the rock that she had retrieved the gem from, Dawn shielded her eyes from the flaring sun, realizing that the slab was nearing the fire. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she leapt from the small boulder, hanging midair as she watched the piece of granite slowly sunk into the molten fires of the sun. Hearing a scramble behind her, Dawn arched her neck, seeing that another gem had been located, and retrieved by the tiger woman. “Better her than someone else..” She grumbled, flying at top speed around the sun, looking for an area that hadn’t been swept over yet. There, she found two more colored gems in clefts of rocks. One more and she’d be done with her space hunt!
Craning around, Dawn desperately searched for the very last gem. If she didn’t find it soon, she’d lose the time advantage that she had been fought for! Sensing one near, she spun, trying to catch a glimpse of color. There was one a good forty feet away, but it was being claimed just as she eyed it. Cursing under her breath, Dawn inhaled deeply, trying to ease the lightheadedness from lack of oxygen that was creeping in. Then she saw it! Her task would be completed!
Pouncing onto a rather large rock, Dawn dug her fingers into the loose rubble, trying to loosen the stone from the rock. Finally victorious, she slid the last stone into the leather bag at her side, about to take off before she heard a anguished cry.
Reeling around, she saw as the form of the Tiger huntress crumble to a rock, unconscious and a shadowed figure skip from rock to rock with her bag of gems. Gliding over, Dawn knelt down, trying to read the damage that had been done. Every bit of logic was telling her to leave, to WIN, but Dawn just couldn’t turn her back on an entire planet… Delving her claws into the rock to steady herself, she began to mentally maneuver through the mind. There were scenes of her home planet, obviously a war-oriented planet, scenes of family.. Everything… Hastily, Dawn made her way to the core of memories, trying to find something that would jog her memory.. A shadowed figure encircled the senses, and Dawn’s astral body struck cobblestone pavement. The shadow cringed, then formed a rather large snake. It struck at her, catching her stomach before Dawn could kill the being, allowing the woman to awaken from her catatonic state.
Pulling her own bag away from her waist, she shoved it into the Tigress’s hands before dashing off after the one that had stolen the gems. He hadn’t gotten too far, thank goodness… Her sight switched to a negative for a moment as the roots of her hair suddenly darkened. Deep purple and black oozed from her skull, altering the color of her hair, then the hues of her facial features. Black lips parted as a warped laugh echoed through space.. She was on the hunt…
The one that had taken the gems made a sudden U-Turn, heading directly for the sun. Apparently he was immune to the heat, but of course, so was the Phoenix.. Something that the thief hadn’t suspected.. The heat intensified, and her body suit began to melt away as fire erupted from her very own skin. “Come on, let’s play..” She growled, chasing the figure in-between the flares of fire.
Finally, the man turned to confront her, face to face, and Dawn could easily see the hatred in his eyes. He thought he had won, but Dawn knew otherwise. Wings of fire erupted from her back as her hair once again changed, this time to a fierce red. Extending her hands, a pillar of fire exploded towards the man, sending him flying back into the depths of the seething sun. Mentally, Dawn called forth the completed bag of gems as the fire pulled back into her skin.
At top speed, Dawn flew past the competitors that were just finding their last gem.. Passing through the boundaries she cast the bag at the feet of the judges, winking as she backed up against the wall. Her suit was in shreds, some parts melted to her skin. A snakebite had formed on her side, and little trickles of blood had seeped from the two circular wounds. Features had already returned to normal, aside from the fact that her skin was a brilliant shade of red. Feeling the cool metal on her back, Dawn exhaled, shaking violently, “Good game, eh?”
|X| To be Continued |X|
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