Re: DEATHGAME 9000 [S!3] Round One: Gamexus X99
02-27-2012, 02:08 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by momatoes.
"The hell!" Jolene exclaimed as the car zoomed from out of sight. She spun, wildly, looking at all directions with widening eyes. Adrenaline had pumped her veins as they ran. There, danger screamed from every alley and shadow. Zombie. Undead. Monsters. With no more stimulus to fuel the pounding of her blood, Jolene suddenly felt lost. She glowered.
If she ever finds out who did this to them, she would punch it so HARD in the face that it'd plant a firm kiss on its ass. Damn it!
She looked around. Everything was different. She peered down the road they'd ran from. Humdrum cars continued on their way. Roadsigns quivered in the hot sun. Whatever happened, it seemed to have been retroactive. There were no traces of the walking corpses. No smell of fire in the air. The people around them were jaunting, laughing, walking normally without even the least appetite for human flesh. Gee whiz.
Jolene rubbed her head, wincing.
___
"Status report. Where are you?"
"We're right behind you. Everything is normal here." The Others grimaced their invisible smiles. "Relax...And we also spot a billboard advertising herbal recipes for brain rot. Very useful in the long run.
Jolene fumed. She turned away from Keagan, trying to hide away the expression on her face. Fury. "Shut up. There's got to be something wrong in this place too. That Amazing fellow wouldn't be -- wouldn't be sane enough to let us go without a hitch." What kind of person even adopts that sort of ridiculous moniker, anyway? A serial killer? Jolene inwardly shuddered. "One of you maintain a perimeter of around 100 meters away from us, the others go follow me."
"Alrighty, boss." They separated, one retreating back, further away from the others. With its hands and feet, it explored the urban decay that was almost, but not quite, Liberty City.
___
"Alright, Keagan." Jolene sighed. "We are here, and we are going to do this talk. And we are not going to kill each other, despite what our charitable host had said, so help me God." They were in the shop, a garishly Art Nouveau-themed boutique that had a whole window open to the wonderfully unremarkable roadside. The only redeeming quality of the cafe was the smell of coffee beans. Jolene drank in. Black coffee seared her tongue, but she welcomed the sensation. Taking another sip, she stared at the teenager sitting before her. He was familiar. Very much...
"Have I seen you before?" she asked, frowning slightly.
"Uh," he paused, looking somewhere between a panicked mouse and a quivering wombat. "I crashed through the shop window we made our introductions and then we escaped by riding a car here? That's what you mean, right?" He hurriedly sipped from his iced coffee, whipped foam accidentally grazing on his chin.
Jolene snorted. "I don't look that old, do I? No, you're just...hold on. Helicopter." She paused. Something clicked inside her mind. "What was it about the helicopter -- wait. You're that kid. Keagan. Keagan Lambert. You're the kid hero," she said, somewhat bluntly, her voice growing in wonder. He'd been responsible for saving many lives, with a feat that seemed superhuman. Special. It had been a slight obsession for her to find out whether supernatural abilities were...well, if there was anyone else aside from her. If she had been alone.
"Oh geez," Keagan Lambert, wonder kid from TV news, replied. "Yeah, that was me." He tried his best to look unaffected, drinking his cup and trying to avoid eye contact, but his eyes were pleased with the recognition. And the title: he was the hero. "
Anyway," he coughed, "shouldn't we be talking about more important things?"
"Yes," Jolene said. "There's still the matter of us dying."
___
Three blocks away, the Other was mildly flummoxed when the highway suddenly turned into high grass.
"The hell!" Jolene exclaimed as the car zoomed from out of sight. She spun, wildly, looking at all directions with widening eyes. Adrenaline had pumped her veins as they ran. There, danger screamed from every alley and shadow. Zombie. Undead. Monsters. With no more stimulus to fuel the pounding of her blood, Jolene suddenly felt lost. She glowered.
If she ever finds out who did this to them, she would punch it so HARD in the face that it'd plant a firm kiss on its ass. Damn it!
She looked around. Everything was different. She peered down the road they'd ran from. Humdrum cars continued on their way. Roadsigns quivered in the hot sun. Whatever happened, it seemed to have been retroactive. There were no traces of the walking corpses. No smell of fire in the air. The people around them were jaunting, laughing, walking normally without even the least appetite for human flesh. Gee whiz.
Jolene rubbed her head, wincing.
___
"Status report. Where are you?"
"We're right behind you. Everything is normal here." The Others grimaced their invisible smiles. "Relax...And we also spot a billboard advertising herbal recipes for brain rot. Very useful in the long run.
Jolene fumed. She turned away from Keagan, trying to hide away the expression on her face. Fury. "Shut up. There's got to be something wrong in this place too. That Amazing fellow wouldn't be -- wouldn't be sane enough to let us go without a hitch." What kind of person even adopts that sort of ridiculous moniker, anyway? A serial killer? Jolene inwardly shuddered. "One of you maintain a perimeter of around 100 meters away from us, the others go follow me."
"Alrighty, boss." They separated, one retreating back, further away from the others. With its hands and feet, it explored the urban decay that was almost, but not quite, Liberty City.
___
"Alright, Keagan." Jolene sighed. "We are here, and we are going to do this talk. And we are not going to kill each other, despite what our charitable host had said, so help me God." They were in the shop, a garishly Art Nouveau-themed boutique that had a whole window open to the wonderfully unremarkable roadside. The only redeeming quality of the cafe was the smell of coffee beans. Jolene drank in. Black coffee seared her tongue, but she welcomed the sensation. Taking another sip, she stared at the teenager sitting before her. He was familiar. Very much...
"Have I seen you before?" she asked, frowning slightly.
"Uh," he paused, looking somewhere between a panicked mouse and a quivering wombat. "I crashed through the shop window we made our introductions and then we escaped by riding a car here? That's what you mean, right?" He hurriedly sipped from his iced coffee, whipped foam accidentally grazing on his chin.
Jolene snorted. "I don't look that old, do I? No, you're just...hold on. Helicopter." She paused. Something clicked inside her mind. "What was it about the helicopter -- wait. You're that kid. Keagan. Keagan Lambert. You're the kid hero," she said, somewhat bluntly, her voice growing in wonder. He'd been responsible for saving many lives, with a feat that seemed superhuman. Special. It had been a slight obsession for her to find out whether supernatural abilities were...well, if there was anyone else aside from her. If she had been alone.
"Oh geez," Keagan Lambert, wonder kid from TV news, replied. "Yeah, that was me." He tried his best to look unaffected, drinking his cup and trying to avoid eye contact, but his eyes were pleased with the recognition. And the title: he was the hero. "
Anyway," he coughed, "shouldn't we be talking about more important things?"
"Yes," Jolene said. "There's still the matter of us dying."
___
Three blocks away, the Other was mildly flummoxed when the highway suddenly turned into high grass.
Spoiler