The Carnival

[Juno]

One second, he was on the bridge of the massive ship, watching as Alura fell into the depths of the ocean, turning on his heel to parry the oncoming blade of Ace. The next second, he found his cutlass missing, and his balance drastically impeded. He tumbled backwards, landing with a resounding thud on the dirt. Horns began to play a silly carnival jingle and he knew that he was back.

He let his hands release the invisible sword, and slowly, they fell to his sides. They gathered clumps of dirt, and then let them spill forth like the sands of an hourglass back to the earth. It was ironic; just a few hours before, he would have never even considered being glad that he was back in this hell hole. As eerie as it was, however, he much preferred the dangers lurking in the shadows here than he did the impending doom that he faced with the Kraken. A smile crept onto his face, and he slowly closed his eyes, taking a moment to breathe in the greasy stench of popcorn and corn dogs.

He lay still for a few moments before rolling onto his stomach. Once he’d done so, however, he completed the series of motions at a comparatively quick rate, pushing himself off the ground and straightening his back, standing tall. His eyes fell to his body—still, he wore musty pirate garb. He sighed; a wardrobe alteration would need to occur very soon. At once, however, Alura appeared in his sights, and despite the relative disagreements they had had on how to play the game, he was happy to see her alive.

“Hey,” he called, and she glanced over her shoulder, her eyes not nearly as welcoming as the half-Saiyan had expected, “Nice outfit.” He smiled broadly, sticking his hands in the pockets of his coat as an awkward silence lingered between the pair. At last, he felt the need to break it: “I guess we made it.”

Alura had no choice but to respond. “Guess so,” however, was all that she mustered, turning away from him. He cocked an eyebrow, unsure as to why her hostility lingered. Sure, they hadn’t been the best of friends on that boat, but in a game where allies were few and far between, you couldn’t just walk away from someone who was friendly to you—even if you didn’t fully trust them, use them to your advantage.

“You okay?” he asked pointedly, removing his hands from his pockets and raising his shoulders, attempting to act slightly more aggressive. “I would’ve thought you’d be happy to see me?” Alura didn’t respond at first, at least not with more than a scoff. He reached for her shoulder and at his touch she spun around, an angry look on her face.

“I don’t even know you, human,” she muttered in a low growl, and before Juno could react, the image of the blue reptilian no longer stood before him. He stumbled through the air where she had once stood, glancing angrily around the alley where they’d awoken. Juno shook his head; she was foolish. She had turned her back on probably her only ally at the moment, and because of what? Because she’d gotten a little pissed off? Because he’d gotten a little rash? It was no reason to ruin the game, and right now, the fortuneteller wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do with no ally to turn to.

“That was uncalled for,” he muttered to himself, his eyes darting to his peripherals just in case he’d missed her. That said, his thoughts returned to his outfit. “Mixie,” he said quietly, and waited for a few seconds. “Mixie?” he called again, and not a moment later he was tapped on the shoulder. The brunette stood next to him, and surveyed him up and down, stifling a chuckle. Funny; he had never met an AI with personality.

“Let me guess,” she giggled, “You want your old clothes back?” Juno nodded with a scowl, and Mixie slowly pranced around behind him, slipping the coat off of his shoulders. He closed his eyes, and as the coat fell to the ground he felt another fall lightly onto his shoulders. He opened his eyes and looked down, finding himself once more dressed in the familiar black outfit he had become accustomed to. “I assume that will be to your liking, Juno?” she asked, smiling shyly.

“That’ll do,” he smiled, shooting a glance at her. He nodded, and she disintegrated before his eyes, and seconds later, she was gone.

He turned on his heel, and stepped out of the alleyway into the full light of the carnival. The brass music crescendoed, and the half-Saiyan’s eyes observed his surroundings. He was in a part of the carnival he’d never been in before. The alley had not led into a conglomeration of roller coasters and Ferris wheels or the sticky aisles of the concession stands, but rather, he smelt water. Not, however, salty water that he had recently gotten more than his fair share of, but chlorinated water. His eyes traced the outline of a small pool, which was in ground and was merely one of the many attractions of what seemed to be a water park.

…wait. A water park? Well, now this was just ridiculous.

He slid his hands into his coat pockets, walking to the edge of the pool and glancing over it at his reflection. His hair was still matted to his head from the salty spray of the deep sea. It all seemed so real… the ship, the carnival, everything. He had to shake it off, though. It wasn’t real. None of it was real. Gamer had told them that, right? They were all inside a computer. Juno glanced up at the sky. It didn’t seem quite so picturesque now that he knew it was false.

They had to find a way out. All of them. It was a game, and right now, Juno was in it for himself, and himself only. He had to escape, and nobody, not even Sage or Sophia, would get in his way. He wouldn’t trust anyone unless they gave him reason to - especially not those who thought they could use him.

But there was one thing that he knew nobody in this carnival could deny: no matter how much you didn’t want to trust someone, there were moments when you at least had to work with them. Juno needed people on his side, and with the departure of Alura and his other acquaintances missing, he didn’t know what to do. Kaden and Sophia were somewhere, he knew, and Belle and Alex Trafford were around the park, too; but he couldn’t waste time looking for them. He had to think about the here and now.

He had to do something, though. It wasn’t prudent to just sit around waiting, he knew, he had to find something, or find someone -

“More water? I find it hard to believe that was your choice,” a voice said behind him. Juno glanced over his shoulder, seeing Ace Trafford standing there, scratching the back of his head casually as he observed the water park around them.

“Not exactly,” Juno smiled.

“Water slides, log rides, the works,” the psycho-kinetic listed, and the half-Saiyan spun on his heel to face the bronze-haired guy. He hadn’t really gotten a chance during the battle to take Alexander Trafford in - he was young, around Juno’s age, and deceptively casual. His shoulders were slightly shrugged and his fingers were wrapped around a cigarette box rather tightly.

Glad to have these back, Juno heard Trafford say.

“I bet you are,” he chuckled.

“What?” Ace questioned, looking at the fortuneteller from his observations. Juno’s eyebrow quirked. Hadn’t Trafford just said “Glad to have these back”? Why would he not understand if Juno replied?

That was… weird. Juno bit his lip; it was Trafford’s voice, again, but upon closer observation, he wasn’t seeing Ace’s lips moves. He was hearing Ace’s thoughts.

“Nothing,” Juno replied, “It was nothing, I thought I heard you say something, it was just one of the carnival robots over there.” He pointed off in a random direction as he said this, noticing only later there actually weren’t any bots in the direct vicinity. Alex looked at him strangely, but eventually shrugged off the incident and lit up, blowing smoke rings out and sitting on the edge of the pool. “So… what’re we supposed to do?”

“I don’t guess we have much choice other than to, y’know, wait,” Alex replied, though Juno could tell that wouldn’t have been his first choice if given the option.

Kicking off his boots, the onyx-haired youth sat next to his redheaded companion and stuck his feet into the pool. “So we wait, then? For what, I wonder? Some other lame event?”

“I guess,” Alex replied.

There was an awkward silence for a couple of minutes before Juno looked at the boy next to him. “Hey, no hard feelings, alright?”

“About what? You trying to kill me, me trying to kill you, or both?” Trafford laughed. “I’d say we’re pretty much even, Juno. Which, by the way, is totally a girl’s name.”

“Totally isn’t.”

[Victoria]

Victoria didn’t usually do this; in truth she didn’t do a lot of things. Her life was changing every day; it all began with killing Marcus. Her life as a slave had become more substantial, she was more than a slave; she was a weapon and a warrior. Vic didn’t doubt her ability as a Hunter of Zone 5, but she did doubt her ever changing emotions. She was human, after all, one that had been enhanced. She began to wonder if life would have been easier if she had been made a robot.

“So,” the female spoke, eyeing Vicky carefully, “who are you?” she asked in turn, and the young warrior looked away for a moment.

“Well, as I told you, my name is Victoira.” She started, “I’m not sure who I am anymore.” She answered, and looked back at the girl. “I’ve had a series of events occur in my life over the past week, you see, which has caused me to question everything. Did you know that there are aliens called Saiyan’s that look just like humans? Because I didn’t.” she said and raised her hands with palms upward in futility.

“Yes, I did know that.” The reptilian replied, giving the girl across from her a surprised look. “How could you not know? You are a fighter, that much I know, and you don’t know the world around you, not even what a Saiyan is?” she questioned.

Victoria gave her an anguished look. “I met one, he makes me feel,” she held a fist to her chets, “just, he’s different. He’s strong, but he looked like a human.” She wrinkled her brow in confusion.

“They’re just stronger humans, they aren’t special.” Alura replied coolly.

“Perhaps…but they’re alien to me, and so are you. I’ve been living a life of servitude, contained in a bubble, only let out to do my missions.” She explained. “So you see, when I saw you, I was shocked but…curious. Joal, the Saiyan I told you about, he didn’t exactly explain what being a Saiyan was.” She furrowed her brow. “I find that when I don’t know something, I have this need to find out, and I have no idea what the world is like.”

“You said you go on missions, wouldn’t that allow you to be educated on this sort of stuff?” the woman asked.

“Yes and no,” Vic started, “we have a time limit most of the time. Most of my missions involve capturing targets for recruitment, or taking out mob bosses. I’ve never been far from Zone 5, we take in bounties from the surrounding cities on earth.” She waved her hands, explaining how her missions worked. “Once a mission is done, we return, and wait for the next one. We cannot leave the compound unless given permission; essentially, we are prisoners or slaves.”

“Why would you live like that? Why wouldn’t you just run away?” Alura asked, taken aback.

“I joined voluntarily,” Vic lowered her head, “it’s a lot to explain. The Company is run by a group of powerful men, and even if I did run away, they have hands in every town. I wouldn’t be safe anywhere on Earth.”

“Then leave Earth, I did.” The scaled warrior prompted.

“L-leave Earth?” the Hunter replied in shock, “I…didn’t know I could.” She lowered her face into her hands and moaned piteously for a moment. “I’ve been under a rock for seven years!” she exclaimed.

“You aren’t missing much,” Alura commented.

“Aren’t I? I’m twenty years old now, and I made my first friend a week ago. I’m acting like a child, having no idea what the world is like, only that I have a target and I kill it or capture it.” She looked up from her hands, ashen.

“But now you know, so what are you going to do about it?” the girl asked, giving her a stern look.

“I don’t know…I have to get out of here first, don’t I?” she frowned.

“Yeah, you have a point.” She replied, frowning with her.

The wheel turned as they talked, moving them in a large circle and stopping to let people on and off. She did enjoy the view from up high, and the cool breeze. She shook her head and smiled, looked at the reptilian excitedly.

“We’re going to get out of here, I have a feeling.” She said, grinning. “If we don’t get out of here ourselves, Jeremy will come, maybe The Company too.”

“You think they can take down this guy?” Alura looked doubtful.

“Maybe? I don’t know anything right now, but if I don’t keep my head up, and stay positive, then what’s the point? I decided to keep fighting, even when I found out that after seven years, I was never going to be free. I’ve made choices, to make friends and live differently, regardless of what my superiors say. You see, life only comes once, and I want to take charge.” She nodded and smiled.

“Does this mean you’re going to leave Earth, assuming we get out of here?” Alura asked, bemused.

“That’s possible, the fucked up thing is that I like my job.” Victoria shrugged helplessly. “I’ve learned my skills, learned my past, and I have a home. I don’t intend on staying forever, and I don’t intend on living just by their rules.” She jabbed her thumb against her chest. “I’m going to make the changes, and when I’m strong enough, they won’t be able to hold me down. I’ll make lemonade out of lemons, right?”

Before Alura could respond she held up her hand. “Enough about me tell me more about you. What is a reptilian? And you have to tell me how you got us from over there,” she pointed towards the fair ground, “to here.” She looked at the woman in bewilderment.

[Szar]

The trio had been walking for several minutes when they got to the Ferris Wheel.

"...I can't believe that I got sent to Hell for saving someone's life!" Szar fumed, while Kaden glanced at Piper and rolled his eyes. Unfortunately for the blond courier, Szar noticed their brief exchange.

"Am I boring you, Kaden?" Szar snapped, slugging his friend in the arm.

Kaden looked devastated. "Of course not, I love listening to you complain." he shot back, grinning.

Now it was Piper who rolled her eyes. "Are you two done? We're here."

Szar, who had put Kaden in a headlock, let go and looked up at the wheel. Walking up to the ticket line, the Icer looked up at the man behind the booth. He had his head down and was snoring loudly. Piper persuaded him to wake up by kicking him forcefully in the shin with her boots. His head snapped up and he winced. "What the hell are...oh, hello! Welcome! Three tickets, I take it?"

Kaden stepped back from the group. "Just two." he said, crossing his arms. Szar and Piper exchanged glances, and he heard her voice almost immediately in his mind. "Should we?" she posed, her eyes moving towards the courier. The Changeling followed her glance, immediately figuring out what she was asking.

He nodded once.

In a flash, the two turned to Kaden, Piper moving in on his left, Szar his right. He'd been distracted by a brochure he'd taken from his pocket, and by the time he realized what was going on the pair had him in their clutches, dragging him towards the wheel. "Three," Piper grunted as Kaden tried to wriggle free of her grip. The booth-man nodded and opened the door to the car with a push of a button. Szar and Piper strode into it, Kaden having given up his struggle. With a wave the carnie pulled the lever to start the ride. The engine chugged to life and they were off.

"You didn't really expect us to let you stay down there, did you?" Szar had asked once they reached the top.

"I guess not." he sighed. "So, what was it like? Hell, I mean."

Szar scowled. His death wasn't what bothered him, just the fact that he'd been sent to Hell after saving someone's life irked him. "Take a guess."

Kaden looked down at his feet, and Piper shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Well, you're here now and you won't have to go back, right?" she said, trying to lighten the mood.

The Icer shrugged. He wasn't entirely sure what was going to happen to him at the conclusion of the event. Would he be sent back to Hell, or would he get to stay alive? He hoped for the latter, but the former seemed more likely. He felt his heart sink at the thought of having to leave his friends and return to the Underworld.

"Hey, do you guys have any monies?" Kaden chimed in, changing the subject.

"What are you talking about?" Piper said as she patted down her pockets. "I don't think that...wait, what's this?" Pulling the pager-like device from her front pocket, she turned it over in her hands. "It says that I have 30."

Kaden beamed triumphantly. "I have 40! Take that!"

Piper scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. "I was fighting for my life against a horde of the living dead! What were you doing!?"

Kaden's expression darkened. "I was fighting Raditzu." When she didn't collapse from shock, Kaden continued. "The famous saiyan that was always on TV? Long black hair, bad attitude, real pain in the ass?"

Piper smiled weakly. "I never watched much television..." she confessed, blushing slightly.

"Well, the point is my event was just as challenging as yours, and yet I have more monies. Szar, what did you have to do?"

Now it was the Icer's turn to blush. "W-well," he stammered, "I didn't really do anything. Just got locked in a cell by a bunch of playing card guards by an insane queen and her talking rabbit sidekick. Then we got out by drinking the potion that the Cheshire Cat gave us and wandered around a bit. Then this jerk of a saiyan, Orion, threatened me. That's about it." He looked up to find Kaden and Piper exchanging confused glances. "I know, it didn't make much sense to me either."

"How much monies did you get for this crazy adventure?" Piper asked innocently. Szar reached for the device at his hip, clipped to the base of his armor. Turning it over he read the display, before quickly slamming it down next to him. "I only made 20." he said finally, staring out the window. Just then the ride stopped, and the door slid open. The three stepped out, waved goodbye to the carnie as they passed him.

"Well," Szar said, scratching the back of his head. "What do you guys want to do now?"

[Orion]

Orion leaned against a wall, flipping one of the thirty "monies" he received for that drug trip of a mission that abruptly ended. He wasn't flipping it for any particular reason; he had seen unusual adventurers in his day relying on the outcome of a coin toss to decide their next actions, but the one eyed saiyan didn't leave his life choices to the flippant attitude of fortune. The only reason the coin ascended in a perfect rotation up and down was because Orion was mulling things over. Thinking always seemed clearer if he could distract his idle hands with something. It didn't matter what it was, as long as it kept things moving in an automated kind of way, it performed the role.

This place was even more absurd than the Dante's Abyss tournament. At least once he was uploaded into the virtual island, he was there. Here, he could switch locations at a moment's notice. For instance, he was just fending off a fresh horde of playing card guards, having to retreat due to the sheer size of their force. He was pushed back into his 'teammates', and although Orion was ready for an arduous battle, Gamer had other plans. They vaporised from the prison's corridors like a light bulb suddenly shorting out. He wasn't one hundred percent certain of the others' fates, but it really didn't concern him. If they made it out, well ... he wouldn't be happy about it; he simply felt indifference to them. That was, of course, applied to the female humans, but not the lizard.

Just picturing that demon in white and purple made his skin crawl. Hopefully Orion's little pep talk in the prison labyrinth made it abundantly clear how their relationship was to function. Granted, the saiyan had to concede that Szar held himself differently to the changelings he knew. He didn't sneer or condescend to Orion, at least not until the one eyed mercenary provoked him. Neither did he attempt to strike him in the back, although with his alertness around the lizard, it would have been nigh impossible. If it were a member of any other species, Orion would accept that his presumptions were incorrect. However, this was a changeling. He just hadn't shown his true colours yet.

Orion caught the falling coin and pocketed it in the small satchel that the other twenty nine were in. Tucking the bag into an inside pocket of his robe, he assessed his surroundings. Humans continued to parade back and forth through the carnival as if they had nothing better to do with their time. Such a waste, plodding their lives away in such trivial amusements instead of forging a name for themselves that will live longer than their feeble bodies. Orion ended up moving his thoughts away from the pitiful destiny of the earthlings, finding no remorse for them.

Now he was bored. The fight in Wonderland was cancelled, and beating humans at their pathetic side show games had grown tiring. He needed something to distract his wandering mind until the next event, but what? There were explicit rules against breaking the robots, which was the first idea that came to his mind. Maybe he knew someone here? Unlikely, since very few people even knew of his existence. Only a select handful could name Orion if they saw him.

A flash of red caught his eye. His gaze locked onto the crimson jacket of a blonde human he vaguely recognised. He was walking with another human woman who also bore a striking resemblance to someone he had interacted with before. Also, the dirty lizard joined them. They walked away from the Ferris wheel, the attraction that Orion previously mistook for Hell. Who were they?

It came to him like a bolt of lightning. The woman was ... Peepo? He couldn't recall her exact name, but he remembered her as if she were from a past life. In a sense, she was; Orion placed her as one of the contestants in the Friend or Foe television competition. Her attitude towards him was less than amicable.

The other was Kaden. All he could recall at that point was his bleeding heart mantra to everything that lived. It was his motto that Orion allowed to sink in, blinding him to the obvious warnings of turning his back to an opponent. If he killed Balrog in that battle, he would have surely noticed the snipers before they had the opportunity to kill him; but no, he listened to Kaden, and even let it affect his judgment. Now he balanced a halo over his head. He had a few choice words in mind for the red eyed ki wizard.

Not that he would say them in front of other people. Still, a chance to catch up would be interesting, and to see how the changeling reacted to his presence would almost certainly add a few laughs.

Orion pushed off the wall and headed towards the Ferris wheel.

[Ashe]

The bubblegum haired girl strolled through the park, unable to shake the eerie church organ music that seemed to be playing throughout the park. "Kristanna, where did you send me?" she questioned out loud, realizing now that she hadn't been asleep and dreaming of terrorist related video games.

"Welcome to Kill Town!" a voice called to her right, almost singing it for her. Ashe's eyes followed the sound to a brown haired woman in a navy blue suit that Ashe half expected to light up with red, yellow, or blue lights. The girl swung her legs off the wall of the carnival game she'd been sitting on and made her way towards the student. "I'm Mixie!"

"Mixie? Ok, I'll bite. What's the deal with Zombieland here?"

"Oh, you weren't in the zombie game!" Mixie responded, not catching the reference. Ashe's eyebrow rise, unsure whether to follow through with the line of conversation or to let it go, but the assistant continued without her. "You are in a great carnival known as Kill Town!"

"Oh, I see," Ashe sighed, mumbling under her breath. "Thanks, Kristanna, for deciding that I needed yet another trip to play in some psycho's game for television."

Mixie shook her head as she reached the girl, spreading her arms as if to show off the park's grandeur. "This won't be on television!" she corrected.

"Fantastic," Ashe dripped sarcastically. "So which plan is this one? We kill each other while some dude gets off in his office or is this one where we fight for our survival against nightmarish creatures and henchmen who want to rape us?"

"Actually, Ashe," she instructed once more, leaving the girl in no way surprised that Mixie knew her name. They always did. "You'll be taking part in a series of fun games of fantasy and adventure!"

"Zombies are kinda cool, I guess," she mused, remembering the earlier comment.

"Oh, that one's already been done, I'm afraid, and I can't really tell you if it'll happen again. Nor can I even give you specifics of the games themselves."

Ashe approached an abandoned game hut and reached down, picking up a dart from the table. "Then what help are you?" she asked softly before taking aim, throwing the dart.

"You missed!" the helper announced cheerfully, leaving Ashe to snatch up an entire fistful of darts and fling them angrily at the board, a rattling series of balloons popping to break the silence that followed. "Congratulations!"

Throwing her legs up onto the hut in a manner similar to how she'd first seen Mixie, the pink haired girl scanned the other woman from top to bottom. "Who are you? And I already know your name," she reminded the woman, interrupting her first breath.

"I'm a computer programmed AI that was created specifically to assist the players in finding their way around Kill Town and to learn more about the games inside. Your first event," she continued, pointing at a small device at the girl's waist, waiting for her to grab it before reading it in the girl's hand, "was called S.W.A.T. You were playing the role of an elite police force unit, expected to break into the terrorist building and save the hostages, as well as disarm one bomb and defeat the bad guys!"

Ashe studied the device intently, noting that it had her name that listed her as being first place in her event and having "Monies: 40" listed just below. "What's this about?" she asked, turning the display to show it to Mixie.

"You were the highest placing champion of your unit in the previous game. First place wins the most monies, which you can use to buy a variety of items from the various queues and shops located around the carnival," she answered, pulling out a brochure from her pocket and sliding it across the shelf. "There's a list of items included in here, as well as a map to help you find your way around the park."

The student turned it around in her hands, scanning it up and down curiously. "Ok, well, I guess that's all I really need to know for now," she decided, rolling the pamphlet up momentarily and looking over Mixie's shoulder as people walked by in the distance, including yet another girl with pink hair accompanying what looked like a dinosaur. "So we'll just be jumping from game to game and these are all just for fun?"

"Yep!"

"And what if we want to leave?" She knew the question would be met with some resistance. It was how these things worked.

"I'm sorry," the AI immediately responded with a sad smile across her face. "I'm afraid that we can't allow that for now, so I'd just enjoy the time you have here! Was there anything else that I could assist you with?" she asked, catching the hint that Ashe was ready to move on. Receiving nothing more than a sad shake of her head, the assistant grinned cheerfully. "If you need anything at all, just call my name and I'll be there just..." she continued, snapping her fingers. "Like that!"

Her image faded away slowly, startling Ashe just a bit. Taking a deep breath, the girl pushed off the festival hut and moved through the plaza in search of something of interest. "WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS OF VALUES!" a creepy voice screamed from a clown head adorned on one of the nearby vending machines.

"Ugh, I hate clowns!" Ashe screamed, kicking the machine after gathering her wits back. Looking over the machine, she realized that it was one of the venders to spend her monies at. "Let's see... There's something here to buy Badges from, and something here to steal them from other people... Whoever has the most Badges when the games finish wins... Something that costs more monies to buy than the monies it can possibly steal from another player... Mystery Capsule?" she questioned, stopping momentarily to lean in closer. "Can be practically anything inside, just give it a try!" she read. "Kinda cool, I guess."

"WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS OF VALUES!" the voice screamed again, directly into her ear.

"KAMI'S BALLS!" Ashe cried out in surprise, kicking the machine hard again in anger. Whirling around, she decided to worry about buying an item later. For now, there were a number of rides to spend her time on and she didn't know how long she'd have to enjoy them before the next game started up.

[Tamsin]

The atmosphere was cheery as was normal for a carnival. In spite of their dire predicament, most participants have been able to make the most of their forced stay and enjoy the various rides Kill Town offered them. So in spite of the hard trials that were ahead of them, the participants were able to make use of their few carefree moments.

For Tamsin, however, the carnival's offerings were the last thing on her mind. The moment they were released from the various events in which they were forced to participate in, the faithful servant searched every nook and cranny of the festival grounds for her master. But while she completely ignored the robotic employees that welcomed her to the fair's various attractions, her heated exploration brought no results. After searching the entire area several times, she had to finally admit to herself a simple fact.....wherever he may have been, Maleficus Nova was not in Kill Town with her.

She took out the Arlian pendant that hung around her neck, something she had done several times. But like before, it did not tell her much. While the various runes of the beautiful neklace glittered from the carnival lights, the stones remained entirely dim and only left the distressed reflection of the girl's face. The namek was far, far away....but where? Her numerous concerned questions left unanswered, the teenager could do nothing but blindly wander the carnival grounds and sadly gaze at her adornment.

Her random walk, however, was cut short as she accidentally bumped into someone. Regretting her absent-mindedness, she looked up: "I...I am sorry..."

Staring back at her was the Asiatic woman she had encountered during the hostage event, the one that ruthlessly dealt with the terrorist leaders. However, since she was wearing a plain T-shirt and a pair of pitch black boxers instead of a tactical uniform, she did not appear even remotely as menacing. Infact, her smooth visage and sharp almond-shaped eyes gave her a very beautiful appearance. The adult woman responded to her: "Oh, you are the girl from before...."

"Y-Yes..." the maid was barely able to speak up. Realising she had not properly introduced herself, she made a graceful bow: "Suzaku Tamsin, at your service."

The halfling's attention was caught by her surname: "Suzaku...? That sounds like a Japanese name......"

"My mother was Japanese. Well, technically, she was my step mother, but I never knew my biologicla mother."

As Tamsin explained this, the woman observed her intently, seemingly bewildered by the girl. Quietkly, she murmured to herself in Japanese: "What a strange girl."

"Well, I guess everyone is at least a bit strange," came the reply in a similar fashion, taking the halfling completely by suprise.

"Oh...you speak Japanese as well," the older of the two stated the obvious, wondering whether that made her feel relieved or concerned. However, she also realised it cost her nothing to be polite. Bowing, she introduced herself as well: "Uzumaki Kazuya."

"Pleased to meet you," Suzaku replied, this time even managing a smile on her face.

[Alura]

Before Alura could respond she held up her hand. “Enough about me tell me more about you. What is a reptilian? And you have to tell me how you got us from over there,” she pointed towards the fair ground, “to here.” She looked at the woman in bewilderment.

Alura sat quietly in the Ferris Wheel cabin, looking out at the brightly lit carnival in the darkness. Outside of the circus gates was just nothingness - the person who had coded this virtual world didn't feel the need to detail land outside the carnival itself, perhaps to give the feeling of no escape to his captives. It worked.

"Well?" Her pink-haired companion prodded. Alura looked over with rather nervous eyes, not quite comfortable with the idea of sharing her life story to a total stranger. But, in her defense, Victoria had given her quite an emotional and detailed story herself. The girl had a completely different experience that Alura did, but many of the same experiences: forced into servitude, given a belief that she wasn't valuable and not allowed to make decisions for herself. The difference was Alura had escaped, and Tori had chosen to stay. "Alura?"

"I was in a circus," the lizard blurted out. Victoria blinked, having not expected that response. "Like this one. But, you know...real. I was, uh...The Amazing Lizard-Woman."

"That's horrible!" Victoria said with a gasp, seeming to be genuinely surprised by the blatant exploitation of the alien in front of her. "What did they make you do? Act like a reptile or something?"

Alura was going to point that she was, technically, a reptile, but decided against it. She just shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "They had me fight. I had to beat some of the other circus people and then lose against audience members. Every night. But they were always so...they were like every other human I've ever met. Racist. Mean. I had to do security, too, but I always got spat on by the people there. They treated me like dirt."

The younger girl next to her swallowed nervously, unsure what to say. "So how did you get away?"

"I killed someone," she said. "Kind of," she added quickly when Vicky seemed surprised by the blatant use of murder in a conversation. "This human, a really older man, tried to shoot me but he missed and killed someone else. It turns out he was a police chief and tried to have me executed. So I escaped Earth in a space pod and never looked back. I go back sometimes, but never to that city. Never to...the circus. I never thought I'd end back at any circus, much less one like this. Talking to a human. On a ferris wheel." She chuckles at her own irony.

Tori laughed too, a very light giggle that showed she was still a bit nervous delving into the past of her new-found friend. "Where did you go after Earth?"

"Namek," Alura answered. "I joined the Temple of Guru there. I'm a warrior monk."

"You don't look like a monk to me. No offense."

Alura looked down at herself and let out another smile, something that Victoria seemed to be causing a lot more often. "The event I was just in, uh, left me in pirate clothes. I kinda like it."

"Sounds better then mine," Victoria said, "I was fighting zombies. It was pretty gross." She giggled again with Alura, who hissed out a chuckle in response. Pirates and zombies. What a stereotypical combination to talk about. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I've never met an alien, much less a, uh..." She tried to find a polite way to say it, but couldn't think of one. "A lizard-girl. What are you? Reptilian? Is that how you say it?"

The scaly head of Alura nodded in front of the girl. "Yea. I don't really know much about it...I don't remember my childhood. The earliest memory I have is being in the Freakz Circus. I just found this past year about being a reptilian, because they have a shrine of an old hero of my people. Burter," Victoria didn't seem to immediately recognize the name of the legendary reptilian. "My race was wiped out by the saiyans. The planet was recently re-discovered but it's populated by scavengers and outlaws nowadays. I'm probably one of the last of my people. We'll be wiped out soon."

"That's not a very positive way to be," Vicky said, trying her best to be friendly and positive. "You don't know that. Can't you have babies?"

"Apparantly," Alura answered, "I don't know much about it. Reptilians are supposedly able to have 2 kids in a lifetime, without a partner. It happens at pre-determined points of our lives. I haven't experienced anything like a pregnancy."

Victoria nodded. But she still had one thing she wanted to know. The really important question on her mind. "None of that answers why you got us from down there," she pointed, "To up here. In one second."

"I can teleport," Alura shrugged.

"Um, how?"

"I dunno," came the honest answer. Vicky's jaw dropped. "I've always been able to. Usually in short bursts, but I can teleport between Earth and Namek if I try hard enough. I've never been to other planets, but I could probably do that too."

Victoria remained quiet, trying to figure out how Alura could be so causual about the fact she could teleport between planets, just by thinking about it. Not only that, but she couldn't even explain how she did it.

Alura noticed the confusion on the girl's face. "...What?"

[Belle Hibiki]

There was a flash of salt water, and the next thing Belle knew, the ship underneath him had disappeared. He fell through open air, tossing and turning, and splashed into the freezing water. He did not float but continued to fall, water whirling around him. He closed his eyes as the stomach-churning drop reached a crescendo...

And suddenly burst up out of the water, gasping and flailing. His naked arm smacked against something hard, which cracked under the impact. His wrist throbbed with pain; he winced and opened his eyes.

Warm yellow light spilled from behind a plain dome of frosted glass that covered a fixture on the ceiling overhead. He was in something that resembled a hotel bathroom, floating suspended in a tub of warm, slightly sudsy water. He was also naked.

Belle turned his head to look behind him; there was nothing there but the bottom of the tub. He pressed his hand to the porcelain and gave it a few pushes, but it failed to prove an illusion.

There was a window nearby. The gauzy blind were drawn, but Belle could still see the occasional flash of neon light outside and hear the ratcheting of coin machines and the roar of a nearby rollercoaster. It seemed that the first game was over, and the Gamer himself was allowing him a brief break from the action.

With a complementary soap bath included. How nice of him, Belle thought, grimacing as he noted that his clothes were nowhere in sight. Carefully avoiding the lip of the tub where he had knocked off a fragment of porcelain, he stood up and stepped out, dripping water onto a soft mat of royal purple that had been laid out just in front of it. He reached out for the single towel that hung on a nearby rack and started to dry his hair, heading for the bathroom's sole door. His clothes, if they still even existed, would probably be in the next room.

Belle opened the door and stepped through, then stopped dead in his tracks.

He was not alone. A young woman, slightly older than he was, sat on the plush covers of the bed that dominated the space beyond. She had short brown hair that hung in straight strands, and was voluptuous beneath the sheer material she wore. "Hello, Mister Hibiki."

Belle's immediately relocated his towel from his head to his groin, and he was three steps back before he knew what he was doing. His wet feet touched the cool linoleum bathroom floor and he slipped, fell on his ass, and was back up in the blink of an eye. "Holy-!" He scrambled back against the bathroom wall. "M-Miss Fairview?! What are you doing here?!"

Miss Fairview, Sayana's gradeschool teacher, stretched, her milky skin glowing in the dim lighting. The lace on her clothes just covered enough to keep her from going over the edge of decency. However, in Belle's opinion, anything that covered less than underwear had already hurtled off that particular cliff and was smoldering wreckage on the ground below.

She slid off the bed with uncommon grace and started towards him. "Hold on a second! Don't you come any closer!" Belle warned her, lifting a fist in front of him as his other hand kept his privates masked. His face was burning hotter than Master Long's beat up car when he left it out in the sun.

Miss Fairview paused at the door and lifted one arm to lean against the frame, raising her eyebrows at him. She smiled - a warm, honeyed smile, understanding - and tilted her head at him. "Sorry. Did I startle you?"

"Startle?!" Belle blustered. "You --? Why --? Why are you wearing that?! How did you get here?!"

"The Gamer thought, after looking through your memories, that you might enjoy a little-" Chloe paused to consider her words, "-feminine companionship after your victory." She stepped closer, reaching out and putting her soft hands on Belle's raised fist, which was trembling. "Such rough skin... You obviously take your training very seriously."

"U-u-u-uh-?!" Belle stammered. He wanted to rip his hand out of her grasp, but he couldn't. He felt paralyzed, pinned to the wall by the woman's gaze - eyes which seemed to look into his very soul. She leaned down, lips parting, and kissed his clenched fingers.

Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.

"Hey!" Belle yelped, jumping. Her tongue had flicked like fire across his white knuckles. Suddenly free from the spell, he loosed his fist, put his hand on her shoulder, and shoved. "I said cut it out!"

The push was a little harder than he meant it to be. Miss Fairview lifted off the ground and flew through the air, squeaking. She landed on the bed covers with a loud fwump, her hair falling in an elegant mess across her brow, her legs spread. She lifted a hand and tucked her hair behind her ears, propping herself up on her elbows. She wiggled her shoulders, a twinkle in her eye. "I never would have guessed from your file that you were that forward." She giggled, then beckoned with one finger in a 'come hither' motion. "Come here, and I'll show you some real rough play."

"Get. Bent." Belle gritted his teeth. "You aren't real! This is just another... hallucination! Just a trick!"

"I'm as real as you want me to be," Miss Fairview sighed. "I can make you feel... So much more than you've ever known. I can show you things you never dreamed. Am I that frightening? Or do you want something else...?"

The air around Miss Fairview thickened. Her image flickered, shimmering like a reflection on the surface of a pond, then smoothed out.

"Maybe this would be better?" Sayana grinned cheekily and spread her legs farther apart. "Come on, Hibiki-kun~. I've been naughty."

She licked her cupid's bow lips. "Punish me."

Belle slammed the door to the bathroom shut, dragged the bathtub across the floor, and placed it in front of the entrance. He added the sink for good measure, then huddled against the wall, muttering to himself. What he was saying, however, even he didn't know.

~+~+~+~+~

Gamer laughed, spinning in his chair and holding his face with one hand and his belly with the other. "Oh shit," he got out, wiping his eyes with a finger. "This guy is too fun to play with."

He keyed for a closeup of the red-head's terrified face. "Don't worry, Mister Hibiki," he whispered, "I've plenty more games to play with you."

[Victoria]

“That’s powerful, more powerful than lightning.” Victoria answered, holding up a hand that sparked with tiny bolts.

“You can make lightning?” The girl asked, looking at the Hunters hand curiously.

“Yes, it’s kind of cool. I can do some things with it, make traps, shock people.” She shrugged mildly, and smiled meekly. “But what you can do, it’s incredible,” Victoria paused for a moment, “wait, I know someone who did it as well.” She held up a finger. “Her name is Piper.” She tapped the same finger against her lips. “Yeah, she teleported around when we fought, by accident. Anyway, we fell off a building and she teleported us up, but I barely remember since I had a giant antenna through my torso.” She touched her stomach momentarily.

“You had an antenna through your stomach? How did you survive?” The reptilian asked, astonished at the story.

“I…have another ability.” She looked away, to stare down at the carnival. “I can’t die, at least, not easily.”

“Whoa, hang on,” Alura interjected. She leaned forward to stare at the pink haired Hunter. “You say my teleporting is powerful, but you can’t die?” she said, pointing at her.

“Easily, I can’t die easily.” Victoria shook her hands up and down. “I can die, I’m sure I can, but it would take more than just kicking my ass, you know? I only found out just before being dragged off here…I was training to use it better. Everyone can regenerate, in a sense, only I can do it a lot faster.” She explained, and lifted the bottom of her vest up to reveal her abdomen. “No scar, no damage, it’s as if that fight I had never happened, but it was at least two days ago.” She lowered her top.

“That’s got to be useful,” Alura said, leaning back and casting a glance towards the darkness around them. “A lot of people have talents like us, that’s probably why most of us are here.” She said idly.

“In this game?” Victoria asked.

“Yeah, we’re all strong, and different. We were all targeted, weren’t we?” The lizard-girl replied.

“I suppose so,” Vic lowered her eyes. “When the robots came for me, Lucas, one of the higher-ups, said a bounty was on my head. It caused a situation, because The Company fulfills bounties, and well, they couldn’t refuse or else the robots would have caused a large scale fight.” She said, her voice held sadness to it. “I think I’m homesick.”

“We’ll get out of here, you’ll see.” Alura assured the girl; she had determination in her voice. Vicky smiled, liking that the other girl was very similar to her. They both had lived a life of pain, emotional or otherwise. They both held the abilities to aid in their battles, and they were both determined to get out of Kill Town.

“I’m afraid, though,” Victoria looked away suddenly.

“Afraid of what?” The blue-skinned fighter asked.

If I want to get out of here, I have to win, that’s what he had said, isn’t it? Victoria mused, looking at the dark sky. There were no stars, no moon, just an empty void. Gamer had laid out the rules, only one would survive. She wanted to live, regardless of her life as it was. She knew so many things now. She knew her past, and her strength, and that she could be something more than a mere girl. If she died here, her new dreams would be dashed away. Only a week ago she had thought her life would be pointless, that death would be better, but now she had hope for something more. This entire thing would ruin all of that, and she couldn’t bear the thought.

These people, Piper, and Alura, and all the others, they deserve to live too. She furrowed her brow in thought. If only one could win, and survive, the others would have to fall at her hands. She would have to finish each game at the top, and come out victoriously. They would lose, at worse, they would die. The man, no, boy running this game had no right to play with their lives.

“Tori?” The girl prompted, and broke Vic out of her thoughts.

“Oh, sorry, I was thinking about something. Remember what Gamer had said? I’m afraid that I’ll have to fight you, or Piper, or anyone else.” She replied, explaining her thoughts. “I don’t want to die, but I don’t want to fight others to get out of here.”

“We’ll figure it out; we’ll have to do what it takes to survive, just take it one step at a time.” Alura shrugged and smiled.

“I like the nickname,” Vic said suddenly, grinning.

“What?” Alura tilted her head slightly.

“Tori, I like it, no one has ever called me that. What do I call you, Al?” Vicky asked.

“No, that’s alright, I’d rather you didn’t.” the girl shook her head at the name.

“Hmm, alright, but I’ll have to think of a nick name since you were so nice to give me one. I’ll make sure to survive the next game so I can tell you what it is.” Victoria held up a fist, and gave her a determined look. “I may seem soft sometimes, but I know how to kick ass when I need to. I’ll make sure to survive, if you do the same.”

“Sounds like a plan, we’ll get this guy,” Alura nodded in returned vigor. “He’ll learn to mess with us, right?” she smiled again, showing her sharp teeth.

Victoria liked this girl, as different as she was, for all it was worth, she wasn’t so different after all.

[Kazuya]

Death was a natural part of life. She had embraced the concept many, many years ago in that little village, the name lost to her now for decades. What she had done in that room was necessary for her survival, but that isn’t what bothered her. What bothered her is that she enjoyed it, in a way that was perturbing and vile. She hated herself for liking what she did, resented the fact that one half of her brain relished in her misery.

Her fists clenched at her sides, a muscle in her jaw working furiously as she mulled over her current mental storm. Kazuya wandered aimlessly around in loose circles around the attractions and venues of the carnival, every sense seemingly blocked to everything around her.

How could she forget his face when she skewered that nameless victim on the pool cue and then unceremoniously shoved him out of a fourth story window? She didn’t know what had come over her then. It was like, after that, everything came to her in a tidal wave of raw power, of wanton bloodlust. She couldn’t get enough of the fighting, the death, the utter, unadulterated destruction. It was but a small taste, she thought. It was so matter of fact, so positive of its surety. There would be more.

Her brain was temporarily jolted when something soft and small plowed into her, her eyes finding focus as they met and held the gaze of a meek, petite woman. "I...I am sorry..." the silver haired girl apologized.

"Oh, you are the girl from before...." Kazuya murmured, the tone most unlike that of which was going through her head. In fact, she was grateful for the disruption. The two introduced themselves, exchanging a few words, and to her surprise, found a very home-like feeling in the girl. She spoke her native tongue.

“Well, it is very nice to meet you, as well;” Kaz returned the gesture with a brief hint of a smile, much to the younger woman’s relief. “You look…lost.”

Tamsin chuckled and said, “Perhaps just a little.” She looked around her, her nostrils flaring slightly as she took in the scents all around her. “Everything smells so wonderful!”

“Yeah, come to think of it, I could go for a snack.”

“Elephant ears? That sounds disgusting!” The silver haired girl looked even further, spying a stand selling chicken on a stick. “Care to join me, then?”

“I’m not...oh, why the hell not?” Kazuya sighed reluctantly and followed her newfound companion to the food stall, where they found, to their delight, that the food was all free. Needless to say, Kazuya stocked up on just about everything, and Tamsin, unsure of when she’d be able to eat like this again, followed suit.

They found a place just outside of the crowds, where a few benches and tables had been set up, shadowed by some lovely oak trees. Being a world completely digitized, she didn’t have to worry about leaves or debris fucking up her area. Blessing in disguise, Kazuya surmised.

It didn’t take long for the pair to lay waste to their repast, an accumulation of empty cartons and sticks piling neatly in front of them, only growing bigger as they took turns returning to the booth for more. Kazuya was beyond full at this point, and groaned woefully. “I think I’ve passed the point of delightfully full to miserable…ugh.”

“Yeah…” Tamsin leaned back in her chair, her hands covering her stomach. A small burp surfaced from her throat, and she blushed, embarrassed. Kazuya laughed.

[Ander]

Only the sound of Ander’s heavy breathing echoed in the darkness of the parking lot, perforated occasionally by the drip, drip, drip of the busted water pipes. He sat complacently, blood dribbling down the side of his face, and didn’t move. He didn’t know if he lacked the strength, or if simply his entire brain just shut down. Whoever moved him around like a game piece on some kind of cosmic playing board decided he’d sulked enough, and a bright blue light sparkled in front of him, expanding in swirling pattern of silky, luminescent fog. The thief didn’t even try to move as it gently took him in, lifting his broken figure from the pavement and drawing him into its mysterious depths. A moment later, he grunted as he flopped down onto an equally hard surface. Corny children’s instrumentals flooded his ears, along with that terrible smell of oily, syrupy confections. Out of some instinctual need to keep up pretenses, he grudgingly forced himself to his feet, brushing off his dusty desert apparel. Ander glanced around, unsurprised by what his scent and sound already told him.

Back in the carnival.

Then, another thought assaulted his brain.

That means…!

“Sage,” he finished in whisper.

His exhausted and agonized muscles found purpose again, and he took off at a brisk pace. A crowd now filled the park, and he ducked and weaved through the thick throng of guests. The dune dweller searched vainly for the frail-framed girl, eyes attempting to pick out the colors of her ensemble from the masses. If he’d made it out, there was no reason she shouldn’t have as well. Ander found her before – albeit somewhat by accident – and he could find her again. The youth wondered if she suffered the same fate as he, to fight against some ruthless insanity. At last, he spied a head of blue hair and a black dress turned away from him, and he ran over, pushing rudely past people as he went, to reach out to her and whirl the girl around.

“Hey, watch it jerk! What’s your problem?” some unknown woman snapped at him as he grabbed her.

He stared in frustration and disappointment at somebody who was obviously not Sage. “Sorry, you just…y-you, um…” he mumbled lamely. Ander didn’t bother to finish the half-hearted apology as he simply left to search for his companion anew. He went to the games where he saw her before, noticing the booth she had completely decimated before. The icy shards still remained, though now they dripped and melted into a rather large puddle. No luck.

Eventually, the thief circled the bulk of the park twice over, save for the water rides, his head swiveling madly in every direction and exasperatingly coming up empty every time.

“Are you lost?” a voice behind him giggled.

Ander scoffed lightly, and managed turn the left half of his lips into a lopsided version of his typical assured grin. The thief pivoted around to see none other than Mixie in all her splendor. “That sounds a little like a pick-up line,” he teased.

“Oh, no,” she assured with a flippant wave of her delicate hand. “My job is purely to assist the carnival guests. If you’re lost, I’m sure I can point you in the right direction.”

Ander placed a hand on his hip. “Well then maybe you can help me. I’m not lost, I’m looking for somebody. Uh, female, long blue hair, black dress, pinkish eyes, about yea tall? Might be randomly shooting ice at somebody? Name’s uh, Sage…” He paused, surprisingly finding himself blanking out on the second half. “Ummm…” How amusing. He knew her deepest darkest secret, and didn’t even know a simple surname. “Sage,” he said simply. That would definitely be a priority question for next time.

Mixie placed a finger to her chin and tapped it thoughtfully as she looked skyward. “Hmm…” she mused, almost playfully. Then her face lit up brightly as the brunette locked eyes with him again. “Nope, can’t say that I have. I’m sure she’s around here somewhere.” Then she leaned towards him, a sly smile on her face. “Is she important?”

Well, she’s the only person I actually know here, it might be a good idea to have her around, and if she’s going through drug withdrawals, she’s probably alone and freaking out somewhere.

“I just have something I need to ask her,” Ander shrugged casually.

“Then I will be sure to keep my eyes peeled for you. If I find her, you’ll be the first person to know,” Mixie nodded. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Yeah, actually. Would you mind telling me what exactly is going on here? Doesn’t seem like a normal carnival to me,” the thief inquired.

“Oh, you mean the events!”

“Events?”

“Special games just for the carnival. They’re designed around certain themes and each event has certain rules and certain objectives, but the goal, of course, is really just to have fun and enjoy yourself. Every round will have brand new events, so you never play the same game twice. There are multiple players in these events, but not everyone will be in the same one. Different players will also be in different games. Some of them are cooperative, and some are competitive. Some of them you’ll even be by yourself. For each event, players are ranked by their performance, with the reward being monies, a special currency just for this carnival that allows you to buy really cool items. The better performance, the more monies you get,” Mixie explained.

“That sounds… really great,” Ander managed with false enthusiasm. What kind of ‘game’ involved killing or dying against a psychopath? “Just have fun, huh?”

“Right, just have fun,” the woman agreed. Before any further headway could be made into the subjects, she switched tack, pointing to the nasty gash on his cheek. “You should probably have somebody look at that. We have a first aid tent by the games, or a more equipped facility in the hotel. They’ll fix you up good as new.”

“Thanks.”

“In the meantime, since you’ve lost your friend, would you like me to keep you company?”

Ander laughed, which hurt his face. “You told me it wasn’t a pick-up line.”

“Strictly platonic, I promise,” Mixie said, putting her hands up.

“Ahh, I think I’ll be all right. Wouldn’t want you to get fired if your boss saw you screwing around. Besides, I’m sure you’ll end up running into me again sooner or later. Pretty sure the carnival’s not over yet,” the thief replied coolly. “Thanks for your help.”

“I’ll see you around then,” she smiled with a wink.

Ander waved casually as she walked off. He located an information board with one of those giant plastic maps that say, ‘You are here.’ He air-traced a route with his finger from where he stood to the hotel, noting guiding landmarks along the way, and set off, still keeping an eye out for his missing compatriot. Before long, he found himself in a posh hotel, and the gal at the front desk pointed him towards the medical center. The medical staff were friendly and focused, and they to work immediately patching him up. He lay down on a mobile hospital bed with an IV drip, but refused any anesthetic stronger than an ice pack. Pain was the best teacher of all.

Or maybe that Juno guy took her somewhere. I bet if I find him I might find her. Or wait… did she leave and go with him? He seemed like he knew her pretty well. Maybe I should just let her be then. Augh, but then what if she’s not with him, and she’s somewhere by herself? Damn. I mean, it’s not like she needs my help or anything, but she did look really emotional and confused. And hey, why the hell do I even care? It’s not like we’re really good friends or anything. I mean, I guess we’re not even friends at all. But what was up with that hug? That was weird…

The thief waited patiently, lost in the labyrinth of his own dizzying reasoning, as they sanitized and sewed up his cut with dissolvable stitches, placing butterfly closures on top. Chicks dug scars anyway, right?

Once they completed his recuperation, they gave him some complimentary protein bars and sent him on his way. Ander sighed, noting the only place he hadn’t looked was in the water park, somewhere he had deliberately avoided until now. At the very least, it gave him something to do, and kept him from thinking about his awful deed of killing the saiyan Bardock. The carnival was sealed up tight, and couldn’t find anywhere that would give him a better clue of what exactly was going on here. The blue-eyed bandit meandered over in that direction, purposefully dragging his feet in unfounded apprehension. His path put him in direct line with the Ferris wheel, and Ander wasted time watching the bright lights and cheesy painted designs go ’round and ’round in a never-ending circle.

Somebody bumped into him, breaking him out of his mindless daze.

“Oh, excuse me, sorry,” she said in passing, not even bothering to make eye contact.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” he replied needlessly, for she was already walking away. He glanced at the offending crowd-wanderer, who by now had her back to him, and he noted the ridiculous oddity of pink hair. What is it with people and weird-colored hair?

The thief simply shook his head and returned to his previous occupation of watching the ride. Unfortunately, it had stopped, giving him no reason to keep staring. Oh well, he needed to find Sage anyway. Even if he didn’t, it sure beat waiting around for the next event to start, and he really didn’t want to know what else the carnival owner considered “fun.” Ander started to make his way through the masses again, noticing a bright flash of pink in the corner of his eye. The girl who bumped into him looked around uncertainly, as if nervous to board. Nobody stood around her, making her loner status glaringly obvious. He was in the process of going on his way when suddenly he did a double take.

Wait… I recognize you…

His mind flashed back to the picture he had stolen and eventually returned to Sage. This girl was in it. Although, it looked like she’d lost the blond roots and gone completely back to bubblegum pink. From the drunken ramblings of lunch, he recalled her name as Ashe, he believed. Since she had no way of knowing him, however, that information was probably best kept to himself. People usually found it a little unsettling when you knew more about them than you should. Besides, he was excellent at playing dumb.

Ander glanced back over his shoulder towards the water park, and then back to Ashe.

In the end, he picked what was already in front of him.

He walked over, tapped her on the shoulder, and flashed his friendliest grin.

“Um, hi,” she said, a little confused.

He pointed towards the Ferris wheel. “Wanna go?”

“Go where? There?” she repeated, following his finger to the carnival ride.

“Yeah,” he clarified. “You uh, you looked a little nervous. Do you want somebody to go with?”

[Victoria]

She rolled over, staring at the wall. Lights flickered inside of the room, flashing brightly and then disappearing before flashing again. She rolled over again, and lazily touched her wrist to her brow. Colors danced upon the ceiling, and she watched them for the moment. “To end it, just like that?” She said into the darkness. She sat up in the bed, and slid her feet onto the floor.”At least show your face, you bastard. You hide because you know what we can do, don’t you?” She clutched the sheets in her fists. “You hide because you can’t fight against us, is that why?” She stood up and walked across the room towards the powder room. The long mirror within gave her an ample view of her body, and she took the time to make sure everything was as it should have been. The dress was gone, her hair was down, and she was not dead. Vicky grabbed the brush in front of her and began to comb through the silken strands.

She couldn’t place her mind in the right spot. Reality, or fantasy, the entire game was throwing her off. She tossed the brush back onto the counter and exited the room. She had walked straight from the chilly Titanic and into the warm and inviting room. It confused her as to why she had ended up here, but a little rest never hurt anyone. She stretched her limbs and made to exit the room, she had to get outside and find someone to pass the time with. The first person to come to mind was Alura, so she decided to seek out the reptilian for company.

Carnival sounds surrounded her as she exited the building, people milled about, going from one game to another, or one ride to another. She could see the large wheel that she and the other girl had been on before being taken into another game. She didn’t know if she would be there anymore, she could be anywhere. Vic began walking into the noise and lights.

She stopped with her mouth slightly ajar. Before her was a giant cone shaped building, and she couldn’t help but look at all the delicious flavours. “What is a Snow Cone?” She asked the woman at the booth. She was handing out various ice creams.

“You don’t know? It’s like ice cream, only not ice cream.”She replied, and shrugged. “You should try one, it’s free.” She disappeared from the window and Vicky looked up at the list of flavours.

“How can something be ice cream, and not ice cream, it doesn’t make sense?” She asked, and scratched the back of her head. “I’m sure it won’t kill me.” She decided and stepped closer to the window.

“Have you made up your mind?” The woman asked, leaning out once again.

“Yes, can I try one of those Snow Cone things? I’ll take a cherry flavoured one.” She looked up eagerly.

“Alright, hang on.” The girl disappeared again, and Victoria craned her neck to see what was going on. She could hear an assortment of noises coming from inside, but couldn’t see a thing. The worker returned and handed her a paper cone with red slush inside of it.

“This isn’t ice cream,” Vic stated, and stared at the cold item in her hand.

“I told you, it’s like ice cream, but it isn’t.” The girl gave Vic an impatient glare and made to shoo her. Customers were lining up, so Victoria stepped away and continued to scrutinize her treat.

She found a bench and sat down; she could search for her newfound friend once she had finished her analysis of the cone she held. She slowly stuck out her tongue and licked the cherry ice, the taste was just as she had imaged, but the texture was unique. She could not eat this as she did ice cream, she surmises. She took a bite of the cold ice, and began to savour the flavour. The ice melted in her mouth, and the few bits that remained were crunchy under her teeth. She swallowed, and began to eat the snow cone in this fashion, getting the red cherry flavouring around her lips. It was good, not as good as ice cream, but it was tasty to be sure.

She leaned back and watched the on goings around her, enjoying her snack, and trying to relax. Another event would whisk her away, and it could happen at any time, so for the moment she just wanted to relax.

[Kaden]

Hopping through the portal should have eased Kaden’s mind about several things. While he couldn’t really claim to be safe, he definitely like he was in less peril standing in the middle of a carnival versus standing around on a sinking ship. He looked around, trying to get his bearings, but didn’t recognize anything around him. With a long sigh, he tried to stave off frustration. While he definitely wasn’t the happiest guys around, he tried to keep a pleasant demeanor.

“Why the long face?” came a song-like voice.

Turning around, Kaden found himself once again caught off-guard by Mixie’s sudden appearance. The virtual apparition sauntered up to him, flashing a pleasant smile and small wave. Despite her “physical” appearance, the courier was weary of her. Regardless of how she acted, she was still a creation of Gamer’s, as far as the courier knew. Actually trusting her made about as much sense as jamming an ice pick up his nose.

“Just one of those days, I guess,” the courier replied.

“Well you know what always perks me right up?” the woman bounced on the balls of her feet to emphasize the question.

“I can only imagine.”

“Shopping!”

Placing a hand on Kaden’s shoulder, Mixie spun him around and pointed over his shoulder at a large tent only a few yards off. As the blonde reading the large, flashing sign that read “Shop Town” he heard Mixie giggle lightly. Leaning forward, she pushed Kaden towards the tent with her body insisted what worked for her would work for him.

“I don’t really have a lot of extra cash to throw around,” Kaden complained even as he founding himself entering Shop Town.

“Are you kidding? You have eighty monies!” she giggled again at the proclamation. “It’s time for a shopping spree.”

“Well…” Kaden mused. “I guess as long as it’s not real money.”

It was hard to argue with, basically, getting things for free. Even if they were just items for Gamer’s murderous game. If they actually helped Kaden get through the ordeal alive, all the better. It’s not like Kill Town’s “monies” would be worth anything once he got out and beat Gamer within an inch of his life. Additionally, Mixie’s perpetually cheerful demeanor helped Kaden get past the frustrations of the game, whether she was real or not.

“So I need these badge things to win the game, right?” Kaden said as he stepped into the tent.

Despite the size of the covering, there wasn’t a whole lot to be seen inside. Most of the space was empty, except for a handful of waist-high glass display cases encircling a robot with a cash register coming out of his chest. As Kaden approached the cases, he realized they were filled with an assortment of “badges.” There were all kinds available to be purchased, which the courier hadn’t expected.

“That’s right,” Mixie answered the boy’s question. “But there’s plenty of other stuff to buy as well.”

“Oh yeah?” Kaden half-answered as he looked through the cases. Eventually his eyes came to rest on a piece of paper with the word ‘Covet’ written on it and a ’20 monies’ price-tag taped on. “Like this? What does a ‘Covet’ do?”

“That’s a special item that steals someone else’s badge.”

“Wait wait wait… someone can steal my badges? What’s the point in buying them, then? I should just steal someone else’s.”

“Well no one has any badges yet. There’s nothing to take.”

“Lazy jerks,” the courier commented on his fellow contestants. Though his own would probably be stolen pretty quickly, he did like the idea of being the first one to buy any. “Alright, alright. I’ll take a couple of badges, then.”

As soon as the courier said that, the register-robot made a loud ka-ching noise and banged away at the register with his mechanical fingers. When he finished ringing Kaden up, the cash tray slid out and was quickly slammed shut. Kaden was going to ask exactly how he was supposed to pay, but a loud beep from the pager at his waist cut him off.

Grabbing at the device, Kaden watched the display as “80 monies” flashed several times before being replaced with “30 monies.” That definitely seemed like a more efficient way doing things than loading contestants down with wads of fake cash. Kaden shuddered to think what he would have done if he had stepped out of his event with pockets full of one-money bills. Or whatever they’d be called.

“Only two? You can afford three, y’know?” Mixie leaned over Kaden’s shoulder to watch his pager-thingy record the change.

“Like you said, Mixie, there’s plenty of stuff to buy. Like these over here,” Kaden pointed out a handful of other items that were simply scrawled on paper. “We’ve got a Theft, a Double, those Covets, and a… Question Mark?”

“That’s the mystery item! It could be just about anything. Pretty exciting isn’t it?” Mixie cooed.

“What about those other two?” Kaden asked, pointing to the Double and the Theft.

“Well a Double will double the amount of monies you earn in your next event, and a Theft will steal some monies from one of the other players and give them to you.”

“So, I could buy a Double and end up with nothing, huh? How have I been doing so far, anyway? I don’t really know how much eighty monies is.”

“So far you’ve performed very well.”

Letting his head nod back-and-forth as he turned that piece of information over in his mind, Kaden considered the items in the case. He still had a couple of badges to pick out, and if people were going to be able to steal monies from him as well, he was better off just spending them. With a big, confirming nod, Kaden turned to the cashier-bot.

“Ok, I’ll also take two Thefts and a Double.”

Once again, the courier’s pager beeped and his monies were subtracted until nothing remained. Mixie tried to tell him something, but the courier held up a finger to silence her for a moment while he perused the display case. After picking out two badges, he pointed them out to the attendant, who handed them over, and turned to the digital guide.

“What do you think?” he asked, holding up the badges.

“Well I like this one,” Mixie pointed to a white star with wings rising from it. Kaden had chosen it because it bore a striking resemblance to the emblem on the back of his jacket. “But what’s with the other badge?”

It was a very large, very blatant middle-finger.

“I figure if someone steals it from me, they’ll know exactly how I feel about it.” To Kaden’s surprise, Mixie grabbed the badges and pushed them against the left breast of his leather jacket. Immediately, they stuck in place. “Excellent. Now, you were saying something?”

“I was trying to tell you how to use those Thefts, but if you’re not interested.” Mixie turned away from the courier and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Ok, ok, I’m sorry. I should never have taken my attention off of you, Mixie.”

“That’s more like it,” she turned back to Kaden with a giggle. “Now, on your Portal Appearance and General Event Recording device, there are some—“

“Woah, hold on. So this thing is actually a PAGER?”

“If you prefer acronyms, I guess. Anyway, press ‘one’ to get to the main menu, then just select ‘Theft’ and you’re good to go.”

Grabbing his PAGER, Kaden followed the instructions Mixie provided and was quickly at a large ‘Theft’ menu from which he could choose one of the other players in the game. Fortunately, the list was alphabetized, so he didn’t have to spend much time looking. With a smile on his face, Kaden selected “Ander” and watched as the screen changed.

“Stealing, please wait.” Kaden read aloud. “Alright, well thanks for all the info, Mixie. I’m gonna go look for someone, though. I’m sure we’ll run into each other again.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” the woman replied with a wave goodbye.

Stepping out of Shop Town, Kaden took in a deep breath and let his nerves settle. Though Mixie could be relaxing, the courier couldn’t help shake the feeling that Gamer would be able to see and hear everything she did. Even if that wasn’t the case, it seemed like a better idea to err on the side of caution. With his spirits slightly lifted, and no longer feeling like he was under some kind of big-brother scrutiny, Kaden looked around for something to do until his next event. The nearest attraction was a large water park.

“I’ll give Gamer this much, he doesn’t skimp,” the courier said to himself as he approached the park.

Pools of every shape and size dotted the area, broken by dividers of tropical plants of rows of concession stands. Large water slides snaked between one-another, weaving their way down to the pools below. The delighted cries of children filled the air as they scampered from one body of water to another, or clamored past each other to be the next on their water slide of choice.

Despite his most recent event, the idea of relaxing in a pool seemed like a fairly decent idea. Almost mournfully, Kaden brought a hand to his chest and let his fingers trace the circular scar upon it. The last time he had gone into any body of water for recreation, he had been in a wetsuit. Somehow, he didn’t think that would fly at a water park and just standing around watching would be way too… creepy. Kaden was about to leave when he caught sight of a familiar face.

“Hey! Sophia!” he called out to the priestess as she quickly moved across his field of vision.

The girl’s head turned ever-so-slightly before she straightened and quickened her pace. Figuring she simply hadn’t heard him, Kaden took off after Sophia in a light jog and called out her name once more. The second time, however, there was no mistaking what he saw. She visibly sped up upon hearing Kaden’s voice. When he finally managed to clamp a hand on her shoulder, she turned to face him and wrenched herself free in the same movement.

“Oh, Kaden,” she feigned surprise.

“Didn’t you hear me?” he asked slowly.

“No, I was just trying to find my way out of here. After the boat, I can’t say I really want to be around water.”

“Heh, yeah. Well c’mon, the exit’s this way. I’ll show you.”

“I can find it myself.” She answered so quickly that Kaden almost missed it. “I don’t need you to help me with everything, you know.”

“Oooookay. Well, you said you were looking for something, and I know where it is. I just thought I’d offer.” As Kaden spoken, his mind reeled, scrambling to come up with something that might have upset the priestess. Something other than being kidnapped and forced into a game. “I didn’t think you’d mind an excuse to walk around with me, to be honest.”

“Well, thank you, but I’m fine,” Soph said as she straightened herself.

“Look, Soph, I didn’t want to say anything back on that boat, but –“

“You mean back when you were telling everyone the best way to save themselves?” Sophia cut him off. The courier almost winced when she crossed her arms; that was not a good sign.

“Hey look, I was just trying to help. You’re acting like I did something horrible, and I was just pointing out the best course of action.” Instead of stopping to think, the courier just kept talking. “What’s going on here? Is this just the wrong time of the month or something? Should I come back next week?”

That was a dumb thing to say. Nevertheless, Sophia actually held her tongue and elected to simply take a nice, deep breath. Without saying anything, she stepped past Kaden, intending to continue her search for the exit. Unfortunately for all involved parties, the courier wasn’t in the mood to just sweep things under the rug. Once again he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and, once again, she wrenched herself free as she turned to face him.

“Hold on,” the courier started. “Look, Sophia, I trust you, and right now I think we should be working with each other, not against each other. If something’s bothering you, you can talk to me about it.”

[Juno]

“We have a winner!!”

His fingers were clasped around a wide pole, which was connected to the end of a large mallet. The hammer had smashed squarely onto the scale, sending the cylinder rocketing up to the bell, which had dinged loudly, signaling Juno’s victory. At least, that was what was supposed to have happened.

In reality, Juno didn’t remember entering this contest of strength at all. One second, he had been watching Kazuya jam her sword into the archdemon’s draconic skull, and the next, he had found himself here, the squeaky voice of the event’s overseer whistling songs of victory into his ear. He let his fingers slip off of the mallet, and let his eyes flicker up to the surroundings. The winner’s bell continued to chime annoyingly as he realized, rather quickly, that he had returned to the central hub of Kill Town once again—the carnival. Well, at least that meant his didn’t lose. Quite the contrary, in fact…

It seemed he’d won.

“Congratulations, sir!” the announcer grinned, sidling up next to the half-Saiyan as the computer-generated crowd cheered on for a winner who hadn’t even played the game. “To honor your exemplary performance, Gamer—the ringmaster of our circus—”

“Gaaaaaameeeeer,” the crowd cooed.

“—yes, Gamer, has chosen to award you with forty monies to your account!” At this, the crowd cheered, but Juno’s face took on a perplexed expression. Monies? Account? What the heck was this game? “According to Mixie, that puts you at sixty monies, my friend.” The first thought that crossed his mind was obvious: where’d he get the first twenty? Oh, well. He wouldn’t argue with luck, he supposed. And it seemed prudent to have some type of currency in this madman’s game. Perhaps it’d get him somewhere.

Something materialized in his coat pocket. He felt it drop to the bottom the cloth appendage to his jacket, and slowly reached in and pulled it out. It was small, and white, not small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, but about the size of one of those video-playing iPods. On the side it read ‘Portal Appearance and General Event Recording Device.’

Wonderful—something else of Gamer’s to mess with. Slowly but surely, a colorful screen popped up, and a small, 2D, pixilated avatar of Juno popped up, falling into a map of the carnival. A small exclamation mark flashed in the bottom corner of the screen, but there was something else that caught Juno’s eye—a button that said ‘Other Contestants.’ He quickly clicked on the words with the stylist that had come with it and read the list.

Ander, Belle Hibiki, and Kaden… all these names he recognized, but they weren’t the one he was looking for… there it was! Sophia. Good, she was still up here in the carnival. Maybe the map would show him where to find her—

The PAGER device beeped, and the exclamation point in the corner grew larger. Someone wanted him to read the message. ‘Post Round Two Update,’ it read, and Juno opened the miniature email, squinting his eyes, struggling to read it. His vision had been deteriorating slightly. First signs of age, he supposed.

“Dear contestants,” it read, “Thank you for making the game so enjoyable to watch so far. Of course, there were the boring spots, but of course, that’s where the eliminations come in. Speaking of, let’s recap. In Round One, Sage and Xenia were relocated to the prison, and Mirabelle Calliope passed away. Such a tragic situation. In Round Two, no one died, unfortunately, but Wolfgang, Alura, and Mr. Zhu have been relocated to the prison. I’d also like to take a moment to congratulate our winners this round: in the Sinking Ship event, Kaden took home the gold. In the Perform for Gamer event, Ander achieved victory. In the Age of Wyrms event, Juno walked away with the prize, and in the Ice Climbers event, Piper and Szar managed to snag first place!”

“But that’s not all this time,” the message continued, slowly reaching its ending, “It seems that the competition just got heated. As you all may or may not know, there’s a certain way to win this game, and that’s through collecting the most badges. My friends, I am pleased to report that we just had our first purchase. Kaden, so far standing strong on a relatively awesome winning streak, has purchased two badges. And remember, in this game, thou shalt covet…” With this, it fizzled out to the by line: “Your friend, Gamer!”

“My friend?” Juno scoffed. “Anything but.” He examined the message again, however: he had obviously been terribly out of the loop when it came to this whole ‘winning the game’ thing, but now that he knew, he knew that he’d have to take life by the horns and make his moves to win the game. Perhaps laying low would serve him well right now, but he wasn’t about to just sit there and let Kaden take all the glory. He had to win this game, for Sage and Xenia… for Sophia… for Juliet… for everyone back home, for… for lots of people, he concluded, mostly women, and so he navigated through his pager to an app called Shop Town. Going to the actual shop probably wasn’t a smart idea at the time, though upon further notice, it was just across the way. He could actually see the red-jacketed courier as he turned a corner and disappeared from sight.

He glanced down at the pager and observed the list. That looks promising, he thought as his vision read the description of one of items. He took the stylist and clicked the ‘Purchase’ button, and the shopping list quickly changed to one that read: Coveting… Coveting…

Within seconds, a compartment at the bottom of the pager opened and a shiny new badge slid out on what looked to be a mini-tray. The badge was interestingly designed; it bore a hand on it, one finger up in the air, the middle one. He nodded, looking up to where he’d seen Kaden previously. “Nice one,” he muttered respectfully, and walked slowly over toward Shop Town, hovering in between the games area and the large display of many different items which he now realized he had the monies to buy—forty monies, in fact. Nevertheless, he decided that waiting would be prudent now. After all, that first one had probably just sprung from bitterness.

“Nothing personal, Kaden,” Juno muttered to himself, “I was just leveling the playing field.”

[Ander]

Ander sighed, sitting on a bench – garbed in normal clothes once again – and fiddling with the strange device clipped to his leather belt, the one that somehow he had completely neglected before it had been pointed it out prior to his “Perform for Gamer” event. He’d never seen something like this before, and wasn’t terribly adept at unfamiliar technology. Really, the motions primarily served to occupy his hands while he decompressed from the latest events. He supposed in the end, despite the ridiculousness of their task and the odd ensemble of characters forced into cooperation with him, it hadn’t been that terrible of an occurrence. It certainly provided an excellent transition from his trauma facing the saiyan Bardock. Given the choice between embarrassment in a theater and having your face mangled with your pride ripped to pieces, no small wonder he’d rather choose the former.

Although entirely unbeknownst to him, his lack of experience in galactic kidnapping – despite the separatist abduction – and subjugation to the personal whims of diabolical madmen made him the odd man out in this situation. While bereft of the knowledge and determination to contextually rail against their captor, this absence of prior involvement also provided him blissful ignorance to the mental and emotion fractures that eventually cracked even the staunchest of people. In the whole park, Ander was probably the only one left who hadn’t wholly figured out the nature of the environment, or the machinations – even the true identity – of Gamer. He suspected, as anyone naturally would, that something about Kill Town wasn’t quite right, but the concept of being trapped inside a virtual world still perched beyond the boundaries of his sheltered imagining. Had he been aware of this, it might have struck him as ironic, given his otherwise affluent talent for acquiring and deducing information, particularly the concealed kind.

Still, he waited patiently and learned, little by little, how everything worked. At this point, the wrong questions merely displayed obliviousness and therefore stupidity, so the thief needed to tread carefully among those with whom he spoke.

In the midst of his reflections, the device suddenly started beeping, although in a fashion atypical with the “warning, incoming game” variety. A message displayed across the screen, reading simply: “Attention – Theft capsule used by Player Kaden. Monies stolen. Subtracting amount and transferring to Player Kaden.”

Ander snorted, an amused smirk spreading across his face.

Trying to beat me at my own game, are we?

Problem was, he had no idea what “monies” were, or even their value to him or his current situation. From his position, the theft merely occurred out of some misplaced – or well-placed, depending on your perspective – personal spite for past transgressions. Ander simply assumed that as the case, for now. It provided for much entertainment, however, as the act only served to reinforce Ander’s perception of Kaden and his hypocritical nature. The more people tried to convince you of the truth with words, the more the lies showed through with actions. Pretending to be something you weren’t only worked as well as your most revealing moments, those little tiny slips of affirmation vigilantly detected by probing suspicions. In the end, fraudulent behavior was always exposed for its hidden counterpart, and while the thief liked to believe himself above showing his own colors, even he was not completely immune, as had already been proved so very shortly ago before this whole ordeal began. Ander shrugged it off for now, resolving not even to mention it to Kaden if he ever crossed paths with him again. Of course he’d have to return the favor, far better and more elaborate, but timing was everything. Besides, if one wanted to steal out of spite, they needed to follow the cardinal rule: it has to be something of value… figure out what they valued, and then take it.

Ander tilted his head up from his hunched position on the bench, knowing he couldn’t drag his feet much longer. He returned the pager to its previous location on his belt, trying to think of some kind of plan for the remainder of his stay. The thief found himself near the flashing and spinning rides once again, but he noted the absence of the congregation of both the recognizable as well as unfamiliar faces he’d briefly met, including Ashe. He supposed he could attempt to make some kind of temporary alliance, as long as he wound up on the beneficial end of the deal. No doubt cast over the fact that the events pitted him with and against others, so establishing acquaintances with these people provided an informational edge.

Seeking fulfillment of this common sense tactic, he forced himself up and started walking around, keeping a lazy eye out for a spot of blue hair and a black dress (which, at this point, was likely out of principle more than anything else). Ander jammed his hands in his pockets, seeking to simply blend in for the time being, a task of relatively little difficulty in a park this huge with a crowd this packed. He glanced around, noting the gaiety of everything around him. Patrons laughed merrily and carried on entertaining conversations, competed amicably in games of strength and skill, licked up syrupy snow-cones or picked at cheerfully colored cotton candy, screamed wildly on nauseating rides that twisted and flipped them in all manner of directions, and simply enjoyed the environment around them in accordance with its intentional designs. Up until now, the dune dweller had been unable to fully immerse himself in the lackadaisical nature of things. “Have fun,” Mixie had said. “Enjoy yourself.” Her seemingly nonsensical advice now rang with a startling note of wisdom. After all, why not have fun? His escape from this strange carnival until its intended expiration faltered under dismal odds. Why waste energy raging against the bars? Admittedly, the stark dissonance in the moods of the events did leave him confused with whiplash, going from fighting for his life to subsequently performing a play like nothing at all was wrong. Still, Ander felt it perhaps best to simply bide his time and wait for the right opportunity, if one presented itself at all. Until then, he could allow himself to be strung along to the puppeteer’s plots. Besides, he preferred the notion of willful participation – however temporary or informed – over refusal and being forced to do it anyway. Giving up and laying low under the pretense of giving up weren’t the same thing. So, in the end, he’d follow the brunette’s giggly suggestion and try to have fun.

At that particular self-conclusion, Ander spotted a head of familiar pink hair in a manner of almost perfect timing. He lingered thoughtfully for a moment, hiding amongst the crowd in an almost stalker-like manner and observing closely to confirm the girl’s identity without a doubt. His blue eyes flicked around methodically, circling her immediate vicinity to pick out any possible indication of company. Nope. She was alone. Although, he had figured that last time, and wound up assimilating into more than he bargained for. The dune dweller drew in a breath, determined to erase the fumbles of his prior introduction and leave a better, more lasting impression. A smile tugging at the corner of his lips, he strolled over, keeping out of her line of sight as he crept up from behind.

“We never did get to go on that ride,” he said, leaning over her shoulder and speaking right next to the side of her head.

Ashe gasped and spun around, her arms flailing protectively, and she accidentally smacked him in the face, causing him to grunt in surprise and stumble backwards a step or two. She gasped again, placing her hands to her mouth.

So much for smooth.

“I’m sorry, you scared me. I thought you were some kind of creepster,” she said.

Ander composed himself, a toothy smile gracing his countenance once more. “It’s all right, I’ve been through worse.”

Yeah, at least I didn’t get stabbed this time, he thought with an inward chuckle.

The thief stuck out a hand. “I don’t think we got properly introduced last time. My name is Ander.”

The girl glanced down at his offered gesture, still as tentative as before. Eventually, she took it, and gave it a light shake before withdrawing her hand. “Ashe.”

“That’s a nice name. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ashe,” Ander nodded cordially. “So, how ’bout that ride, huh?” The thief raised up his palms in a motion of good faith. “I promise you, I’m housebroken and I’ve had all of my shots. Ferris wheel, roller coaster, scrambler, I don’t mind which one. Probably not teacups though, not such a fan of those.” He paused for a moment, unable to resist the chance at a little good-natured ribbing. “That is, of course, if don’t want to completely run in the opposite direction or if there aren’t any blond-haired delivery boys nearby.”

[Jesper]

Sophia was not in the mood to talk when Kaden had stopped her. It wasn’t that she was mad at him, not really, but her retorts, consistent in their venomous undertones, made it seem like she wanted to claw her eyes out. While the courier likely chalked it up to just a woman being a woman—a sentiment confirmed by an ill-timed chide by the man himself—Sophia knew that it was something much more than that. Her venom, if she could really even call it that, had been compounded over a lifetime, not just a date on the calendar. Unfortunately, for both of them, that was something that Kaden seemed to have trouble understanding.

“Look, Sophia, I trust you, and right now I think we should be working with each other, not against each other. If something’s bothering you, you can talk to me about it.”

“Sweet of you,” she shot him a piercing glare. The healer was forced to bite her lower lip, almost to keep herself from absolutely laying into him. Shaking her head, she sighed instead, softening her stance on everything, or at least her position on him. “I’m not mad at you. I don’t mean to act like…this. It’s just…”

Kaden raised an eyebrow as the healer hesitated, rubbing her arm awkwardly as she suddenly began to avoid eye contact. “I don’t know how many more ways I can say it, but you can talk to me. I’ve never seen you act like this.”

I’ve never felt this way…

Sophia thought about going down that road. In some ways, she wanted, but she knew, somewhere deep down inside, where that discussion would end up. Besides, it wasn’t what was really eating her up. “…okay. Tell me something, then. Why did you want to save those people?”

“What people?” Kaden asked innocently. Sophia frowned and almost smacked him on the arm, but it suddenly occurred to her that he wasn’t being smart with her.

She rolled her eyes, closing the lids so that he couldn’t see it. “The people on the ship.”

“Oh…” the blonde seemed confused by the question. “Because they were going to die. I didn’t really think much about it outside of that.”

“But they were just programs, Kaden,” Sophia said. “Not real people.”

“What’s your point?” the courier replied. “Real or not, I’m not going to sit back and watch someone drown. Would you?”

A sneer crept upon Sophia’s face. “Not if they aren’t real. You’ve somehow confused fantasy with reality on this one, my friend. Not only that, but you endangered everyone who was real by coming up with that hairbrained scheme of yours.”

“Hey, first of all, if everybody was so damned concerned for their own well-being, then they had every right to leave on their own,” Kaden was starting to get as worked up as Sophia had been. “But the funny thing is that you were the only one who did, and here you are. Safe and sound. Everything worked out for you, didn’t it?”

“Darn it, Kaden, when you step up and take charge like that, people start to look up to you,” Sophia took a step towards Kaden and sized him up. She widened her eyes and stared straight into his own. “You had an obligation to them—to us—and you sent us on some fool’s errand.”

“Why the hell is it my responsibility? All I did was give a suggestion. I didn’t ask to be your goddamn leader,” the courier shook his head. “Where is all of this coming from, anyway? You don’t seem to be acting like yourself.”

“I’m not myself, huh? Oh, I get it, I’m supposed to be acting all nice, right? Like the sweet naive little priestess?” Sophia clenched a fist. “Well, why? Why should I? Where has it gotten me, anyway?”

“Look, I didn’t mean to…”

“No, no, you wanted to talk, so here we are, talking! You want to know why I’m suddenly acting different, right? You want a reason? I’m tired, Kaden. I’m so exhausted from trying to make everyone happy that I want to cry. I’m sick of being treated like dirt all the time, only to keep a stupid smile on my pretty freaking face!” the former priestess closed her eyes tightly, her arms shaking as she flexed every muscle in them that she could. “I’m scared. I’ve always been so scared, ever since those bandits killed my father and almost killed me. I thought…I thought I was alone, then, but I figured that I could have just depended on you and God and everything would be alright. I had my faith…” she laughed, squeezing a tear out. “And what did that get me, my faith? Faith in what? My answer came loud and clear when I really did die. There was nothing there for me, Kaden. Everything I had believed in my entire life before that was a lie.”

“Sophia…” Kaden merely listened, a surprised expression with an empty stare.

“So, I thought to myself, what do I have? My father’s dead—died twice, actually—and the only family I’ve ever known is gone. There was nothing left for me when I was revived, suddenly, by some ‘miracle.’ Imagine my surprise, then, when the first person I stumble upon was you,” Sophia opened her eyes again, whites turned red from constant irritation. “When you saved me from those bandits that day, I thought you were my hero. You looked out for me there, and again during Friend or Foe. You might not…you might not have saved my life then, Kaden, but I know now that you saved my soul. I thought that I could believe in something again, and you risked my life for…for what? Air? Those programs weren’t anything and you knew it!”

Sophia had forgotten to take a break during that last barrage of dialogue and suddenly felt the need to take a deep breath. Kaden, though obviously struck by her words, just shook his head. “You should know me better than that, Sophia.”

Sophia’s eyes widened upon hearing his comment.

“Maybe they were programs, but could you tell the difference between them and me? People look like people to me, and on the off chance that some of them weren’t just…illusions or whatever, do you really think I could take those odds and still sleep at night?” the courier explained. “That’s not to say that I don’t care about you, Sophia. I just thought I could depend on you during times like these.” The healer looked down towards her feet. Beads of water fell from her tear ducts, rolling past tightened lips. Kaden sighed, his frustration starting to flare again. “Why do you care so much about how I think of you, anyway!?”

“Because I love you!” Sophia snapped back. She had never seen such an exasperated look of shock on anyone’s face before, and she was pretty sure that her own expression matched Kaden’s. Why did she say that? She knew that it was true, but not once did she ever consider ever saying that to his face. She quickly turned from him before she could even think about saying anything else. Before she started walking, however, Sophia turned her head slightly to speak over her shoulder. “But what does it matter? See you around, Kaden.”

[Belle Hibiki]

The stage disappeared, and Belle was once again falling through nothingness, tumbling like a coin in a dryer on spin-cycle. He closed his eyes, and a moment later the churning sensation in his stomach abruptly ground to a halt. He felt as if he were falling into his body, like a spirit returning from some erstwhile errand.

His back was pressed up against something solid, and he was sitting on ground that was slightly chilly and smooth. He opened his eyes and looked around. The bathtub was right where he had left it: pressed up against the door to block access along with the room's sink, towel rack, and everything else Belle could get his hands on.

Belle's head swam. He inwardly cursed and closed his eyes, waiting for the feeling to pass. He hoped that there weren't too many more rounds to go in this competition - the virtual seasickness was getting old very, very fast. After the queasiness was gone, he pushed himself to his feet, feeling stunted and somehow out of proportion, and made his way to the door, stepping over the lip of the tub and pressing his ear to the barricaded portal.

Another wave of sickness made him lean heavily against the door, but despite the discomfort, he was glad to find the other side of the door completely silent. Still, it was possible that the shapeshifter was waiting for him, patient as a Venus flytrap, so his best plan of escape would still probably be the window out.

Belle stepped from the tub and started across the room. He passed by the mirror that had once stood above the sink and still hung on the wall, and paused. He backtracked, frowned, and squinted into the murky reflection, the surface still fogged from the hot bath he had been taking before the game's beginning. Something about it seemed... wrong. It stood higher up on the wall than he remembered it, and the reflection, even indistinct, looked off. He reached out, his disorientation making it seem as if his arm were much shorter than it should have been, and wiped his hand across the glass.

He gasped and stepped back. Staring at him with uncomfortably bright, piercing eyes was a girl. Younger than Belle by perhaps a year or two, she had short, reddish-pink hair, small features and, as Belle stepped back further, slender shoulders and the beginning swell of a generous chest. She wore a black tanktop much in the fashion that Belle himself usually wore, and moreover looked just as surprised as Belle himself felt.

He should have figured, he supposed, that his test wasn't over yet. Whoever the shapechanger was, she (it?) had clearly managed to find a way into the room that didn't involve doors or windows. In a world that didn't literally exist and whose rules were wholly defined by the one who had built it and not any kind of natural law, traveling by glass and mirror was, Belle supposed, not the craziest of ideas. He had done more ridiculous and impossible things already, after all.

It was odd, though, that she didn't seem to be making any attempt to communicate with him. Before, she had gone out of her way to make him uncomfortable. Was this a new tactic? The girl's expression went from frightened to curious, then from that to a slight frown. Belle tilted his head, and she tilted her's in perfect sync. He frowned harder and lifted his arm, and so did the shapeshifter-mirror-girl, the scowl on her face looking almost cute.

You think you're really clever, don't you? Let's see you copy this.

Belle gathered his ki and extended his middle and index fingers, focusing his power into them. The energy flowed easily into the tips. Although he didn't have Kaden's precision or sight, he had spent nearly a year in the Guardian of Earth's special time chamber learning how to focus his mind, and controlling his comparatively weak energy was a breeze.

When he felt that his fingers were appropriately charged, he casually lifted the thrumming digit and pointed them at the window that looked out over the street. He pulsed his energy, his fingers glowing briefly brighter, and fired.

The window blew apart, the raw force of the impact sending several shards spinning into the room. In the mirror, identical pieces of glass showered the area behind the girl.

Belle blinked. "Okay," he said, "not bad."

Only the voice wasn't his. The girl's lips had moved in unison as he spoke, and instead of his words, a very feminine sounding voice filled the room.

"That's not funny," he bit out, only to have his voice totally overridden once again. "Stop it!"

He was starting to feel uneasy. Reaching over, he pinched his own arm and winced. "Ow!" both he and the mirror girl said in unison. The girl's arm turned briefly pink at the place where she had pinched herself, and Belle looked down to see if the same was true of him.

And then stopped. What he was seeing didn't make sense. The body below him couldn't be his; it must be the disorienting effect of the jumping between games that caused his vision to swim so badly that his chest appeared to stick out from his torso like that. The ground looked a foot closer than it should have, too. The second, insane thought that passed through his head was that he had somehow been transformed, which he immediately brushed aside in favor of some drug induced hallucination.

He reached up and closed his hands around the swells of flesh sticking out from his chest, determined to prove them an illusion, and winced as his squeeze elicited a soft ache. Breath stilling in his throat, his eyes wide with sudden realization, he tremblingly reached down between his legs and patted the area... Only to discover that his second impression had indeed been correct.

He looked back at himself in the mirror.

And she looked right back.

A stab of nausea that had nothing to do with the game rushed to fill her senses. Her breath wheezed out from between her lips in a whistle, and her heart jumped into her throat. She shook her head. "No," she said, and was dismayed to hear the sound of her own voice. "This isn't happening."

Belle prided herself on her guts. No matter what happened, Belle faced problems head on, and either overcame them, or died trying. It was her creedo to give everything she had and to never show an ounce of fear. No matter how deadly the battle, she would never be shaken.

She was shaking now, not from fear of death, but of something far worse.

She staggered to the side and lost her balance, smacking her hip against the floor. She winced, reached up to grab the edge of the tub, and pulled herself halfway over, leaning over the empty basin. She felt like she was going to really be sick as she panted and felt her gorge rise into her throat. Her head spun, a million thoughts rebounding like pinballs in her brain, crashing against one another in a tumbling chaos.

She was a girl. Impossible, ridiculous, horrifying, like something out a monster movie. She tried ot assure herself that it wasn't real, that the entire thing was make believe, but her chest sure had FELT real.

Did this mean that she was now a part of the secret woman's cult? Did Gamer even realize the dangers of stepping into Menstu Ration's domain? How long did Belle have before the demon came to take his monthly tribute of blood. Belle had heard only vague rumors about where the blood was taken from, and she had no intention of staying around to find out.

She had to ... to get up ... and get moving. Find someone to help. Maybe someone could change her back. Maybe this was all a horrible dream brought on by eating too many of Master Long's chili dogs.

Belle slowly stood, trying to avoid looking at anything that might remind her of what she was. Her legs shook like leaves in a stiff wind.

A sudden crack sounded behind her. Without even bothering to see what it was, Belle screamed and threw herself out the broken window, fell two stories, landed with a heavy whud on the ground below, and only took a moment to stand before dashing into the night, still yelling in terror.

The clothes, as it turned out, were her's after all, though they had not shrunk along with her transformation. They were baggy, and she tripped over the legs of her trousers as she cut through the tents, sometimes having to haul them back up around her waist as they threatened to fall off complete. A slightly painful sensation started in her extra chests - she refused to think of them as breasts - and only got worse the longer she ran. How was it possible that girls could stand to have such things when they flopped around everywhere?!

She rounded a corner. The dark haired woman-that-looked-like-a-boy that Belle had met on arriving was standing in the middle of the way, staring off into space. She turned as Belle neared. "Hey," she started. "Have you seen a ginger-head boy about yea high?" she lifted her hand, then jumped out of the way as Belle nearly ran her over. "What the Hell-?!"

"I AM A BOY!" Belle shouted back, tripping, sprawling on the ground, and then getting up to run again. Her body felt all out of balance, but she couldn't stop - it felt like if she stopped running, she would have to actually think about what had happened. She was trying to outrun reality - or whatever passed for it in this twisted place.

She passed by a water park. A large pool was in her way, and instead of going around it, she bunched her legs and jumped. Despite her shorter legs, she landed easily on the other side, and only wobbled once before rocketing off. She was just about to exit when she spotted two strangely familiar mops of blonde hair.

Kaden!

Sudden relief surged through her. Kaden was as close to a friend as Belle had outside of the crew of the Maiden's Dream - which probably said something about her, really - and would understand the horrible travesty that had just occurred.

She changed direction and bolted towards the courier and the other g - the ONLY girl - her feet whizzing above the ground. "Kaden!" she shouted, but the courier seemed too shocked by something Sophia had said to respond. "HEY, ASSHOLE - !" Belle started again, anger rising...

Her toes stubbed the ground. Belle gasped and let out a yelp as she fell forward, slammed facefirst into the dirt, bounced, and rolled to a stop at Kaden's feet. She heaved for breath, a stitch throbbing painfully in her side, and stared up at the obsidian sky. The stars above, those few that could be seen beyond the neon wash of the signs, glimmered like raindrops.

Or tears.

She pushed herself up with a grunt and reached out, grabbing Kaden's leg before he could back away. "Help me!" she gasped.

"Who - ... " Kaden seemed more distracted than usual, looking from Sophia to Belle. "Are you?"

"Wh... What do you mean?! Can't you tell!?! It's me!" She stood and put her hands on the courier's shoulders and shook him. "It's Belle!"

"Belle?" Kaden echoed. "Uh-?"

"DON'T! Don't say anything! Look, I... I woke up from the game and I thought that I was just sick but it turns out that it wasn't because I was sick okay maybe I was a little bit but I looked in the mirror and there was this girl and I thought that it was some other girl but it turns out it was me and I don't know what to do or what happened and I think Menstu Ration is chasing me and I don't want to die a girl!" She took a breath and shook him again - violently. "You... You have to believe me! You've gotta help me! We have to fix this!"

"S-stop shaking m-me!"

[Kaden]

Words, any and all of them, escaped Kaden. He stood, watching, as events unfolded before him. His mind was racing to process everything Sophia had just told him. The actual words were plain enough, but to interpret them through a lens of her recent experiences would take some doing. What minimal mental energy remained was quickly dominated by a girl crashing at his feet.

As though waiting for the opportunity, Sophia made good her escape the second Kaden’s eyes left her figure. When the courier looked up from the new girl, Sophia was gone. His eyes frantically darted about the water park, looking for some sign of her: a lock of blonde hair, a flutter or blue or white fabric, even the sound of her new shoes on the cobble-stone floor of their surroundings. Unfortunately, his search was cut short as the new red-haired girl physically shook him back to reality.

“S-stop shaking m-me!” Kaden finally managed.

When Kaden pushed the girl away, she sank away from him, wearing an expression that bordered on confusion and frustration. In front of him stood a girl, whom he supposedly knew, in need of help, while Sophia continued, presumably, to make her way further and further from him. Kaden tried to think, but very little came. Shaking his head, he began walking past the girl before motioning that she should follow.

“Where are you going?! I need help!” she cried as she caught up to the courier.

“I know, I know. I heard you the first time.” Kaden’s gait slowed as he cast another glance around, again looking for traces of Sophia. “You said you’re Belle, right?”

“I didn’t say I’m Belle, I am Belle.”

“Ok then. Who did I help you take two Dragonballs from?” Kaden heard himself ask the question before he realized he was actually asking it.

“What? You don’t believe me?!”

The courier had to admit, even in their current situation, it seemed like a stretch for him to just go with the flow on that one. Maybe if he had the presence of mind to give the girl his full attention he would have been able to come to his own conclusions, but that was not the case. He continued towards the exit to the water park as the girl answer, annoyed that he had told Sophia where it was. It would have been way easier if he could just stand there and wait for her to wander by.

“It was… uh… Rock and that woman. Wave, right?”

“Right,” Kaden sighed. It would have been so much easier if the girl had just been some figment of Gamer’s creation. “So I guess that makes you, what, Bella?”

“My name’s Belle! I’m not a girl!”

“That very poor-fitting tank-top would beg to differ, Bella,” Kaden replied off-handedly. Before the girl could protest the name, he let his stream-of-consciousness continued. “Look, I could call you Belle, but then everyone would find out you’re a girl now, right? Is that really something you want?”

It was a simple argument that kept Bella occupied for a few seconds. Belle certainly wasn’t stupid, but he seemed conflicted between acknowledging – in any way, whatsoever – the transformation and letting just anyone in on what had happened. Or maybe he was just hungry and had drifted off. While the courier felt for the adventurer, he turned to his own thoughts in the moment of silence.

If nothing else, Sophia had been entirely right about his irresponsible way of trying to lead people. He could call it a suggestion, or say that other had been free to do whatever they wanted, but the fact was that he had stepped into a position, and he had done a very poor job of it. While being able to save the people on the Sinking Ship had been a priority for the courier, he hadn’t considered keeping the players of the game safe, or even if trying to mount a rescue attempt was the best course of action when viewed from that light. If he wanted to play leader again, he had a lot to learn. The last thing he wanted was for his actions to put someone he cared about in danger.

“I risked her life…” the courier suddenly found himself saying.

“What?” Bella replied, shaken from her contemplation.

“Nothing,” Kaden lied. “But I was thinking, you should probably look for some clothes that, y’know, fit. If you’re stuck like this in an event or something, you’ll need to be able to move around freely, right?”

“I guess so, yeah. But… where am I going to find clothes here?!”

Considering the question for a moment, Kaden reached into his jacket and retrieved the pamphlet he had received from Mixie after his first event. Flipping it over, he let his eyes scan across it. Though only partially engaged in what he was doing, he nodded when his eyes fell upon a section of the carnival marked “Shops.” Telling Bella to follow, the courier set off.

“How can you be so calm about this?!” the gender-swapped semi-saiyan remarked. “Don’t you realize what’s happened?! “

“No, I understand. It’s just… I’m kind of distracted.” Kaden looked at Bella and tried to flash as reassuring a smile as he could muster. “You’re timing was pretty… intense.”

In the past, Kaden had always considered his meetings with Sophia fortunate. While the savior within him enjoyed having been able to help her out on occasion, he had never stopped to consider such meetings from her point of view. It made sense, now that she had laid it out for him. Maybe he should have realized the impact he could have on someone’s life without realizing it. Maybe that was a responsibility he should have been taking seriously.

Of course, it was easy to sit back find things he could have, or should have, done better, but he knew that wouldn’t help things. Kaden’s appearance in her life had been far from the most dramatic thing to happen to Sophia. On the day he met her, he knew that her father had been murdered and that her home had been torn apart. What had he been worried about? Working on his day off? It sounded even more pathetic than it actually was.

Amidst the things Sophia had said, there had been something that had really hit Kaden close to home. She had been a priestess, raised in a temple, and lived her whole life surrounded by her religion. Then one day, she found out it was all meaningless. Everything she knew, everything she thought she was, it had all been wiped away in the blink of an eye. Kaden understood that far better than he had ever admitted to anyone. To simply have one’s entire life stripped away was something he had experienced and it pained that he hadn’t realized she could be going through it herself.

“… thinking I was dressed like a dog,” Bella’s voice interrupted Kaden’s train of thought.

“Oh yeah?” he replied as generically as possible, realizing she had been talking the whole time he had been thinking. “Oh hey! This is it.”

Pointing directly in front of him, Kaden was shocked that he had actually managed to navigate them to the Shops. He had definitely not been paying attention to what he was doing. Shaking his head, he tried to focus as he motioned for Bella to proceed first. Hitching up her pants, the girl hurried past him and began looking frantically around for something more appropriate to wear.

“I’ll check over here,” Kaden said, pointing in the opposite direction that Bella had headed. The girl nodded an acknowledgement.

What was really amazing, to Kaden, was the range of emotion Sophia had covered. He felt numb just trying to sympathize with it, let alone feel it himself. In spite of the faults she had so easily pointed out, and the one’s Kaden had come to realize from her other comments, she left saying that she…

“Kaden!” Bella’s voice cut off his thoughts once again. “What am I even looking for?! What should I wear?”

“Well…” Kaden looked around, realizing he had managed to stop in front of rack of women’s clothing. Reaching out, he grabbed at a hanger and held it up. It was a yellow sundress with large pink flowers printed on it. “What about this? It’s kind of cute, actually.”

“I am not wearing a dress!”

[Orion]

Human mythology was perplexing. Why have such ordinary characters like a woman, her pet, a robot, a straw based life form and an anthropomorphic lion in a mystery world where all they do is skip down a golden tiled street all in the purpose of reaching a giant disembodied head? Where was the moral in it? Do humans often partake in long-winded journeys to meet these all knowing "Wizards"? Were they like the earthling equivalent to a genie? Orion tried not to think about it; it was making his head spin.

He was ecstatic to be free of that furry orange body suit. Despite not knowing what a lion was, the saiyan mercenary felt he was a premium example of one. Not that he was immersing himself in the role or anything; no, far from it. Since he was a saiyan, one of his chief tasks in life was to be fantastic at portraying the essence of power and intimidation. The lion in that play was definitely those things. He almost caught himself laughing. How terrified the cowardly humans must have been of him.

Now he was stuck in the carnival again, whiling away the time until the Gamer summoned him to the next event. It was still as populated as ever. The metaphorical stench of humanity assaulted his nostrils. He knew this was only a simulation, but Orion's racist tendencies saw past the binary units and into the horrid creation that they formed. If only there was something he could busy himself with until the next moronic hoop jumping began.

As he scanned the crowd, a young woman caught his eye. She sat alone on a bench, bringing a cone of red slush to her mouth and licking it. Her contempt for her own appearance was obvious, judging by the crimson stain around her lips. Orion had seen enough putrid piles of bloodied flesh in his time to recognise it when he saw it. Even his savage, battle ridden history never saw him digest his victims, save for that one battle against an Arlian raiding party; even then he only took a bite because his teammate wouldn't shut the hell up.

To see a human calmly consuming a handful of excised flesh ruined his stereotyped image of them. He had to find out what was different about this woman. Besides, there wasn't anything else to do. Beating humans at the shooting range had lost its appeal around the time he took the gun from the stall and started aiming at the carnival attendants.

He approached the candy haired girl, stopping a few steps from her. At first, she was oblivious to his presence, lost in her own sadist enjoyment. Orion eventually cleared his throat, ripping her away from her silent introspection. Her eyes nimbly jumped from the saiyan's face to the space above his head, where they halted.

"Human girl," Orion started. "Why are you eating that?"

"You have a halo," Victoria mentioned. "Why is that?"

"Hey! I'm asking the questions here," the saiyan rebuked. "Now tell me what I wish to know!"

"I'll tell you when you tell me," she answered coyly, returning to her cone of granulated skin.

Orion elicited a haughty sigh. "Fine. I'm dead. Now-"

"You're dead?!" Victoria asked incredulously. "Are you a ghost?"

"What? No!" the warrior elite shouted. "I'm here because I'm a brilliant fighter."

"I don't understand."

"I've been given a day of life so I can participate here. Does that make sense?"

"Oh, OK," Victoria answered, although not really sure what that all meant. How did a dead person arrive in the world of the living while they were dead? Wasn't that an oxymoron? Her fascination with the shimmering halo deepened, but she wanted to let this man speak.

"There," Orion stated firmly. "I told you. Now tell me why you are consuming that."

Victoria shrugged. "It looked nice. The lady told me it was like ice-cream, but not like ice-cream. I was confused at first, but I like it."

Orion's face contorted in shock. "Ice-cream?! You think flesh tastes like ice-cream?"

"Flesh?!" the android repeated. "No! It's called a snow cone! See?"

The saiyan leaned in closer towards the icy snack. He inspected it quickly, concluding that it was indeed a collection of flavoured ice particles and not a cone of rotting meat, as he had suspected at first. That was disappointing; the one human who was doing something out of the ordinary was eating coloured ice.

Orion went to leave, but Victoria grabbed his robe. "Wait! You're not leaving yet, are you?"

"Of course I am," the veteran warmonger returned. "Why would I stay?"

"I was hoping you'd tell me more about being dead," she continued, her bright sky blue eyes on him. "It sounds interesting."

Orion was about to dismiss the concept out of hand, but a thought struck him like a bolt of lightning; something to pass the time, anyway. This human girl didn't know who he was. In fact, she was probably clueless as to what a saiyan was. Perhaps he could spin a tale of his 'heroic' deeds, detailing the exciting and altruistic life of a wandering space traveler who eventually met his end saving an orphanage of humans on a space station somewhere or something. The specifics didn't matter right then; he could fabricate them as he went along. However, the idea sounded fun. Maybe at least one human would celebrate his passing, declaring to the universe the selfless impact Orion the saiyan had on so many lives.

The one eyed warrior smirked. "You know what? I'd love to." He turned around and sat down beside the magenta haired girl. "What's your name?"

"Victoria," she answered in between slurps of her snow cone. "What's yours?"

"I'm Orion," he replied. Cunning filled his one eye. "So, you'd like to know what it's like to be dead?"

[Piper Juunanagou]

In the blink of an eye, the snow-covered mountain had vanished and been replaced by the familiar scenes of Gamer’s carnival; however, the quick transition had also left the woman alone in the center of the amusement park’s entrance. Glancing around, Piper soon found herself frowning at the empty cobblestone walkway. Even the unnerving robotic attendant with the staring problem had vanished from his post.

“…I’m lonely,” Piper mumbled as she reached down to her waist and angled the LCD screen of the pager up so she could read its contents without having to actually remove the device from her belt. “Hurray for winning…” the woman remarked as she noted the little victory symbol on the bottom corner of the outdated apparatus. In the opposing corner, the woman’s ‘monies’ had been upgraded from thirty to seventy—a reflection of the victory she and Szar had achieved over both the other climbers and the mountain.

“Where’s that changeling?” The woman remarked as she slipped her hand off the pager and began to glance around at her surroundings. As Piper’s eyes reached the end of her 360 degree survey of the amusement park, she found herself staring into the smiling face of a woman who had failed to be there just a few brief moments earlier. Reeling back, the soldier clenched her bare fist and raised the gauntlet to defend herself.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Sergeant Juunanagou,” the brunette said in a rather pleasant and soothing tone. Almost immediately, Piper relaxed her tight posture and lowered her elevated palm. With a smile, the strange woman placed her hands on her hips and tilted her upper body forward until her face was hovering just a few inches away from Piper’s. “My name is Mixie, and I’m here to make sure you’re enjoying Kill Town,” she remarked with a mortifying degree of happiness.

“Are you some sort of robot?” Piper spat as she reached a hand out and pushed the woman’s torso away from her. “I don’t want to talk to anymore of these damned machines. Between all the zombies and robots and ice monsters, I’m beginning to lose my patience with this whole stupid mockup.”

“What makes you think I’m artificial?” Mixie asked—tilting her head as if the almost incessant intonation hadn’t given away the fact that she was clearly asking a question.

“Oh just shut the hell up,” Piper groaned as she rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you tell me where your masters are? I’d sure like to meet whoever it was that built you,” the beleaguered soldier added as she flexed his gauntleted fingers.

“I’m afraid that would be most impossible,” Mixie shot back as she began to shake her head back and forth. “Because I’m a program designed for Kill Town, and as a result, I wasn’t constructed by Gamer…simply coded,” she replied as Piper began to see inklings of an emotive response other than the unnerving happiness and dapperness of the robot staff.

“So does that make you less human than the robots?” Piper inquired, knowing full well that the question had little logical backing and was mainly designed to incense the other woman.

“Well no, seeing as how everything in Kill Town has been programmed all the way down to those robots and zombies that you get along with so well,” Mixie replied with a smug grin that served to illustrate that there was more beneath the artificial being’s skin than 1s and 0s or a bunch of gears and servos.

“Oh, joy,” Piper remarked as she shrugged her shoulders and abruptly began to walk away from the woman in the dark blue one-piece.

“Hey, we’re not done here,” Mixie shouted before suddenly appearing right in front of the soldier. With a grunt, Piper recoiled and then shot a glance over her shoulder to verify that there were two copies of the synthetic woman gallivanting around the carnival. “I can be anywhere and everywhere within the confines of the program,” she remarked upon noting Piper’s quick glance.

“I want to go home now,” the tense reply was punctuated by a light push that sent Mixie staggering to the wayside as the blonde began to advance toward a paved offshoot of the amusement park’s cobblestone entrance.

“But the game isn’t over yet,” the artificially intelligent woman replied after reappearing in front of Piper’s pathway. “You’re not permitted to leave until the festivities have ended and a winner declared.”

“This is bullshit,” Piper remarked as she shoved Mixie to the ground. “Tell your boss I’m going to put a bullet through his skull,” the soldier added before she vanished in a swirl of light particles. Although she could have easily pinpointed the Sentinel’s location within the program, the synthetic woman opted to simply shake her head and sigh before blinking out of existence.

With a glimmer of lights, Piper popped into sight and tilted her head back to take a glance at the giant ride laid out in front of her. The giant apparatus was one of those freefall towers that hoisted its occupants a couple hundred feet into the sky before releasing them to plummet almost all the way back down the ground. What did they call those things again? ‘Drop towers’?

“I’ll pass,” Piper muttered as her distaste of heights prompted her to divert her attention away as the empty gondola began its gradual ascent up the tower. With a frown, the woman turned around and made her way toward a small vendor across the walkway. The robot operated a tiny, wheeled cart that was cleverly concealed behind a colorful, elaborate wooden façade.

“Can I get something for you, Ma’am?” The robot inquired as he leaned out of his cart and gestured toward all the painted signs that decorated his collapsible wooden portico. Taking turns glancing between opposing sides, Piper was able to deduce in a rather short amount of time that the robot was selling hotdogs. Oddly enough, the whole display reminded her of all the hotdog carts she’d seen in South City when she’d first arrived in this timeline. The grotesque, uncharismatic sloths who’d operated those stands were some of the first people Piper had encountered…right before she’d had that chance run-in with Vad Zunlenka.

“That was almost a year and a half ago,” she spoke beneath her breath as she pointed to one of the painted menu items. “That seems like an eternity,” she added as she accepted the hotdog with mustard and onions and proceeded to walk away from the stand. Behind her, the attendant thanked her for her patronage, but the woman failed to bother a reply. After all, none of this was actually real.

Although the hotdog tasted delicious as she bit into it, Piper extracted no enjoyment from the surprisingly high-quality components of her ‘meal.’ The thought that none of this was real, and that her actual body was undoubtedly strapped to a gurney somewhere acted to effectively kill any enjoyment she may have otherwise had with the carnival and its food.

Am I going to die here? Piper thought as she took another bite out of the hotdog and turned her eyes up toward the artificial skyline. I can’t die like this…tied into some underage bastards computer.

The thought filled the woman with an almost violent fury. It was the same fury she’d experienced whilst tearing apart those zombies in the inaugural event. And once again, Piper found herself enjoying the vehement, almost overwhelming sensation as it infused her being. It was uplifting and invigorating, and it made her feel like she felt she had the raw strength to topple anything.

A smile—vengeful and angry—spread across the soldier’s visage as she took a final bite of the hotdog and proceeded to crumple up its tinfoil shell. Turning to discard the ball of trash into a nearby receptacle, Piper caught site of her reflection against the glass surface of a nearby attraction. Although she had initially looked away, the subsequent double-take revealed that the woman had a very faint glow around her. She’d seen the same glow on others—Kaden, Szar, and even Kai Demolic. The woman’s confusion was only compounded when the glow simply faded away after a couple of seconds.

You don’t see that everyday… Piper pondered as she turned away from the glass panel and continued down the path.