03-28-2009, 12:19 AM
Following the seige of Old Towne, the haphazard group of contestants had splintered apart once again—this time united behind a common goal.
After a handful of awkward discussions and coin flips, Piper found herself driving across the desert with Kaden and the blonde woman. She hadn’t actually told them in any words, but the redhead was glad that they were with her…especially Kaden, who Piper knew she could count on regardless of the situation.
Once the arrangements had been made, the two women and the courier commandeered themselves a jeep that had been abandoned by Kai’s personal army amidst the skirmish in the ghost town. With Piper as the driver, they made their way across the sandy wastelands toward the location of the eagle medallion—the shopping mall near the outskirts of the evacuated city.
After nearly twenty minutes of relative silence, the jeep stalled out near the edge of the mall’s heavily occupied parking lot. Peering down at the dashboard, Piper frowned when she noticed that the gas tank had run dry. With a heavy sigh, she unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to face her allies.
“It looks like we’re walking from here,” Piper groaned as she cracked open the door and made her way out onto the sea of asphalt. A few seconds later, Kaden and Piper joined here in staring across the parking lot at the massive mall complex that housed the medallion they needed to confront Kai and bring the mastermind of the game to justice.
“She’ll be happy to see you’ve arrived,” a foreign voice rasped. The trio immediately tensed up as their eyes quickly traveled to the shady looking man hunched behind a nearby van. With an insidious snicker, the thug crept out from the other side of the vehicle and brandished a small, remote controller-sized apparatus from the inside of his combat vest. The device was blank except for a long antenna and an oversized red button.
“Is that what I think it is?” Sophia whispered as the man slammed his free hand down onto the large button. A heartbeat later, the woman’s question was answered when something from inside their car began to beep. Glancing back into the car, Piper quickly realized that the beeping was coming from a small metal box beneath the back seat of the car.
“Run!” Kaden suddenly screamed as the beeping started to grow increasingly more erratic. With a yelp, Piper spun on her heels and ran as fast as her weary, bruised legs would carry her. Behind her, she heard one final, ear-splitting trill before the jeep erupted outward in a dazzling display of yellows and oranges. A desperate shriek left the redhead’s lips as she slammed the heels of her boots into the ground and spun to face the explosion.
As Piper lifted her hand to shield herself from the inescapable radius of the explosion, her body subconsciously shattered into light particles. It wasn’t until the sonic boom had faded that the woman rematerialized next to a rather startled Kaden.
“Where’s Sophia?” Kaden asked between gasps of air.
“Over here,” the blonde woman shouted as she stumbled out of the dense veil of smog and ash that had fallen across the back half of the parking lot.
“All in one piece?” Piper inquired as the younger woman put a palm to her mouth and began to hack up a lung. After a moment or two, Sophia nodded her head and turned her attention back toward the wreckage of the jeep.
“They could have killed us at any time,” she muttered meekly as the ruins of the car continued to smolder and give of thick, black smoke.
“Yea, but it’s better for the ratings if there’s a challenge,” Kaden replied as he turned his attention toward the massive, two-story mall. “Some welcoming party, though,” he said with a chuckle.
Just then, a chorus of beeps filled the air, prompting all three members of the group to start looking around like frightened animals. After a couple of moments, they all realized that every car in the parking lot was wired to explode.
“Run!” Piper screamed as the dozens of detonators began to scream at the top of their lungs.
As the trio rushed madly toward the front doors of the mall, the bombs began to go off behind them. Each row of vehicles exploded in unison, creating a large wave of fire that quickly began to catch up to the group. All three of them could feel the heat intensifying behind them, but none of them dared to turn around for fearing of watching as the fiery tsunami consumed them whole.
Despite the encroaching horror, the group managed to clear the parking lot and collapse through the massive front doors of the mall before Trisha’s welcoming party could claim them. Glancing behind her back, Piper watched as the fire hit the glass and simply stopped. Instead of simply smashing its way through the storefront, the huge wave of fire and concussive force simply fizzled out like a tiny bonfire doused in a bucket of sand. After a few seconds, all that remained to prove the fire existed in the first place was the melted asphalt and sea of smoldered car parts.
“Well that was unpleasant,” Piper groaned nonchalantly as she turned her attention toward the interior of the mall. The threesome was lying on the ground in what appeared to be an oversized entrance hallway. Two large convenience stores stood to their left and right, and in front of them, the hallway opened up into a rather majestic open space that slightly resembled the mansion where the game had begun.
“Welcome to the Milton Mall,” hearing the voice of Trisha Demolic caused the redhead’s right eye to twitch. A beat later, Piper was on her feet and glaring across the enormous lobby toward the second floor balcony that the woman was standing behind. Large men totting heavy weapons flanked the snobby woman on both sides. It was as clear and indicator as any that getting the medallion suspended around the woman’s neck was going to be no easy task.
“Hand over the medallion, Trisha,” Kaden shouted as he started down the wide hallway toward the mall's overly extravagant courtyard.
“Uh, noooo,” Trisha scoffed as she lifted a large remote and clicked on its button. An instant later, a heavy steel gate slammed into place in front of Kaden, effectively barring the trio from confronting the woman directly. “Don’t bother with your tricks,” she added the second that Kaden began to lift his hands. “Kai paid to have all these wonderful katchin grates double as energy barriers,” she snickered before turning away from the group contestants. “Turn around while you still can.”
With that, Trisha Demolic and her two bodyguards vanished into a store on the second floor of the mall, leaving Piper, Kaden, and Sophia to ponder their next move.
“One of these larger stores probably has other entrances deeper in the mall,” Piper remarked as she gestured toward one of the large, neon signs that hung above the open doors. “So I don’t think we should have no problem getting around her stupid gates,” she added—her face very visibly displaying the disdain she harbored for Kai’s wife.
“Let’s get a move on,” Kaden replied as he turned away from the high-tech security gate. “The sooner we get that medallion the sooner we can deal with Kai.”
After a handful of awkward discussions and coin flips, Piper found herself driving across the desert with Kaden and the blonde woman. She hadn’t actually told them in any words, but the redhead was glad that they were with her…especially Kaden, who Piper knew she could count on regardless of the situation.
Once the arrangements had been made, the two women and the courier commandeered themselves a jeep that had been abandoned by Kai’s personal army amidst the skirmish in the ghost town. With Piper as the driver, they made their way across the sandy wastelands toward the location of the eagle medallion—the shopping mall near the outskirts of the evacuated city.
After nearly twenty minutes of relative silence, the jeep stalled out near the edge of the mall’s heavily occupied parking lot. Peering down at the dashboard, Piper frowned when she noticed that the gas tank had run dry. With a heavy sigh, she unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to face her allies.
“It looks like we’re walking from here,” Piper groaned as she cracked open the door and made her way out onto the sea of asphalt. A few seconds later, Kaden and Piper joined here in staring across the parking lot at the massive mall complex that housed the medallion they needed to confront Kai and bring the mastermind of the game to justice.
“She’ll be happy to see you’ve arrived,” a foreign voice rasped. The trio immediately tensed up as their eyes quickly traveled to the shady looking man hunched behind a nearby van. With an insidious snicker, the thug crept out from the other side of the vehicle and brandished a small, remote controller-sized apparatus from the inside of his combat vest. The device was blank except for a long antenna and an oversized red button.
“Is that what I think it is?” Sophia whispered as the man slammed his free hand down onto the large button. A heartbeat later, the woman’s question was answered when something from inside their car began to beep. Glancing back into the car, Piper quickly realized that the beeping was coming from a small metal box beneath the back seat of the car.
“Run!” Kaden suddenly screamed as the beeping started to grow increasingly more erratic. With a yelp, Piper spun on her heels and ran as fast as her weary, bruised legs would carry her. Behind her, she heard one final, ear-splitting trill before the jeep erupted outward in a dazzling display of yellows and oranges. A desperate shriek left the redhead’s lips as she slammed the heels of her boots into the ground and spun to face the explosion.
As Piper lifted her hand to shield herself from the inescapable radius of the explosion, her body subconsciously shattered into light particles. It wasn’t until the sonic boom had faded that the woman rematerialized next to a rather startled Kaden.
“Where’s Sophia?” Kaden asked between gasps of air.
“Over here,” the blonde woman shouted as she stumbled out of the dense veil of smog and ash that had fallen across the back half of the parking lot.
“All in one piece?” Piper inquired as the younger woman put a palm to her mouth and began to hack up a lung. After a moment or two, Sophia nodded her head and turned her attention back toward the wreckage of the jeep.
“They could have killed us at any time,” she muttered meekly as the ruins of the car continued to smolder and give of thick, black smoke.
“Yea, but it’s better for the ratings if there’s a challenge,” Kaden replied as he turned his attention toward the massive, two-story mall. “Some welcoming party, though,” he said with a chuckle.
Just then, a chorus of beeps filled the air, prompting all three members of the group to start looking around like frightened animals. After a couple of moments, they all realized that every car in the parking lot was wired to explode.
“Run!” Piper screamed as the dozens of detonators began to scream at the top of their lungs.
As the trio rushed madly toward the front doors of the mall, the bombs began to go off behind them. Each row of vehicles exploded in unison, creating a large wave of fire that quickly began to catch up to the group. All three of them could feel the heat intensifying behind them, but none of them dared to turn around for fearing of watching as the fiery tsunami consumed them whole.
Despite the encroaching horror, the group managed to clear the parking lot and collapse through the massive front doors of the mall before Trisha’s welcoming party could claim them. Glancing behind her back, Piper watched as the fire hit the glass and simply stopped. Instead of simply smashing its way through the storefront, the huge wave of fire and concussive force simply fizzled out like a tiny bonfire doused in a bucket of sand. After a few seconds, all that remained to prove the fire existed in the first place was the melted asphalt and sea of smoldered car parts.
“Well that was unpleasant,” Piper groaned nonchalantly as she turned her attention toward the interior of the mall. The threesome was lying on the ground in what appeared to be an oversized entrance hallway. Two large convenience stores stood to their left and right, and in front of them, the hallway opened up into a rather majestic open space that slightly resembled the mansion where the game had begun.
“Welcome to the Milton Mall,” hearing the voice of Trisha Demolic caused the redhead’s right eye to twitch. A beat later, Piper was on her feet and glaring across the enormous lobby toward the second floor balcony that the woman was standing behind. Large men totting heavy weapons flanked the snobby woman on both sides. It was as clear and indicator as any that getting the medallion suspended around the woman’s neck was going to be no easy task.
“Hand over the medallion, Trisha,” Kaden shouted as he started down the wide hallway toward the mall's overly extravagant courtyard.
“Uh, noooo,” Trisha scoffed as she lifted a large remote and clicked on its button. An instant later, a heavy steel gate slammed into place in front of Kaden, effectively barring the trio from confronting the woman directly. “Don’t bother with your tricks,” she added the second that Kaden began to lift his hands. “Kai paid to have all these wonderful katchin grates double as energy barriers,” she snickered before turning away from the group contestants. “Turn around while you still can.”
With that, Trisha Demolic and her two bodyguards vanished into a store on the second floor of the mall, leaving Piper, Kaden, and Sophia to ponder their next move.
“One of these larger stores probably has other entrances deeper in the mall,” Piper remarked as she gestured toward one of the large, neon signs that hung above the open doors. “So I don’t think we should have no problem getting around her stupid gates,” she added—her face very visibly displaying the disdain she harbored for Kai’s wife.
“Let’s get a move on,” Kaden replied as he turned away from the high-tech security gate. “The sooner we get that medallion the sooner we can deal with Kai.”
Quote:Vad's Whimsical Whimsicalisms: Men. Good stuff there.
![[Image: Viper-Mini-Sig-Piper.png]](http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b318/ThundercatsHO/Viper-Mini-Sig-Piper.png)
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