Sophia watched Damon Dukes through slitted eyes, an ice cold glare that completely offset her previous attitude. She had met people like him before, whether it was a power-hungry monk in her temple or a megalomaniacal and slightly flamboyant game show host. Men and women all suffered from the same affliction, she concluded.
“YOU LIED,” she yelled. She always did have a flair for the dramatic.
Sophia’s eyes never left the man’s visage as he paced back and forth, answering the crowd’s reactions with a surprising amount of warmth, though she knew that it only shielded a cold demeanor from sight. Such a disguise was of no surprised to her--how could it be? Her death was a definite eye-opener towards that end. She let a smile crease her lips; this man would be judged in the same way she was. And he would be found wanting.
The thing that ate her up about the situation the most, perhaps, was that her death had been in vain. As the flesh melted off of her bones in that final split second of her life, after she fell into that volcano, she knew that the man she had tackled would survive. That shield of his did the trick. Even in an indirect fashion, her death did nothing. Such events were regularly televised, she came to find out, and the shocking horror of “reality television”—the fact that it was actually real—was lost on the audience. Nobody knew what they had gone through. Nobody knew what they had to do to survive. Nobody knew, nor did they care.
“May the best player win!” Damon threw his arms up in the air, and with that, he turned around to leave. Sophia’s anger began to boil over. There were so many similarities between this clown and Kai Demolic that she wanted to scream, or, at the very least, punch something very, very hard. Before she had the chance to, however, the vents shifted open. Kaden, who had been brooding next to her for the man’s entire speech, gasped and looked around before anything even happened. Sophia raised an eyebrow—what was so scary about the vents, exactly?
That was when the gas started flooding out. The healer still didn’t completely understand, but she quickly caught on when those who were standing closer to them than she was started coughing. The gas reached her own lungs, and she suddenly felt as though her stomach was about to burst. Her body screamed for oxygen, but it started to go limp as not nearly enough of it made it in time. Her eyes grew heavy, and she crashed to the ground in a lump. As her consciousness left her, she took note that nobody was having better luck.
It seemed as though her luck hadn’t changed. Not at all.
*
The darkness of sleep swirled in her eyes until the haze cleared up. Sophia’s dreary eyes slowly lifted, snapping open and shut as she tried to straighten her sight. The first things he noticed was that she was on a different kind of ground—not the polished surfaces of the massive complex in which she had been treated to, but a much colder, unforgiving pavement. Groaning, she pushed herself up, sitting on her knees as she took a brief glance around. Her head rushed with pain, pulsing so much that it made it difficult to focus. What she could focus on, however, seemed relatively familiar. It was a city, fairly modern by design though most of it was hidden by the shadows of night.
Standing to her feet, she cracked her neck as she tried to examine things closer. She was in the middle of a plaza; the entrance to what looked like a hospital stood behind her, while a fountain sat directly in front of her. The bustling of city life sounded in the background, but only the flow of the fountain water was immediately available to her. That, and the incessant snoring of the man that laid face down beside the landmark. She took one cautious step forward to see who it was, though it didn’t take her long to find out—the blonde hair and red jacket gave him away.
“Kaden,” the healer found herself whispering, suddenly worried that some creeper could pop out at any moment. She kneeled down and grabbed the courier by his shoulder and give him a little shake. “Kaden! Wake up!”
“Wha--?” he muttered, eyes still closed and body still limp. He wasn’t awake yet, though he was talking. “I don’t think I want to…”
“Want to what? Wake up?” Sophia sighed. She gave him another shake, the second attempt built in intensity. “Well, do it! Wake up! You have a delivery to make!”
“Leave me alone, Greg…” Kaden rolled over. Sophia shook her head, wincing—who the heck was Greg? She rapped the courier soundly in the back. His last snore was a loud one, and the next sound that came out of his mouth was a low scream. He rolled completely over and hopped up to his feet, clutching the area she had hit on his back.
Whipping his head around to see her, he rubbed his wound gently. “Ouch! What the hell? That hurt---whoa, where are we?”
The courier straightened up and scratched his head, looking around. The healer chuckled and did the same, though a second glance gave her no more answers than the first. “I really don’t know. That gas really knocked me out—do you remember anything after that Dukes guy talked to us?”
“No…after that heart-warming pep talk, he made sure we didn’t remember anything, I’m guessing,” Kaden shrugged. “Whatever the case was, he placed us in Central City…or is it? None of this really looks familiar.”
“Nor to me,” Sophia commented, though she knew that very few places would actually look familiar to her. The pair fell silent, both pondering their individual situations. Sophia smiled softly, though she wanted to cry—Kaden was probably citing Friend or Foe in relation to this in the same way she was. It was sadly funny how easily they had both been duped into participating. Rubbing her arm shyly, she was the first to pierce the silence. “So…I think we’re supposed to be doing things like this.”
“What?” Kaden raised an eyebrow, though he seemed to be using his “sight” to look for others.
“Um…yeah,” Sophia wasn’t quite sure what she meant, either. “Think about it. What is it that we’re always doing?”
“Knee-deep into half-baked plot for…world domination, or something,” the courier shrugged. “Or otherwise pitted against typically evil people.”
“Exactly,” Sophia nodded. “I’m not saying that we’re being called by a higher power, or anything. Not anymore. But still…you have to think that some things are beyond coincidence.”
“Yeah…” he let his eyes sit on the healer. “I think that, too.”
“Just something to ponder,” she giggled, suddenly sorry that she had brought it up. “So…uh…what do we do now?”
“YOU LIED,” she yelled. She always did have a flair for the dramatic.
Sophia’s eyes never left the man’s visage as he paced back and forth, answering the crowd’s reactions with a surprising amount of warmth, though she knew that it only shielded a cold demeanor from sight. Such a disguise was of no surprised to her--how could it be? Her death was a definite eye-opener towards that end. She let a smile crease her lips; this man would be judged in the same way she was. And he would be found wanting.
The thing that ate her up about the situation the most, perhaps, was that her death had been in vain. As the flesh melted off of her bones in that final split second of her life, after she fell into that volcano, she knew that the man she had tackled would survive. That shield of his did the trick. Even in an indirect fashion, her death did nothing. Such events were regularly televised, she came to find out, and the shocking horror of “reality television”—the fact that it was actually real—was lost on the audience. Nobody knew what they had gone through. Nobody knew what they had to do to survive. Nobody knew, nor did they care.
“May the best player win!” Damon threw his arms up in the air, and with that, he turned around to leave. Sophia’s anger began to boil over. There were so many similarities between this clown and Kai Demolic that she wanted to scream, or, at the very least, punch something very, very hard. Before she had the chance to, however, the vents shifted open. Kaden, who had been brooding next to her for the man’s entire speech, gasped and looked around before anything even happened. Sophia raised an eyebrow—what was so scary about the vents, exactly?
That was when the gas started flooding out. The healer still didn’t completely understand, but she quickly caught on when those who were standing closer to them than she was started coughing. The gas reached her own lungs, and she suddenly felt as though her stomach was about to burst. Her body screamed for oxygen, but it started to go limp as not nearly enough of it made it in time. Her eyes grew heavy, and she crashed to the ground in a lump. As her consciousness left her, she took note that nobody was having better luck.
It seemed as though her luck hadn’t changed. Not at all.
*
The darkness of sleep swirled in her eyes until the haze cleared up. Sophia’s dreary eyes slowly lifted, snapping open and shut as she tried to straighten her sight. The first things he noticed was that she was on a different kind of ground—not the polished surfaces of the massive complex in which she had been treated to, but a much colder, unforgiving pavement. Groaning, she pushed herself up, sitting on her knees as she took a brief glance around. Her head rushed with pain, pulsing so much that it made it difficult to focus. What she could focus on, however, seemed relatively familiar. It was a city, fairly modern by design though most of it was hidden by the shadows of night.
Standing to her feet, she cracked her neck as she tried to examine things closer. She was in the middle of a plaza; the entrance to what looked like a hospital stood behind her, while a fountain sat directly in front of her. The bustling of city life sounded in the background, but only the flow of the fountain water was immediately available to her. That, and the incessant snoring of the man that laid face down beside the landmark. She took one cautious step forward to see who it was, though it didn’t take her long to find out—the blonde hair and red jacket gave him away.
“Kaden,” the healer found herself whispering, suddenly worried that some creeper could pop out at any moment. She kneeled down and grabbed the courier by his shoulder and give him a little shake. “Kaden! Wake up!”
“Wha--?” he muttered, eyes still closed and body still limp. He wasn’t awake yet, though he was talking. “I don’t think I want to…”
“Want to what? Wake up?” Sophia sighed. She gave him another shake, the second attempt built in intensity. “Well, do it! Wake up! You have a delivery to make!”
“Leave me alone, Greg…” Kaden rolled over. Sophia shook her head, wincing—who the heck was Greg? She rapped the courier soundly in the back. His last snore was a loud one, and the next sound that came out of his mouth was a low scream. He rolled completely over and hopped up to his feet, clutching the area she had hit on his back.
Whipping his head around to see her, he rubbed his wound gently. “Ouch! What the hell? That hurt---whoa, where are we?”
The courier straightened up and scratched his head, looking around. The healer chuckled and did the same, though a second glance gave her no more answers than the first. “I really don’t know. That gas really knocked me out—do you remember anything after that Dukes guy talked to us?”
“No…after that heart-warming pep talk, he made sure we didn’t remember anything, I’m guessing,” Kaden shrugged. “Whatever the case was, he placed us in Central City…or is it? None of this really looks familiar.”
“Nor to me,” Sophia commented, though she knew that very few places would actually look familiar to her. The pair fell silent, both pondering their individual situations. Sophia smiled softly, though she wanted to cry—Kaden was probably citing Friend or Foe in relation to this in the same way she was. It was sadly funny how easily they had both been duped into participating. Rubbing her arm shyly, she was the first to pierce the silence. “So…I think we’re supposed to be doing things like this.”
“What?” Kaden raised an eyebrow, though he seemed to be using his “sight” to look for others.
“Um…yeah,” Sophia wasn’t quite sure what she meant, either. “Think about it. What is it that we’re always doing?”
“Knee-deep into half-baked plot for…world domination, or something,” the courier shrugged. “Or otherwise pitted against typically evil people.”
“Exactly,” Sophia nodded. “I’m not saying that we’re being called by a higher power, or anything. Not anymore. But still…you have to think that some things are beyond coincidence.”
“Yeah…” he let his eyes sit on the healer. “I think that, too.”
“Just something to ponder,” she giggled, suddenly sorry that she had brought it up. “So…uh…what do we do now?”