11-14-2009, 09:35 AM
“They’re not fighting,” Audric observed.
Damon shot him a look. “Thank you. I didn’t notice.”
“The board is not going to be happy,” the supervisor continued.
“Yes, what would I do without your wealth of insight, Audric? Really!” the host retorted, voice dripping with sarcasm.
“I dunno. It’s kind of…cute…I guess…” Audric said, although the uncertainty rang clear in his tone.
Damon turned around and rubbed his chin with his palm. His eyes glanced at the phone, just waiting for it to ring. Everything had to be perfect; everything had to smoothly. The board would not be satisfied with anything less than a successful tournament. Dukes had done away with the cameras and the ratings and all public involvement to elevate it to something classier than reality television. He wanted to bring it back to its purest form, back to Dante’s original vision. He couldn’t do that if people refused to fight. The board would not be satisfied with anything less than complete success, and something was already going wrong.
“Did you install the secondary protocol like I asked you to?” Dukes asked tentatively.
“Yeah, but I mean, it’s a little early to use that, don’t you think?” Audric replied, brow furrowing. “Just give them a second; they have time. The other fights aren’t finished yet and I’m sure they’ll get the message.” He pointed to the screen. “See, look? They’re about to fire on each other.”
Damon turned back about and stared his subordinate hard in the face. “Initiate the secondary protocol. Now.”
Audric sighed, and cracked his knuckles. His fingers flew furiously over the keyboard as he isolated the stasis field containing Ashe and Kaden, simultaneously entering a very long string of code. “Would you like it on manual, or automatic?”
“Manual,” he answered smoothly. “Do exactly as I say.”
-----
Ashe and Kaden fired at the same time, although neither really put their heart into the blast. It wasn’t a fight they wanted, and it wasn’t even their intention to end up in the circumstances in which they found themselves. Due to the lackluster effort, despite Ashe’s insistence on “hardcore action,” they both easily dodged. Well, Ashe more rather fell over, but that was beside the point. Kaden’s blast disintegrated the pole she’d previously been leaning against, whilst hers fizzled out not too far from leaving her palm.
“That wasn’t bad for your first try. I betcha you could do even better the next time,” Kaden smiled reassuringly as he righted himself. He moved over to help Ashe up. “What do you say, best two out of three?”
Ashe started to laugh, and she felt herself sit up, although she really couldn’t figure out where she got the strength to do so. She faced Kaden just in time to watch him ram his fist right into her cheek. Instantly, she was slammed back onto the ground. Stars danced in her vision, and her head swam.
“What was that for?” she demanded. She groggily turned to stare him down, and saw that his body was frozen in the aftermath of his punch. He looked at her with confused red eyes, and the girl quickly surmised that he was just as surprised as she was.
“I…I don’t know…” he said.
Ashe suddenly bolted to a seated position, knowing this time that it definitely wasn’t of her own free will. Kaden could only watch as his arm reared back of its own accord, and launched straight at the defenseless girl once more. Ashe couldn’t move a muscle as it impacted, hitting her on the opposite cheek.
“STOP!” she cried.
“I can’t!” he shouted.
Mercilessly, he hit her again, and again, and again.
“Move! MOVE!” Kaden begged.
But she couldn’t. She was just as helpless as he.
Finally, when Ashe felt like she couldn’t take it anymore, it stopped. She still couldn’t move, but at least it stopped. Her eyelids fluttered heavily as the pink-haired student tried to remain conscious. Kaden gritted his teeth, and his body began to shake as he attempted to fight whatever held him in place. He watched as a single arm rose from his waist, and his palm snapped up in front of Ashe’s face. His fingers splayed out, and a deadly glow of light slowly formed in his hand. Ashe’s eyes widened.
“No!” Kaden grunted. “I’m not gonna do this…I’m not gonna do this…”
He growled through clenched teeth, using every last fiber of his being to try to pull his arm away…but there was nothing he could do. The energy hummed until it reached its climax. At the same time, Kaden and Ashe squeezed their eyes shut.
And then, just like that, they felt their invisible bonds release. Ashe fell to the ground, and Kaden sank to his knees, the energy in his palm dissipating.
-----
Damon stared venomously into the monitor. “Next time, I will pull the trigger.”
Damon shot him a look. “Thank you. I didn’t notice.”
“The board is not going to be happy,” the supervisor continued.
“Yes, what would I do without your wealth of insight, Audric? Really!” the host retorted, voice dripping with sarcasm.
“I dunno. It’s kind of…cute…I guess…” Audric said, although the uncertainty rang clear in his tone.
Damon turned around and rubbed his chin with his palm. His eyes glanced at the phone, just waiting for it to ring. Everything had to be perfect; everything had to smoothly. The board would not be satisfied with anything less than a successful tournament. Dukes had done away with the cameras and the ratings and all public involvement to elevate it to something classier than reality television. He wanted to bring it back to its purest form, back to Dante’s original vision. He couldn’t do that if people refused to fight. The board would not be satisfied with anything less than complete success, and something was already going wrong.
“Did you install the secondary protocol like I asked you to?” Dukes asked tentatively.
“Yeah, but I mean, it’s a little early to use that, don’t you think?” Audric replied, brow furrowing. “Just give them a second; they have time. The other fights aren’t finished yet and I’m sure they’ll get the message.” He pointed to the screen. “See, look? They’re about to fire on each other.”
Damon turned back about and stared his subordinate hard in the face. “Initiate the secondary protocol. Now.”
Audric sighed, and cracked his knuckles. His fingers flew furiously over the keyboard as he isolated the stasis field containing Ashe and Kaden, simultaneously entering a very long string of code. “Would you like it on manual, or automatic?”
“Manual,” he answered smoothly. “Do exactly as I say.”
-----
Ashe and Kaden fired at the same time, although neither really put their heart into the blast. It wasn’t a fight they wanted, and it wasn’t even their intention to end up in the circumstances in which they found themselves. Due to the lackluster effort, despite Ashe’s insistence on “hardcore action,” they both easily dodged. Well, Ashe more rather fell over, but that was beside the point. Kaden’s blast disintegrated the pole she’d previously been leaning against, whilst hers fizzled out not too far from leaving her palm.
“That wasn’t bad for your first try. I betcha you could do even better the next time,” Kaden smiled reassuringly as he righted himself. He moved over to help Ashe up. “What do you say, best two out of three?”
Ashe started to laugh, and she felt herself sit up, although she really couldn’t figure out where she got the strength to do so. She faced Kaden just in time to watch him ram his fist right into her cheek. Instantly, she was slammed back onto the ground. Stars danced in her vision, and her head swam.
“What was that for?” she demanded. She groggily turned to stare him down, and saw that his body was frozen in the aftermath of his punch. He looked at her with confused red eyes, and the girl quickly surmised that he was just as surprised as she was.
“I…I don’t know…” he said.
Ashe suddenly bolted to a seated position, knowing this time that it definitely wasn’t of her own free will. Kaden could only watch as his arm reared back of its own accord, and launched straight at the defenseless girl once more. Ashe couldn’t move a muscle as it impacted, hitting her on the opposite cheek.
“STOP!” she cried.
“I can’t!” he shouted.
Mercilessly, he hit her again, and again, and again.
“Move! MOVE!” Kaden begged.
But she couldn’t. She was just as helpless as he.
Finally, when Ashe felt like she couldn’t take it anymore, it stopped. She still couldn’t move, but at least it stopped. Her eyelids fluttered heavily as the pink-haired student tried to remain conscious. Kaden gritted his teeth, and his body began to shake as he attempted to fight whatever held him in place. He watched as a single arm rose from his waist, and his palm snapped up in front of Ashe’s face. His fingers splayed out, and a deadly glow of light slowly formed in his hand. Ashe’s eyes widened.
“No!” Kaden grunted. “I’m not gonna do this…I’m not gonna do this…”
He growled through clenched teeth, using every last fiber of his being to try to pull his arm away…but there was nothing he could do. The energy hummed until it reached its climax. At the same time, Kaden and Ashe squeezed their eyes shut.
And then, just like that, they felt their invisible bonds release. Ashe fell to the ground, and Kaden sank to his knees, the energy in his palm dissipating.
-----
Damon stared venomously into the monitor. “Next time, I will pull the trigger.”
![[Image: 3nyxortbSM.jpg]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/waffuru/3nyxortbSM.jpg)