[02] Sinking Ship!

[Kaden]

There were some threats that were easy to take seriously: a gun being pointed in your face, a car swerving dangerously about the road, a mindless drove of zombies shambling your way. Kaden was discovering that there were also some threats that were much more difficult to give the weight they deserved. Being trapped in a carnival with a handful of friends you hadn’t seen in a long while, waiting to be whisked off to some bizarre mini-game just happened to be one of them.

While he still felt queezy from the ride, the courier did his best to put up a collected front with his friends present. He had a difficult time not being irritated at Szar, who’s idea of fun involved rocking the Ferris Wheel bench until they had all been staring straight down at the ground. Additionally, Kaden was completely unable to look at Piper after the ride, having latched onto her in fear of falling from the ride itself. A strong moment.

To her slight chagrin, Piper had regaled Szar and Kaden with a recounting of her anti-zombie endeavor at the courier’s prompting. Also at Kaden’s request, the Icer had explained the bizarre circumstances that had lead to him being captured by playing cards, rescued from a cage by a vanished cat – who also talked – and finally beset by another army of cards that had spawned from thin air. The courier found that particularly interesting, since, to him, it demonstrated Gamer’s ability to manipulate their surroundings at will. Not a good thing.

While it would have been nice for Kaden to brag more about besting a universal badass, he didn’t have a whole lot more to say on the subject. Fortunately, Szar’s body went rigid so abruptly that he would have interrupted himself anyway. He followed the changeling’s gaze to find a one-eyed saiyan walking towards the trio. While he immediately recognized the man, his search for the proper name turned up nothing.

“Friend of yours?” the courier asked his alien ally.

“Not exactly,” Szar mumbled back. “Remember him from Friend or Foe?”

That was where Kaden had seen the saiyan. As he thought on it more, he realized that Friend or Foe had also been where he originally met both Piper and Szar. An interesting coincidence, if it actually was one. The courier didn’t really want to think that some cosmic force was simply out to get the same group of people time after time.

“Long time no see,” Orion said as he came to stop a few feet away from the small group.

“Not long enough,” Szar replied, obviously not thrilled about the saiyan’s presence.

“No arguments here, lizard.” Turning his eye from the Icer, he regarded Piper, and then Kaden. “See you’re still alive and kicking.”

“Can’t say the same for you, huh?” Kaden made an attempt at humor as he indicated the halo above Orion’s head. When it landed flat, he cleared his throat. “But at least I’m sure you’re still kicking plenty hard.”

While it looked like Orion had something to say in response, a flash of bubble-gum pink caught the courier’s attention. Shifting his focus away from the man standing before him, he caught sight of Ashe, making her way towards the ferris wheel they were still standing under. So far, Kaden was shocked to recognize everyone he had come across during his stay in Gamer’s event. It was a bizarre feeling indeed.

“Ashe! Over here!” the courier called out to her.

Perking up at the sound of her name, the girl scanned her surroundings until her eyes fell upon the jacket-clad arm of the courier, waving high above his head. Before making her way towards the growing group, the girl turned and seemed to wave to someone behind her. Curiously, Kaden watched for who it was. When it turned out to be Ander, he physically winced. There was the briefest moment of hesitation in the thief’s gait as he and the courier locked eyes.

“Heya!” the girl called back as she got closer.

“Ok, so,” Kaden began. “Piper, Szar, and… uh…”

“Orion,” the saiyan added in an annoyed monotone.

“Yeah, Orion. That’s Ashe,” he finished as the girl neared. “And Ashe, that’s Orion, Piper, and Szar.” When Ander noisily cleared his throat, the courier sighed. “And he’s Ander, I guess.”

“So,” the desert-dweller immediately picked up. “Robots?”

“Yeah,” Kaden answered. “An army of ‘em.”

“An army?” Ander nodded. “Sounds rough. I wouldn’t have had a problem if I hadn’t had to protect someone. That’s tricky business.”

“Tell me about it. I had to help two people escape and then provide a distraction,” the courier countered, embellishing his story slightly. “Of course that wouldn’t have been much of a problem if I hadn’t just finished fighting a murderous saiyan outlaw and a recently resurrected martial artist trained by masters in the afterlife.”

Not one to be bested, Ander opened his mouth, but was unable to say anything before a chorus of electronics buzzes, beeps, and chirps filled the air. Each “player’s” pager signaled the beginning of a new round, and each player’s face seemed to display a unique expression. Everything from annoyance, to apprehension, to curiosity made an appearance as they all checked the screens on the small devices, searching to gleam any amount of information from them.

“Sinking ship,” Kaden read the name of his event out loud before looking around the group.

“Ice Climbers.” “Perform for Gamer.” “Ice Climbers.” “Perform for Gamer.” “Ice Climbers.”

They all answered at once. Closing his eyes for a moment, the courier mentally sorted the jumble of words, then frowned. He was the odd man out. After his last adventure in single-handedly battling ridiculously over-powered opponents, he had hoped that a friendly face would be by his side for the next one. Kaden did take of a modicum of satisfaction from the fact that he wouldn’t be paired up with Ander, at the very least.

Before any more discussion could be had about their events, three portals appeared. Unlike the last portal Kaden had entered, his new one had a flashing neon sign above it that read “Sinking Ship.” Looking around, he realized that each portal was labeled for their convenience. At the very least, Kaden appreciated Gamer’s efficiency. Why open six portals when three would do the job just as well. Wanting to get the next ordeal over with as quickly as possible, Kaden sighed and turned to the rest of the group.

“Well, good luck everyone. Be careful out there.”

And with that, he was off.

***

“Get outta the way, dumbass!” was the first thing Kaden heard.

The second and third things were indistinguishable as a large, burly man practically knocked him over as he ran by and then smacked the courier upside the head with a coal shovel as he made a quick turn down a hallway. Reeling from the unexpected blow, it the courier quite a while to figure out what was going on. He had been taken out of his normal attire and dressed in a manner that seemed to fit his surroundings. Above the waist he wore only a white tank-top – which, thankfully, managed to cover the scar on his chest – and a pair of suspenders. Below the waist, the suspenders held up a pair of what could only be described as trousers, and surprisingly sturdy work boots.

Casting a glance at his surroundings, and going by the name of the event, the courier assumed he had been dropped in the middle of a large engine room. Far too many people, most dressed almost identically to Kaden, scurried about yelling at one another and just generally creating a ruckus. The din was so overbearing that Kaden found himself slipping backwards out of the room and taking a moment to compose himself.

Whatever was going on, the other people on the ship definitely seemed to be panicking. That was bad sign number one. That the name of the event included the word “sinking” was bad sign number two. He tried to get the attention of nearby workers, but each of them told him to either get back to work, shut up, or simply go to hell. Reasonable responses if ever he’d heard any. The only helpful thing he heard anyone say didn’t come until he physically stopped them by wrapping his hand around the arm and pulling them in his direction.

“Hey!” the courier had to yell in order to be heard. “What the hell is going on?!”

“Look, moron,” the man batted Kaden’s hand away. “You wanna pretend like nothing’s happening just do us a favor and go upstairs. At least those spoiled pricks are outta our way.”

Upstairs, the courier thought. At the very least, he hoped he’d be able to hear himself think. Nodding, Kaden turned and began making his way through the ship. It took several minutes for him to find any kind of stairway and, thankfully, it seemed to take him in the direction he wanted to go. As he ran up the stairs, though, he ran into an unexpected opportunity. A woman was making her way down the stairs as quickly as Kaden was hurrying up them. The two practically ran into each other before coming to a stop.

“I’d like very much to get by,” the woman said in a surprisingly thick accent.

“You sure?” the courier-turned-ship-worker asked. Even through the accent, the forced politeness was blatant.

“Why would I say that if I wasn’t?” the girl quickly countered.

Tilting his head, the courier looked her up and down. She shifted her weight uncomfortably underneath the frills of her dress and her posture indicated she was used to entirely different situations. They way her fists immediately clenched at his resistance led Kaden to believe that she wasn’t in the mood to be held up. Likely she never was. Regardless, he had to admire the way she wore that particular… cut of her dress.

“Not sure,” he replied, keeping his thoughts to himself. “People say stupid stuff when they’re panicking.”

“Do I look like I’m panicking?” the girl placed one hand on her hip and motioned with the other, as though daring the worker to find a hint of panic anywhere on her.

“Actually you don’t. But if you’re trying to blend in, you probably should.” Kaden extended a hand to the girl. “Kaden. I’m in Gamer’s…. game, also.”

Taking a moment to look the courier up and down, the straightened herself and gave Kaden’s extended hand a quick shake. Having made an initial introduction, she seemed to reconsider her approach to dealing with the man standing in her way. Finally she shrugged.

“I’m Victoria. Now, can I get through?”

“You’re welcome to. Actually, you’ll probably have a lot more luck getting anything out of those guys than I did. They’re all pretty worked up.”

“You started down there?” she asked a question that she quickly answered. “Should have guessed, given the outfit. Everyone upstairs is just having tea and pretending it’ll all be fine.” She shrugged again.

“Well, if the downstairs is any kind of indication, it won’t be. Any idea what we’re supposed to be doing this time around?”

“Survive, I’d guess. Either way, I’m not in the mood for tea.”

“Fair enough. I’ll be upstairs seeing… whatever there is to see.” Kaden stepped aside and to let Victoria past. After she was a couple steps below him, he snapped his fingers. “One word of advice, though. Should probably watch the shrugs.” He pulled at his suspenders then nodded towards the girl. “No straps.”

Shaking her head, Victoria continued down the stairs and quickly vanished from sight. With a sigh, Kaden ran a hand through his hair and continued. Just surviving a ship sinking would have been simple enough, given the kinds of things he – and others like him – were capable of. Dealing with the panic and fear was on the brink of sweeping through the ship, though, would be something else entirely. Bracing himself for whatever Gamer’s event had in store for him, Kaden continued upwards.