The Players: Staring Contest

[Victoria]

Victoria opened her mouth to speak, since Orion had yet to answer her. It wasn’t as if much time had passed, but she felt an anxious lump in her throat over the whole ordeal. He could either push her aside like the insistent whelp that she was, or he could let her form this bond she felt so eagerly for. Her words and his answer would have to wait, because their time was up. Victoria stared at the swirling vortex in front of her and considered what may lie beyond it. She wondered what would happen if she didn’t go, but knew the answer. Gamer would kill her if she didn’t comply with his gamer, and so with that thought she stepped into the portal, leaving behind the saiyan once again.

The entire room was white, it reminded her of Limbo. She could only guess that it was a medical room, but something wasn’t right. She sat in a chair, a table in front of her, and another chair was in front of her. The silence was heavy, and she felt confused. What am I supposed to do? She ran a hand along the smooth surface of the table, and noticed that the room had no doors. Am I in prison?

Suddenly a light flashed and someone appeared in the seat opposite of her. Startled, Victoria parted her lips to speak, but was interrupted for the second time in a row. “Don’t tell me…” The boy spoke, and Victoria connected her eyes with his.

“Staring Contest Commenced.” A voice filled the room, and Vic widened her eyes.

“This is a staring contest, of all things?” Victora replied. Here I thought this Gamer had some imagination to him. The kid opposite of her maintained the gaze, and she steeled herself.

“Well, we have no choice but to play his game…but it won’t be much longer now.” He replied and set his hands on the table. Vic kept her eyes on his, holding back the urge to look away. If this had been someone else, someone she knew, she would have lost already.

“Well, what’s your name?” She asked, despite him being her competition. She didn’t want to be bored to death; she needed to keep her mind active.

“Baller- Er, actually, my name is Lance.” His gaze didn’t falter, even though he had flustered in response. She didn’t bother to ask about the blunder instead, she gave him her name.

“Victoria is my name,” she would have shaken his hand but due to the event she dare not move yet. Instead she smiled at him.

“At least this time I’m not fighting.” He said aloud, and gazed intently into her eyes. “I’ve had to fight a lot of girls lately, but I can’t complain about this.”

“Why?” Victoria asked, curious as she looked into his deep eyes. She hadn’t really done this before, not that she would do it again. She hadn’t noticed before, but a person’s eye was actually quite enthralling. She liked the way his eyes had little flecks of color in them.

“I get to stare at a pretty girl; I don’t think I’ll be losing anytime soon.” He smirked and leaned back slightly while maintaining the stare.

“You think I’m pretty? That’s sweet.” She smiled again, leaning back similarly. “Although, I don’t think you’ll win.” She continued and gave him the most innocent of looks.

“Why is that? I can stare for a long time.” He said.

“Well, men have a tendency to react inappropriately to a woman and her body.” She stated, and tapped her lips as was her quirk. “For example, what would happen if I decided to remove my shirt, could you really stop yourself from looking?” She asked this, generally curious.

“That’s a good point, but you underestimate my determination to get out of here.” He replied and held fast. “You’ll have to think of a different strategy I’m afraid, although if you wanted to show me afterward…” He said and quirked his eyebrows up.

“It was just a theoretical discussion, I don’t know if that would be the best plan.” She replied and tilted her head while meeting his gaze with equal determination. “I have a few choice words for Gamer, you see, and I don’t think I’ll be losing to you.” She said this with a smile, and the sweetest of voices.

It was fascinating to stare into another person’s eyes, and a man at that. She wondered if this was what lovers did, staring at each other, aching to embrace each other. As far as events went, though, this one was not appealing. She wanted excitement, not a sit still battle. However, she was a warrior by all accounts, and she didn’t want to lose to this player. Despite being a stranger, she couldn’t help but notice that he was attractive in his own way. If Victoria were any other young woman she would have swooned over him, but she did not take part in such practices. She simply bore into his eyes, looked into the window to his soul, and wondered just how long he could last.

“You know, this could be considered training,” she said, breaking the silence with her soft voice. “We have to learn to endure, right? Fight temptation, hold our ground.” She explained.

“That’s a good way to look at it, but if all you’re doing is defending you won’t get anywhere.” He replied. Vic knew he had a point. If they both had the determination they could stare for a very long time, one of them would have to formulate a plan and work on distracting their opponent. She wanted to win, more than anything, but she didn’t know this player or what would work against him.

“How did you end up here, then? I haven’t seen you before so we might as well talk a bit.” She asked and clasped her hands together on the table.

“I know Gamer; at least I thought I did.” He replied. “We were childhood friends, but I had no idea he would do something like this.”

“It’s alright; we’ll kill him once we get out.” She replied. “I was told that this sort of revenge is allowed, since it’s appropriate to our survival.”

“Er, I don’t know if…” The boy paused, but he didn’t continue. She could see something in his eyes, perhaps an inkling of hope for Gamer. Friends were an interesting concept to the hunter, she wanted to have friends badly, and yet this was evidence of a friendship that wallowed in betrayal. It was fascinating.

“I wonder if this is what Jeremy meant when it came to friends,” she remarked. Lance kept his eyes locked with hers, but she could tell that he was curious. “My superior, he said that friends are a liability, I wonder if he meant that friends can betray you.”

“That could be, or, they could be your weakness.” He gritted his teeth as his said this. “If someone has your dearest friend as a hostage, it could be your weakness, because you would do anything for them, right?”

Victoria thought about that. She played the scenario in her head; the closest thing she could come up with was the idea of Joal being taken by some evil doer. She had to wonder if it would even be possible, he was a formidable warrior, but Lance must have had some truth to his words. If Joal were taken…That would affect me, yes, or if he were killed… Her eyes lit up with understanding.

“I think I understand, but I think that the gain is greater than the risk.” She replied. “I want to have a bond with people; I want them to do anything to save me, just like I would do for them.” She explained. “Isn’t that how we should live our lives? Being there for our dearest friends?”

“You’re naïve, aren’t you?” Lance asked, dubious to her logic. “You have to make the choice for yourself, if you want friends, then make friends, it’s not like anyone can stop you.”

“Easier said than done…” She replied sadly, but she continued to admire his eyes. “Have you ever been in love?”

Lance blushed, and stuttered in reply. Of all the questions she could ask at that time, it had definitely taken him off guard. “I-I guess so.” He wanted to look away; her piercing gaze was making him shift uncomfortably in his seat.

“You don’t have to go into detail. I was just curious.” She giggled and lifted a hand to her mouth. “I don’t know what love is, not really, I know what it is to feel for someone, or care for them, but love is beyond me. Does Jeremy love me, or maybe Joal? I know that my father didn’t, because he wasn’t really my father. Mother was hardly there, so, I wonder if anyone ever loved me. Thus, what is love? Did someone just make up the word?” She rambled on, sharing her thoughts on the subject.

“I don’t know, but it sounds like you have some issues.” He responded. “I think you’ll find the answers if you look for them, at least, that’s my best guess.”

“You’re right! That’s why I’m going to keep making friends, surely if love exists, it will exist in friendship. A long time ago I had friends, although I only saw them here and there, but it was so long ago. I’ve been absent from friendship and bonding, maybe that’s why the concept of love has eluded me.” She replied excitedly.

“You’re really strange, but your looks make up for it.” He replied with a chuckle. “Don’t talk like that too much, or you might scare away the friends you want.” He advised. “Not many people like crazy friends.”

“Right, I’ll remember that.” She grinned and reached her hand across the table. “Say, Lance,” she lowered her voice slightly and gazed at him with such intensity that it made him nervous. She placed her hand on his, and leaned close across the table. “You’re pretty smart; you’ve lived a pretty normal life, well…except for this.” She moved her other hand to indicate the room, but neither of them broke the stare. “Why don’t we be friends? You could tell me more about what life as a normal person is like, maybe,” she hesitated and leaned closer yet, “maybe we can…” she stood to loom over the small table, and over him, and he followed her eyes like a hawk while she stared dreamily into his, “find the answer to love.”

Lance’s face grew hot, and he squirmed in his seat. The girl was maybe six inches away, and her beautiful blue eyes sparkled at him in eagerness. His mind raced; perhaps a fight would have been better after all.

The floor beneath them, unbeknownst to the participants, was beginning to melt. The white cement was beginning to lose its mass, pulling downward like putty. Slowly during their event, the room began to follow, warping and changing subtly from some strange phenomenon. Unfortunately Victoria had other things on her mind, that is, she intended to win this game. Lance was Gamer’s friend, and she was determined to believe that even through evil and darkness, a bond could remain. If Gamer was to die, Lance would not be the one to deliver that killing blow. No, it was Victoria that would kill the mastermind. Friendships could make a person weak, that was what she feared, and Lance could possibly stop any death from befalling his childhood friend because of the bond they shared.

“Lance,” she puckered her lips pushing down on the table and creeping closer. The table pushed down, and as it was made a part of the environment, it melted with the ground. “What the hell?” Her soft voice turned hard, and the ground collapsed. Both contestants fell, and she gave out a shrill cry. It wasn’t a long fall, actually, and it wasn’t a hard one either.

As the two had been battling it out, staring and gazing like two lovers enthralled with desire, the other players were doing similarly. Two of them being men, it was no surprise that they were apt to argue. The saiyan waved his hands, explaining his desire for the young blonde to cease his random chatter. It wouldn’t get them anywhere, and they were both insistent on remaining locked within the gaze, remaining in the battle. It was a battle, staring at someone’s face for long periods of time could be exhausting. Even with the threats around them, they didn’t look away, it was tiresome. Orion stood up and held out his hands, moving them up and down while he spoke. “So either shut up, or stop looking at me, because I can’t take b-”

Victoria fell from the melting sky, hair flying around her from the pull of gravity, and she landed in the outstretched arms of the disgruntled saiyan. She wondered why it happened, and more importantly, why she had fallen from the sky.

“What the….” Kaden kept his eyes on Orion, but not for long. From the sky fell Victoria’s competition and he fell right onto the blonde players face. The two hit the ground and groaned.

Victoria looked up, blushing madly, and then looked at the two men on the ground. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but did he just get Baller in the face? If so, I think that would mean he just got tea-“

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence.” Kaden got to his feet, and rubbed the dirt from his face. “What happened?”

“I won, that’s what happened.” Orion declared, oblivious to the fact that Victoria was still in his arms. “You looked away.”

“Excuse me, but I’m not the one who had a girl land in his arms, I just had a body collide with my face” He pointed at his face.

“So, I guess you could say it was raining men, too?” Victoria mused aloud and tapped her bottom lip. “I don’t mean to say that you’re wrong Orion, and maybe you did win, but considering the fact that everything is warped, shifted, or melting, we should assume that either we’re all fucked and we all just [/i]lost the game[/i], or the round is over. I don’t see any exit portals, so, that either means the event was more than a staring contest, or-”

“Or something has gone seriously wrong.” Lance climbed to his feet and held a hand to his face. “Gamer hasn’t said anything yet, so that means we aren’t done here…but something isn’t right, so I don’t think this was planned.”

“Orion, you can stop holding me now.” She looked up again and he dropped her suddenly, remembering that she had been there. “Ouch,” she stood up from the ground and rubbed her bottom. “Next time I’ll try to aim for the other guy.” She walked past the men to inspect their surroundings. It didn’t take a genius to see that the world around them was morphing into different scenes, becoming different places. “This should be fun.” She remarked and set her hands on her hips.