"Look up- holy cow that is awesome..." She noticed the guide red in the face and laughed, patting his back. "You're going to have to keep up dude." She then presumed her beaming in excitement. Not only were they going to be going to the floating dome to race in the competition, but they were going to be given them ones to ride! "You sure we can't stay here?" Ace joked. Though, to Ace, it wouldn't have been a bad idea to live in this city. It looked a lot more fun then back 'home', wherever her home was at the time. It made her think. . . 'What city did I stop in before I got to Nowhere...? That's not easy to just forget....' But, she was forgetting things. It didn't help that she had little to remember that was truly important. Fortunately, it was the little things that she forgot. And as usual, Ace pushed the thought aside.

There were more important matters to attend to! Like getting to the dome- luckily before she had to ask, a flying bus came to view. "First a catbus now a flying bus. Earth you are lagging behind." She hopped on the bus, standing and staring out the window the entire time. "First we went down, now we're going back up!" She leaned out the window a little, just to see the ground, before standing straight again as they neared their stop. "I hope it occurred to everyone that none of us have any type of hover boarding experience."

She jumped off the bus and laughed. "I know I don't, but I planned to wing it anyway. Heh, don't hurt yourself you two. Hey Ran, will you join too? Or will you help Japh here be our cheer squad?" She grinned and then turned her attention to the Nobody that approached them. All she needed to know was where the equipment was. "Awesome! Thanks lady! Come on you guys, we don't have that much time!" Before she ran off, she unstrapped her hat from her pants loop and handed it to Japhet. "Can you hold this for me while I'm in the race? Thanks!" She pulled the two she could reach, Riley and Toby, right along with her.

Ace grabbed a black helmet, skipping over the other safety pads before grabbing a black board with... "Aw man, I was hoping there'd be one with fire...Hehe, this one will have to do!" She grabbed the one with a lightning bolt on the bottom of it. "Reminds me of Inadi's cool electro powers, whaddya think?" She grinned, putting a thumbs up to her friends' choices before hurrying off.

"Whoa, Miss! You've gotta have all the proper equipment to compete. Safety first." Ace groaned a little but hurried and grabbed the extra safety gear. It was such a hassle to add on the 'extra safety'. Besides, in her little world safety would have came around one and a half-ish, not necessarily first. As she always said, at least to herself:

'You have to get a couple of scars and bruises to learn from.'

"Alright, go go go!" She ran, holding the hoverboard under her arm. "Hopefully this is like riding a surfboard...." She mumbled to herself as she took a spot in the race. Ace manage to grab a pair of goggles, that she slipped over her eyes.

"You don't know how to ride this, yet you're competing?" Ace turned her head to see who spoke up. Her first reaction was a mere raise of her eyebrow as if saying 'Do you have a problem with that?'. But, seeing the Nobody on her left, she noted that he was...kind of cute. Matter of fact, he kind of reminded her of the boy that zoomed past them on the airship, albeit a little less formal.



"Don't worry, I'm going to learn as I go. It's what I do!" Ace received a laugh from the Nobody, but she was examining the board in her hands. "I'll be fine. They made put safety gear on." Examining, Ace found the button to get the hovering part started. It was right on top, easy reach to tap with her foot. So, she stepped on the board, mimicking everyone else's position.

"Well, if it helps, you're right. It kind of is like surfing. Just in the air. And it hurts more if you fall."

Ace grinned and then looked over at Riley and Toby, not being too far away from her. She put a thumbs up and called out. "Good luck!" And just to be nice, she said good luck to the Nobody next to her.

Eventually parting ways with the mechanical canine, Jasper had pointed out that the clinic was already within their view and the group headed there quickly to get Inadi patched up. Upon their entrance, they were met with a man balancing an armload of hospital apparel. All was fine and then he mentioned the hooded figures. At that, Lesley turned to look at his companions with a troubled gaze, wringing his prosthetic wrist in worry. It was then that the Nobody, who had previously been directing conversation only to the guides, finally noticed their existence. Right away, he took notice of Inadi's injury and took off to fetch some "nano tech" that needed to be tested. Harper mumbled in worry and Lesley snooped around the small clinic, ogling jars and flasks of all shapes and sizes in which contained peculiar substances.

Patting Inadi's back firmly, he chuckled and grinned like an imp, "I guess you're going to be the hospital guinea pig for today~!" he chimed, flicking the youth's nose playfully before swiveling back around on his heels. Suffering a miscalculation in speed of the turn, he accidentally whacked his faux hand against the wall which in turn caused a top shelf of bottles to become unstable and spill over in a designated sequence one after the other like a line of dominoes. With a sharp intake of breath, Lesley bit his bottom lip as he watched a river of rainbow spill at all edges of the storage platform.

"Well stinky-boot!" he cursed as he motioned for everyone to step aside as a pool of melding colors began to snake through the cracks and uneven paving of the floor. Jogging over to the pile of clothes the doctor had brought over earlier, he slipped on a pair of gloves and smiled at the others with unmistaken confidence. "Don't worry guys! Everything is under control! I shall clean up this mess lickety-spl- WOAH!" Whilst he was announcing his conclusion, he had absent mindedly walked into the flood of liquid and slipped. His entire back part, hair included, was covered in the runny substance. Lesley cried out as he felt it soak through his clothes and muck up into the deepest roots of his scalp.



Hearing the yelps from outside, the doctor hustled right back out with the device in hand, hurriedly placing it down on the counter before rushing to Lesley's side along with a team of nurses. "Quick call over CL-2!" he barked while he helped Lesley up. A robot rolled into with a mop and cleaned up the mess hastily. Meanwhile, the doctor scrutinized the shards, trying to piece together the labels of the glasses which had broken and what they had contained. Ultimately, his initially tense look unfurled in a sigh of relief, his eyebrows de-knitting themselves. "Luckily, all you spilled was some temporary color transmutations. They should wear off at around the second sun rise."



By now, some nurses had helped get Lesley washed up and calmed down a bit after the realization of his hair deformation. "It's, it's..... IT'S SO HORRIBLE!" he bawled onto Jasper's shoulder, his entire frame sulking in defeat.

"Breeze? Why if it isn't our favorite merchant!"

Breeze returned the greeting with just as much fervor, waving her arms enthusiastically. "Nice to see you again, Doc! Been a while hasn't it?" She hadn't had much reason to come here lately and the last time she had come to deliver supplies the doctor was in, so she had been meaning to make a visit anyways. Before she needed to correct his assumption in that something had happened to Est (and luckily nothing had or the perpetrator would be the one making a visit here) he spotted the humans and glasses-boy's limp

"We can fix that up in a jiffy! We've got new nano tech that works like a charm! In fact, we need to have it tested."

"We'll be counting on you, then." She turned back to the humans, snickering at their rather dubious faces. "There's no need to seem so worried! He can be a little much, but I have complete trust in his inventions. They work three-fifths of the time! And even if they fail it's not like you'll lose your leg. Probably." She smiled on, not noticing the increased discomfort her words had brought.

She gave a small meep of surprise when the top shelf was sent toppling, sending jars of various colored liquids to the ground. She tried to stop the human from trying to clean up, but before she could he had tripped and fallen into the puddle. A surge of worry overtook her- Who knew what the bottles contained? There shouldn't be anything too bad, but even so...

"Luckily, all you spilled was some temporary color transmutations. They should wear off at around the second sun rise."

A collective sigh of relief echoed across the room, save for the wailing of the poor human who's beautiful pink hair that had been dyed to a rather cool shade of black.

"It's- it looks quite awesome, does it not?" She patted the human on the arm. "I could always give you a cap to cover it up with, if you'd like."

Luckily the doctor had returned with some nurses to clean up the mess, along with the adorable cleaning robot. He had brought the device along as well, and Breeze smiled back to the humans. "There'll be no worry for the cost of treatment. Can't have you all running out of stars before buying anything from me, can we? The Doc owes me too many favors to charge, isn't that right?" She chuckled as the doctor sagged slightly before picking himself back up, readjusting his glasses. "Favorite merchant or not, you really know how to rob a guy of his money. But since I get to test out my nanobots, I won't complain. Now if you'll sit down here-," he beckoned to a stool nearby. "we'll get started so you guys can get going. It'll only take a minute... I think."

“Eh.”

“Oh, hiiii! You’re Leila, right?” Est instantly swiveled around to face the girl, a sunny but somewhat mild smile on his face as he sized her up. What was she carrying? It looked like those ugly canvas things the cargo haulers used back in the backwater factories… “Yeah, got that. Nice to meet you, Leila Noelle. I like your name, it’s very… fluid. There are just some names that really have no sort of poetic grace to them, right? Like mine! Berit Rinaldi! It sounds so choppy!” The private shook his head and then straightened his back as he pondered the girl’s inquiry. Almost instantly a strange fire lit up his eyes and then Est was gesturing animatedly as if he was drawing blueprints with his hands.

“Yes, yes! Keyne’s motor! It was developed just a few cycles back by this scholar dude named Fuzzy Keynes. I think he used to be a rapper once, but anyway! He came from a family of inventors- his mother invented a smokeless synthetic wood, I think, which is pretty much being used for lighting dark caves or mines underground- and he just, wham! Entered the Intercity Invention Expo with this brand new design nobody’s ever heard of and he won first place!” The soldier paused to take a deep breath, then promptly rambled on, “I haven’t seen his motor in the flesh, but apparently it’s a complete remake of the Old Age layout we’ve been using since before. I’m sure you’ve seen it, most of the things in this city run on the Old Age layout. You know, lots of gears, cogs, mostly brass turnings. Keyne’s was made out of thin, dual-layered mithrilium-steel alloy, which is pretty much why I haven’t seen it yet since it’s hella expensive.”

The girl in front of him, surprisingly enough, didn’t look bored by his lecture. She actually seemed to like listening about the subject matter!

"T-the energy source? Oh yeah, coral fuel. We get it from the coastal area. However, the city’s much for using steam rather than that, since coral fuel is basically mermaid property. Sure, they don’t use oil underwater, but there hasn’t been extensive drilling to show how much coral fuel there is. Without knowing that, we can’t change the city’s energy source in case we run outta juice, you got what I’m talking about, right?” Est smiled at the girl and then reached over to take the parachute from Leila. He tossed it over her shoulder like it was nothing and was about to add more to the science talk if it wasn’t for the appearance of a familiar doctor.

“Hey! I don’t get injured that often! And what’s not reassuring, the pesky hobbit girl and her friends or that you’ll be a lab rat? Don’t worry, Doc’s things don’t zap. They just… make you feel really weird,” Est walked over to Harper with Leila in tow. Lesley’s wonderful pink hair had turned pitch black due to some freak accident with Doc’s equally freaky potions, and the poor human was now sobbing at his friend’s shoulder. “Whoa, don’t fuss over it! Think of the new color as an eye-opener! You’ll look steamier and sexier! Or at least that’s what the other soldiers say when they imagine Lieutenant Falkner with black hair. I still think you look great! Oh yeah, CL-2! Get this too, okay?” He told Lesley, and dumped the parachute on the cleaning robot as it scurried out of the room. The poor thing was practically buried but it moved on nonetheless. Poor little baby.

“You almost turned me into a girl once too, Doc,” Est quipped in a tone that was much less cheerful and more worried as Inadi sat down on the stool for his treatment.

Ran intended to run. He really did, but the smell of hot grease and sizzling potato was way too tempting. He barely ate anything earlier because he was worried he would get sick aboard the airship. The starving human changed course and headed to the cart instead. He waved to Japhet to tell the Nobody to continue ahead. He proceeded to order the largest portion of fish and chips available. It was a steal at 2 stars! There was enough to feed five of them till they burst. He whistled happily as he ambled along with bulging paper cone the size of a Zuckertute. He merely grinned when he approached the rest of the group.

Riley said "Aaah, and we're here. Ran, you're the rotten egg, which means you owe us all ice cream later! Even Japhet."

“Sure.”

How expensive is ice cream? A feast for four only costs 2 stars here. Surely they can get at least two ice cream cones with one star. He absent mindedly stuffed a chip in his mouth and began puffing rapidly. The potato was burning hot! Crap, crap, crap! His tongue was getting numb. After five minutes or so he swallowed the half chewed spud. Only the sides of his tongue had any sensation left. That was definitely not good.

Japhet said "Good, I've got a few people rearing to join in."

Ran nodded dumbly as their local guide waved for them to board the bus. Oh well he would find out sooner or later what Japhet meant. He continued eating calmly on the short ride. Hardly anyone seemed to be as hungry as he was. Oddly the fish taste just like tofu.

Japhet just informed Viv that they, the humans, wanted to compete. Ran did a double take. Japhet did what? Compete? Wasn’t it dangerous? No wait the kids can’t compete. They don’t have driving licenses yet.

“Don’t we need licenses or something… permission?”

The hippie looking Nobody who came forward to usher him away laughed. “Nope. We accept everyone.”

Ran dawdled a little as he pretended to check his gear. The helmet was a little tight but the rest were okay. Next was the board. He eyed it suspiciously. Was this cobbled together piece of scrap metal even going to support his weight? Niran stepped on it. The board creaked and wobbled, but it remained intact. The oldest human couldn’t help envying the rest of the group. Their boards definitely look way newer, especially Toby’s. So long as the kids have fun he won’t complain.Unless it was a repeat of the ATV incident…

“Good luck!” Ran yelled to Toby and Riley. Somehow he doubted Ace could hear him since she was so far in front.

The man stretched while remaining fixed on his board. He mentally seized up the rest of the competitors. Most were around the same age as the kids, though there were a couple of older ones. One grandpa…and… woah… that strange biker chick from earlier!

“Wait! I know you! We bumped into each other this morning or something. You're Nympha, right?”

Inadi walked into the small clinic they decided he should visit and was immediately a little wary of taking the doctor's treatment. At one point he said they had nano tech they could use to fix him up no problem. Inadi had only ever heard of that kind of thing in his science fiction movies and other places, but never in an actual situation like this. He then began kicking himself for forgetting that he was in a place where literally anything and everything could happen to him. At some point a person would think that the frame faced man would pick up on that little bit of information.

However the next bit of dialogue did make him a little more concerned. The idea that the doctor needed to have the nano tech tested was not great. What in the world did that mean? Was this some kind of new technology they had never used on people before? If that was the case he definitely had a serious issue with the concept. What if they ate through his leg or something? And how were these things supposed to work? Again, Inadi really wished he had a better understanding of the places that he was in so he could get more comfortable, but that was as big a pipe dream as them getting home in his mind. Rolling his eyes he turned to address Harper who made a comment on the situation.

“Tell me about it. I don't like the idea of being some kind of test subject for something I don't even know how it is supposed to work,” Inadi explained as he set himself down on a nearby chair and decided to take a quick look at his ankle. A cringe appeared in his shoulders as he finally got a good look at his ankle. It was nearly swollen to the point that it matched the size of his heel, and the bruising was looking pretty severe too. Perhaps it was a break rather than a sprain, though the small amount of movement Inadi could do with it threw that idea away. “Then again maybe a little experimentation wouldn't be the worst thing ever.” Inadi quipped as he let his pant leg slide back down.

Lesley decided to chime in with his “best-of-lucks” as he called him a guinea pig for the tech. Just as he was about to let the pink haired friend of his have it with a quick flick on the nose, he turned away and began a string of events that was beyond hilarious but still very much a tragedy in a strange kind of sense. Liquids began spilling over and just as Lesley was about to announce his dedication to cleaning the mess he slipped and fell into the substance. His hair began absorbing the color on the floor and he went from pink to jet black in a matter of seconds. Inadi held back his laughter seeing Lesley weep into Jasper's shoulder and it showed with his face turning red from the sheer amount of laughter he was holding back. “Well there goes my bet I was gonna make you do in case we won the paintball match. Now I gotta think of something else.” He said as he slowly breathed out his chuckle and allowed it to escape him without making it too obvious he was struggling with the situation.

The doctor finally returned with a needle in hand and Inadi suddenly grew nervous. One thing the boy had never gotten over was his fear of the dreaded needle. He hated the things and they always made him feel sore at the end. As Est began explaining what the nanomachines did made Inadi feel a little more confident in the situation. Then the comment about becoming a woman. Inadi's eyes bugged out of his skull and he looked up to the doctor. The man in his coat laughed off the comment and began explaining. “Oh that's not entirely true. To be fair that was a completely new kind of nano tech that we weren't a hundred percent sure as to what it did. This set we've made sure to do plenty of test runs on other living things and they all have around the same kind of reaction. Complete healing of all muscle tissues,” Inadi's heart settled a bit as he heard the doctor explain the things to him to ease his mind. “Then again there were some subjects that showed extreme muscle spasms and locking up after wards but those were few and far between.”

Suddenly the boy wasn't a hundred percent sure about this idea....again.

Without much warning the doctor quickly rolled up the pant leg on Inadi and began cleaning the area for the needle itself. Inadi watched on with nerves wrecking into his mind and a small collection of sweat began building on his head. He didn't like this idea at all, but if it was gonna allow him to walk again sooner then he was going to take it. Looking over to Jasper, he gave a weak smile and a thumbs up and did the same thing to Harper, Est and Leila. Lesley was still too much into his grieving over his hair to notice or see the look of forced confidence Inadi gave him.

Inadi grabbed onto the chair underneath him as the doctor began positioning the needle into his purple ankle, the needle quickly went it. A quick hiss left the patient's throat as the black liquid in the needle began disappearing into the leg. Once it was all gone, the purple ankle turned black as well. Inadi watched as the cloud swam underneath his skin and began making the purple and swelling of his ankle disappear. The pain quickly left his leg and so did the black cloud underneath his skin. The ankle was back to normal size and it seemed like it was the same as before the jump.

The doctor smiled down at his work and snapped. “A terrific thing to see, a successful procedure. And now we know that the machines work on human's as well. Thanks for your help son.” He explained before going back down the hall. It seemed like he was going back to where he was prior to coming out with the needle, more than likely his office or something similar. Inadi quickly jumped off his chair and began walking around on the foot. Not a trace of the limp he had before was there. It was a miracle of science it seemed.

Looking over to Harper he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. “And here I was thinking this was a bad idea.” He joked as he went over now to Jasper and Lesley. Lesley was still grieving slightly and Jasper was being the shoulder he needed for the moment, making Inadi shake his head. They already said it would be gone by a day or two, no reason to make such a scene out of it. Looking over to Jasper he held up his hand, palm facing out towards the girl. “Looks like we'll be able to have a strong and healthy team for that paintball tournament,” Suddenly turning his head towards Lesley with a smile still on his face. “Which we are sure to win now.” He joked with a laugh as he waited for Jasper to accept his request for a high-five. Granted he didn't have a limp now, but he had to admit that the leg was still a little tender for the most part. More than likely just leftover pain from the overall fall. No doubt it would be gone by the time they all got to the tournament area.

The Hoverboard Tournament:

Riley's eyes landed on Japhet, he was surrounded by a bunch of giggling girls, and they were eyeing the boy beside Ace and cheering him on. Japhet looked absolutely miserable, he had a tub of popcorn cradled in one hand and Ace's hat clutched in the other.

"You sure you aren't going to join us?" She laughed when one of the squealing girls nearly knocked Japhet over.

The nobody took a handful of popcorn into his mouth and snorted. "Nah, seeing you all fumble around is going to be fun."

Why that jerk! Riley's ears went red in frustration. Japhet reminded her of Songbird in way, though the latter had always been more polite around them. She noticed the smug looking smile on the guide's face and glared, though Ace's voice snapped her out of her anger. "Oh huh?" She fumbled with her helmet then laughed. "Good luck to you too Ace!" Ran was wishing them good luck next and the girl turned to both the grandpa of their group and Toby. "Good luck guys, let's do our best and not fall to our deaths, alright?" She laughed a little when Toby nodded excitedly and nearly fell over in the process.

He always had so much energy. Well, hopefully that would help give him an advantage.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Watermelons and potatoes, the moment you've all been waiting for is here! Riders, make sure you have your helmets on and get into position." The crowd went wild and the Riley noticed a young man in a suit, not too far from Ace and the boy in the cap. Whoa, it was the same guy that zipped past them on the airship and the girl Ran had bumped into was here too. Well, wasn't this some reunion.

"Pleasure to run into you folks, again." He gave the humans a grin and tipped his top hat at them. "Just a warning, but you best be careful."

"Lavi, darling. Stop giving those newcomers tips, let them find out for themselves what this competition is about." It was a girl this time.

He laughed, "don't be so harsh Ri, we don't want them breaking a leg or anything."

The girl named Ri batted her eyelashes playfully, "well, that would be a fabulous show." She winked at the boy in the cap, "it'd eliminate the competition though..." she brought a hand over her mouth and giggled. "There isn't any competition as far as we're concerned."

Lavi scrunched up his nose and looked at the humans. "Don't mind her. Let's have a good race."

A tall man in a tux made his way to the starting line and cleared his throat. He raised a gun over his head and pointed the muzzle upward. "Let's get started, you all have a long way to go. Ready, get set, and GO!" He fired a flare into the sky and when it exploded colorful lights drifted downward. Somewhere in the ground Japhet was drowning in a sea of limbs as girls cheered and as fans roared.

"Toby, Gramps, comee-OOOON!" Riley was practically flying in a zig-zag.

The audience stared blankly, some tried not to laugh and Japhet he face-palmed. "FLY STRAIGHT DAMN IT!"

"I'M TRYING! SHUT UP AND CHEER YOU GROUCH!" Riley couldn't get any redder. The board flipped upside down, but thankfully metal straps shot out to hold her feet in place. She let out a yelp before managing to right herself in the air.

Japhet buried his face in his hands...this was embarrassing and there was nothing to cheer about.

Riley stepped on a button that propelled her backwards and she crashed smack dab into Ran. The crowd erupted into laughter.

Meanwhile, Lavi was taking it slow, cruising beside Ace with a sympathetic looking smile. "It looks like your friends got into a little predicament." He pulled two chocolate bars out of his pouch. "Want one?" And before she could answer he tossed on at her then tore open his own. He wasn't trying to get ahead of her, though judging by how relaxed he was he probably could. Lavi had been riding hoverboards ever since he was eight, it was second nature to him now.

"Lavi, darling, I'll see you at the finish line." Ri zipped past them, she tapped the front portion of her board and it zipped ahead, leaving white smoke in its wake. She turned around with a confident grin and waved excitedly.

Lavi took a bite out his chocolate bar then waved back. "Oh yeah, which reminds me. You gotta watch out for the traps." He leaned to the side and dodge a blue ball that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

From the buildings around, tiny cannons began to emerge. They aimed at the riders who passed and those that were knocked off their boards landed on an invisible net. "Don't worry, none of the contestants ever die--ooh, move to the right." It didn't look like Lavi would be leaving any time soon. He took a bite out of his chocolate bar and gave her another one of his wide, excited grins.

The Hospital:

Lesley was sobbing over his new hair color while Inadi was up and about.

Harper laughed a little, though he did feel sorry for the now black-haired Lesley. "It's good to see you're alright, that doctor had me worried for a second." The boy let out a nervous laugh then turned to face both Est and Breeze. "Did he um, almost turn you into a girl?" The boy scrunched up his nose. "How did it feel?" It must have been awkward and had that happened to him, he probably would have fainted. Harper made a mental note to never get injured in the city of Cogs and Gears.

Turning to face the sobbing Lesley, he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Est is right, think of it as a new image of sorts." He let out a soft chuckle then noticed the doctor was once again making his way down the hall.

He had the most gigantic smile ever plastered to his face. "Oh boy! My superiors are stoked to hear about this. Once again, thank you!" He pushed a giant lollipop into Inadi's hands then gave one to Lesley as some sort of feel better present. "Breeze, Est, thanks for bringing over this test sub...erm, this human. It's actually an amazing find! We never get to work on humans, ever, so this is just great! I'll be heading to the OR soon, someone got a cog stuck in his eye socket." The doctor made a face then walked off. "Don't go getting injured now, okay?" And with that he was waving goodbye and charging down the hall.

Talk of paintball filled the halls and after a few moments they left for their next destination.

* * * *

Paintball Field:

It was a giant dome that stretched over an entire forest. Inside were dilapidated houses and sandbags were scattered across the field. In the far side of sector one there was a giant helicopter, sprawled out across the ground.

"This looks...intense." Harper eyed the map that had been posted near the entrance. The entire field was gigantic.

"Who goes there! Ah, pvt. Berit." They'd remember him anywhere. The soldier by the gate gulped before his eyes flitted towards Breeze. He had played a round against Est in the past, and let me tell you, it did not end well for him. "Are you new cadets?"

Harper shook his head.

"But you're here to play paintball?" Harper nodded and when he did, the soldier eyed them strangely. "May celery save your souls..." He turned to face Pvt. Berit and Breeze. "Good to see you again, just head inside you know the drill." He nodded at the humans. "The Pvt. will fill you in."

Harper stood by Lesley. "Mind if I join your team?" He gave Inadi a grin, "we're not going to lose as easily." He turned to Leila with a smile. "Leila, would you like to join us?" He wondered if the guides were going to play too.

The soldier ushered them inside then turned to Est and Breeze. "Are you seriously going to slaughter these poor people?" He looked amused as he stared at the humans. They were like sheep being led to some kind of slaughter and he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them. He clapped a hand on Breeze's shoulder and shook his head, he was laughing though, obviously amused. "Look after them, okay? Make sure no one goes blind..." Turning to the humans, he pointed to the equipment laid out on a table. "Okay, get suited up then head to the field," to the guides, "same goes for you two."

"We love you Jay!

"What the heck is all that-" Ace turned to see the group of fangirls around Japhet. She noticed them all staring in her direction, and then she turned to the boy next to her. With a roll of her eyes, she scoffed. "Fangirls? Really? How cliché." He looked a little shocked she would say such a thing, but ultimately ended up laughing, albeit in embarrassment.

"Uh, yeah..Ha, I don't know where they came from..." The boy, known apparently as Jay gave a small shrug, but decided to focus on the race.

"Sure you don't. That's what they all say." Before he could try to defend his modest title, another interrupted the two. "Hey, you're the guy from the airship." As he greeted them and spoke, his female companion made Ace huff slightly. "Hmph, what a stuck up-" She was interrupted by Lavi who told them not to mind her. "Good luck." Ri giggled and looked at the humans.

"I think you'll need it more."

Ace fixed her goggles and watched as a man in a suit walked forward. As soon as he said go, Ace's foot pressed the button to get the board hovering. She watched as metal straps held her feet down and then she started to lift up. The other contestants lifted in the air and took off. Ace managed to take off with the others, but not without leaning too far back and causing her board to do a full loop. The audience thought she was doing tricks, but really Ace was trying to keep from crashing into people and hoping to have better luck than her friends behind her. "This...This is AWESOME! Woo!" Even though she started to zig zag, somehow Ace managed to make everything that was an accident, seem like a trick. But then again, that was her entire life:

'Just make it look like you know what you're doing...and then eventually you'll get somewhere.'

Jay had noticed Riley having some troubles and decided to fly near her. He was careful not to be crashed into, before asking. "Would you like some help?"

Ace found a decent speed to go at that wouldn't send her haywire. She decided to cruise at that pace for a moment before trying to speed up again. And in her company, Lavi decided to join her. "I wish I could help but we'd all be in a mess if I tried to- and hey look, the lover boy has it handled." She looked back to see Jayce showing Riley and Toby how to balance and fly straight. Her attention turned back to Lavi when he tossed her the chocolate bar. "Oh, thanks." When she caught it, Ace swerved some but she quickly straightened out. Knowing she couldn't multitask like the gentleman next to her, she slipped the bar into her vest pocket.

"Oh gosh, there's traps too?" That was answered when a ball was headed straight for her. Instead of moving to the right, Ace leaned backwards, letting the board deflect the hit. It repelled the oncoming ball and made it hit someone a little ways ahead, causing them to fall onto the invisible net. "Whoops..."

Lavi chuckled at the result and clapped. "How innovative! Although, it's not a wise idea to be flying backwards."

"I'm working on it, I'm working on it." The way she was, Ace could spot Riley, Toby, and Ran a little ways behind her. "Hey! Ran watch out! Riley, Toby to your left!" She saw the cannons aiming towards the three lagging behind. But before she could see if they managed to dodge it, she was pushed so she was facing the right way. "Hey what was that-"

"You may want to pay attention to the front. If I may give my opinion." He pointed out the upcoming bars that they would have to either go over or under.

"Oh. Thanks. That would have probably hu- oof! Right... Right in the side..." Ace was hot right in the side by one of those dodge balls the cannons shot out. Luckily, the latches holding her feet down were still on, so she didn't go flying off. But, she did end up zig zagging until the shock of the hit died down. "Whew, I need to pay more attention. That could've been my face or something."

They seem to still measure time here, with cycles as units. They speak of an “Old Age”. “Mithrilium”. Combustible, smokeless synthetic wood... Much to her frustration, she didn’t understand much of the soldiers explanation - at least not yet, when so much detail was still lacking. Even then, she mentally took note of all the clues and untied ends in the stream of information that just might come in useful later. That was what she always did - although now, she would remind herself later to write all of it down under the pages labelled “Cog and Gears” in her notebook to protect them from distortion and forgetfulness.

Caves. Mermaids. Throughout the conversation, although Est was mostly rambling on by himself happily, Leila did not neglect to put up a slight smile that implied interest - only polite. At the mention of certain details, however, the smile felt a bit more forced than usual.

“-thank you.”

She said quickly upon the parachute being lifted off her arms. She would have asked on still, perhaps even indefinitely if allowed to - but that was evidently not possible as the soldier turned to talk to the doctor.

“Nano - wait are those - can I - ” Her interest was then directed towards the technology the Nobody in doctor robes mentioned, which at least shared a name with something that she remembered to be only theoretical yet had a great potential for development, back at home. She needed to see this, she thought, desperately trying to hide the over-excitement and also questioning a bit whether to feel bad about not feeling bad about Inadi being partly forced into the procedure.

It wasn’t long, however, before her attention was diverted again, when the sound of shattering glass rang throughout the corridors as a cascade of containers crashed down from rows of shelves onto the ground nearby - and onto Lesley.

* * * * *

Leila remained slightly upset throughout the entire journey out from the hospital and towards the paintball field, mostly because she didn’t get to witness the exciting technology that was used to heal Inadi’s wounds. Inadi seemed to be alright now, however, and Leila was glad about that - although she still wondered infinitely about the nanobots. How did they repair the damage? How is the process controlled? Were there still there? Would they be somehow degraded by the body - were they made of such materials? Or were there - should she ask Inadi if she can have someone take a blood or tissue sample from there to -

-no, that was a silly idea. Leila bit her lip and walked on along with the group, switching the subject of her thought to trying to come up with a reasonable process for one to accidentally embed a cog into an eye socket.

(Taking into account that this is Nowhere - that the possible scenarios were actually more numerous and diverse than expected wasn’t exactly astounding.)

She also struggled to decide whether to jump over and ruffle Lesley’s new, black-and-pink hair to see if it feels any different besides from having changed in colour. Regardless, Leila still remarked that Lesley was - of course - still just as fabulous as ever.

* * * * *

"But you're here to play paintball? May celery save your souls..."

When she was done gasping at the structure that composed the giant dome encompassing the mapped area that must have been as large as an entire section of her home city, Leila cringed a bit at this notion from a resident soldier, having only to speculate what exactly had contributed to the ominous undertone of the remark. The denizens of Nowhere lived with sirens, dragons, and witches. What could….? Paintball launchers were non-lethal weapons and should be relatively safe...she thought as she turned her sight to the nearby table where the equipment was placed, and the wall behind it on which more objects were hung. When the soldier indicated to do so Leila walked over along with the others, and picked up one of the launchers.

The weapon was slightly larger in proportion than she had expected, and heaver. A lot heavier. It felt to Leila as if most parts, if not the entire object, was crafted out of dense metal. It took her a fair amount of strength and many tries to lift it off the table it originally sat upon, and even more to lift it to an height enough to aim at anything.

She tuned in and out when the operation of the weapons were explained, but upon placing hands on the actual thing she figured it wasn’t really that hard to determine which part of the object served what function. The safety was labelled, and the path along with the projectiles would be fed into the barrel and then launched.

“Ah, okay! Thanks -”

She turned briefly to look at Harper and the other humans when he asked whether she would like to join them. Coming to think of it, she had received help from the boy more than once previously when she was in danger in the earlier events in Nowhere, and it was an unexplainably amusing feeling that the humans were siding again to participate in combat that they were not forced into, but this time requested themselves.

Actually - who was it who proposed that they do this again? She thought as she absentmindedly flip the firearms in her arms sideways to check the bottom. Is this already loaded or -

-bang.

The next thing she knew she was collapsed onto the ground, back throbbing in pain after having collided with a nearby chair, and ears ringing from the explosive sound produced by the firing of the paintball gun. The wall behind the table now wore a big splat of pink paint on its centre, some of the equipment hung on it clattered to the ground. The weapon itself was swung out of her grasp and lay nearby.

She glanced across the room apologetically, while just having realized at the back of her mind that, incorrectly placed, the recoil from a firing like the one that just happened would have easily dislocated a joint or snapped some of the thinner bones.

“Dunk me in cream cheese and whack me with celery sticks! It’s you again.”



Ran chuckled weakly in response. Somehow happy to see you again was definitely the last thing on Nympha’s mind. He wondered if a second apology would help soothe her. He cleared his throat, and mouth wordlessly. That glare was so intense that he looked away.

“I swear if you bump into me again, I’ll fry you like a donut.”

“Err… good luck!”

“Hmmmph.”



“Don’t mind her. She’s worst than a tart apple.”

“Oh?” Ran turned to look at the old man who was balancing expertly on his other side.

Nympha’s face turned bright red as she pumped her arms so violently that she almost fell off her hoverboard. “Shut up, gramps!”

“That’s Grandpa Ellie to you, young lady.” The old man snapped as he pulled down his lower right eye lid and stuck out his tongue.

Niran tried to keep poker-faced as the two competitors yelled at each other. He wished he could scoot over to a different location, but he was locked in position because all the riders were packed side by side. There was hardly any wiggle room in between. He merely waved and grinned briefly when Liv greeted them. He daren’t say a word in case he found himself pulled into the childish squabble. The loud speakers let out an ear piercing screech which silenced everyone in the stadium. A voice boomed out shortly after. The unfortunate riders who were to closer to any of the loud speakers were all covering their ears with their hands.

Announcer Goomba said "Ladies and gentlemen! Watermelons and potatoes, the moment you've all been waiting for is here! Riders, make sure you have your helmets on and get into position."

The poor human continued clutching his head with his hands clamped over his ears. Potato pommes maximus or whatever Nobodies say when they get mad! His ears won’t stop ringing. He looked around furtively. Where? Who? What? Ran was still twisting and turning stupidly when suddenly the sky light up with neon colored fireworks. He stared at the pretty lights; he was completely oblivious that everyone was taking off, and the riders behind him kept pushing him forward closer and closer towards the edge of the platform.

“Ooof!”

The leather straps securing Ran’s feet snapped. He slid forward onto Riley’s board as his own hoverboard flew behind; it tripped over half a dozen competitors. The laughter began tapering off as the audience watched in horror at what happened next. The riders further behind smashed into the fallen competitors at high speed. In the end there was a mountain of bodies and smashed hovercrafts blocking the way. Sirens sounded as the field medics rushed to the scene.

Announcer said “Oooo that looks bad! A third of our competitors are grounded till further notice. Not too late to go and grab some chocolate tarts. All refreshments are proudly sponsored by our official caterers - Mr. Cuddles and the Gingerbread Men.”

There was some wiggling and then a voice cried out from somewhere below the heap. “We’re good!”

Announcer said “That’s our racers for you! Sturdy as a brick with a head more stubborn than steel. Every lung is still moving and every heart is still pumping. Let’s get the ramp so the rest can jump over the block!”

The crowd roared their approval. Ran gaped as a huge ramp was brought out. His arms began lowering slowly till they stop around Riley’s waist. He watched as racer after racer jumped overhead. Each jump more stylish than the next. The audience was literally jumping to their feet. A chirp issued from the loud speakers. The screens around the stadium flickered. Nympha was on screen. Clasped in her hand was a shining box. A set of slot machine reels were spinning wildly within it.

Announcer said “The first power up has been retrieved. It… it’s … it’s a thunderbolt!”

Ran’s eyes bulged as he saw black clouds gathered overhead. A huge bull’s eye was forming underneath the hovercraft. “RILEY! Speed boost. SPEED BOOST!”

The giant dome around the forest came in view a lot sooner than Breeze had expected. Had they expanded the field once again? The paintball arena was always changing, thanks to the patronage of the army here which also meant that it was impossible to get used to. She was quite looking forward to seeing what the field had in store this time- would there be simple pitfall traps? She remembered luring a hapless soldier into one the last time she played with Est's buddies. Unfortunately, she hadn't been on Est's team that time, and had ended up losing miserably.

"Are you seriously going to slaughter these poor people?"

Breeze patted the armored hand on her shoulder, only grinning in response. "I'll make sure there are no casualties, don't you worry there." She snuck a glance at Est, smile widening and latching onto the sniper. "Since we're picking teams already, I'm with Est!" As much as she loved and trusted the soldier, she wasn't risking getting hit in the face again. He got intense when he gets a gun in his hand.

She started on the explanations of the different types of guns, but was quickly distracted by the loud bang that resulted in a very nice pink splotch on the wall. "Ah, don't mind that. It'll come off with a spot of water." She went to help the girl from the floor, patting her down and taking the large gun from her. "This is one of the heavier ones, so the recoil is super strong. I wouldn't recommend this one to beginners like you guys. Perhaps something and smaller on that end of the table would be better? But we should suit up first! Weapons can come after. Est's more knowledgeable on that topic than I am anyways."

She led the humans to the very large arrays of clothes separated by sizes. "They're colour coded," Breeze pointed out the wide array of colors in each box, "and I pick blue because Est looks so good in it!" She cheered, plopping a blue-visored mask that looked rather like a lighter and sleeker version of a motorcycle helmet onto the soldier's head. "So you guys will either get red, pink, yellow, green, purple... The reason for all of these colors is that often there are more than two teams when soldiers come here to run drills. Did I mention that the army comes here to train?" As she spoke, Est had taken off his jacket. Breeze picked up a blue jacket-esque piece of armor and was fitting it onto Est as the humans watched so that they would know how to suit up.

"It's partly why there's no fee, since it's funded by the army. Kind of a way to get the people more friendly with the soldiers, yes? Not that the soldiers themselves aren't sweethearts. And then this strap goes here, it's a tricky part." She had loosely strapped on boot covers onto Est's legs, making him turn his leg so that the others could get a clearer view of how it was strapped on.

"The other pieces of clothing should be simple enough to figure out. Changing rooms are over there if you want some privacy, and there are lockers to leave your stuff in. If you need more sizes, feel free to ask Siven there-" She pointed out to the soldier who had poked his head into the room when he had heard the gun go off. He made a 'who me?' gesture, which Breeze nodded to. "We'll go over rules after everyone's ready. And how shall we divide the teams? Humans vs. The Best Team Ever? Or does someone want to come with us?"

The Hoverboard Tournament:

Even though she had managed to avoid pushing Ran overboard, Riley's ears were still a bright red. Talk about embarrassing! On the bright side, she probably wouldn't see these Nobodies again. The girl wobbled then looked to Jay, "I got it, I got it. Just go focus on the race." She waved dismissively, nearly tipping the hoverboard onto its side. "Whoa! I mean, I meant to do that," the girl grinned. "If you place last, your fans will be pretty upset."

Toby was still hanging upside down but the metal straps around his ankles kept him in place. He puffed up his cheeks childishly then nodded. "Yeah! You can't just let them down. We're okay, we're tougher than we look, right Ran?"

Jay shrugged before pushing Toby upright. "We have these races all the time, winning isn't such a big deal."

Someone from the crowd squealed before the sound of even more giggling reach them, Japhet was absolutely buried in flailing limbs. "He stopped to help those new people! Kyaaaa, kind and good looking, he's the complete package!"

Riley chuckled, but before the girl could say anything someone crashed into her, sending the hoverboard zipping forward at immense speeds. Riley let out a yelp and before she knew it, they were stuck in a downward spiral. She turned her head to see Ran, he was holding onto her for dear life. "What the hell, Ran?" Her eyes widened and she leaned back in order to stop their fall. "We don't have any parachutes!" She stepped down on the glowing blue button near the board's center and they froze, upright and unharmed. Well, until Ran began yelling. The girl's eyes landed on the giant screen and she let out a squeak, "hold on tight, gramps!" She managed to see Toby out of the corner of her eyes and thankfully one of the kinder contestants was trying to help keep him out of trouble. "We'll meet up with the others later. Now...WE FLY!"

The hoverboard wasn't exactly built for two and as a result they zipped downwards instead of up. "No! NO! RAN." If she could, she would have pointed a finger at him. "If we die it's your fault--GODS!" Lightning flashed in front of them and Riley leaned back, the hoverboard flipping upside down once more. Ugh! If this was how the entire race went then she'd be sick before they even got halfway.

No, they wouldn't just quit. "Ran," Riley sucked in a breath of air. "Try stepping on some of those glowy things, the ones near the end of the board." She stepped down on the center button and once again they were upright. "I'll handle the speed!" This time she stepped on the button near the board's edge and they zipped forward, the wind whipping at their faces. They could see Ace and Lavi not too far ahead, mini cannons were shooting at them and they were quickly approaching a giant ramp.

"Oh look, it's Ace--SHIT!" A ball hit her in the back of the head and Riley stepped down on the button hard. The hoverboard made a creak before they were propelled forward. It went so fast that they zipped right past Ace and Lavi and onto the ramp. The board was nearing the edge and soon there was screaming.



"Mhm," Lavi took a bite out his chocolate bar then leaned to the left, he managed to make dodging obstacles look almost effortless. The Nobody took one last mouthful before he stuffed the chocolate bar into his coat pocket and caught a ball between both of his hands. "You wouldn't want it to leave a mark."

Dark rain clouds were forming overhead and lighting tried to strike at some of the hoverboards. A blur of orange and brown zipped past, all flailing limbs and terrified screams. "Hey, look, it's your friends--ooh." The Nobody scrunched up his nose when he noticed they had leaped off the ramp, hopefully they would manage to keep themselves on the board. "Don't fly to high!" He cupped both hands around his mouth, looking all upset. "The higher you go, the easier a target you become." He doubted they heard him over the screaming and he shrugged.

Ri had managed to get quite a head start, and most of the beginners fell off when Ran had made a scene.

"Keep your knees bent, the lower your center of gravity, the harder you are to topple over!" Lavi gave Ace another grin then zoomed towards the ramp. He made the jump seem effortless then slowed down to wait for Ace, it was clear that he wasn't in it to win it.

Several riders had identified Ran and Riley as the weakest link and soon the wobbly duo were surrounded.

It was raining now and Lavi clucked his tongue in response. "I think we should help your friends out, yes? He watched as the riders circled around the poor humans like hungry sharks. They were attempting to knock the duo off and onto the invisible net, "it would be the polite and morally correct thing to do."

The sky only continued to grow darker.

The Paintball Field:

Leila agreed and Harper lit up. "We'll show Inadi what we're capable of," he narrowed his eyes at his friend then smiled. They were all growing close, and even Ran and Toby had become a part of their dysfunctional family. Moments like this (where they were all happy) were ones Harper cherished.

The boy heard Breeze explaining and turned to look at her, she was putting on various equipment and showing them how it was done.

A shot resounded throughout the room and he flinched, turning around to see Leila on the ground and a pink spot on the wall. Breeze helped her up then suggested they use lighter guns. His eyes went to a few pistols and smaller rifle, it reminded him of the SSF.

Jasper was starring intently at Breeze, probably to make sure they got all the safety rules down, and Lesley, he was admiring the paint on the wall. He placed a hand on Leila's shoulders and beamed. "Hey look, we've got an artist." The pink-haired man couldn't help but laugh, she was just like a cute puppy. He made a mental note to look after her when the game started. Speaking of the game, Est and Breeze were on the same team...





"Now, now, that wouldn't be very fair, would it?" One of the soldiers waltzed in, he was in a red visor and vest. It was Aiden, the demolition man from the 12th platoon. "And by best team, you mean the red team, right?" He flashed them all a cheeky grin then waved at both Est and Breeze. "Fancy seeing you two here, I thought the Lieutenant had you guys on guide duty--oh, top of the mornin' to ya, humans." He bounced on the heels of his feet, tipped his hat, and gave them all a gentlemanly bow. "Lizzie and I wanted to get some training done, talk about timing, aye?"

He sauntered towards the humans and slung an arm around both Lesley's and Inadi's shoulders. "Speaking about timing, I hear you're going against Berit? It's a good thing Lizzie and I arrived or oh boy...you'd spitting paint for cycles to come. Not to worry, you can join our team." For a soldier, he seemed quite childish. The man nodded his head. "Yes, yes, the blue team can't compare, right Lizzie?"

"It's Lizbeth," she ignored her fellow soldier's words then nodded at the humans in greeting. "Est, Breeze, good to see you both." she didn't say anything else, it didn't look like she was much of a talker.

Aiden's lips quirked up in amusement, "oh, where are my manners. Aidan's the name, don't forget it soooo tall girl with pink hair, shorty, and..." he jabbed a finger in Leila's direction, "pale girl, you three will be with us. Let's give private Berit and Mrs. Berit a run for their money, yeah?" There was a flash of competitiveness in the nobody's eyes. "Or if you'd rather, we can have three teams and Lizzie and I can kick your butts to next Saturdusk."

He didn't really give the humans a chance to answer and soon he was shoving weapons into their hands.

Aiden gave Harper's vest a tap and a health bar appeared on his shoulder. "Give your vests a tap. If it reaches zero then you're out of the game, it's simple enough." He grabbed a few pain grenades and clipped them onto his belt. "C'mon Berit, now's not the time to take a nap!"

Lizbeth turned to look at the humans and Breeze with a cold expression. "Sorry, about him."

"Oi, c'mon! Are you old folks or what? Chop-chop, put some legwork into it."

Harper turned to look at Lesley and Leila then shrugged. Despite Aiden's brash behavior, he was still looking forward to the friendly game. Besides, it was just a friendly game, so what could go wrong?

“Hmmhmm, I got them, don’t worry!” Est chimed in as they were escorted inside the equipment room, “ah, the smell of sweat, distrust and broken friendships with a hint of tears. No wonder this place is one of my favorites! Naw, just kidding. The cheese place is still my number one!” The soldier placed his hands on his hips and laughed cheerfully, seemingly oblivious to the deadly sheen of the weapons laid out on the nearby table. That or he was just so used to seeing them that they were really easy to ignore.

Oh wait, they were splitting into teams? Here he thought all of them were going to fight random players. Well, he didn’t really mind since it was fun either way… “Cool, I have Lady Luck with me! I’m sure to win!” Est affectionately patted the merchant’s hand and faced the humans, most of whom were looking around while waiting for either of them to state the rules. When Breeze walked away to help Leila, it was him who gestured to the table and began to explain.

But yeah, Breeze decided it was a good time to wear the armor and demonstrated how to strap it on with him as the model. He didn’t have an issue with that, but he almost nearly twisted in place when she told him to lift a leg. “Yeah, we come here for training and friendly matches! Great way to build camaraderie or rivalries!” Est’s voice was muffled and slightly huffy thanks to the mask that protected his entire head, and he turned towards the group to give them a thumbs up. “Hey, you should be able to move comfortably in the armor, okay? Don’t wear it if it hurts your armpit, trust me. My first day I did that because I was late for drills and didn’t have time to choose another set… I had sores for a week.”

Just then, a couple of other soldiers entered the room.

“Hey Aidan, hey Lizbeth. We are on guide duty. The best guide duty ever! I’m so happy they’re not snooty little worms,” Est waved back at the nobody who wore his trademark red armor and then nodded at his partner. They were pretty good too, and Lizbeth consistently earned places within the top ten during gunnery exams.

“Let's give private Berit and Mrs. Berit a run for their money, yeah?"

“Hella yeah, me and Mrs. Ber-! Wait… Gwaah!” It was amusing to see the tall soldier stagger back and then try to regain his balance. One can only guess at the color of his face underneath the smooth blue helm. “Ohhh, you’re on, Aidan! I’m gonna stomp on you!” Est raised his fist in the air and shook it at the energetic soldier, with the casual drawl in his voice gone and replaced with something far more rushed. “Yes, what he said. Don’t worry, if your health reaches zero, the vest will trigger a protective barrier that will protect you from all hostiles as you make your way out of the arena. Now c’mon, we got a bug to squash!” The soldier let out a semblance of a war cry and rushed after Aidan and Lizbeth.
He returned a few minutes later, apparently having forgotten to pick a gun. Est promptly chose a long, sleek weapon that was obviously meant for long-distance to mid-range firing. “Ei, c’mon! Just pick whose side you’re on and go after me!” He waved at them and ran out of the equipment room, through a wide metallic hallway that no doubt led to the starting stage.

Ace easily managed to go over the bar easily. There was no tricks. She just wanted to keep centered. She hovered along, looking up when she noticed the dark clouds forming overhead. She raised an eyebrow as lightning formed and began knocking unlucky contestants down. "Well, this is exciting." Seeing Ran and Riley zooming past made her huff a little. She was starting to get a little more competitive- more so because of the girly named Ri, but she could only laugh when she heard her friends screaming in terror.

She looked over as Lavi caught another ball, and then grinned a little deviously. "Can I borrow that?" He gave a curious look but handed her the ball before zooming past her to make the ramp. Ace took his advice, even managing to do a cool skateboard trick in the process. "Sweeet!" She applauded herself before realizing the crowd cheered as well. But her attention turned to her Riley and Ran up ahead as Lavi spoke about morals and helping. "Aw man....I was going to use this ball to hit Ri." But, she couldn't just let her friends be attacked like that.

"Alright Lavi. Your turn to be impressed." She smirked and held the ball in her right hand, holding out her thumb with her left. "There's seven of them... This should work for at least...four." Lavi rode next to her, now more confused. Jay had been pushed away by Riley so he decided to go along and help Toby. The one helping him decided to grab a head start while others were distracted by the two that were causing trouble. "Aim, and...Fire!" She hurled the ball towards the group. It hit someone right in the face, making him fall off his board and knock someone off theirs. "Twooo, annnd-" When it hit the first, the ball bounced and hit a hoverboard causing that person to spiral out of control into another. Comically, the person that was hit tried to grab on to a third, causing three of them to fall. "Five! Now that was just good luck!"



"W-Wow. Impressive. That is most certainly a new trick." He looked around to see the shocked faces of the crowd. The two were on either side of Ran and Riley as they tried to get situated again. "I hope you two are alright?" Lavi easily maneuvered away from the unsteady and chaotic duo. "Sir, whatever happened to your hoverboard? I've never seen someone share theirs before. You humans are quite an interesting group." He chuckled and watched as Ace sped forward, finding the speed boost. With a small bow, he departed from the two to catch up with Ace.

The redhead didn't know why he took interest in helping her, but she didn't mind it too much. Lavi was pretty helpful after all. "I found the speed boooossst!" Ace yelled and speed forward again. Lavi chuckled and followed her, much more casually. He pointed forward and called over to Ace.

"Heads up, you have a items box headed your way."

"Item box?" Sure enough, Ace ran right into a shining box, knocking the air out of her lungs for a brief moment. "Ow..." She coughed and looked down at the box in her grasp. Ace came to a decent speed and she watched as the image in the box spun around like the lottery machine. When it stopped, it showed a big red button- and the box evaporated into an actual big red button. "What's this do?"

"Uh oh! It looks like trouble for the leaders!"

The announcer yelled out in excitement, but that didn't help Ace figure out what it was. Lavi decided to help her. "That button in your hand sets off traps towards the front. It hinders whoever has the lead, but only for 15 seconds . So you don't have too much time to catch up." That devious smile returned to Ace's face.

"Alright gramps, keep up!"

Lavi pouted a little and crossed his arms, speeding up when she did. "I have you know, I'm in my late twenties. I'm nowhere near a gramps!" Ace only laughed in response before pressing the button down. When she did, it disappeared.



"Ah, Lavi. Always have to be the nice one. I don't see why he wastes his time helping those guys." She had spotted him on the screen a few times around the others, especially when he and Ace stopped a swarm of contestants. Well, either way, only one could be number one and she planned to be just that.

Until a large fan appeared out of nowhere and sent her and a few others backwards. Ri let out a yelp of surprise and was sent toppling backwards. Fortunately, at the last minute her straps caught her feet- but that didn't stop her from spiraling out of control when the cannons appeared and hurled those blue dodge balls at them.

Ace saw the collision on screen and grinned. "Man, I love this race." Thanks to Riley and Ran, a lot of the contestants had fallen behind. Some were knocked off their board, and some were just too pensive to be around the dangerous duo. And thanks to Ace, even the people in the lead were having a hard time. She wasn't even racing to win at the time, she was just having fun- and she wanted to mess with Ri for being slightly condescending towards them. Both so far had been accomplished. Somewhere earlier in that time frame, the lightning had stopped as well.

"You've witnessed it first hand folks! This is the most intense and chaotic tournament we have had in history!"

The entire time Inadi had been spending getting himself prepared for the paintball he couldn't help but feel like he was getting into some kind of really stupid beauty contest between the groups that frequented this place. All Inadi wanted was to have a little bit of fun, and here it was becoming a serious competition it seemed. Letting out a sigh he picked up a smaller gun compared to the one that he had received from the new soldier that just threw one into his chest.

Readjusting his uniform that he had some trouble getting on in the first place Inadi looked over to the others and couldn't help but feel worried for Leila. She shot that one round from the first gun she saw and it looked like she had been pulled back on a bungee cord. Granted now she had a much smaller one in comparison so it shouldn't have the same affect, the idea still gave him concern. He would hate to see her hurt while playing an innocent game like this. He hoped that whoever was on her team after the final decisions were made would watch out for her.

Thinking about teams made Inadi realize that he also needed to choose one for himself. At this point the desire to challenge Lesley was gone as his dream had been realized of seeing that pink hair of his changed to another color. Now there was no real urging feeling from him to keep his challenge open and risk the embarrassment of whatever Lesley would have made him do. Who knows what it would be anyway. Lesley was always one of the more creative types in the group and it would certainly just turn out bad for him regardless of what the end result would be.

Deciding to ask Harper and Lesley their opinion, he slung the gun he had taken around his shoulder. “So considering all the new elements that just decided to join us, should we make this guides versus us humans or what? At this point I think it would be best for us to continue working as a group in this kind of exercise,” Inadi explained his thinking with a smile on his face. “Besides, if we can beat the military of this city than that means we are getting a lot better at the whole fighting thing I think.” He said while his grin still showed brightly.

Giving another quick look to Leila he decided to give her a quick check up considering her tumble she had earlier. He walked over to her and gave her a quick pat on the shoulder to get her attention. “Hey, that thing gave you a pretty bad kick there. Nothing feels off does it?” He asked her, hoping that nothing would be wrong. Granted the medical supplies in this place were great and his ankle felt like a million bucks after that shot. However it would be terrible to see anyone else get hurt here by accident. Inadi was a klutz as it was anyway. Maybe it was contagious and he was infecting the rest of the group like the plague. He chuckled to himself at the idea.

“I'm sure the little doctor's office we went to could fix you up with that cool nano stuff they got if you needed it. On me it worked like a charm I have to say,” He told her as he lifted his pant leg up to show his ankle to her. The swelling was gone, the color was normal and it had full movement in it as he wiggled the foot around to show how far it had come. It honestly looked like he hadn't messed it up at all in the first place. “Who knows what else they can do here. Maybe I should just keep coming back here every time I get hurt on the journey, huh Jasper? Considering how many times I needed you to heal me in Sol I could use about 20 syringes of that nano stuff.” Inadi joked as he looked back at the other pale skinned woman in the group. Truth be told Inadi wouldn't mind taking a few of those things back with him. They'd shorten a lot of healing time that was to be sure. Heck he could probably use some for after this paint ball match since Inadi had a strange feeling they would be feeling it after this was all said and done.

No sooner than they had set foot inside the clinic that catastrophe strolled on in right after them. The moment the doctor hurried off to fetch his so called nano-tech to "test" on Inadi, Lesley had managed to knock down an entire shelf of glass bottles that contained fluids of what they did not know. Upon declaring his determination to get to the mess cleaned, Lesley mistakenly took one step too far and ended up slipping and landing smack dab in the center of the liquid puddle. It was apparent that the cacophonous ruckus caught the attention of all the employees who urgently rushed to the scene; Doc was already back holding his healing device.

He shouted orders to get the pink haired man cleaned up as well as called in a bot to mop up the mess. Jasper had to admit that the little guy was rather adorable. When Lesley returned, his hair had been transformed into a dark, jet black with hints of his original hair color peeking through. Despite the transformation, he still looked gorgeous in her eyes yet the man didn't seem to approve of the change and ended up sobbing on her shoulder. Patting his back, she was eyeing Inadi who was struggling to suppress laughter and in his attempts, a scarlet hue was beginning to take over the shading of his cheeks.

Alas, his humor morphed instantaneously into slight worry as Doc proceeded to prepare him for the injection. Jasper was cringing slightly, but tried to stay strong for Inadi who was also trying to stay positive. Soon enough, the needle was in and his leg was restored to its former functions. Returning his high-five, they thanked Doc and continued on their way to the Paintball Field.

~~~~~~~~

As they entered the arena, in which the match was going to take place, Jasper couldn't help but feel like they were walking into "Hunger Games". The giant dome, the greenery, the landscape. Harper was right, it did look intense. A soldier greeted them immediately and brought them to the equipment room. Paintball guns of all sizes were displayed on racks and on the tables. Biting her lip, she was about to ask to suit up first, but Leila had already gotten her hands on one of the larger guns and shot accidentally, the poor girl being sent down to the ground like a rag doll. Breeze lent Leila a hand and suggested they put on some protective gear first and Jasper let out a sigh of relief. After getting all her "armor" on, two new faces entered the equipment room. The soldier in red suggested that they split 50/50 with some humans on Est and Breeze's side and he (Aiden) took his picks on Lesley, Leila, and Harper.

Latching onto Inadi, he was suggesting that they do humans versus guides, but she shook her head profusely. "I don't think that's fair game and I'd bet we'd definitely be needing tons of that nano stuff after a match against them," she replied worriedly. "Since they're (Lesley, Leila, Harper) already with Aiden and Lizbeth, I think it's a good idea we team up with Est and Breeze." The soldiers, having been trained not to waste time, were already in the metallic hallway which branched into multiple passages around the stadium to allow teams to begin in separate sections.

Est and Breeze led them farther down the corridor opposite of the other team and eventually turned into on of the inner passages which had an alloy door clasped shut at the end with the label "Bay 04" written across it.



The four of them lined up with Est and Breeze at the front, her and Inadi close behind them. Est had reached over and pushed a button on the side of the wall that read "Ready" after everyone on the crew double checked their equipment and suits. A woman's voice spoke out saying, "Blue Team. Ready." More than likely, the other team was at a different bay still preparing to press the button, but also hearing the same announcement. Jasper's heart was racing as she clutched her paintball gun across her chest. It was a medium size and the most lightweight one she could find. Just in case, she also strapped a pistol to her hip. Breath fogging up the clear of helmet every time she exhaled oxygen, she almost had a heart attack and the same female voice said, "Red Team. Ready. The match will begin in... 5." The albino's ears were ringing with anxiety. "4... 3... 2." Beads of sweat were rolling down her brow and her blinking went rapid. "...1." The metal door parted at the center with an exhale, exposing the forest like terrain. Upon cautiously making their way onto the battle field, the entrance locked shut behind them and Jasper's heart dropped down to her stomach and a wave of nausea hit.

The opposing team could literally be anywhere and she was panicking in anticipation of crossing paths with one. The transparent part of her helmet had befogged and she clicked a button beneath the jaw section which sent a gust of cool air inside that decondensed her view. Turning to her allies she aimed a question at Est and Breeze, "What's the game plan?"

Eventually reemerging from his sullen grieving, he dragged his weight along with the group as they headed for the paintball arena. Clutching handfuls of black hair in his hands, he castigated them with pupils filled with hatred. He'd been wearing a frown the entire walk and now the muscles around his jaws were aching. Massaging them, melancholy still evident in his posture and saddened expression, he quirked up a bit at the sight of the paintball dome. "Wow! This is awesome!" He cheered as he jogged into the equipment room in childlike excitement. Lesley was notorious for his caprice and the way he was bouncing around definitely did not reflect how he had been sulking earlier.

Flitting about the room, he "Oohed" and "Aahed" at all the guns and equipment. He let out a surprised shriek as a boisterous bang plunged down his ear canal and simultaneous with the noise came an accidental paint splatter of pink by his right side. Wide eyed, he twirled around to see Leila sprawled across the floor with a large gun a little ways from her and he let out a chuckle. Breeze suggested that they get suited up before picking out weapons and he agreed. as they entered another room that contained a colorful selection of protective apparel, a pair of soldiers also entered the scene. The male dressed in a red uniform was pretty upbeat and suggested that Leila, Harper, and himself should be on his team. Shrugging, he hooked Harper and Leila with his arms, a wide grin displayed on his face. "Ohhh, this gun' be good!"

Strapping up, he assisted Leila with the safeguard attire as well. Plopping a red helmet over her head, he velcroed it down and smiled at her through the transparent glass. "How's the fit? Comfortable?" Giving her a light pat on the back, he went back to the gun room and selected two small pistols. Lesley figured they'd be easy to carry around and shoot with though not as far-ranged as the other guns. Seeing as the others were already making their way into the dome entrance hall, he rushed right after his designated group with giddy anticipation. Elbowing Harper to brighten up the kid's worried look, he nodded at them reassuringly. Turning into one of the connected passages, they came upon a giant metal door that read 'Bay 09'. The soldiers told them to reinspect their gear before he jammed a palm onto the red button to their right. The other group was ready before them and it had been announced on the intercom.

"Woot! Are you guys ready?" He asked in an upbeat tone while he jogged on spot as the metal door parted with a warm gust of air. "Let's go!"

Leila took a couple of moments wondering how a fractured arm bone was supposed to “come off with a spot of water”, only to later have to remind herself that Breeze probably didn’t know of the ominous indications of her evaluation of the weapon’s power and was instead referring to the inkblot that now spanned the wall.

She muttered chains of apologies and thanks and reassured that she was alright to those who came over to help her, while struggling to get back onto her feet, grabbing onto the nearby chair for support. To her relief, it did seem like that little tumblr didn’t do any significant damage to her body.

She’s also never been called an artist, for one thing. She also stared very hard when Inadi showed her his now perfectly healthy ankle - it might have been possible to notice her tentative gesture to try to pull the ankle closer for inspection, yet did not eventually do so for a number of reasons - including that she would probably have cause Inadi to topple over on the one leg on the ground if she did, and how the mental image of her holding and intensely looking at a perfectly normal ankle didn’t seem exactly coherent.

* * * * *

"Woot! Are you guys ready? Let's go!"

The scene that lay beyond the metal doors made walking through the gates feel like walking from one world into another.

The treetops of the forest could be seen from outside the dome, yet it was a completely different feeling to be submerge in it. Back home Leila read of forests in tropical places, where trees grew to unimaginable heights, forestation dense and diverse enough for each vertical layer of the environment to almost sustain its own brand of ecosystem - and she wondered if this was how one of those looked like back on earth for she had never seen one herself. She wandered upon the thought of the possibility that the doors didn’t actually open up to ground level, and they were instead walking on yet another layer of treetops that was dense and sturdy enough.

The air was saturated with moisture and carried scents that carried connotations to dirt, greenery, fungi, and what’s left of sunlight that reached the ground level. The feeling of the high military boots sinking slightly into the decomposing ground differed greatly from that of walking on the metal floors behind the bay doors.

The teams they eventually settled on had her with Harper and Lesley along with two other soldiers. She was placed at the very left side of the group, and she looked to her right to see the other members of the team - a sight that she found helpful even if she couldn’t really see their faces clearly through the helmets.

She glanced towards her shoulder to see a row of lights glowing in a healthy shade of green. The part about the force field technology seemed almost sufficiently reassuring if you left out the part about the health bar reaching zero and that all the theoretical processes Leila knew that would possibly create force fields had a considerable possibility of producing instabilities with potentially catastrophic results.

Deciding that that was probably not the best thing to be thinking about at the moment, Leila refocused her attention on the environment around her. It was a rather complex scene, and she found it difficult to filter out the potentially useful information from the noise. What seemed like the cries of birds echoed throughout the forest from time to time, and occasionally the shorter bushes would ruffle and have her almost jump back a few steps before the cause would be revealed to be some sort of seemingly harmless creature. The entire area seemed to be inhabited by such beings - Leila came to wonder how this place, as large as it is, was supposed to be maintained; or, otherwise, that its self-sustainability was a feat. What actually was, she decided, probably lay somewhere in between. Then again, after all she had seen in the City, she couldn’t really be sure whether all the life in here was actually organic.

Leila kept her hands wrapped firmly around the paintball gun. It seemed like one of the guns that were smaller in size and lighter - such that it was a reasonable size and weight for her to operate. She never got to test out the weapon, but was fairly confident she knew how to use it. She kept it pointed at any direction where there things seemed to be moving, and always making sure that it was rested stably upon her hand and shoulder every time her finger moved near the trigger, having learnt what to expect from a firing paintball gun.

Thus she marched forwards, slowly, along with the other members of the group, while constantly monitoring what was happening around them. She was told that the objective was to defeat the opposing team, which - apparently - could not be achieved without locating their members first. So where -

just as she thought that, the advance of the group halted as they all cast their sight and trained their weapons in the same direction - to their left. Leila stepped backwards so that she didn’t obscure the line of sight from Harper, Lesley and the two soldiers; but did so as swiftly and silently as possible as they their attention focused on the area some distance away, behind some chunks of greenery: ruffling, but with an identifiable pattern, and apparently caused by something larger than the little critters that they’ve previously encountered.

She felt her body react instinctively towards the imminent threat - even if she knew this was no more than a game - and when she asked only in a whisper the voice didn’t feel like her own:

”Are those...”

Her question was cut short for a moment, for what emerged from behind the ruffling leaves was beyond any of her speculations. Yet the sentence was then continued, in a way that consisted a very different set of implications:

”...hostile?”