Pete began to move away as Sarah spoke to him and he grinned slightly, shaking his head as she slid her hands down his body. There was an odd feeling when someone suited touched you, whether you were suited or not (which Pete currently wasn't). It was almost a forced arousal and no matter what, whether Pete didn't know the person, detested them, or had no attraction to them sexually, it left his body tingly and his blood stirring.
"
I hate when you're so dismissive. It's not a waste of time, we could use them."
He stood up and followed her lead and as he moved to the locker and grabbed his own gear, he looked over at the black, suited man again. "
Derrick, can you help them for...a few minutes while we do this?"
Derrick looked around oddly at the group after Pete asked him that question, and Thomas didn't really understand what the look was about. After that, Thomas looked around also and as he was looking from person to person, Derrick responded. "
Yeah man, I got this."
"Wait, you two aren't going anywhere." A long haired, somewhat slovenly looking guy stood up and seemed annoyed, understandably so. "You better tell us what the fuck is going on and where we are. This isn't fucking funny."
If Sarah and Pete heard him yelling, they ignored it as they walked into one of the two rooms off to the side.
Sarah simply flashed him a wide grin before glancing over to the sobbing girl in the corner.
"
Oh yea.... totally not a waste of time. I'm sure they'll do great."
Derrick closed the door to the room behind him.
Outside, one of the many people who had just found themselves in a strange new place had slid over to the girl sobbing in the corner. The skinny arabian looking guy
was trying to calm the girl
and get her to show her face and speak to him. He wasn't making much headway at the moment, but at least he was trying in comparison to the others still sitting around confused. Over by Thomas and the guy who yelled at Pete, a plain looking brunette was sitting up, still looking around in confusion
.
"
So... wait a minute. What did that guy mean? We have to suit up and kill things... and we're dead? That doesn't make sense." She used the wall to steady herself as she stood up, now looking to the one person in the room who didn't seem confused - Derrick.
"
What was that guy talking about? You must know what's going on... why are you wearing that suit? Why was that girl wearing one of those suit things? What is this place?"
It was a lot of questions, but at least it was focused. The timer on the wall was still ticking down after all. Some people simply dealt with the shock differently than others.
Again, Derrick looked over at the brunette and seemed to size her up. Immediately, he thought that from the new group, this brunette and the other guy who'd asked about the time would be the biggest assets. They weren't shaken up too much and seemed curious and to be trying to grasp things.
"
Look, we can talk about some things after. You see the clock, that's how much time we have. You're going to get on a suit, then you're going to go to the computer and pick a suit type. I can help you. What he said was true. These suits are cool and all, but..." He took a deep breath and thought for a moment. This part NEVER went over well with the new guys.
"The suits are stronger if you put them on, and engage in some kinda sex. I know it sounds crazy. But. It is what it is."
The long haired guy got up and threw his arms into the air. "Oh, no no. That sounds about right. Die, have sex, kill shit. Just another day. What's crazy about that?"
Thomas shook his head and stood up, looking at the brunette to assess her reaction. He forced his mind to focus on the now, but in the back of his mind, he realized something was true. He had died. It was there, almost trying to push its way to his forethoughts, but he was fighting it down and concentrating. He moved over to the locker which, strangly enough, had his first and last name on it. He opened it and there was indeed a black suit in there. "
So. Derrick, right? And I'm Thomas by the way. I just. Put on the suit? And it works?"
It was then that another voice spoke up and another female spoke up
. "This...this can't be fucking for real. Is this some like, reality show? Are we being punked?" She started to look around for cameras at that point.
The sobbing girl was still sobbing... only now she seemed to be continually repeating something unintelligible, jumbling it up while the nerdy looking guy tried to cradle her face. She swatted him away and came up with a somewhat crazed look.
"Don't fucking touch me! Don't touch me!"
Melissa watched her for a moment. If any of this was true... maybe that girl who went in the room was right. Some people were simply hopeless from the get go. She quickly moved away from the angry man and the screaming girl towards the man in the suit.
"
But what do you mean suit type? And how would that make it stronger? It's just a suit..." She was obviously and somewhat understandably unsure about the whole sex power up concept. She walked over to the locker with her name and touched the name plate... picking at it momentarily to see if it readily separated. Perhaps like Thomas there was a certainty within her that she was in fact dead, and so needed to listen to someone else who knew what was happening.
When the newest girl, Melissa started going on about being on a show, the brunette turned and watched her for a moment, notably scanning the room herself. She certainly didn't want to look like an idiot, but to some degree she'd bought in to the story already. She opened the locker and ran her hand along the material of the suit, frowning in thought.
Derrick just shook his head at what he considered the craziness behind him, seeming to forget the fact that during his first game, he wasn't that well adjusted either. In fact, if it weren't for Sarah and Pete having their shit together, and a little bit of luck, he wouldn't have lived. In fact, he was extremely lucky. If he knew one thing about those two, it was that they would do whatever it took to live. And if it came down to saving Derrick himself at the cost of putting themselves in extreme danger, he knew they'd have let him die with on hesitation.
And now that he'd survived a few games himself, not only was he aware of this, but he didn't blame them. Not in the least.
"
Ok, slow down. Start putting them on first. We don't have a lot of time." Most of the group, besides those not walking around fuming or on the floor crying, looked up at the clock at that point.
Well, it wasn't a clock. It was a timer. Big difference.
"
These suits give you your weapons when we leave here, and they give you some powers. You'll be a bit faster, stronger, that kinda shit. But they have other abilities but they have to be juiced up, like they said."
As Derrick spoke, Thomas stuck his arm inside the sleeve and...felt nothing. He looked over at Derrick, but before he could ask, the suited man spoke up. "
You have to be naked, fully."
In the corner the red head finally slapped the arabian guy away enough that he got sick of her and gave up in defeat. With a distinct frown on his face he stood and headed towards the group to hear what they were talking about.
The brunette stared at Derrick wide-eyed for a moment as though he'd told them to cut off a toe... but it made sense really. She quickly looked back to the suit realizing it simply didn't make sense to attempt to put on a suit like that while still wearing clothes really. She still wasn't sure about all of this, but doing her best she guarded herself with the door of her locker and pulled out the suit, using it as a bit of a cover as she did her best to remove her shirt.
There was a certain degree of panic or anticipation laced through her veins. She could tell her hands were shaking some and she became immensly aware of her pounding heart.
The arabian guy spoke up in a huff. "What are you doing? Really... you're going to listen to these people? This is insane... we've been kidnapped. We've all been kidnapped and someone is going to know that we are gone! These... these people are probably in on it! They act like they know so much, but that's just because they are part of all of this!"
Behind them all the redhead had finally gotten off of the floor and was somewhat assisting the other girl in the search for cameras, but also occasionally beating on the walls screaming, trying to get someone to hear her.
Thomas took it all in and looked around again. If it wasn't for that certainty that he knew something had happened prior to him being here, he would be more doubtful. But, he knew. Knew he should be dead. Not here.
The brunette hadn't given her name, but that didn't matter right now to Thomas as he and her both moved to put on their suits. Well, actually, to strip first. The woman dressed shyly and modestly while Thomas just took his stuff off quickly and threw it into his locker. He had gone to bootcamp and gotten dressed by the numbers. He showered in open showers with over 50 guys are times. This was nothing.
What WAS something was the feeling of the inside of the suit as it contacted his skin. It felt...alive, or energized, or...something. He couldn't quite put a term to it. He zipped it up and looked himself up and down quickly. He noticed Derrick was looking at him, and both of them avoided looking at the female out of some sense of modesty.
"
Hey, I know you two think we're kidnapped, being pranked or whatever, but in the interim, how about you put this stuff on in the event that one or two things they've said is true?"
"Oh, how about in the interim, you go fuck yourself. You look like a gay, retarded power ranger, you dumb fuck."
Thomas simply shook his head but he noticed that the one lady who'd originally spoke about cameras looked over at Thomas and Derrick, while her eyes lingered on the semi-nude female suiting up for a few long moments. It seemed she was considering the wisdom of Thomas' words.
The arabian obviously wasn't as brazen as the irate man, though he obviously still thought they were all pretty insane. The brunette kept her eyes turned away, somehow sheilding herself through not making eye contact with anyone as she changed. She did pretty well at covering herself... about until the moment when she was actually nude and the last step was putting the suit on.
She quickly realized there wasn't going to be a magical trick that put it on her body while keeping her simultaneously covered. Anyone watching could see her visibly take a breath before just dropping the cover to pull it on. When it first touched her skin she drew back, shivering from the jolt that it sent through her. But now was not the moment to take her time. She was afterall still standing there naked. She pulled it on as quickly and smoothly as she could and quickly zipped it all the way up to the top before crossing her arms over her front as though even in the suit she felt nude.
"
What is going to attack us?" Perhaps it was presumptuous, but if they HAD to kill something, her obvious good nature assumed that it must be because they were going to be attacked by that something.
The arab didn't wait for Derrick to respond though. "Nothing... nothing is going to attack any of us. Why are you listening to these people? Why would you just... take your clothes off... in front of a whole room of people because some man who you've never met before tells you that you have to put this silly little costume on? Does that even sound like it makes sense?"
The drop in her eyes, chewing of her lip, and overall increase in her enclosed appearance made it obvious that his scolding was difficult for her. She wasn't exactly a sure and confident person, but perhaps she'd still be useful. At least she wasn't screaming and beating on the walls.
Derrick looked at the Arab and shook his head, obviously ignoring him. Thomas spoke up however as it was somewhat more of his nature. "
Hey how about you shut the fuck up? If you're not gunna play along or whatever, why don't you go over there somewhere and do it in silence?"
Whether it was the wording, the commanding tone, or the logic, the man didn't respond immediately and just shot Thomas a death look.
Derrick spoke up with an amused smirk on his face. "
What we'll fight, we never know. Come here while we talk." Derrick moved to the computer, leaving the one brunette to finish changing while the other brunette approached her locker and looked inside of it quietly. It was labeled Alexa Jeggins, something that Thomas and Derrick noted as she moved over.
The black man moved to a computer and waited for the female to zip up. The two suited men did look at her once she was suited, and if she felt slightly awkward before, she would feel more so now. The suit clung to her body and seemed to accentuate every curve. The material seemed to shine almost provakatively as she moved. Despite herself, as Alexa looked from the suit, to the female, to the two men, she found herself thinking the same thing about the suits. Even though she was a lesbian and not into men, the 3 of them seemed...seemed to just be calling out to her. She shook her head and pulled her suit out...
As she came over to Derrick and Thomas at the computer, he spoke up. "
We don't know what we'll fight, it changes. I mean, it can be anything. Literally. But ok, this shit is pretty simple. You'll click your name, click a suit. There are brief descriptions. Good default is fighter. Don't worry about powerups and shit right now."
He moved aside to allow access to the computer, then looked at the clock. Just over 13 minutes left. "
Hurry though, we have things to do."
Melissa Shultz (as denoted by her locker), walked over and looked at the computer as Derrick directed, though she seemed incredibly aware and self concious of the strange suit she wore. She had a slightly more curvy figure than Sarah or Brianna Lester - which must be the redhead considering it was the only female named locker left unclaimed at this point. That left an Amir, and one other male locker... and it wasn't too hard to guess which was who's.
Amir goffed at the man who blew him off, but he wasn't about to really participate in this either. He wasn't big or muscular, or anything special... he certainly wasn't going to get in a fight. Instead he turned back to the other girl, trying to get her attention. "Hey... hey... maybe we should check the rooms. There must be an exit somewhere. You've looked all over in here, but not in those doors." That got her quiet and focused enough to look over at the doors where Sarah and Pete had disappered.
Melissa looked at the options on the computer and chewed on her lip nervously. "
I... I don't know. Maybe you should just pick for me. I don't know what I'm doing." Her finger hovered over 'fighter'. It was the one he'd said was kind of the default, but the term itself made her nervous. She'd never fought a day in her life... she certainly didn't expect to be labeling herself a fighter now.
"
Well," Derrick said as he looked her over again. "
If that's the case, do a Comm suit. It'll allow us to talk, but allow you to keep some distance and watch. Get a feel for shit. And you," he said as he looked over at Thomas.
If he had intended to tell Thomas anything, he was quickly cut off as Thomas firmly said as a statement, not a question: "
Shield."
"
Well fuck me, there you have it, Thomas." Derrick didn't speak his mind, but he was never a shield or dreadhead. Not his deal. He wasn't the up close and personal type. He was generally a sniper or a distance based fighter, depending on the group.
Thomas looked over and, be it good timing or bad, he saw Alexa bending over to slide her second foot into the suit. That was when something became obvious, rather awkwardly obvious. He realized the suit did nothing to hide the fact that he was getting hard. He turned his gaze and body elsewhere and to the side, hoping no one noticed.
Derrick saw the name on the monitor and spoke to Melissa and anyone else who'd listen. "
Well, you have to pick your own stuff. No one else is allowed to choose for anyone else, the computer seems to know you and not allow anyone else to make choices for you like that."
Melissa nodded. "
Ok... yea, that... sounds good. If that's what you suggest." She chose the comm option, and lingered only momentarily before getting out of the way, knowing that Derrick was trying to get everyone through this process. Melissa moved to the side, but stayed close, making a point of watching Derrick and Thomas more than anything and avoiding looking at the girl changing, or confronting the arab and the redhead.
The two of them headed to the doors, purposefully not starting at the one that Pete and Sarah had walked in to seeing as how those two seemed more like they were on this 'fuck someone' bandwagon versus the 'find an escape route bandwagon'.
"I'll try this one, you check that one..." Amir told the girl as he opened a door. She was hesitant, but opened another one. Immediately they both recognized that neither door was simply an escape route, but they weren't about to go without investigating. The girl walked in first, more headstrong than Amir really, just more emotionally bound as well. She began to frantically search the room, throwing things and flipping things as she went through them. "There's nothing! It's just a fucking room! (no pun intended lol) There's no door... no window! What the fuck!" Amir, much to his disappointment was finding the same thing in the room that he'd chosen, though his search was gentler and more curious than hers. "There has to be something... keep looking. There has to be a way that they brought us in somewhere..."
As the two looked through rooms, the other man followed behind them out of curiousity. The last locker had the name Bill O'Reilly on it, and it was for this man. He wasn't sure what the hell was going on, but he wasn't about to get naked in front of these people and put on some fucking circus suit. He looked in the room after the redhead, finding her a bit more followable than the other guy, and watched and listened as she threw things around and seemed to go a bit crazy. Maybe this was a reality show made after one of those Saw movies or something. Either way, it wasn't funny, and Bill was getting more and more annoyed.
As that was going on, Thomas moved to the computer and selected the SHIELD suit and then moved down the weapons. He took a moment here and just went with something simple, a sword. He's had training in a few martial arts and some used swords or batons, so this was the safest bet for now. He kept his body angled and to the side as he used the computer, trying to avoid the state of affairs below. Luckily, things started to return to normal as he kept focused.
He finished and noticed that the other female was now suited and approaching. "So, I'm Alexa, in case you wanted to know. I caught some of the deal with this computer thing. Can I take a look?" While the other 3 had watched Derrick, they'd seen some of the types while Alexa was looking at them for the first time now.
While she looked, Derrick spoke up, ignoring the three other people looking through the rooms. "
Ok, so. Now the next part..."
Melissa couldn't help her eyes getting a little big when he said 'the next part'. She assumed he meant the part he kept bringing up about sex... though a small part of her considered that maybe he meant the fighting part too. She hoped that comm really meant that she could be away from most of the fighting. Still, she couldn't imagine any suffering in this game that would have been worse than what she could remember of her last moments in life anyways. She simply didn't respond to him, and if it was possible, wrapped herself tighter in her arms as though if she stood still and quiet it would all go away.
By this time Amir had emerged from the room he was searching and looked at the four of them with a glare of disgust. He walked over to the room that red was tearing apart and sighed. "That is of no use... if you haven't found something already it is obviously not there." He turned and took the door handle to the last remaining door. "They must have gone out through here." The redhead was on her way towards him when Amir opened the door and got an eye full of something he hadn't banked on.
Of course they'd all assumed that the two that walked out to begin with had been exaggerating or putting on a show, but Amir quickly slammed the door shut with a yell when he got an eye full of Pete pounding into Sarah. "Oh my god! What is wrong with this place!?"
Brianna pushed passed him and grabbed the door handle. "What is it?" She forced the door open and gasped quickly, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth and nose in shock and turning her back to the scene.
Bill looked in over the shoulder of Amir and laughed, not shying away at all. "Well someone got a first class ticket to pound town. Maybe this is like, some reality TV porno or something."
He watched and laughed, and Derrick, Thomas and Alexa all looked, getting a view for a quick moment between the bodies at the door. Both men looked on while Alexa blushed heavily and turned away, her eyes moving to Melissa. She'd selected a fighter and as she looked to the door and then Melissa, didn't realize she selected a LIGHT MACHINE GUN for her weapon.
Melissa didn't even try to look at first. everyone was turning away or gasping or yelling and it made her certain that whatever was in that room she didn't really want to see it. She met Alexa's eyes momentarily and it immediately made her feel strange... dirty even. It made her warm and aware and she quickly looked away and tried to find something to distract her. That led her to glancing... which she immediately regretting as she turned beet red and somehow got a flooding feeling of perhaps jealousy. She tried to swallow it down and walked away quickly to the other side of the computer thing, keeping a hand to the side of her face as though to shield herself. "
Close the door! I mean come on!"
Brianna wasn't exactly in a hurry to close the door. In her rush to escape, this turn of events had caught her off guard and made her laugh some. When she finally backed up she made sure to excuse herself with a quick "Don't take too long!" to the busy couple before starting to draw the door shut, her eyes raising to the group of four all dressed up in their suits. "So that.... that is what you do next? You're going to let a complete stranger fuck you while you wear latex... because supposedly when that timer reaches zero.... you'll have to fight something and fucking first is supposed to help?" She couldn't contain the laughter that errupted then and she doubled over before finally squatting down, covering her mouth as she laughed.
"I don't see what is so funny about all of this!" Amir obviously wasn't too keen on losing his partner to laughter fits. "We have been kidnapped! We are being held against our will, and I will not stand for it, no matter what someone might be doing in that room!" He grabbed the door and pushed it open again, this time with more determination. "What if there is an exit through here, are you going to let them stop you from searching just because they are fucking over there? This is ridiculous. I'm searching for the exit!" He stepped into the room, though he stayed to the far side from them for now, trying to make a point of searching the walls for hidden exits despite being seriously distracted by what was going on behind him.
The room seemed to explode into chaos after the door was opened. Derrick looked over the suited group outside and shrugged. "
Look. You all do what you have to do. I'm gunna do the same." He moved through the group and past two outside the room and into the room. Amir was inside already and Derrick hoped he didn't mess up things too badly so that he didn't get to charge his suit--and get a piece of Sarah. Or Pete, he didn't care at this point. Hoping to do damage control, he moved to Amir and roughly grabbed him by the back of the neck. He had a moment to protest before he was literally thrown out of the room and the door was shut behind them.
The room was silent for a moment and Thomas looked up at the timer. He looked over at the two suited females but just felt...odd. He cleared his throat and looked around the room, not wanting to talk to any of them because of the silence.
Bill broke that relative silence and looked over at Amir, laughing softly. "Well, it seems some of us aren't welcome, huh? Ha! I'm gunna just fucking sit and wait for this shit to end. That clock is gunna count down and we're gunna be in front of some audience or some camera and TV host. I'm not getting naked, fucking a stranger or any of that shit. Idiots." With that, he moved over to a corner and laid down, closing his eyes.
Alexa, in the mean time, watched Melissa in between the room craziness. She could see...something was going on with her, but it could be shock or panic. She was into women and could sense things, but nothing about the other woman screamed out "I like vagina" or anything, so she didn't make any immediate move. But, time was ticking down. She looked at Thomas for a moment but she was never into guys, not since she tried things at about 8. But she found herself looking at him a few long moments, moments longer than she'd spent looking at any guy her entire life, and found herself somewhat--No. Hell no. That couldn't be. She looked away quickly to the door, then the redhead and the man laying down.
Her eyes then lingered back to Melissa, and then back and forth between Thomas and her. This didn't feel right. But...it didn't really feel wrong either.
Brianna watched that big ugly hairy man go sit in the corner and just cringed. She wasn't joining him... though she wasn't fond of her little geeky tail either. Instead she stepped towards the other two girls and Thomas. "So you guys buy this? Those three are in there fucking it out like wild animals and you three are standing here in those stupid rubber suits!" For dramatic effect she reached out and pinched the material off of Thomas's arm slightly, catching his skin in the process before letting it snap back. "If you're so in to all of this... why aren't you three just going at it?! I mean... isn't it supposed to give you super powers or something!" She laughed at them mockingly and turned to rub her face and back through her hair in frustration.
Melissa was all to aware at this point of Thomas and Alexa's attentions... even if they were minimal and subtle. Her heart was beating faster and she felt bombarded by everything at this point. Part of her wanted to tear this stupid suit off and hide in the corner and cry, but then she thought about the feeling of being crushed... the pressure in her stomach... the pain. She swallowed the lump in her throat and lifted her eyes, realizing that her nipples were growing hard and visible through the material of her suit.
Thomas opened his mouth to say something but the moment his arm was touched, his mind was shocked into silence. The touch on his arm was something he'd never felt before, he felt electrified. "
Holy shit," he whispered. Before he could even think about it, he found himself embarassingly attentive. Thomas relished in being in control and the shock of his mind being so easily led astray was extremely uncomfortable.
He cleared his throat and fought to control his thoughts for a few moments. In that time, Alexa looked over at Brianna. "I am not sure if it gives anyone anything, but I can sure feel something." She didn't understand that what she said sounded slightly sexual and didn't mean it that way, but it still hung out there.
And quickly, almost too quickly, Thomas replied "
I know what you mean."
Hardly hearing Thomas, Alexa put a hand on Melissa's shoulder and asked "Are you ok?"
The zing that shot through Melissa at Alexa's touch startled her so suddenly that she quickly jerked away, panting softly and staring at the woman wide eyed as though she'd just been assaulted. It took her a second to compose herself enough to swallow the shock and panic and speak again. "
I.. I.. I'm fine. I just... I feel a little funny... that's all." She laid a hand over her chest, feeling her heart thumping against it. But even the warmth of her own hand felt strangely warm and arousing and she quickly drew it away, shaking it off as though she'd placed it in something icky.
Brianna was growing aware that something weird was going on between the three of them, and she'd taken to standing back now and observing them with a twisted look on her face. This is a joke... this is all a joke... and these three are in on it. Obviously fat boy isn't in on it... and neither is alladin... so it must be the six of them playing a joke on the three of us... But why. I don't know these people do I? She tried to think hard of whether she'd ever seen any of them again. When the light hit her... it was sudden and piercingly bright. She pointed a finger straight at Melissa and started laughing slightly.
"You.... you're a teacher or something aren't you? I've seen you before."
Melissa's eyes shot up to Brianna with a mixture of anger and frustration. Part of her wanted to reach out and touch the other suited members... the rest of her wanted to run away as fast as she could.
Thomas watched the reaction of Melissa when she was touched, and he saw it. There was something there, he'd felt the same thing. He watched her jerk away, but it obviously wasn't in pain. It was surprise. Before he could speak, Alexa noticed the reaction and took a step back and cleared her throat awkwardly. "I'm, uh. Sorry. I didn't mean..." It was then that Brianna cut in and asked a question of Melissa.
Thomas growled in irritation, looked at the timer and noted there was less than a minute left. "
Look, talk about that shit later, fuck." He snapped and while he wasn't yelling, his voice had that command presence that had everyone quiet down, for at least a second or two. He then looked at Melissa and stated more than asked, "
You felt that too, didn't you."
Just then the door opened up where the three had been, well, charging their suits. They seemed to be all smiles and either had completed their mission, or were enjoying a joke at the expense of all of them. They were talking to one another, smiling, almost walking with a swagger.
They sure looked like a group of people that just finished having sex, but they didn't at all look like a group of people who were about to embark in a fight to the death.
It was then that he realized something as the people on the outside watched in silence as the timer counted down, and they wondered at what the hell the 3 coming out of the room were going on about.
It was then that Thomas realized that he'd seen the look those three had before. It was how he and his Marines looked before going into combat, and coming out of combat alive.
At that moment, he knew without a doubt, that what they said was true.
And as that thought went through his head, There was a feeling of electricity in the air, and he felt like he was floating, or being lifted off the ground.
Then, everything went black...
