"Alright Vanessa," among her squadmates in a training gymnasium, Kiki was having rope races until everyone arrived, "What are the two methods we use to climb the rope".
Vanessa twirled on her heels with her hands behind her back, "J-hook and cinch methods".
Kiki nodded, "Great! Now Benji, which one do you think is better"?
"J-hook because you're using more of your legs, "Benji stood firm at parade rest.
Kiki nodded, "What do you think Vanessa"?
She looked at her squad standing in their uniform and the ropes, "Well, I think the J method won't work when there are other people on the rope. So I will pick the Cinch one".
"Okay," smiled Kiki, "You're both right. If there is more than one person on the rope, it can be heavy. So it is better to use the cinch. Other times, the J can be your best friend".
A slender brown-skinned girl with red hair ran in, "Sorry. I got on the wrong bus".
Dezzy was chewing gum, "Nana's uniform looks so good on her".
Kiki looked around, "The only one we seem to be missing is Jeff. Nobody knows when he'll come, so we'll go ahead and kick off the introductions before we run this race. Starting with," she held a knife-hand at Nana.
Nana waved, "I'm Nana. My family is from Syria, but I was born in Germany. I mostly play this game for income and to promote my modeling page," she chuckled, "But I also like to just come sometimes and have fun skateboarding or going to festivals. I'm also planning to go to a university after high school where I can study game development. I really love games and that's definitely where I want to go with my life. In this game though, I'm a druid. So I was the one who turned into a hydra and saved you guys. I'm also proficient as a warrior, so I can still hold my own in melee themes. From what me and Kiki discussed prior, you will be in my team with me and Mimi. We are the security element in our squad. Typically we are the first ones in every situation to make sure things are secured for the assault team to do their job. And I will definitely have you as our one-man where you'll get more experience. But don't worry, I will train you so that you can get to the main squad".
A tall darker tan-skinned thick woman was sucking her cheeks in, "I don't know. I'm weird sometimes," she laughed, "Alright, so... My name is Mimi. I'm Dominican and I'll be your DPS unit in the team. I'm a ninja. I don't know what I'm going to exactly study in college yet, I was thinking cosmetology or business. But we'll see. I do have a son. He's my world. Imma show pictures later".
Vanessa was smiling, "What kind of ninja you are"?
"So," Mimi motioned her hands, "You have rogue classes with 'rogue' being the basis of those classes. They evolve into different ones. You have a spy which specializes in espionage. Assassins specialize in weapons and close combat. Ninjas specialize in magic and more ranged combat. I personally use more illusion magic and stay more close range. But I'm still a ninja".
"That's so cool," Vanessa stared at the cute red-head, "I never know".
That redhead stood up shouting, "I, am Dani! The mage bomber! Which means I'm all about blowing people up," this feisty midget kept eye contact, "It's a black magic class and super powerful. You'll see me with mortars in non-magic themes. I'm mostly here as the second team leader until it's time to head off to the pro leagues. My boyfriend is the squad leader, so I will hitch it off with them. And I'll likely be something like a platoon commander then. I don't know," her voice was calmer, but still full of energy, "Anyways, My team is the assault. We'll typically have you guys watch us while we blow something up. I have Hakim and Benji in my team," she jumped, "Oh, I forgot to talk about me. My full name is Daniella Garcia. You will see my brother later. Maybe. I don't know. His name is Jeff. He's a pain. Make sure you ignore him if you want to make it to the pro leagues. We are from Puerto Rico and our parents died when we were young," she breathed in, "Aaaand, I think that's it".
Hakim opened his mouth to speak, but Vanessa commanded, "Skip"!
Benji ignored it all, "I'm Benji, from Cuba. I currently live down in Little Havana. I'm currently a ranger and I'm studying to become a sniper. Buuut, yeah. There isn't much to say. I like this game and people who play it professionally literally retire at the age of thirty. I hear the CD options are a killer for passive income".
Kiki cleared her throat, "I will explain more on that in just a few minutes".
"Alright," an old man with a near completely bald head spoke loud and firm, "First off, I'm the same age as you guys," Vanessa quietly shook her head, "It's true!" he held a hand out, "Why would I lie"?
Vanessa rose her voice, "You have no hair, lots of wrinkles, old skin, and your teeth look bad".
The old-looking guy laughed, "Yo, what's up with this girl"?
Kiki was laughing over, "He really is our age. He soon turn 18. He's from Coco Beach and he is a freelancer. He will be in charge of team three which is our support element. He will have Dezzy and sometimes Jeff in his team".
A white girl with a fat round butt waved with a cheerful smile, "I'm Dezzy. I'm half Cuban and half white. I have a brand new mustang. It's my baby. I do a little bit of modeling as well. The hard thing I've been debating right now is where do I want to go after high school. I can continue my modeling career or I can go to college. I'm definitely going to continue modeling. Whether it be with Onlyfans or just on Instagram, I don't know," she chuckled, "Now I'm an artificer. Magic type. So under certain circumstances with the right gear, I can lay out some powerful magic. Unfortunately, and I will say it, Don't expect much from our team because it's only me and Teddy here half the time".
Dani rose a hand at them, "Don't rely on anything or anyone from that team. They will let you down. I'm serious".
Teddy smiled, "Good luck Vanessa".
Vanessa was smiling, exposing only her gum, "I love this place".
Kiki clapped her hands, "So, Vanessa, tell us about you".
There was a strike against Vanessa's heart that pumped a surge of blood to her head and still couldn't think of an appropriate answer, "Well, my name is Vanessa," that was a good start, but going forward was a fight with memory, "I just moved here with my family from Italy," the fight was a harder one to say her what her passion was, "..." her heart was as blank as the stares on her, "But I really like this game and would like to go to the pro leagues and live a fun life with many friends and great adventures".
Kiki was slightly nodding, "Is that it"?
Vanessa nodded, with her eyes closed, in an attempt to cope, "Yes"!
"Okay," Kiki led the squad in for a clap, "Well we are happy to have you. We'll train you up and help get you on some great adventures, starting with us and later with the main squad".
"Mhm," Vanessa stared down knowing there was more to her life. To be honest, she didn't know what was going on, nor what she was truly after here. Regardless, she was going to give it her all.
"So," Kiki was speaking loud and stern again, "Here is the gist of it all. As Nana and the others said, this is a support squad. We help our main squad with minor missions. We're not planning on going to and competing in the pro leagues. But we do have what it takes. By standard, we are evaluated every June Event for pro status. Last year our team managed to achieve it. Due to players leaving and our new one being Benji, we quickly lost it. However, that's not our goal. To assist the main squad and train you two into it is. We don't know the algorithm to beat it. But the main squad does consistently well and still has their Pro status from last month. Within this next year, we will be playing in a number of themes, magic, alchemy, melee, non-magic, gun, sci-fi, and musket themes. For each of these themes, we will train you and require that you complete certain homework assignments. All of this is with the goal of training you up for the pro leagues and helping you to stay on par with the rest of the squad".
Vanessa nodded, "That all sounds great"!
Kiki smiled, "Good," she became a lot more expressive, "So! Let's kick it off today's training with a rope competition between Vanessa and Benji"!
The two stood at the ropes, jumping up on Kiki's call. Benji remained methodical and used his legs to carry his body higher on the rope. Vanessa for some reason was pretty much jumping higher each time she curled her leg into the rope. It resulted in her victory and a nice long training session with the new squad.
Both Vanessa and Benji had to learn about multiple non-lethal weapons and get certified to use them. It struck a huge dent in Vanessa's savings.
She knew that she wasn't going to use the same weapons across all themes due to the structure and rules of the game. But damn she wished she could slice people apart again.
Instead, she had to learn how to use a baton, taser, tear gas, a riot shield, wear bulky armor that was too heavy, and just have sort of a not-so-fun time.
Until she saw the look on Benji's face when she got to tase him. That was funny. He fell straight back. It wasn't too funny when he got to tase her back though. It really hurted. For the entire 5 seconds, she was tased, she felt nothing except the urge to quit life and pee herself.
When hours of training flew away and Vanessa thought it was time to go home, Kiki brought out a Warning Order, "Listen up! We have a mission. One of the local prisons was overtaken by inmates. Now, we have been tasked with heading over and establishing order. Without killing anyone, we must imprison the inmates again".
Dezzy rose her hand, "How long do you think this will take"?
Kiki shrugged, "However long it takes us. Definitely all night".
Dezzy lost all energy in her body, "This is going to suck"!
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
A few hours later, the squad jumped out of a security van and ran up to the prison door. It was here that Vanessa noticed her armor to be bulkier than the rest. But not exactly as efficient in sustaining damage.
The first fireteam stacked near the wall, at the door. Mimi came up, aiming with her taser. Vanessa unlocked the door and kicked it open, letting the entire squad storm in after the first team.
"Clear!" shouted team one.
Nana called out, "Push-in!" she shouted to Kiki, "We have a T-shape intersection, hallway front! No inner walls! Only cell bars!" she shouted to the front, "Vanessa! You need to be calling out all this information to me"!
"Okay!" Vanessa crept up with Nana coming up on her back. The two pushed to the intersection.
"Get ready to hold on the right," said Nana, "We're going to let Kiki go up with team 3"!
Vanessa glided forward and took a knee with her taser aimed down the hallway on the right of the intersection whereas Nana did so for the left.
Team 3 followed by team 2 ran forward to what they expected to be the security room. At first, the entire area appeared to be empty. Not a soul was in sight.
"Vanessa!" a voice called from afar, "I will save you!" it was a light-skinned man with brown hair, a green shirt, and jeans on the other side of the furthest cell bars. He waved like a child. His smile was weird, favoring the innocent as well.
Vanessa crept closer, noticing it was the man from last month.
Her eyes teared at the sight of this stranger, "Why? Why are you here? I don't know you! And I want no ghosts".
The man leaned his head against the bars, "Of course you know me. That's why I'm here," his body turned with each word, "And... if you come to me, we can know each other a lot more".
Vanessa shivvered to his words, "No! Go back to your cell"!
The young man smiled, "I'm not in a cell... You are," he pointed at the door to the cell area.
Now closer, Vanessa could tell that one of his eyes was dark brown whereas the other was borderline hazel. Analyzing the door, she could also see that he was right. For some reason, the keyhole was on his side, not hers.
He motioned his hand and spoke softly with a smile, "Come. Come to my side and I will help you face the truth".
Vanessa was on the verge of tears, "No. Just go away and never talk to me again".
The young man pulled back, "Wow. I'll go ahead and wait for you outside. Come chat when you're ready".
Just when he walked away, Nana ran up and tapped Vanessa's shoulder, "Vanessa! Why did you walk off"!
Vanessa pointed to where the man had stood, "There was a man who was saying he knew me".
"That doesn't matter," Nana shook her head, "Don't ever walk away from your unit. Regardless of whatever tricks the enemy plays on us, never run off on your own. This isn't the movies nor some silly anime where you're going to be a hero because of it. Next time you do that, we'll have problems. Understood?" Vanessa nodded before Nana continued, "Also, never get sucked into things. Always look at the big picture unless your life is in danger. Alright?" Vanessa nodded again, "Alright, let's run and catch up to the squad. There's no enemy, so just run".
Vanessa led the way, sprint at Nana's instructions until she got to the security office.
Nana stepped in behind her, "I already talked to her about running off. If she does it again, I'll remediate".
Kiki nodded, "Sounds good... We can't see much from the footage. The inmates must've taken out the cameras. So we'll have team 3 focus on repairing those as we run through. They found the tools they need from the closet. This hallway out here will lead further down to where the inmates are. We'll have Nana's team lead us down".
Nana nodded, "Sure thing. But Vanessa said there was an inmate or something up here".
Kiki looked up, "That's impossible. There are no inmates up here. Nor are there any signs that they came up here".
Vanessa began motioning her hands to describe, "He wore normal clothes and was outside the bars".
"Sounds like he worked here," Teddy flung a bag to his back, "Don't worry about him. Let's go".
Kiki bounced her head around, "True. Let's focus on what's important and head on down".
Nana kept Vanessa as the one man and led everyone down to a giant gate to go down to the inmates. Before opening the doors, Vanessa looked around one last time, expecting to see that young man again. With him not there, she took a deep breath and unlocked the gates.
Second and third fire teams push past and set up security while first team closed and locked the gate. Nobody was there to fight them. But the narrow hallway was too dark to see through. Unlike above, there were many firm walls reinforced with steel plates.
Everyone turned on their headlights to see a few feet ahead. There was a cry echoing from not too far away. Vanessa relayed every bit of info she could. With her shield up in her left hand and a baton in her right, she was instructed to follow the voice.
Closer they came, the louder the ruckus. Wailing of metal against skin was heard. Begging from a crying man shook their hearts. It gave Vanessa second thoughts on ever intimidating anything she does in this game out in the real world.
Vanessa led the squad safely to an intersection where Nana called for a halt and shined her light down a hallway, "The noise is close! It's coming from here"!
It took less than another minute of patrolling before a naked man was seen being beaten by a group of men. Each wielded piped or bars.
Kiki swarmed her squad in. They guarded the entrance and shined their lights across the room to relay the situation. It was the showers with no other exit. Some of the men started to run.
"He's bleeding out his ass!" shouted Teddy.
Nana led her team to cut off the men trying to escape. Using their shields to block against the men's swings, team one swung in with their batons to break their arms and pushed in for a steady assault.
Meanwhile, team two shot tasers to stun the remaining men. Team three flanked in and cuffed them. By the time they were done, team one had already cuffed and held their group of men against a wall.
Teddy and Dezzy cuffed the man who was being raped while Kiki began ordering the attackers to get up and make a single file line. Past blood and dead bodies everywhere, Kiki marched the inmates as though it was all dandy. Dare for any to step out of line and one of her three teams would've beaten them.
Once they were locked away, a victory song played for the squad to strike a winning pose.
Amidst it all, Vanessa couldn't ignore the dead bodies. She kept flashing her light on them and analyzing the wounds.
Some were beaten with pipes and bruised like the inmate they saved. Those dead bodies were typically bleeding from a random spot such as the mouth nose, or rectum.
Others were beaten with repetitive stab marks. Lastly, some were mutilated and decorated.
"Vanessa!" called Nana, "Don't blank out. We need to move. Is there something wrong"?
Vanessa waved her baton at the dead bodies, "They each look different. the way they were killed".
Nana relayed the findings to Kiki who had instructed Benji to head over and help figure out the problem.
A man called Kiki, "Hey, what's up"?
"We're making our way to lock up inmates. We already have nine back in their cells".
"Did you ever find a warden"?
"No," Kiki sighed, "Do we need to find him"?
"Yes you do," the man remained calmed and optimistic, "If you need me, I'll come down there".
Kiki barely gave thought, "Thank you Mike. We got this".
"Get it girl," Mike's voice felt cheerful, "We won't have to stop Logan from bothering you once you do".
Kiki smiled and turned to Benji and Vanessa for answers.
"Um," Benji held out his palms, "I see three types of killings, "First we have people who were beaten and have abnormal bleeding. Likely out of anger or kinda like that guy we saved where they seemed to be messing with him".
"Yeah," Teddy came forward, "That's normal, to be honest".
Benji held out two fingers, "Yeah, but there are two more types of victims".
"What are they?" asked Teddy.
Benji answered kinda calmly, "Well, some of these people were badly beaten and stabbed a bunch of times with shanks".
Teddy shrugged, "That's normal too. It could be a war between gangs or just people fighting. You'll learn that it's common in prison and slave themes," he shined his light on a mutilated body, "Anything with these guys. I keep seeing people randomly torn up".
Benji threw a hand up, "So those are weird," he shined his light at the neck, "A lot of them are instant kills with barely any bruises".
Teddy shook his head, "That makes no sense".
Benji continued, "Another thing is the weapons. This person seems to have access to multiple weapons like what we are using".
"Why do you think it's a person?" Teddy turned at him.
Benji fought a smile, "Well, there aren't many killings like this".
Teddy stretched his neck, "Well that doesn't mean that it's only one person. It could be a small group of people who jumped the guards and took their weapons. Only thing is that whoever these killers are, they are trying to send a message".
Kiki waved her hand forward, "Well, let's stop them, find the warden, and complete this mission".
Nana already had her team in place and moved them out on Kiki's signal. Their findings got worse as they patrolled deeper into the prison. "Run," "Leave," "You don't belong here," was all painted in blood across the walls.
As Vanessa relayed the findings to her squad, it was murmured among the leaders that this was from the inmates who were mutilated.
There was loud shouting ahead. Based on what Vanessa heard, it sounded like a gang fight.
"Push!" Kiki shouted, "Dani, smoke em out! Nana will hold them down"!
Nana led her team up to the door and took a firm stance with their shields up.
Dani brought her team forward and tossed a smoke grenade into the room with the fighting, which seemed to be a cafeteria.
It detonated, gassing everyone inside with tear gas. A large man ran out.
"Hey!" Vanessa ran for him.
Benji being near joined her in spite of Kiki yelling for them to stop.
The two sprinted for the man who happened to be much faster than them. From one hallway to the next. At no point were they able to come close.
Something Benji realized, was the frequency of mutilated bodies and messages on the walls. These were more menacing. "Ha ha ha. Who's laughing now?" "Fear the Jester!" "I'm coming for you"!
The inmate ran into a room where he was tased by an unknown assailant.
"Wait!" Nana's roaring voice stopped the two from taking a step further. She placed a hand on Vanessa's shoulder, "What do we got"?
Her touch sent a chill through Vanessa, "Uhhh, I don't know. The man ran into the room and was tased and dragged away".
Benji shook his head, "Yeah, that's what I saw too".
Nana was puzzled, "Blue! Blue! Who are you"!
"Blue! Blue! Who are you!" shouted a sickly voice.
"Shields and tasers up," Nana remained calm as she pushed her Vanessa forward with Benji in as the rear man.
A head of the inmate was thrown down the hall. Though they didn't know the face, Vanessa knew the head and hair to be similar to that of the inmate she was chasing with Benji.
"Okay," Nana ready without any regard to who the head belonged to, "This is the killer we were talking about earlier. We need to take him out. Let's push".
Without running, Vanessa hurried to the door and pushed in towards where the head was thrown from.
There stood a man with a mask made from the faces of others. The mouth cut out into a smile. He stood stiff with his arms out freely.
"Freeze!" shouted Nana.
"Or else you'll hurt the warden," smirked the Jester.
Benji shined his light to the far wall, where the warden was tied down. Unlike him and Vanessa, Nana kept her eyes on the Jester.
"Oh, that's right," the Jester smiled, "I remember you".
Nana held her taser gun at him, "Get on the ground now"!
The Jester dropped, in a beat. A small string tied to his hands pulled the pin to tear gas. Nana was about to tase him, but he rolled out the way and let the gas overtake her.
Nana held her breath to place on her gas mask. She tried to get accountability to save the warden and hold off the Jester. But she only got a response from Benji who had also placed on his mask.
Vanessa was knocked in her nose, flying back to a wall, and thrown into the hall. From the ground, she shined her light up, catching the Jester hover above her.
He smiled and cocked his head, "What you want is far from that room," he stomped her forearms, pressed his knee towards her head, and leaned into her face, "Tell me, baby girl, are you ready for this"?
Breathe shivered from Vanessa's mouth, What do you mean"?
The Jester chuckled with a deep voice as he stood up, "I hope you find my work soon enough. And who knows, perhaps we can get to know each other quite well".
He walked away without harming her any further
Vanessa rose up to watch him walk away without further intentions. Once he was gone, Nana and Benji slammed into the hallway, carrying the warden.
"Okay, Vanessa!" Nana shook her head downwards, "Why are you just laying on the ground"?
Vanessa trembled, "I was watching the Jester leave".
"You was watching the Jester leave, okay," Nana wiped her face, "We'll talk about that later. For now, get in the one-man position until we get back up. Avoid all conflicts until further notice".
Vanessa stood back in her one-man position where she pushed on and led her team through the halls.
At first, Nana was carefully coordinating with her to avoid the Jester. After some time, they moved slowly to avoid any contact. It took a good two hours, but after carefully maneuvering through the prison, Nana had led the team out and back to the security office.
The warden was beaten. He sat in a chair and chugged a gallon of water from under the desk. Meanwhile, Nana called for Kiki's squad to return on the intercom. Mike went to the gate to let them in, giving Nana's team a short break.
"Ever heard of a beat-down circle?" Nana stared at Vanessa who shook her head, "It's something teams do to get steam of their chest towards each other. It's something that unit leaders like to use to also instill discipline and knowledge into their newer teammates. So when we get back, I will definitely be running one with the team. Be prepared because I will be coming after you for two reasons. One never runs off alone and never chase the enemy. Until you're taught how to conduct a chase, never do one and never do it alone. You threw our squad at risk there. And two, never let me catch you laying there and proclaiming you watched the enemy escape. When you come to this studio, be ready to give your life and do whatever it takes to kill the enemy. If they left, you could've jumped up for a sneak attack or something".
Vanessa nodded, "Oki".
Nana sighed, "But not bad for your first mission with us. Non-lethal are some of the better themes because you do focus more on tactics".
Mike and Kiki walked in with the rest of the squad waiting outside. The warden thanked them for all the work they put in. As a reward, he gave Kiki's squad 8,000 player points for saving him and promised more for helping him restore his prison. As a bonus, he gifted the entire squad with special bulletproof vests that were sure to keep them safe.
Jeff came bursting in apologizing for not being there. Like Kiki who dismissed him without any gurantee of money from the mission, Vanessa kissed her teeth and stared out the window. Out there, in the clean cut grass outside of the prison walls, she saw the man from earlier. The one who first talked to her. The same one that waved at her last month.
He stared up at her and waved again as though hhe was a child. His smile seemed innocent in contrast to the demeanor about him.
Vanessa poked her finger at the window, "Does anybody know this man"?
Nana and Kiki peaked out. Both rejected seeing him a day in their life. Not even Mike or the warden could identify him.
Vanessa picked at her nails as she tried to figure out this mystery. This man is a player. But she doesn't know him. So who is he and what does he want with her?