The most feared enemy, is the one you cannot see~
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Guy shrugged the guards' hands off his arms.
He stepped into the gleaming black theatre with a lark on a rotating circle on the screen. A man adorned in a black dress shirt, waistcoat, slacks and loafers pointed his tattooed arms up to the board.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Lark Industries, just merely the venue that holds the event. I'm sure you know this tournament is for the best among the best and... perhaps a lucky few," His pale green eyes followed Guy, interrupted by the struggle off stage as he trod in and his hand clinched on the lightpen.
"Hi," He said to the next player, a Livestreamer and social star named Cammie Schütz wearing headphones. His eyes moved up to Guy nodding and then he gazed at his hand, taking them off quickly to shake it, his bracelets jiggled as he shook Guy's hand.
"Hi,"
He had glossy white skin and, a dyed platinum blond undercut with brown hair growing under, he had brown doe eyes, a boyish appearance with freckles and red dots streamed across his face and he wore hipster clothes.
"Ah, you look familiar," He said a little loudly and Guy's lips thinned.
"I need these to focus," He pointed at the special headgear.
"What's going on?"
The lecture seemed to be transitioning without them as they spoke in the middle of it.
"Oh, I have no idea," He said tweaking on his headset again gazing at the man ahead.
"English is not my first language," He peered over the chair at MacBeth, James' son.
"Alright here's the abridgement, we have the Space Raiders," He said and the visuals of soldiers appeared.
"To level up, you must key into the mission and follow the course. Lastly, we have the Ryenol coins, a cryptocurrency that works offline," He showed the coins with wheat on them and raised tightly strung dark concentric circles around them and the boxes they had to be in_to be able to recognise them.
The others picked up interest.
"The more Ryenol coins you collect, the chances are you get rich quicker. Each coin is worth 1.5 dollars, each, imagine what you could earn with a million of them,"
"Pfft, I'd imagine way higher," They snickered.
"Yes, that's good for you, chances are, you might walk away with your loot," He grinned sheepishly and his chubby chin rose.
"How many are there in existence, in the game?" Ruth Parker asked timidly.
"34 million, it's in circulation,"
"Oh boy," Brook Adams scoffed raising a hand.
"Anyway, meet up with your fellow contenders," He said and wiped his forehead taking a break.
"What's with Princess Mononoke over there?" Brook asked glaring over the seats at the crew that surrounded the girl with a white fox face.
Her head lowered.
"It's probably just a gimmick," Ruth who wore red-rimmed glasses over her brown eyes smiled, the sides of her short red hair stuck out, and she had an infectious smile, lean set of shoulders on a yellow shirt, jeans and tall boots. She was a part-time teacher in Quebec. She was generally positive and had intellect.
"Or a plan to hide from her family," Cassidy, a new competitor suggested blowing her hair out of her face.
"Yeah, if she beats me," Brook boasted, he came in third place the last consecutive year and he came back. Brook Adams had dark skin, generally, he was good looking and wore his hair in a low cut, sporting a stylish dark purple leather jacket, lighter purple shirt, jeans and trekkers. He was bursting with confidence and he was a quick thinker. He was a fresh recruit in the army and he had leave from work. Brook touched his chin.
"Why didn't I think of that? I've got three grown-ass siblings looking up to me," He declared with a sly grin and one eyebrow up.
"Since you have experience from the last game, why don't you give us a little introduction?" Ruth suggested.
"Hmm, besides edgy moto over there? I'm pretty sure the intro was clear,"
"It's not like I've played the games before," Ruth said apprehensively brushing her hair back.
"You've never played?" Cassidy Clay asked with a condescending look, she had spiky black pixie hair with a purple streak, sleek black eyes, a small nose and a thin mouth, she wore a leather jacket with loose straps, fingerless gloves, tracksuit bottoms and studded boots. A hardcore baseball player and athlete. She was more agile than the others.
"Hehe, not here technically..."
"Hey let's go say hi to the celebrity over there," Cassidy pointed and Ruth folded her arms giving her a stern look.
"NFTs never sold," She held her other arm.
"None?" Ruth looked sad.
"Never sold to my expectations, I only got ten grand," She pouted walking away.
Ruth steamed while she left and smiled again "Basically another emo freak huh?"
"Please," She gestured to the third girl.
"Ooh," Ruth joined her.
"I wonder what British Boy Wonder's doing here," He mused about Guy.
Cammie Schütz shuffled a pack of cards. "Besides my sensory disruption, magic helps me with my line of focus," He smattered.
"Bummer, you're really bad at it," Guy said and the cards splattered on his face. "Hey,"
"Your left arm kinda looks shorter than the other,"
Guy looked frantic "What?" He checked himself.
"It's the hoodie," Cammie smirked and shrugged, he looked shocked at the presence behind him and stepped around when Brook arrived. With the swing, the gait and the allure of a soldier, he clapped his hand together.
"So," He raised an eyebrow.
"So, you been working out?"
"I do work out," "Not by a lot," They answered.
They glanced at a random man yelling in Japanese at Cassidy Clay and Ruth Parker reeling back from the tall girl huddled by her entourage. "Sheesh,"
"A little bit much don't you think mister?" Guy conversed with him and he looked perplexed at what the entourage said. The man was equally surprised by him.
"Oh. He said 'back off or I'll call the authorities, greeting our lady without reverence is a dishonour',"
"A royal pain without priorities?" Cassidy folded her arms. "Yeah, it's a gimmick,"
"Or is it?" Brook questioned with his eyes on her. Her head lowered in their midst.
They walked into a dark room with a compressed Transient Sphere in sight. A purple light spun around the white circle in the black ring.
The Transient Sphere had black arches meeting at the top of a black lid.
There were seperate lights surrounding the single sphere and Guy was motioned first to enter, he shoved the plastic door open to look up at the lights on the top black rim and the pattern of circles pulsed in a straight motion toward the planes. His pupils reacted to them and he broke contact. He turned back to the others outside and they installed an anklet and magnetic boots on him. It beeped red and green again, entrenching itself.
"What's this?"
"Insurance," The man said busily making sure it was effective.
More metal bands were strapped to his shoulders and waist. The clicks and beeps resounded through the empty chamber and James folded his arms.
The yellow lights from the door illuminated the strange people coming in a straight line, they appeared to be important and he saw a group guarding the girl around the corner of the chamber, murmuring in the quiet, she wore a mask that resembled a white fox and white fur coat, behind that all that was a calico tunic, purple skirt and anklets. She let go of the coat and mask.
The light came on the Transient Sphere she was about to enter and her eyes moved up. Four more went into the next spheres that revealed themselves.
The spheres made a buzzing noise that he felt and it grew intense, the lights flashed getting closer and the boots stuck when the spheree lurched over the surface and he gasped at the rim and the daunting drop, his feet fidgeted inside the firm boots and it dropped.