Every team member was ready to eliminate an opponent instantly if given the signal, with their weapons strategically positioned for a lethal strike.
It had been a precise twenty-five minutes since the beginning of the match in the cavernous structure. Her cohort was visibly tensed, each expressed in their own unique way. Despite their unsteady gazes, hesitant postures and shivering fingers, Alex was unfazed by their apparent apprehensions. Although it may seem unlikely, not understanding their boundaries for this stage could lead to severe complications.
The moment Alex had been waiting for finally arrived after five more minutes. Violent Tremors rippled through the ground with palpable force. These vibrations shook the very core and foundation of the structure. The once compact ceiling gave way to a brief shower of granular substance and her members struggled to keep to their feet.
Despite the intense waves using her as a conduit, Alex persisted and remained seated on the ground.
A sense of unease had settled within her, churning her stomach and pestering her every moment. Her mind was in overdrive, redefining and interpreting everything. Her instincts were blaring, and it began the very moment she read the words 'time limit', only to worsen considerably with each passing second. Without understanding the intricacies of this setting, she could not be at ease.
This internal warning bell drove her to force her teammates to endure the fear running through their entire beings. The last time she refused to believe her instincts led to irreparable damages, death being one of them.
Alex came to an understanding of the deafening thumps that escaped from the largest tunnel. They were footsteps. The manner of beast that could cause such Earth-shaking quakes with each step, Alex did not know, but she was bent on finding out.
She moved her teammates far away from the gaping tunnel, each with their captive in hand. She watched the tunnel's entrance without a sliver of trepidation. Her gaze was resolute, glued to the entrance of the tunnel. Alex stood directly in front of her group members, though they stood a great distance behind her. She stood on the brink of the tunnel's entrance, almost touching the unknown that awaited her in the gloomy darkness.
The footsteps grew sharper and louder. The strength of each step was monstrous, so much so that Alex felt the cave would surely collapse. The cave responded to every movement of the creature. The ground held firm, but the arched ceiling trembled, many parts powdered. Large dislocated chunks of stone were released from the structure from time to time, with constant rains of granular substances. Alex waved her hands backwards, a silent instruction for her teammates to go into one of the many tunnels at the other end.
Far away from whatever was to come. Alex kept her left hand high and waited. Even as the walls shook, everything in a persistent state of disturbance and the world seemed to be teetering on collapse, Alex held firm. She avoided any falling debris that could injure her, but her eyes never left the tunnel's eerie depths.
With the closeness of the sound, Alex knew it was soon. The beast would be revealed to her in a moment, and she was right. The beast displayed itself in all its majesty. Her face contorted to grim disbelief and an emotion she had not felt in the longest of times- fear. It was subtle, but it was there, and she realized it quickly enough to suppress it promptly. The beast also seemed to have noticed her and stared at her in curiosity, but Alex did not seek any interpretation of its actions, nor did she run.
Her raised fingers formed a tense knuckle, and she knew her teammates would understand her meaning. Seconds later, her body turned to shimmering orbs of light, but Alex saw something else in the beast's eyes other than curiosity. In those abyssal black orbs, she saw a primal desire, a craving to consume.
Alex found herself in a position she would rather not have been in. On her quilt, right where she was before the battle. Elijah, Isaiah, and Dahlia drilled their intense gazes into her. It was obvious they were curious about what she had seen, but Alex's mind was still in too much disarray to put up a front. Her fingers were still trembling, one of the few ways she had ever allowed herself to express distress. She was quick to curl her fingers into a fist and firm her gaze. Right now, her entire team stared at her with unveiled curiosity and that slight mishap could destroy her image and, subsequently, her team's morale.
She looked into the eyes of all present and immediately realised the troublesome three in front of her had seen it. They had seen her fingers expressing her worry. Alex sighed slightly. Fear was an emotion she would never tolerate- one she had already banished from her life. It was the most useless of them all, yet it seemed to creep in unexpectedly.
Despite this, it did not matter how much she was required to, Alex would always overcome any semblance of fear. That creature- no, that thing, is one that preyed on fear, a being that found pleasure in the fright of another, much like a man she had once called father. Both could kill her, both could torture her, both could humiliate her, but what did it matter? So long as she wished to overcome it, the possibility of failure could never stop her. She would not allow it.
"What did you see?" Avery asked. She was the only one daring enough to break the silence, to ask a question she knew she would not like the answer to. That is one thing Alex liked about her. Avery's convictions lay within the belief she can achieve anything according to her will, much like Alex.
Therefore, not only because Avery was the one to ask her such a question, but also because of the certainty she now possessed, she would not lie as she had originally intended. Rather, she would tell them the truth, and describe the creature to the best of her ability. She was convinced they would have to best that abomination if they wanted to dominate this stage.
"What did I see?... I'll tell you then." For the first time in a while, Alex gave a true, sincere smile. No beast would stop her. Not even if it was the very definition of terror itself.