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I don’t give a fuck if this doesn’t suit your ‘theme’ have a heart and reblog.
Chapter 11: Gun-swords
Behind the large, vault door, lay a long rectangular wooden table, and two chairs in a concrete room the size of a basketball court. Together, they entered the room and Chsn closed the door behind them after they entered, which echoed loudly in the spacious room. She gestured towards the chair closest to the door. The ceiling lights flickered as Thae took his seat in another uncomfortable plastic chair. He watched Chsn take her seat. “I hope I get something cool.” Thae said to himself in his head, extremely excited and anxious at the same time. Images of ridiculously large sniper rifles, gun-swords and flaming swords of hell filled Thae’s head. A tan burlap bag sat atop the table, which Chsn picked up to examine the inside, then proceeded dropped in front of Thae for seemingly no reason. Thae flinched when it landed and made a loud thud on the table. Before Thae could do anything else, Chsn snatched the bottom of the bag and dumped out the contents onto the table, making a loud echoing avalanche of noise. Thae watched as she spread the weapons out on the table. There were multiple gadgets, which Thae sifted through and attempted to interpret their purpose; but alas to no avail. Before he could draw any conclusions, Chsn spread the gadgets evenly across the entire span of the table, and cleared her throat, preparing for the onslaught of information she was going to throw at Thae. She gracefully got up from her seat, strided to the left of the table and picked up what looked like a pistol, made of a sleek white gunmetal. Chsn examined it and checked it to see if it was loaded. She opened the barrell, and a clean syringe about the size of a throwing dart, filled with light bright blue fluorescent fluid, lay locked and loaded inside the deadly weapon. She put the gun down for a second, rolled her left sleeve up and picked up the gun, and pointed it at her bicep. Without the slightest trace of hesitation, she looked at Thae and said, “Watch closely.” She quickly snatched a pair of green tinted glasses off the table and handed them to Thae, who stared at Chsn with concern. “Don’t worry, just put these glasses on.” She said with complete confidence, the gun still pointed at her arm. Thae anxiously watched Chsn’s gloved hand swiftly pull the trigger and listened to the suppressed sound of the syringe being fired at high velocity into her flesh. She winced slightly as it made a satisfying shnk, when it lodged deep in her arm. She pulled the syringe out of her skin and threw it behind her as if it were nothing but a flu shot and a small trickle of blood streamed from the point of injection. Thae’s eyes grew to the size of pie plates as he watched Chsn become nothing but a bright red silhouette. Thae stared with his jaw hanging open out of awe, at the bright red thing that used to be Chsn. “Am I glowing red?” She asked casually, as if she just asked if Thae wanted to go get some lunch. “Yea!” Thae replied, still amazed by what he was seeing. He watched the red blob that was Chsn walk toward him and put her hand out, “May I have my glasses back?” Thae nodded, took the glasses off slowly and handed them to Chsn. “T-T-That was amazing!” He said with enthusiasm. Chsn smiled, fixed her sunglasses with her pointer finger, the gun still in hand, then put it back on the table next to the pair of glasses. She walked back to her spot behind the table. She pointed at the gun and said, “This is a TSG .300, the latest model of the Tracker Gun series to date.” She pointed at the futuristic pair of green glasses and said, “These are Tracker glasses, from the Shelter series. As you could see, with these two tools combined, your ability to reconnitier and research the enemy is greatly improved.” Thae nodded. Chsn continued speaking. “You are quite privileged to be able to be use such high-end equipment Thae.” Chsn smiled as she rolled her sleeve back up and Thae smiled back and nodded obediently. She moved on to the next tool on the table, which looked like small colorful round bottles of… some substance Thae didn’t know of. Chsn picked up three clear balls no larger than a christmas ornament, containing some sort of swirling purple powder. She separated the three spheres, put two in her right hand, and put them back on the table. She held the single ornament in her left hand to her eye, turning it to see it at all angles. “Hmmm, I wonder what those are. Maybe some sort of bomb.” Thae said to himself as he watched Chsn closely. Without warning, Chsn raised the ball of magic dust and threw it on the ground. The noise of shattering glass echoed loudly across the gargantuan room. The dust escaped its prison of glass and slowly began clouding the entire room with a thick, dark lavender smoke. Thae remained seated, and watched as the dust began to engulf him from the ground up. Thae took a big whiff of dust-infested air, but quickly began choking on the powder, so he covered his nose with a hoof and fanned the dust away from himself vigorously with the other as he waited for the dust to subside. Before he knew it, the powder had reached his eyes and they began to sting and tear up. He coughed and fanned the dust frantically while rubbing his eyes, tears escaping his shut eyes. After a few minutes of pure misery, the dense smoke dissipated and he spotted Chsn standing behind the desk, unscathed by the dust, wearing her usual stoic facial expression. She pointed at the two circular bottles densely packed with beautiful powder creating a swirling gradient of wonder, closed shut with a cork. “These are smokes of deceit, very useful when you find yourself in a sticky situation. They create a storm of dust in an area, I’d say in a ten yard by ten yard area. One of these bad boys will leave all enemies, and allies unable to see. Use them wisely.” Thae nodded, and took mental notes with a mental pen and pad. Thae looked down the table, eyeing the other gadgets that Chsn had not gone over. “Only a few more to go.” She picked up another small silver gun-like object, with yellow and black caution tape attached around the gunpoint, which was much wider than usual. It looked like a deadly grocery store scanner. He watched Chsn examine it carefully, ensured it was locked and loaded with what looked like batteries, then pointed it at the ceiling and fired. Thae jumped in his seat as a loud screech of static and electricity filled the room. He watched the arcing lightning shine bright as it danced chaotically, almost out of the control from the point of the gun. Thae quickly hit the deck, hid behind his chair, put his arms up in defense, and looked away from the light until the chaos came to an urgent halt. Thae turned back, pushed the chair back, with a scared frown. Despite the fact she had wielded a literal thunderstorm in her hand a second ago, Chsn remained stoic, pointed at the gun and said, “Stun gun, Zeus, series 5. Self-explanatory, right? Shoot it at the enemy and watch them dance a tango in pain.” Still shaken by what had just happened, Thae nodded and said, “Yes.” “Good.” Chsn replied. She moved on to the next gadget, which looked like a simple black box. She picked it up, took off the lid, which revealed a silver dagger, emitting a radiant green hue as she examined it at various different angles, looking for any defects. Thae began to think in his head, prepared to be interrupted in the middle of his thought for plot convenience and for simplicity’s sake. “Gee I wonder what stunt she’ll perform to showcase this new-” Thae watched Chsn raise the dagger in the air dramatically, and slam it into the wooden desk carrying all the gadgets with a earth shaking scream. Thae almost jumped and hit the roof, the blade sizzling as it cut clean through the table, leaving a wound, glowing red where Chsn had struck the table. She pulled the dagger out of the table, put it back in its case and put it back on the table. “Nine hundred degree dagger. Like the stun gun, self-explanatory right? Stab, slash, slice the enemy.” She said as she grinned slightly, as if she were silently saying to herself, “Damn I’m amazing at being overly dramatic and cool.” Thae clapped his hooves politely in applause, jaw open in surprise as Chsn put the knife back on the table, and picked up the next gadget in line. Thae quickly noticed it last thing left on the table. It was like a gun, but it had a hook at the end of the gunpoint. “Must be a gun hook.” Chsn held the tool in her hand like a submachine gun, one hand on the barrell and one on the trigger. “Last but not least.” She said, with a bored, monotone voice. “The hook gun.” “Note to self, hook gun, not gun hook.” Thae said to himself. She lazily pointed at the hook the size of a fist visible at the point of the gun. “This is the hook.” She pointed at the gun itself. “This is a gun. Again, self-explanatory I honestly don’t understand why they hired me to come here and explain to you people what a gun and a knife are.” She said with exasperation and sarcasm. Thae shrugged and said, “I don’t know, I guess they underestimate the intelligence of some of us competito-” Chsn pointed sternly at Thae, and snapped at him, “Shut up! I didn’t ask for your opinion.” She stared Thae down for a few seconds, then looked at the ceiling and rubbed her chin with her gloved hand. “Where was I?” She looked back at Thae and put her hand back at her side and said, “Oh right, we’re done.” She pushed the weapons on the table closer to Thae and curtly said, “They’re all yours my friend, just don’t kill anyone or anything or else we’ll publicly execute you on national television, alright? Cool, thanks.” Chsn let out a deep sigh as she stood up and began walking to the door on the other side of the room. “Follow me.” Thae nodded, stood up and took the TSG, the tracker glasses, the smokes of deceit, Zeus series 5, 900 degree dagger, and the hook gun and cradled them in his arms and followed Chsn. She scanned her card at the door, and the it opened, revealing the dull, yet familiar living room Thae was used to living in at the end of a long, dark hallway. Chsn stood to the side and gestured at Thae to go. “Move along, sir.” Thae began to walk down the hallway as Chsn yelled last minute remarks she had forgotten to say during Thae’s weapon showcase from the door, like a worried mother sending her kid to his first day of kindergarten. “Don’t worry kid! More ammo will be supplied during training sessions and before battles!” Thae took a few more steps down the hallway, his hooves tapping against the cold, hard steel floor, which made haunting echoing noises as he traveled. Chsn’s voice already began to fade. “Good luck Thaecrasis, try not to die!” Thae turned around and yelled back, unsure if Chsn would even hear him, “Alright!” He listened to his voice echo as he continued to walk, now almost in the Team NP living room. He could already hear them chattering wildly, probably talking about their new weapons. A few of them already noticed his coming arrival. He faced forward again, and tuned into their conversations to the best of his ability. He spotted Lex in the center of the room, yelling in the background, holding circular objects in his hands which Thae could only assume were bombs. “Boom! Explosion! All dead, boom!” He screamed with a huge smile on his face, revealing his yellow apple teeth to the world. Thae kept walking, now only a couple steps away from his new home. “They’re so happy, it's almost as if its christmas for them. That is if santa distributed deadly weapons instead of video games and remote control cars.” Thae chuckled at the thought. He spotted Pandu on Lex’s left, making loud gun noises with his mouth, “Pop, pop pop, skrraa, dududududududu, pow!” He was pretending to fire his weapon at his peers, his eye peering through the ironsight on his new machine gun. Thae smiled as the dull light of the living room began to engulf his face, and he finally stepped onto the cozy carpet floor and off the cold steel, and listened to the metal door behind him close shut. The entirety of Team NP instantly silenced themselves to look at Thae, alarmed by his somewhat grand entrance. Yolk broke the silence. “Guys, Thae’s back!” Instantly, they all dog piled on top of them, throwing their weapons behind them as they gave Thae a warm welcome. “Ay!” Pony yelled. “Woooah!” Ultra screamed, bubbles streaming out his mouth “My man Thae!” Pandu screamed, as he gave him a bear hug and punched him playfully. His body flattened like a pancake under the weight of several people, but he could care less. The room filled with laughter and banter, a merry spirit flooding the room, filling all the members of Team NP. Despite being thrown into an annual gladiator tournament with a high likelihood of death, they had found hope, a reason to keep fighting and a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Yet, in these rare good times, Thae could still hear the grim reaper knocking at the metal door behind him, generating noise so faint and subtle, yet so loud and clear at the same time.
Chapter 10: Waiting Room
To Thae’s surprise, the training room which hid behind the firm metal door was no more, and instead was replaced by a small waiting room. Pandu and Thae hurried to get inside, and he practically threw Thae into the room before getting in the room himself. Thae crashed into a row of uncomfortable, small plastic chairs with no cushioning, sending them flying in multiple directions as Pandu sprinted into the room and nearly ran Thae over. The second he made it into the room, the metal door behind them slammed shut, and the sounds of multiple locks engaging echoed in the small room. The rest of the members were seated in the uncomfortable plastic chairs on the other side of the room, and stared at Thae and Pandu with concern. Thae stared back at them, and groaned as he got back onto his feet. Pandu panted heavily and wiped the sweat off his forehead. They both found a seat, and sat down. Pandu looked around the room excitedly, never keeping his focus on one thing for too long, while Thae examined the room closely. It was just like a doctor’s office waiting room. The walls were lined with tiny uncomfortable plastic chairs without cushioning, an empty fish tank occupied the top right corner of the room, and the floor was made of cold, hard porcelain tiling. The walls were painted a relaxing shade of turquoise, and light purple fluorescent lights hung from the ceiling, which radiated soft, colored light. After analyzing the room, Thae began eyeing the other members of Team NP one by one, reading their facial expressions, body posture, and involuntary mannerisms like a library book. Ponyhidden was lying down across three chairs, with his hood on, snoring softly. Noodles and Carson sat upright, staring at a spot in the wall with so much concentration they could burns holes through the wall by sheer willpower alone. Onett was staring at the ground, hunched over with his elbows on his knees, holding prayer hands by his mouth, with a blank expression on his face. Freddy was playing with his collar with his back against the chair, and his feet- Thae’s train of thought halted to a screeching stop when the metal door in front of him suddenly opened and Chsn came out, wearing her usual police officer uniform, sunglasses, and cap. She stared at everyone in the room, with flinty eyes hidden behind her dark shades. She cracked a small smile and began to speak, with her somewhat baritone voice. “Hello members of Team NP. As you probably already know, my name is Chsn, and I’m the head of the defense department around here. It's a pleasure to meet you all again.” She paused and gave Pandu a cold stare for a few seconds, which Pandu responded to with a stare of his own. Chsn cleared her throat, fixed her cap and sunglasses, then continued her speech. “I’m sure you’re all expecting today is the beginning of your group training, correct me if I'm wrong.” Chsn paused for a second to give everyone the death stare, as if she was challenging them to try and oppose her. “Today will not be your first group training day, but rather a weapon distribution day. So with that said, please be good little boys and girls while you wait for your turn, okay? Thank you.” She pulled out a notepad and pen, which were attached to her belt and began vigorously flipping through the pages, until she reached her desired destination. She stopped flipping, looked up, then looked back down on her paper. She pointed at Pandu and said, “You’re up first kid, follow me.” Pandu slowly got up from his seat and strolled across the floor to the door, as he mumbled, “Okay.” Chsn held the metal door located on the other side of the room open for Pandu, waited for him to enter, then delicately closed the door and locked it shut. The instant the door closed, chatter filled the room, until it enveloped the room like a thick smoke. “Man I wonder what weapon I’m gonna get!” Yolk told Thae excitedly. “Maybe a mace, or a claymore or a…. a gun sword!” Stars filled yolk’s eyes as he thought of wielding a gun sword and doing stupidly awesome lunges and feints like an anime character. Ultra, who was sitting two seats away from him, rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Wow what a weeb.” Yolk gave Ultra the evil eye then disengaged. Thae tuned into another conversation which was taking place several seats away from him. “I simply cannot contain my excitement for an event such as this.” Said Carson with monotone excitement. He was talking to nobody except himself. “Hooray. Hooray. Yay.” His face was completely neutral as he did laps around the waiting room with his arms held high, like he just finished a marathon. Thae smiled in his seat as he thought of which weapon he would receive. He began to daydream as he subconsciously tuned into the side conversations the others were having. “I wonder which weapon I'll get. Maybe I'll get something that's a crossover of medieval and modern.” Thae thought. “That would be cool.” “Man I wonder what weapon I’ll get. Not a lot of weapons are built to be used to creatures without opposable thumbs, ya know what I'm sayin?” Ponyhidden told Noodles. Noodles wore his usual stoic face, and nodded solemnly as if Pony just explained to him the meaning of life, the universe and everything. “Hmmmm, Pony does bring up a good point. I don't have opposable thumbs. That could pose a threat to my pool of possible weapon choices.” “A’ight sorry Yolk, that was uncalled for.” Ultra said sheepishly. “Nah it's cool man.” Yolk said. “Okay cool.” “Man I wonder what Pandu’s weapon is. Probably something really cool. Maybe it's a gun sword or something.” “Ya know, gun swords are really awesome.” Ultra said with his thick New York accent. “Weeb.” Yolk said jokingly. “Shut it, my friend.” Ultra said as he hit Yolk playfully. Thae resumed his thinking session. “Man I really regret not keeping up to date on the news and stuff. I know absolutely nothing about all the new military technology that's being developed.” “I want explosives and go boom!” Lex screamed excitedly at Freddy. “I go boom! Big boom!” He extended his arms out and high to represent an explosion. He proceeded to repeated yell out,”boom” as he crescendoed louder and louder until he couldn't get any louder Freddy gave Lex a judging look as he gave him a slow nod. After Lex finished screaming, he asked Freddy, “So what weapon do you want?” “I dunno man. I haven't the slightest clue of what I want to get, you feel meh?” Freddy replied. “I see.” Lex replied. The chatter in the room quickly died down as people ran out of things to talk to, and they began to grow sick of each other. Slowly one by one, they were chosen by Chsn, and taken to whatever paradise lies behind the large metal door. “Carson, follow me.” “Yes. Okay.” Carson replies. Thae lied down on the ground, bored out of his mind, and stared at the ceiling lights, which flickered spontaneously. He listened to the others get called as he continued to lay on the ground, waiting to get picked. The room is dead silent. “Lex, you’re up next.” “Okay.” Lex replies. Thae gets up from the ground to see who was still left to be picked. He spotted Pony curled up into a ball, sleeping on top of the chairs with his dirty green hoodie on. Yolk was lying face down into the plastic chairs. The passing seconds felt like passing hours, as the ticking and tocking of the wall clock almost drove Thae to insanity. After few minutes, which felt like an hours, Chsn opened the door once more and said, “Yolk you’re next.” He groaned as he got up slowly from his slumber, got onto his feet and followed Chsn. Another eternity later, she comes back. “Pony you’re next.” Thae was all alone now. Nothing to keep him entertained, no one to keep him company. The clock continued to tick obnoxiously, as if it were taunting Thae. His eyes lock onto the clock and watch the second hand slowly move round and round. To entertain himself, Thae began to think of random philosophical thoughts to dwell on. “That clock is just a merry go round of life. Ever so majestic as it constantly moves, never stopping for anything. Although it may seem as if time is faster or slower, time stops for no one, but rather we stop for time. Man maybe this waiting room is what the afterlife is like. Maybe this is what being in limbo feels like. Going nowhere, doing nothing, just waiting. No way it’s like that. This must be hell. Eternal boredom, eternal dissatisfaction. Motivation to do nothing, except get out. Sure I’ll get out of here one of these days, but maybe hell is just like this but you never get out. I wonder if robot horses dream of robotic sheep. That’s a fun thou-” The slamming of the door against the wall snapped Thae out of his session of deep, pointless thought. Chsn knew Thae knew what was up, so she simply waved him over, and he followed obediently. Thae reached the doorway and peeked through it as he made his way towards Chsn, who was opening the door open for him. It was just a regular old hallway. Linoleum floor tiles, fluorescent lights, and beige walls. Thae stepped onto the Linoleum and Chsn closed the door behind them. They silently walked down the hallway to the steel door ahead of them, which Chsn hurried to reach first to open for Thae. With a quick swipe of a keycard, the door slowly opened, and Thae exited the waiting room.
Chapter 9: Thaecrisis
Thae grabbed his warm bowl of oatmeal and sat down at his usual spot on the couch. He watched Pandu approach him as he slowly shoveled spoonfuls of warm oats into his mouth. In Pandu’s hands was a bowl, filled with colorful cereal floating inside a liquid that Thae presumed was milk, which was a disgustingly unappetizing shade of purple. The liquid spilled all over the carpet as he fast walked his way to the couch. Pandu waved to Thae as he reached the couch. “Hey Thae!” He said with an energetic tone.
Thae took a break from his boring bowl of oats to wave back. “Hi Pandu.” Thae replied. He quickly returned to his bland oatmeal. He listened to Pandu ravenously shove cereal into his mouth as he continued to eat. After another few mouthfuls of oatmeal Thae turned to Pandu and watched him chug the strange colored milk from the bowl in both astonishment and terror, before asking, “So, how’d you sleep?”
Pandu downed the last few drops of milk, licked his lips, and smiled. “Ah! Pretty good! How ‘bout you?” Pandu replied energetically.
“Pretty good too.” Thae replied.
Pandu plopped his empty, China bowl onto the wooden coffee table, which stood at ankle height in front of them, then immediately refocused his gaze on Thae. “So! You excited for today? What d’ ya think we’re gonna do today! Group training! Are we gonna fight in the real tournament! Hmmm?” Pandu asked with an unstable, deranged tone.
Thae replied nervously, “I mean uh, I think we’re probably gonna do some group training? Probably? Maybe? I mean, uh, it seems like everyone’s here, right? It would be logical if we all did some group training before the real deal.” After finishing speaking, Thae quickly looked away from Pandu, and stared at the carpet floor as he played with his hooves.
Pandu exclaimed loudly, “Group training ey? Yea! That sounds ‘bout right!”
“Ah!” Thae looked up, startled by Pandu. He looked at Pandu and quickly replied, “Yea.”
“You excited?”
“Uh, Not really.”
Pandu shrieked with a wild look in his eyes, “Man, I’m excited! I just feel so alive! Ya know what I’m sayin?”
“Yea, I do.” Thae chuckled nervously, as he gave Pandu a concerned stare. Before leaving, he said, “Anyways, nice talking with you, I’ll see ya later, alright friend?”
Pandu was licking the bottom of his empty bowl to make sure he didn’t miss a single drop of purple sugar-milk. He put his bowl down so he could look at Thae and curtly replied, “Yea, yea, yea see ya later mate.” He proceeded to laugh hysterically in glee as he tried to collect the last drops of purple milk with his tongue. Thae got up and walked over to the kitchen. On the way there he waved to a couple of the other members. He spotted Yolk, who was sitting on his bed, not too far away from his seat on the couch, dining on a hot bowl of chinese noodle and egg soup, as he vigorously wrote on a paper.
Thae waved to him. “Hey Yolk.” Thae said.
Startled by Thae’s presence, he quickly hid the paper and pencil behind his back and picked up his bowl and chopsticks. “Um, hey Thae! What’s up!” His cheeks turned red as a tomato as he played with his glasses. He stuffed his face with noodles quickly.
“Not much, are you ready for group training?”
Yolk quickly chewed and swallowed his noodles. “Yea, um. Of course I am! Hehe.” He cleared his throat. “So, um. Yea. Guess I’ll see you later then?”
“Sure.” Thae replied with a warm smile. He continued to make his way to the kitchen, and waved to the strange boy with the large helmet named Onett, who was sitting on the ground in the corner of the room, snacking on a blueberry bagel with cream cheese spread atop it with his left hand, as his right hand moved energetically from left to right across his paper.
Realizing Thae was approaching, he looked up and waved. “Hey Thae, what’s up.” He said with a somewhat deep voice, tinted by a nasally tone.
“Hey Onett.” Thae replied.
He stood by Onett and watched him move his pen up and down, and left to right with immense speed.
“So what’re you doing?” Asked Thae. After a few seconds of no reply, he quickly added, “You don’t have to tell me about it if you don’t want to.”
“Uh, sorry for not responding right away, I was sorta invested in this thing.” He pointed at the notepad that he was writing on, with his pen. “I’m trying to write a story, but I really don’t have a plan for it so far. Its called Tale of Two Teams.” He said with an urgency in his voice.
“That’s cool.” Thae replied.
“Thanks man.” Onett quickly replied.
Onett immediately got back to work, and Thae stood there awkwardly, and stared at him for a few more seconds before leaving and saying, “Well, I guess I’ll see you later then.”
Thae began to walk away after a few seconds without response and quickly turned around at the sound of Onett’s voice. “Yup, see you later man, bye.” Onett said with his eyes still locked on his paper. He quickly dropped his pen to wave Thae goodbye, then immediately got back to work.
Thae passed more people as he inched his way closer and closer to the kitchen. He waved to people as he passed them.
He waved to Patrick, who was sitting in a comfy leather chair, staring at the ground blankly, with a glum look on his face. His eyes were bloodshot and half shut. It was quite obvious; he was as high as a kite.
“Hi Patrick.” Thae said as he strolled by.
Patrick kept staring at the ground gloomily, but waved his paw weakly at Thae. He murmured weakly, “Hello.”
Some more people waved to Thae as he walked passed them. Thae spotted Ultra, who was sitting at a coffee table by the kitchen, which was covered with empty mugs.
As Thae passes by him, Ultra energetically greeted him.“Ay! Thae! Nice to see ya, how ya doin’ this mornin?!’” Ultra said with a cheerful, yet deep and gravelly voice as he emptied the contents of multiple mugs of coffee and laundry soap into his mouth.
“I’m doing just fine Ultra. See ya later today during training!” Thae replied, a bit grossed out by the fact that Ultra was drinking soap as if it were a milkshake.
Ultra quickly chugged another cup of joe, closed his mouth door, then quickly waved Thae goodbye and said, “A’ight! See ya later mate!”
Thae waved back. “Goodbye.” He said.
Thae had almost reached the kitchen, but encountered Noodles, who was leaning on the kitchen counter, feasting on multiple bowls of instant ramen. After noticing Thae, Noodles quickly put down his bowl for a second and saluted Thae. Thae put his plate down on the gray, marble, countertop for a second, saluted back, then walked the homestretch to the sink, where he placed his empty bowl. He delicately placed his bowl in the sink, rinsed it out with water, and waved hello to a couple more people as he made his way to a cozy leather arm chair.
And so, Thae sat alone with his thoughts, fantasizing about the tournament. He yawned and his eyelids grew heavy, and began to close his eyes to rest. A few seconds later, he found himself lost in the land of dreams.
Thae opened his eyes, and was bombarded by harsh white stadium lights. He blinked quickly to adjust himself to the brightness, then began to look around. Screams and cheers of people flooded the arena, as Thae curiously looked around. He spotted the members of Team NP, and he even saw himself amongst their ranks. They stood in attention stance, head held up high and hands by their sides; each of them, armed with a unique combination of tools and weaponry.
They stood completely still in a sturdy, and somewhat large wooden fort. It was mostly open, with both a cave entrance, and a built-in wooden entrance as well. A large, red package of explosives labeled “TNT” sat atop a natural cliff, which was built into the fort. A few ladders and stairs lead up to the level which contained the bomb, as well wooden platforms leading to 2 towers.
Before Thae could finish his analysis, a booming voice came down from above. “Laaadies, and gentlemen. Are you ready for the annual Red Warfare tournament?!”
The announcer’s question was met with an orchestra of cheers, screams and approval.
“Yeah!”
“Woo!”
“Let’s go!”
“I’ve been waiting for this all year!”
Their voices quickly died down, and all was silent.
The announcer continued to hype up the audience. “Get yourselves cozy ‘cause things are gonna get messy! There will be bloodshed! There will be violence! There will be intensity! Now! Ladies and germs, on the red team, we have… Team NP!”
The mention of the name was met with few cheers and claps. Thae tried to clap, but only at this moment realized that his body was not there, and he was nothing but an invisible, harmless spectator.
Slightly embarrassed by the fact he did not know he was invisible the entire time, he set his gaze back to the ceiling, where the large booming voice came from. Harsh white light stung his eyes, so he used a hoof so he could see better.
Thae took a second to appreciate the architecture and the design of the stadium. The arena that the two teams occupied was realistic, and well designed. Two symmetrical wooden forts, containing a cave, three tall wooden towers, a tall, old, oak tree, along with a river at the center of it all, with three small bridges to cross from.
Stained, armored glass lined the perimeter of the arena, 20 feet above the ground floor of the arena, which Thae assumed contained the live audience.
Above the glass, was a steel stadium ceiling, alongside multiple racks containing lights and speakers, and a large, armored box with stained glass windows, which most likely contained the commentators.
Thae had not realized he had failed to listen to the commentator’s commentary, and was surprised when he heard a loud, and audible, “Go!”
He watched the members of Team NP rollout, and prepare for battle. They all charged as a unit. Noodles, Carson, and Pony acted as frontlines, armed with heavy armor and automatic plasma rifles with built in bayonets. Behind them were the rest of the members, each of which wielded a strange array of weapons and gadgets, which Thae couldn’t exactly understand the purpose of.
Thae followed behind the team, watching them charge from the fort to the river, where the battle would take place. To Thae’s dismay, the team decided to split their ranks, and Thae cringed as he watched them march into an unwinnable battle.
Thae was barely able to watch the members get mutilated, one by one, as the enemy ripped team NP to shreds.
A well placed RPG blew Carson to smithereens.
An explosive arrow ripped through Yolk’s body.
A silver bullet with the name Onett written on it found its target.
The list goes on.
Even though he wasn’t part of the battle, Thae could still feel the excruciating pain his team members were feeling. He watched his friends die at the mercy of every single weapon known to mankind, until there was only one survivor left. And his name was Thaecrasis.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Thae watched himself attempt to reach cover. He spotted the man atop the enemy tower, notching an arrow, and letting it fly.
“Such a beautiful motion.” Thae said to himself as he watched the silver arrow spiral through the air, as graceful as a ballerina. He watched it spiral and spiral and spiral, until it hit his flesh, and made a satisfying thunk noise. He watched himself drop on the ground dead, blood pouring out the impact site of the arrow. Within minutes, their team had been defeated.
As the enemy team jumped with joy and celebrated, and the commentators were going wild in the booth, screaming at top of their lungs, the entire arena shook violently and Thae could faintly hear a voice yelling at him. He began to try to focus in on the voice, trying to interpret what the mysterious voice was saying.
Pandu vigorously shook Thae with his large panda arms. He screamed repeatedly, “Wake up Thae! Wake up Thae! Wake up!”
Thae remained asleep, but Pandu persisted. He continued to scream and shake Thae until he finally woke up after a couple dozen repetitions.
Thae finally awoke after Pandu’s 48th attempt. He rubbed his eyes, yawned grandly, and stretched, then scratched the back of his neck as he blinked repeatedly to adjust his eyes to the light.
Before Thae could fully wake up, Pandu grabbed his hoof, practically threw him off the chair and onto the ground, then proceeded to let go of his grasp on him.
Thae groaned, and Pandu lightly kicked Thae’s side and repeatedly said, “Come on Thae, you gotta wake up.”
After getting kicked in the ribs a couple of times, Thae groaned then finally mustered the energy to get up. Pandu grabbed Thae’s hoof once more, and began to drag him towards the metal door which lead to the exercise room.
Yet Thae already knew today would not be a regular old training day. He knew. It was the start of their group training. It was the end of the beginning. The beginning of the end.
Chapter 8: Let’s Die Together
“Man, today just flew by.” Pandu whispered to himself as he pulled the shower curtain aside so he could enter the stall. He turned on the hot water faucet, and experimented until he reached the perfect temperature, at which point, he entered the stall, and closed the shower curtain. He closed his eyes and smiled as he took a few seconds to enjoy the warmth of the water, then quickly began to apply shampoo to his fur soon after. Soapy suds and bubbles rose through the air as he thoroughly massaged it into his fur. After a few minutes of vigorous washing, he enjoyed the warm water for a few more seconds, then turned the faucets off. He stepped out of the shower and onto the cold, moist tile floor, and dried himself off with a fluffy white towel. As he made his way to the row of mirrors, he threw the towel into a nearby laundry basket. Quickly, he groomed his hair with a comb, then exited the bathroom.
Chapter 7: Skadoosh
A loud, annoying noise shrieked from the alarm mounted on the wall. An orchestra of groans and moans formed in response, as the team slowly got out of their beds. One by one they got on their feet and walked to the bathroom like a horde of zombies. The bathroom was well furnished with multiple sinks, mirrors, showers, and toilets. Their feet tapped against the luxurious tile floor as they got ready for the day ahead of them. Pandu lazily brushed his teeth, combed his fur, and washed his face and quickly got out of the room. Soon, the others filed out of the bathroom with bags under their half-closed eyes. Like thieves in the night, they raided the kitchen and made breakfast out of whatever they could find. Apparently the cupboards had been magically refilled overnight, because Pandu found multiple boxes of Trader Flo’s Nuclear Sugar Warheads. The noise created by the commotion almost deafened Pandu as he barely made his way out of the warzone. He quickly snagged the boxes and sat in a corner, eating the dry sugary mess all by himself. He watched as the team waded in each other’s bodies as they tried to prepare breakfast.
Chapter 6: Team No Problem
Pandu sloppily shoved food in his mouth with his shaky arms. Gray mashed potatoes and drab peas devoured them speedily as he almost fell asleep on the mess hall table. Patrick stared at him with a concerned look and asked, “Hey, you alright there bud?” Pandu quickly shouted, “What? Yea! I’m fine, don’t... “ His head rested on the table for a brief second before he quickly snapped back awake. “No Worries! I’m fine!” His eyes focused onto his dinner plate, which contained a handful of peas, a spoonful of mashed potatoes and a slice of mystery meat. He scooped the peas into his mouth, shoveled the remainder of the mashed potatoes into his mouth and munched on the chewy mystery meat. A few moments pass, and Pandu pops the last remaining bit of meat into his mouth, and places his dirty tray on a countertop which was covered in plates. He rubbed his eyes as he began to walk back to the cabin with Patrick. Pandu exited the well-lit mess hall and entered the cold, dark outdoors. They walked alongside each other in silence. Down the hill, than up the hill, then into the forest. They opened their cabin door and see everyone else already in bed and fast asleep. Pandu and Patrick close the door, navigate through the darkness to find their beds, then instantly fall asleep after a long day of training.
***
Chapter 5: Bugle Call
A small panda in a small wood cabin awakens to the anthem of a flugelhorn. He rubs the drowsiness out of his eyes as he hops out of bed and steps onto the cold, hardwood floor. He yawns loudly as he stretches his back, and began to stretch the rest of his body. He was the first one up, and all the others were still fast asleep in their bunk beds. The cabin he lived in was cold and miserable. Cheap, ramshackle bunk beds aligned the walls, small holes in the roofing allowed cold bitter air to seep in, and the floor was covered in splinters. The panda slowly made his way to the bathroom, which was on the other side of the cabin. He walked as if he were walking through a minefield, cautiously dodging splinters as he inched his way across the floor. After a tense few minutes, The panda reached the bathroom. He quickly rinsed his face, brushed his teeth and combed his fur before his cabin mates come stampeding in. By the time he was out, his cabin mates had awoken and were getting ready for the day. As he passed his cabin mate on the way to his dresser, he mumbled, “Good mornin Patrick.”
Chapter 4: Drink to Forget
As usual, The Jolly Dungeon was packed with people. To Thae’s dismay, a sizable line had formed, and he stood at the tail end of it. He could hear all the laughter and conversation, and he could smell all the wonderful food being cooked inside. It was a really medieval atmosphere, and it reminded him a lot of a tabletop game he enjoyed playing during his youth called Leviathans and Labyrinths. It was one of the few buildings in the city that wasn’t a towering skyscraper. Instead it was a simple cottage, with brick roof tiles, beautiful stained glass windows, and birch wood walls. The wonderful smells tortured Thae as he waited eagerly to get seated. He tried to distract himself so his hunger didn’t bother him as much, but alas to no avail. After what seemed like hours of waiting, Thae finally reached the front of the line and approached the waiter at the reception desk.
Chapter 3: The 100th Floor
The computer sprang to life as Thae began his work session. It was quite a beauty, to be quite frank. It had a huge 18 inch by 24 inch screen, and its speed was unmatched. Thae had never seen anything like it before. He spent much of his childhood toying with electronics and computers but nothing came close to rivaling the quality of his new work computer. Thae thought back to the first time he met his computer. He remembered how awestruck he was at the sight of such a beauty. Blinding light seared Thae’s eyes as the computer screen illuminated. Thae rubbed his eyes as he muttered to himself, “Well that’s one thing I’ll never get used to.” He proceeded to grab the strange headset which lay on the desk which the computer sat on. It was a metal frame, custom fit to his head and covered in wires and LED lights. The headset reminded Thae of a football helmet, except it was made of cold steel and wires. It beeped and booped softly, and the different colored lights on it flickered on and off. “Thank the gods for these headsets. You wouldn’t believe how typing is when you don’t have fingers.” He strapped the headset on and watched the computer screen. The feel good inc logo appeared in the middle of the screen as a small green bar showed the progress of the computer’s awakening. Thae began practicing with the headset, making the mouse do a figure eight with the sheer power of his mind. Finally the last pixel of empty space was filled with green, and the percentage above the progress bar read, “100%” The loading screen faded and revealed a clean desktop with a simple white background. Immediately a popup appeared in the middle of the screen. Thae moved the mouse and opened it. A humongous list of tasks exploded from it, and Thae sighed heavily, “Oh boy, here we go.”
Chapter 2: Feel Good
The blue nation grew wise and became obsessed with seeking knowledge. It began immediately began after their search for a new destiny. They observed the creatures of the earth and marveled at them. While some continued on with their jobs as resource gatherers, others spent their days studying the earth. They examined the small insects beneath their feet, the clouds in the sky, and the soil they stood on. If they saw something unknown, they would research it ruthlessly. Teams of people would stay up for multiple nights to discover the secrets the universe tried to hide from them. Their research grew more and more in-depth and revolutionary. One by one, they conquered nature’s challenges. They learned of the patterns in the countless stars in the sky. One man learned to harness the wind. Another learned to harness electricity. Soon enough people grew tired of the petty annoyances that mother nature bothered them with, so they began their campaign to gain complete control over the earth in which they stood on. At first they built small things.Streets were paved, and towers were built so high it seemed as if they touched the sky. Every patch of grass was uprooted to make room for more and more buildings. They expanded outwards, covering the earth they once adored in a thick layer of tar and concrete in order to satisfy their hunger for control, yet it was not enough. They weren't producing fast enough. Not enough. Factories were erected: large smokestacks wheezed noxious gasses into the air, creating dark smog that blocked out the blue skies.
Chapter 1: Rise of Nations
Ever since the beginnings of civilization, a preeminent rivalry arose. Two nations were pitted against each other by the cruelest of fates. There was no rest, there was no peace. They lived for war, they thrived off war, and there was never enough of it. In a lush valley, long long ago, two civilizations formed, each on opposing hills. The kingdoms known only as red and blue loathed each other. Daily, the red and the blue would march their men to war. Both sides would meet eye to eye atop the hills, and they would charge down. Their soldiers met in the dip, and they would fight tirelessly. No retreat was ever called, for all that mattered was victory. The deceased were left to rot in the well of the valley, and the pile of bodies within it grew more and more massive, as the kings continued to send their soldiers into an unwinnable war. The Kings watched atop their high towers, the deaths of the soldiers only acting as a small morsel to the greedy demons within them that only howled for more bloodshed. Every day was the same. Assemble ranks, charge, die. The valley became more and more full with corpses and skeletons. Despite this, the kings pursued war-driven agenda and pushed on. Yet, both sides were dying from the inside, and everyone except the leaders knew of it. The people were starving, sick, broken, beaten, restless, yet the fighting went on. Every night was dark and cold.