Prologue: A Game unlike any other
Darkness, that was all he was able to see after waking up, he may have fallen asleep in a King-sized bed the following evening, but now more than ever he wished he was still there. Chris Mclean may not have been the nicest of people, in fact he was a straight up sadist compared to most and with a massive ego to boot, which of course meant he made a lot of enemies over the years, particularly the contestants that appeared on the TV shows he hosts. That fact alone, made him instantly terrified once he discovered that he had a bag over his head and found himself tired to a chair.
"Hey, what's going on here!?" he yelled, his voice muffled by the bag. "Look, if this is about all that money I owe, I swear the network was supposed to cover me for that hot tub!"
It was then another voice answered Chris's plea, one that more than likely belonged to his kidnapper.
"Silence fool!" it snapped, it's voice deep and booming as if spoken by a giant. "This has nothing to do with any money."
At those words, Chris found the bag being lifted off his head. With his vision now returned to him, he then saw that he seemed to be in a blackened room, the only source of light being a single lightbulb that hung from the ceiling, shining just over a metallic table just in front of Chris's chair, to which he found he was still bound, fully dressed in his usual getup with rope tied around his ankles and wrists. At first Christ thought he was simply in an interrogation room, but given the mysterious circumstances he highly doubted cops were behind this, what's more there only seemed to be two others in the room with him, both of whom he shrouded in darkness just beyond the light's reach.
"Well I guess that's a relief I suppose," he said, taking note of the stranger's statement. "The last thing I need is MORE lawsuits, so who are you guys anyway?"
"That is not for your concern," the second figure answered, this voice clearly belonging to a woman. "The only thing you DO need to know is that we have an offer that you can't refuse."
Upon hearing that, Chris gasped in horror.
"Oh, god, is this some kind of weird relationship thing!?" He asked in a frightened tone. "Cause I already went to prison and lord knows I don't want…"
"What!? No!" the first figure snapped, cutting Chris off in the middle of his greatly misguided sentence. "Jeez, get your head out of the gutter, dude!"
It was then that the female figure cleared her throat to grab both their attentions, clearly wanting to get back onto the real subject at hand.
"What my colleague here is TRYING to say it that we have a business proposition for you," she stated bluntly, instantly calming the other figure down and causing an eyebrow to raise on Chris's behalf.
"What kind of business? He asked sceptically, not really understanding what these two strangers could be referring to.
It was at this point that Christ could have sworn he heard the two strangers chuckle in delight and see the glimmer of the woman's pearly whites as she smiled.
"We understand that you and one Chef Hatchet had fallen on some hard times," the first figured stated bluntly. "Especially considering the lack of success of your latest Realty Television Show."
At those words, Chris couldn't help but growl in anger.
"Well that's putting it mildly," he stated, before mumbling under his breath. "Lousy Don with his stupid Race Show hogging the spotlight..."
"Anyway," the figured continued, interrupting Chris' rambling. "What if we told you that we can provide you with a show that will blow the minds of everyone alive?"
Now Chris was beginning to get interested, especially considering the fact that he now for some reason has his bonds removed, thus allowing him to move his hands again. He neither knew nor cared how he was untied without noticing who did it, because all Chris could think about now, was the opportunity for a potential new show.
"I'm listening," he said, crossing his arms with interest.
Upon hearing that the female figure then clicked her fingers, only for the light to black out a second later as it reacting to the sound, after which the room was illumined once again, only this time by several television monitors. However it wasn't the monitors themselves, nor the fact that the two strangers were still hidden due to the fact that the TVs only gave enough light to provide a basic silhouette of the two, but rather it was what was ON the TVs that made Chris stare in amazement.
"Woah," he exclaimed. "This… this can't be real."
Had anyone else have been in the same situation, they would more than likely have said the exact same thing, what, or rather WHO was on each of the TVs couldn't possibly have existed in real life.
"Oh but it is Mr Mclean," the woman figure chuckled, pulling out something from behind her back and sliding it across the table, allowing it to stop right in front of Chris. "And we want YOU to be a part of our entire project."
His interest peaked, Chris instantly began looking through the folder the figure had given him, inside it were series of documents that he was all too familiar with, namely the identity profiles similar to what he used whenever he chose contestant for his shows. Upon analysing each and every shred of paper, sometimes comparing an attached image to one of the TV monitors just to make sure what he was reading was accurate, he couldn't help but wonder, was this real or just some giant hoax? Either way, he needed more info before he gave these two strangers the satisfaction of a straight answer.
"What's in it for you?" he asked sceptically.
Once again the male figure chuckled.
"Only the chance to provide entertainment for many different people… and others." He answered, however Chris still wasn't convinced as yet.
"And how exactly are we going to get any of these guys involved?" he asked, once again looking over the files in his hand. "And more to the point, where is all of this gonna be set up?"
"Oh don't you worry about that," the female figure casually replied, clicking her fingers once again and turning off the TVs, allowing the single lightbulb to once again become the only source of light. "We will personally provide the… participants of this project. Plus we will also be providing the necessary location for all of this to take place."
Needless to say, the entire thing was beginning to sound more and more like something from a fantasy movie with every second to a highly sceptical Chris, however given the fact that his shows have unintentionally created a feral freak-show and a gigantic mutant out of two of his own contestants, perhaps now would be a good time to start believing that ANYTHING was possible.
"So what do you say Chris Mclean?" the female continued, a sense of anticipation subtly etched into her voice. "Are you willing to become part of one of the greatest shows in all of reality?"
Obviously Chris had to think about it… for a whole two seconds! Obviously there was only one answer from something as crazy as this.
"What do I say?" he said, his face suddenly gaining an excited smirk. "I say… It is on!"
#
The Ultimate Swimming Pro, that's what they used to call her, back when her title actually gave her a place at one of the best schools in Japan. But now, after everything she has been through, the only relive she seemed to have was the comfort of a somewhat decent bed, however as soon as she opened her eyes, Aoi Asahina wasn't met with such a luxury.
"Ugh… my head," she muttered, rubbing her throbbing temple in a confused manner before finally forcing open her eyes. "Wha… where am I?"
It was only then that Aoi was able to get a look at her surroundings, instead of a soft Mattress in one of the Future Foundation's many safe points, she found herself laying on a cold stone floor, beneath some kind of flame. Gazing around she saw that for some reason, she was somewhere that was nothing more than a long dark, pipe-like tunnel, the concrete walls plastered with torches every few yards, giving some form of illumination but not enough to cover everything, but it was at least enough to see that she wasn't alone here. Laying just a few feet away from her, was another girl, a girl that she had never met before, she had long, blond hair that was tied up into a ponytail, and wore what appeared to be some kind of uniform that consisted of a white blazer with long sleeves and a short skirt, both of which had red and black trims. At first Aoi thought the girl must have come from some kind of school judging from her attire, but given the fact that there hasn't been a proper school in her world for a good couple of years, maybe she was some kind of military?
"Ugh… Quelle douleur," the girl groaned, repeating the same display of a throbbing head after regaining consciousness that Aoi went through.
And she was French too!? Perhaps things were different in Europe than where Aoi was from, either way she wasn't going to get any answers about what was going on, picking up here courage Aoi that stood up and took a few uneasy steps towards the girl.
"Um… excuse me?" she uttered, making sure she wasn't too loud as to startle the girl.
However regardless of Aoi's attempt to be polite, the girl still squealed in shock upon realising that she too wasn't alone. However once the girl took a moment to calm down, she saw that Aoi wasn't a threat to her, all she saw was a girl around her age, with tanned skin, brown hair that she wore in a ponytail somewhat neater than her own, and wore a simple garment consisting of a pair of blue athletic shorts along with a red tracksuit jacket over a simple white shirt, if anything she looked pretty harmless.
"You… you are Japanese, no?" the girl said, unable to think of anything else to say. "I recognise ze accent."
Seeing that the ice had been somewhat broken, Aoi put on a polite smile and gave the French girl an answer.
"Yes I am," she said, giving a small bow of her head. "My name's Aoi Asahina, but who are you?"
With that basic but polite sign of good will, the girl returned Aoi's smile and made her own introduction.
"Ah excusez-moi, my name is Charlotte Dunois," she said, her smile quickly fading back to her confused expression. "I take it you as confused as I am about zis whole situation?"
Aoi may not have known this girl for more than a few seconds, but Aoi had to admit that she admired Charlotte's quick observation of the matter, so much so that she felt no reluctance whatsoever in giving her a straight answer.
"You can say that," she said, awkwardly scratching the back of her head. "So… do you think it's just us here?"
However before Charlotte could give a response, another voice echoed in the tunnel, giving answer to Aoi's question. By the sound of it the voice belonged to a man, and a slightly older one at that, not only that but he seemed to be in the same amount of pain the two girls were in when they first woke up.
"Ugh… ow to the ow," he said. "Man, what the heck did I drink last night?"
At first Aoi and Charlotte expected just another confused person to step into the light and meet his fellow supposed kidnap victims, however what stepped out of the shadows wasn't even human, at least not anymore. Rubbing a three-fingered hand on his temple, the creature that stepped out of the darkness was in fact a skinny humanoid warthog with a tusk that was short than the other, who wore what a appeared to be a punkish version of a "Tron Suit" consisting of a purple visor over his eyes like a pair of sunglasses, along with a pair of leather pants that merged into his boots and a sleeveless vest that was made from the same material, all of which seemed to have purple energy lines that also looked like they fused to his very skin, though for some reason these lines were dimmed as if out of power. Needless to say, Aoi's and Charlotte's reaction to seeing such a strange creature was understandable, albeit a little… extreme
"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" they both screamed, hugging each tight in terror. "PIG-MAN!"
It didn't even take the poor warthog but a second to acknowledge the girls' presence when he suddenly found himself being punched in the snout, courses of Aoi out of instinctive fear.
"OW! My piggy nose!" he yelped, falling to his knees and clutching his snout in pain. "Why is it always the piggy nose!?"
With the added pain to his snout as well as his throbbing head, the warthog was instantly at the girls' mercy for a few moments, something which Charlotte was quick to take advantage of.
"Stay back Aoi!" she insisted, ushering the Swimming Pro behind her back. "I shall handles zis…"
However before she could do anything, Charlotte realised that a certain item was missing from around her neck, an item that was most important to her and provided her main means of defence.
"MY I.S.!" she yelled fearfully. "Where is it!?"
Of course having no idea what the French girl was talking about, Aoi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"I.S.?" she uttered confusingly.
Because of this initial confusion of the matter, neither Aoi nor Charlotte were able to do anything more when the warthog suddenly got to his feet.
"Man, what the heck was that for, yo?" he demanded angrily, still rubbing his poor snout. "I only just met you!"
Needless to say, that statement was something that neither girl had expected to hear from the Pig-man, in fact both of them were completely shocked that he wasn't trying to pri them apart right at this moment.
"You're… you're not gonna hurt us?" Aoi asked fearfully, practically dreading the answer she would receive.
At those words the Warthog's scowl worsened.
"What? Just because I'm a dang warthog, you think I'm gonna maul ya or something?" he snapped. "I won't even hit a lady!"
Once again, a statement neither girl had expected to hear.
"Well, at least he's got SOME manners," Charlotte commented with a small shrug.
"Who are you, anyway?" Aoi added, curious as to the identity of this creature.
As soon as he heard those words, the Warthog's frown turned into a smirk as he suddenly struck a pose, just as though he had never heard a more flattering question.
"The name's Anton Zeck," he said, moving his whole body into poses that would make Michael Jackson jealous. "But y'all can call me Bebop, Eehee!"
"Strange name," Charlotte commented, allowing herself a sheepish chuckle at this… Bebop's eccentricity. "You are American, no?"
It was obvious that the accent Bebop had was a dead giveaway for his country of origin, but never the less it didn't explain why he would be a talking Warthog of all things. In any case, things were begging to feel stranger and stranger with every passing minute, of course Bebop's eccentric personality didn't help with keeping a collected atmosphere.
"Oui Mademoiselle," he said mischievously, taking Charlotte's hand and leaning down to give it a smooch. "And might I say how charming…"
"I shall stop you right zere!" Charlotte quick blurted out, snatching back her had with a horror-struck look upon her face. "First of all, I have a boyfriend, second, I am only 15!"
Had a record been playing at the time, all three of them would have heard it scratch right at that moment, followed by an eerie silence. After about of minute, only one word managed to Escape Bebop's mouth.
"… Awkward."
Of course it didn't take him too long to recover from that gauche moment and instantly go back into his eccentric persona.
"So what are you kids doing here anyhow?" he asked abruptly, clearly as confused as anyone else in the tunnel. "Y'all know what's going on here?"
"Clearly they don't," another voice growled, however this one didn't belong to either of the girls.
As soon as he heard those words, Bebop squealed in terror for it was a voice he was greatly familiar with, even Aoi and Charlotte were startled when they heard the voice because to them it sounded as though it belonged to some kind of monster. In a way they would be accurate with that kind of assumption, coming from the same direction Bebop did, another creature emerged from the darkness, only this one looked far more savage. This time the creature was a large, skeletal werewolf with dark, sickly green fur, a long and very bony body, along with a muzzle and a pair of hands that appeared to be made entirely out of bone, not only that but he seemed to be wearing some kind of metallic collar around his neck as his only form of attire. Behind him were two other figures, three is you included the cat in the woman's arms, however unlike the wolf these two were just as human as Aoi and Charlotte were, albeit a few oddities. The first figure was a large Japanese man, who must have weighted at least 400 pounds and stood taller a fair couple of feet taller than even the werewolf, and his outfit consisted of a white T-shirt with brown overalls, brown sandals and a bracelet similar to Rahzar's Collar attached to his wrist, not only that but along with his weight, the man also had black hair tied into a chonmage style, making him look even more like a sumo wrestler.
As for the woman with the cat in her arms, she seemed to be the most… fanatic of the trio, her brown hair arranged in a messy way, the top of which was stylised like cat ears, and she had cat-like, eyes, nose and mouth, not only that but she also had two red whisker-like tattoos on each of her cheeks, completing the "kitty face" she had going on. She also had what looked like a tail attached to the back of her small black shorts, which was somewhat difficult to see because of the purple cape she wore, of course the rest of her attire wasn't so covered up by it. She wore long black-and-purple striped leggings held up by a black garter-belt, evening gloves, and black bikini top, leaving the rest of her midsection exposed, not only that by to complete her cat-like appearance, she also wore a small, purple choker with a bell attached to it. The only thing that seemed to stand out amongst the whole attire was the same metallic bracelet clasped around her left wrist, one that was almost identical to Tohru's. No one may have known WHY this woman would wear such a thing but given the type of people she used to know back home, Aoi was a little used to see the odd furry fanatic now and then, what she couldn't accept as easily was of course the werewolf that was leading the other two, however Bebop, for some unknown reason to the others, seemed to know him.
"Woah, you here too, Zombie-Wolf?" he exclaimed, causing the said creature to roll his eyes in annoyance. "Man, for a second there I thought I was the only mutant here,"
"Unfortunately not," the werewolf growled irritably.
Seeing that there was a bit of tension starting to build up in the atmosphere, Charlotte thought now would be a good idea to ounce again start breaking a little ice.
"So… I take it you two know each other?" she asked awkwardly, only to step back in fear as the wolf snarled at her in response.
"You could say we're work colleagues," he finally answered, feeling no need to hold anything back for the moment. "The name's Rahzar, the big fella here's named Tohru, and the lady with the claws is Millianna.
At those words the large Japanese man and the cat lady bowed and waved respectively.
"Hello," Millianna said, playfully squeezing the orange cat in her arms.
Tohru and Millianna seemed decent enough, though Rahzar was clearly not one to be trifled with, especially if he was THIS hostile to Bebop seeing how the two were supposed to be allies in a manner of speaking. Of course neither Aoi's nor Charlotte's nerves were aided in the slightest by yet another sudden development.
"PLEASE Senorita!" Millianna's cat protested, struggling in her arms. "This is most undignified!"
And now the cat talks, at this point Aoi's headache began to feel a whole lot worse merely out of feeling overwhelmed.
"We awoke just a little further down this tunnel," Rahzar continued, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. "We've no clue as to what is going on, or how we got here in the first place."
"I assume you three are under the same circumstances as we are?" Tohru asked politely.
Though hesitant at first, Charlotte felt no need to hide anything since everyone here seemed to be in the same boat.
"Oui," she snaered. "Ze last zing I remember was going to sleep in my bedroom last night, before I know it I am waking up here with a splitting headache."
"The same thing happened with me!" Aoi chimed in, instantly reacting to the sudden familiarity.
"Me too, yo!" Bebop added, having the same realisation.
Hearing this Rahzar tapped his bony chin with thought, clearly this was a scenario that he had heard before from Tohru and Millianna, and more than likely experienced himself, whoever it was who did this to them, they clearly knew enough to somehow drug everyone here in their sleep and keep them unconscious long enough to bring them here. Of course this was only a theory, but it was better than going on nothing.
"It appears that we have all been brought here for some particular reason," he noted. "What that reason is, I can't say for sure."
"So what do we do now?" Tohru asked curiously.
Rahzar couldn't help but growl at that.
"The tunnel behind us comes to a dead end from where Millianna and I woke up," he explained, once gain point a thumb behind him. "I say we keep going down the other way until we reach an exit."
Not that it wasn't a good a plan as any at this point, but given the fact that the skeletal wolf basically said it with an arrogant attitude as though he were already in high-command, it didn't give any of the others the ability to have any good opinions about him.
"Hey, who put you in charge?" Bebop demanded, voicing everyone's poor opinion of the wolf.
All of a sudden Rahzar then snarled ferociously and snatched Bebop by the neck, lifting him off his feet and bringing him to his face.
"Keep in mind that I'm field-commander when Tiger Claw's not around, pork-chop!" he snapped angrily, his dead, yellow eyes glowing in the dark like a demon. "So if you got something to say about it… "
"N… no man!" Bebop squealed fearfully. "We cool!"
No one else may have known who this "Tiger Claw" was, but in any case they were relieved to see that Rahzar was satisfied with Bebop's answer, at least enough to release his grip on him and proceed to take the lead. After that moment of fearful suspense, the others soon looked at each other in uncertainty, after a few brief moments Tohru, Bebop and Millianna then gave a nod towards each other and followed Rahzar further down the tunnel, disappearing from sight as they left the light of the torch above them, passing by a hesitant Charlotte and Aoi.
"You think we should go with zem?" Charlotte asked nervously.
"Well, personally I don't see any other option," Aoi admitted, letting out a heavy sigh. "I mean, what else CAN we do?"
As much as charlotte hated to admit it Aoi did have a point, it was bad enough that she found herself lost in an unknown location, but it would seem that the only option everyone seemed to have was following Rahzar's orders, even though it looked as though Rahzar was willing to maul anyone who stood up against him. Regardless of however she looked at it, they didn't seem to be any other outcome of what happens next.
"Oui, we have no choice," Charlotte finally admitted. "Let us go then."
And with that, the two girls hurried along and followed Rahzar and the others further down the tunnel.
#
To say that the walk down the tunnel had been uneventful would have been an accurate description, after about half an hour of walking, there didn't seem to be an end to it, what's more it was at this point the torches began to become a little scarcer, leaving bigger gaps of darkness in between them. As they walked, the tension between each and every one of the group seemed to increase with each passing moment, for example Aoi seemed to be having mixed feelings about her new acquaintances, Charlotte and Millianna seemed decent enough, even if the latter did seem a little odd, and despite his Size, Tohru didn't seem dangerous, Bebop and Rahzar on the other hand… well, to her they seemed way too suspicious for her liking, not that she judged them solely on their appearance, but their mannerisms just seemed a little… off. Of course this train of thought was shortly interrupted when the group came to a sudden stop, the reason: even more new faces.
"Looks like we're not the only ones brought here," Rahzar commented, with a heavy growl.
Peering over the werewolf's spikey body, the rest of the group saw that Rahzar's statement was indeed accurate, for just a few feet away from them, standing at what looked like a dead end in the tunnel, was indeed even more people… along with a few other creatures that were clearly not human. For the moment none of them seemed to take notice of the new arrivals, the reason being was that their attention all seemed to be focused on a certain powerfully built man with relatively enormous forearms and light blue hair, who at this moment in time was focusing all of his efforts in trying to punch a hole through the steel wall. Of course his efforts were in vain, seeing that no matter how many times he punched, there was no amount of damage being made… even with his metal hand doing all the punching.
"DAMN IT!" the man snapped angrily, steam literally spurting out of his metal nose. "Not even a stinking dent!"
Clearly everyone must have had the same idea that Aoi and the others did, only to find this metal wall blocking their path, it was at this point that Aoi seriously began to imagine that she was simply going mad, this whole situation just seemed to be a little too much to take all at once.
"What in Tarnation!?" a freckled blond girl wearing a Stetson hat exclaimed, finally noticing the newcomers. "There are even more of us now!?
Hearing this, everyone then turned to Aoi and her group, allowing everyone to see each other in full detail, needless to say some of the individuals were far beyond what Aoi had considered normal. There were of course the humans, many of which didn't seem that odd, then there were the severally weird ones, like a second werewolf wearing tattered blue pants and golden knuckledusters, a pair of red skinned girls wearing identical cream-coloured uniforms, even a walking skeleton with an afro. Of course there was one individual in particular that caught Charlotte's interest the most.
"Is zat… a dragon?" she uttered, taking note of the black-scaled reptile scrawled out on the ground next to the metal wall.
At this point, Aoi couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"Well we have a talking cat, a skeletal werewolf AND a giant talking pig, so why not?" she commented sarcastically.
It was a notion that was easily shared amongst everyone else, it was clear that the tension between everyone was at hull height, some of them even looked like they had been in a scuffle before Aoi's group had even arrived, albeit leaving nothing more than a few scratches. Still, at least everyone didn't seem to be tearing each other's throats out, which in Aoi's opinion was a welcomed sign, at this point another girl spoke up, one who was roughly Aoi and Charlotte's age with mid-length black hair with a single left-swept red highlight on her bangs, and clearly one who appeared to be on the brutish side.
"So, you guys got kidnapped too, huh?" she asked bluntly, earning herself a nod from the newcomers before turning to the red-skinned girls. "So how many does that make?"
At those words, the red-skin girl with the green hair put on a smirk and spoke up.
"Well, now including the seven to arrive, that would put us at an even number of 24 altogether," she answered casually.
"Of course the reason as to WHY we are here remains uncertain," the second girl added, her hairstyle consisting of a light blue ponytail.
Aoi just couldn't believe what she was hearing, EVERYONE was completely clueless about why everyone was here!? Letting out a sigh, she couldn't help put pull at her own hair in frustration. Suddenly her train of thought was cut short when one of the new faces came walking up towards her, an average built, tanned man with messy spiked brown hair with a goatee beard and a small hoop earring in his right ear.
"Let me guess," he said casually. "Went to bed, and woke up here?"
At first Aoi didn't think that this guy was going to be easy to talk to, judging from the way he acted it was though he was one of those moody kinds of people, the ones who were sceptical, sarcastic and didn't have much of a care about anything. But, Aoi wasn't the type of person to be rude so regardless of her first impression of the man, she answered his question.
"Yeah, pretty much," she said, giving him an uncertain shrug for emphasis.
Hearing this, the man merely rolled his eyes and walked away, no doubt it was the same story he heard amongst everyone else here. At this point, Aoi couldn't help but listen in on the conversations everyone else was having, granted there was a lot of mistrust in the air but at least there was talking.
"What I want to know, is why some of us are wearing these stupid pieces of jewellery!" the second werewolf growled, tugging at the metal collar around his neck.
"Agreed," Rahzar growled, joining in the conversation and pulling at his own. "Not only that, but none of us seemed to be able to get them off."
It was only then that Aoi had managed to notice that Rahzar, Millianna and Tohru were indeed not the only ones wearing the metal bands around their necks/wrists. What's more it seemed that Rahzar was accurate in his assumption that no one seemed to be able to get them off since some were still struggling to do so when Aoi and the others arrived. And not only that, it would seem that some important items seemed to be missing too, such as Charlotte's I.S. whatever that maybe, something called a "Duel-Disk" belonging to a blond girl wearing a blue and white uniform, and some kind of horn belonging to a dark skinned man wearing a fedora and shades, and who was also wearing a metal bracelet for some reason. Suddenly all the murmurs came to a sudden halt when the torches of the tunnel went out, shrouding everything in darkness, during this unexpected development, Aoi had to bite her lip to force herself not to scream, of course that didn't stop some of the others from doing so. It was then that another light appeared in the middle of the group, one that had a blue tone in colour and flickered like static, but if the sudden appearance of the light was weird enough, the voice that came with it was even stranger.
"Testing! 1.2. Testing!" it said. "Is this thing on?"
Needless to say this new occurrence startled several members of the group.
"W… what pray tell is that?" a teenage boy wearing a chef's uniform stuttered nervously.
At those words, another teenage boy rolled his eyes… all three of them.
"I believe THAT is our host," he stated bluntly, causing several heads to turn in his direction.
But shock aside, the three-eyed teenagers assumption may have been right on the money, for at that moment the flickering light reshaped itself and before everyone's eyes, formed into the shape of a 30-odd aged man with gelled up black hair, beady eyes and a huge chin with some stubble, who wore an outfit consisting of a navy blue shirt with white sleeves, brown cargo pants and a pair of black sneaks, though it was hard to tell that due to all the blue light surrounding him.
"Welcome, one and all," the man announced cheerfully. "And thank you for all arriving here in one piece. To be honest I was a little sceptical about you lot being gathered here without tearing each other apart, but hey, who knew?"
That confirmed it! This man, whoever he was, was indeed the one you kidnapped everyone, or at the very least was involved. As anyone would come to expect, a lot of people were pissed off once the words came out of the man's mouth.
"I'd like to tear YOU apart pal!" the second werewolf snarled, launching himself at the man in a fit of fury… only to phase through him and hit the wall behind him.
After that act of violence the man's holographic image merely rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever dog-breath," he said uninterestingly, easily brushing off the werewolf's act. "First, let's have some introductions, I'm your host, Chris Mclean, and I'm sure you all are probably wondering how and why you all here today. Well I am pleased to say that you were all chosen to take part in one of the most unique television shows to ever be broadcast!"
Once again, shock and surprise filled the tunnel as the last few words exited the hologram's mouth, this guy was a TELEVISION host!? Even those who didn't even know what a television show was, were beginning to feel uneasy at this sudden burst of news.
"Say, what!?" Rahzar snarled.
"Sacrebleu!" Charlotte added.
"What's he getting at?" the dragon, though aloud, being one of the few here who didn't know what television was.
"This show will test your physicality, your mental skills, your social lives," Chris's image continued, enjoying every second of seeing the look of terror on everyone's faces. "Basically, you're ability to survive the new environment me and a few friends had set up for you!"
Now things were beginning to get all too intense for Aoi to take, this whole situation was becoming way too familiar to what she went through in Hope's Peak Academy, waking up in an unknown place, the group of strangers, even down to the mysterious host! And the way the host described things, it sounded as though she might just be in for another killing game!
"Is this some kind of sick joke!?" she snapped, voicing not just her own frustrations, but everyone else's as well.
"No joke, sweetheart," Chris replied with a smirk, much to Aoi's chagrin. "It's all bought and paid for by our generous sponsors, and they have chosen all of YOU to compete. And since there is no other way out other than means of transportation that is only known to myself and few others, basically you all don't have a choice in the matter other than to take part."
At those words it became clear that no matter what anyone said, things were NOT going to go their way from this point onward, whatever happens next, it was NOT going to be good.
"Oh, I have a bad feeling about this," Tohru uttered nervously, beads of sweat dripping from his brow.
"Hehe, as you should big boy," Chris chuckled, his grin soon widening as he made his next announcement. "So just sit back and relax folks, cause this is where it all begins! Welcome to the very first instalment of… TOTAL. DRAMA. MASHUP!
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Author's Note:
As our host as stated, Welcome to the First instalment of this new fic, which was inspired by the works of TheMasterKat, and my own personal meme (Please see the Gallery in my DA Account)
Before we continue this fic, you should know that much like the talented TheMasterKat, I plan on having you readers get involved with this series in order to see if I can make it even better. As such I shall be taking suggestions for challenges the competitors will take part in. If you have a suggestion, please feel free to leave a Comment/review with as much detail as possible.
Well, see you soon guys, I hope this first chapter is to your liking :D