Prologue: Just Run

In the control room, the figure considered the most recent results of his search, and the probabilities the computer had generated. The scenario was ready, he just needed a new group of players. As it was longer scenario, he needed just the right people.

Batman – Bruce Wayne – Odds: 5 to 2

Black Widow – Natasha Romanov – 7 to 2

Black Canary – Dinah Drake – Odds: 7 to 1

Catwoman – Selena Kyle – Odds: 4 to 1

Cyclops – Scott Summers – Odds: 7 to 2

Emma Frost – Emma Frost – Odds: 8 to 1

Flash, The – Barry Allen – Odds: 1 to 30 in favor.

The figure stared at that one for some time. He put a few different variables. But the odds never reduced past 1 to 20 in favor. He sighed, and was forced to cross off the name.

Green Arrow – Oliver Queen: Odds: 6 to 1

Green Lantern, The – John Stewart: Odds: 5 to 1

Iron Man – Tony Stark: Odds 7 to 2

Lois Lane – Lois Lane – Odds: 6 to 1

Magneto – Erik Lehnshrr (Max Eisenhardt) – Odds: 9 to 2

Nick Fury – Nick Fury – Odds: 4 to 1

Steve Trevor – Steve Trevor – Odds: 15 to 1

He grimaced, looked again, and deleted the entry.

Storm – Orono Munroe – Odds: 6 to 1

Superman – Clark Kent – Odds: 1 to 1

He paused again, and typed quickly on the computer.

Superman – Clark Kent – Odds: 5 to 1

He nodded and moved on.

Tigra – Greer Nelson – Odds: 4 to 1

Wonder Woman – Diana – Odds: 4 to 1

He considered the list. It was balanced, it had its charmers. There was nothing to overbalance too much.

He sent it. After a few minutes, a ding notified him the list was confirmed. The list had been reset into a random order. He slid the screen to the left, and waited for the players to be brought in.

Pregame

Lois felt like she was going to be sick. It had been a Saturday, she had been working at the Daily Planet to finish an editorial due on Monday (damn that Clark for starting a Blog). She'd felt sick, closed her eyes for just a moment...

Just a moment for her not to be in Kansas any more.

She was standing under a green sky, surrounded by fifteen of the most electic group of people imaginable. Some she recognized, Superman, just to her right. Princess Diana of Themyscira, in her Wonder Woman costume, was on the other side. Others she didn't, a black bald man with an eyepatch and a black leather jacket across the mat. A cat-girl wearing nothing more than a purple bikini, looking like someone straight out of, what had it been called? Lunacon? That Perry had insisted she cover?

"Where are we?" asked a man dressed in a black jumper, wearing a pair of ruby red glasses. "I refuse to go to Murderworld again. That's too much."

"It's not time for Myxlplyk," Superman observed, looking up at the green sky in disgust. "Can't be him."

Batman was also there, looking as cold and calculating as always. It felt weird to see him in the daylight.

"Wherever it is, I don't like it," a woman dressed in all white said. "I'm ready to, ouch!" She'd reached out to grab and climb over a chain that was blocking their exit from a large yellow mat.

"Those are people in there," said the authoritative voice of Green Lantern. He was pointing.

Everyone turned and stared. Lois had the chance to gather her thoughts. They were standing on a large yellow mat, surrounded on three sides by an apparently electrical chain. There was a, Lois was tempted to call it a carpet, down to what appeared to be a small podium. On the other side of the podium, a large box, containing what appeared to be three human males, though she could only see their faces. Even their faces were obscured with dark sunglasses.

All around of them were absolutely enormous trees – they'd put the California Redwoods to shame. In fact, looking up at them, she thought she could see structures built in them, like in a Tolkien novel.

"Why is it that I'm the only one that didn't get to come in costume?" a middle aged man, wearing a Black Sabbath T-Shirt, "I mean, Cyclops is here, Fury gets his signature jacket, we've got Robin Hood, but do I get anything resembling my armor? Of course not." he looked around, and his eyes lighed on Diana. "Of course, maybe that's..."

"That's enough," Diana said, in a firm voice.

The man raised an a eyebrow and a slow smile spread across the face.

The bald black man rolled his single visible eye, and slapped the other man in the back. "That's enough, Tony."

"I'm not on the clock, Fury. I can do what I want."

Fury sighed.

Tony turned her eyes on the other people in the group, his eyes lighting on Selena Kyle, who was wearing her catsuit.

"What's going on here, anyway?" asked a red haired woman.

Lois stuck her hands in her pockets, and let out a note of surprise. They had been empty. She pulled out what appeared to be a map, and a cell phone. The map showed three levels, one apparently underground, one on ground level, and one clearly in the trees. There were even marked spots, showing where to get between levels.

The phone buzzed in her hand.

There were small noises of surprise coming from everywhere. Apparently, everyone had found a phone somewhere on them.

Lois wondered where Wonder Woman had found hers.

After a few moments, a movie played. It started with what appeared to be a group of people, standing on the mat, and a single person standing near the podium. The camera focused on that one person.

"Opening Challenge," came the computer like voice, coming from the phone in English, "Call your time. Then press start."

She heard a gasp, it sounded like it came from Superman.

It focused on the boxes. There was a clock, counting upward in seconds, just above the box.

"When correct time has elapsed, press stop. If stopped within a second over your time called, your time will add to your head start. If five players find success, then your head start begins. Otherwise the game begins. Try to escape the hunters. You won't help anyone caught this early." The picture, tagged with a "12!" showed a time of 11.50. Then three black figures were shown running toward the mat, the others running away.

"That was in Kryptonian," Superman said, softly. "Not quite the right grammar... but Kryptonian."

"Russian?" mumbled the red haired woman. "Well, why not?"

Her phone buzzed again. Pictures of the people standing around her flashed in rabid succession, before slowing down and stopping on... her own face.

Everyone stared at her. Lois felt very small of a sudden.

"Well. No one has tried to kill us yet," Superman said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I can't even see what's providing us light, Superman," Lois whispered.

"Red sun," he said, sighing. "We'll be OK, I promise."

Lois squared her shoulders, and began to walk toward the podium.

"Call a time you feel comfortable with," advised Green Arrow.

The clock was above the cages. The men inside were not breathing. Their heads turned as one to focus on her.

Damn, it was creepy.

Lois swallowed. "Eight seconds!" She called into the open air, then pushed the button. The clock started, then a slide covered it up. After she believed eight seconds had passed.. plus just a moment.. she pressed the button again.

She glanced up at the covered clock, then back at the group. They'd crowded towards the chain, staring at her tensely.

The slider slid back down. "8.782s" Eight red lights appeared above the cages.

Lois released her breath.

"Well. Good?" she said, still bemused. Nothing happened after a moment or two, so she walked back to the group.

The phone buzzed again. Lois pulled hers back out. Another roulette of pictures blinked before her, this time it settled on the slightly fuzzy face of the man in the Iron Maiden t-shirt.

He walked out towards the podium, his fist in the air, turning back and smiling at the group.

He called ten, and several seconds later, stopped the clock again. Lois was of the opinion he got it right. He was already walking back; no swaggering back to the group when the clock confirmed it.

There were now eighteen total marks.

A third time the roulette of pictures. This time it stopped on Batman. Well, Lois assumed it was Batman. All she could see was the cowl, his eyes (and not his pupils), and his chin.

With a swish of his cape, he walked forward toward the podium, cutting an almost disturbingly bizarre image. "Haven't you ever seen the Incredibles?" asked Tony. "No capes!"

"Thirty." His voice was calm and direct, same as it always was. The gasps issued from everyone else, on the other hand. Batman stood stock still for those thirty seconds. Lois could see the faces of the three trapped men focused on him. Lois felt she'd lost track somewhere after thirteen seconds. But... this was Batman. The people she didn't recognize were clearly more nervous. They were crowding to the back. Without a word, Batman pressed the button again.

After a moment, the slider came down. "30.500"

"Alright, I'm impressed," Tony said, grudgingly. Fury nodded at him.

A fourth roulette. It landed on... the man with the slicked back brown hair and red tinted sunglasses. He shrugged, and made his way out to the podium.

"Good luck, Scott," said the woman in white.

He had called ten. Lois didn't watch him. She watched Batman. Which meant she was the second one to know that he had missed the window.

"What?" Scott demanded.

The slider moved up, revealing 11.273.

The chains dropped, and a majority of the people began to run. A noise like a steam valve sounded. Then Lois could hear footsteps, followed by a massive explosion. She simply took off, adrenaline powering her legs. When she looked around, she didn't see anyone. The group must have scattered.

There was a cave ahead and to her right, leading to the lower level shown on the map. She'd hide down there.

The front of her phone had begun to display a countdown: 119:33... 32... 31. She found the cave, was relived to find it lit with lanterns, double checked her map, and proceeded down.

After the first minute had passed, her phone buzzed again. It showed the starting location. The three men in the cages had been true men in black. Black ties, black suits, visible earpieces, the whole costume. The gentleman hadn't run like most of them had. He had lifted his sunglasses, and nothing less than lasers shot out of his eyes, towards the three men in black. There was an explosion, smoke, but they continued to run through it. One of them had reached out and gripped the man on his shoulder. The hand holding his sunglasses up went slack, and he simply slumped to the ground. He was clearly still breathing, but knocked out. The man in black that had tagged him, carefully put his sunglasses back on, picked him up effortlessly, and took him off screen.

The other two looked around, their heads moving robotically. Not seeing anyone else, they stalked off in different directions.

118:59, 15 remain.