Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, or W.I.T.C.H.
"Welcome to your new home. You will never leave."
Those were the first words Tenten heard when the "batmen" abducted her and her friends and brought them to Playtown. It had been three or so months since then. She wasn't sure. Days dragged on here.
The batmen didn't say why they brought everyone to Playtown. It seemed like they just wanted toys to fuck around with.
Boom.
Tenten zoned back into the fight. The man with three eyes, Tien, shot another yellow ball of chakra at Ino. She dodged and the energy projectile exploded on the ground, sending dirt flying everywhere.
In the first few weeks of living here (the word "living" used in its strictest sense), Tenten would hope her friends won their fights, but she came to realize that it didn't matter. These "contests," as the batmen called them, held no real stakes. Whatever happened in these fights was undone. If someone lost their eyes or limbs or even died, somehow it was undone.
Tien and Ino's fight ended. More fights passed—Android 17 versus Yamcha; Naruto versus Krillin; Taranee versus Sasuke; Hinata versus Irma, and others. Finally the speakers spat out Tenten's name, and she rose to her feet and waited for the gate to open.
"Tenten."
It was Neji. His face expressionless, he gave her a nod, wishing her luck. She nodded back, somehow feeling as though she wasn't about to fight alone.
The gate swung open and Tenten strode out into the arena center. Patches of scorched earth, holes, and debris littered the fighting grounds. The air smelled thick and musky, foreboding, like gasoline waiting for a match. She lost count of how many times she'd been forced to kill and be killed here.
"Go Tenny!"
Nappa waved at her from the sidelines. He was big and bald, and so stupid he once tore a door from its hinges because he didn't think to push in.
"I believe in you, my beautiful Tenny," Nappa said. "I know you can win for me."
As if, Tenten thought.
Bryan entered the arena from the other end. Tenten fought him before. He couldn't do anything fancy—nothing but Taijutsu like Rock Lee—but she could hardly keep her eyes on him when he moved, and the last time he kicked her she saw stars.
"Ah, two fine competitors." Francis stared down from a balcony. He was short and wide, built like a gorilla, and his bronze orange skin glimmered in the afternoon sunlight. "You do bring joy to this old batman heart."
I'd rather bring a kunai to your heart instead.
"Before the battle begins, I want a few words with you, Tenten." Francis leaned down from the balcony and smirked. Blood rushed to his head and made his complexion resemble grapefruit flesh. "Why don't you have a Facebook account? I want to—"
"Hey, that shit can wait." Bryan crossed his arms and drew the deep laugh lines of his face into a deeper frown. "You want us to fight? Then let us fight and get it over with."
Tenten grimaced. Last time someone spoke to Francis like that, it was Will saying she wouldn't fight her friend Hay Lin. Francis and other batmen beat both of them into the ground.
Francis' eyes bugged out and his face turned from red to purple, and Tenten couldn't help imagine what a shuriken would do to his balloon head.
"Don't you interrupt me, bulldog," Francis said. "I'm trying to officialize my relationship with Tenten via an online status update."
"What?" Nappa almost leaped out of his seat. "What did he just say, Pa?"
"Don't worry, my boy." Hercule pat Nappa on the back and whispered other reassurances to him.
Tenten once asked Hercule's daughter, Videl, about the deal between Hercule and Nappa. She had just shaken her head and walked away, muttering something about "Tootsie pops" and how "the world may never know."
"Anyway, you all shut the fuck up." Francis pointed at Bryan. "Especially you."
Bryan wrinkled his nose. "You listen here, pal, I—"
"Just let them get on with the fight." Edgar stood up beside Francis in the balcony. He was another batman who ruled over Playtown. His skin was purple blue, and whereas Francis was short and wide, he was tall and bony. Except his legs, which looked like they belonged to an elephant. "You can talk with her later," he said.
Francis sat back in his seat and muttered to himself.
"All right. Begin."
Tenten assumed her fighting stance.
After the contest, everyone funneled toward the cafeteria. This constituted most of their days. Fighting and eating, and the fights weren't even necessarily part of the contests; every other day a batman would get handsy and aggressive, and a brawl would ensue.
Tenten got in line with Neji.
"We have a great selection to choose from today, my dearies." Liliana smiled and plopped various foods onto the plates of those in line. She had her silver-white hair bundled up beneath a hairnet, and her apron looked like a painter's pallet spilled on it. "We have fish eyes. It's Fish Eye Friday and you can have as many as you want."
"I don't want any." Bryan stood in line with Markus in front of Tenten. He had won their fight again, but Tenten didn't feel any resentment like when she'd lost to Temari in the preliminary Chunin exam.
"You'll never grow big and strong like me if you don't." Liliana giggled, letting some vegetable stew drip from her ladle onto her apron. "Don't you want to grow up and be big and strong like your mommy, Bryan dear?"
"No." Bryan left with his tray.
"Do you want some fish eyes, my baby?" Liliana stared Tenten in the eyes. "They'll make you feel better after your brother Bryan beat you."
"No thanks." And he's not my brother, you crazy old bat.
Tenten felt a hand on her shoulder. Lionel leaned in and dangled a joint in front of her face. His eyes smiled behind huge round glasses. "How about some good old dope? This'll make you feel much better."
"No thanks," she repeated.
She made her way to the cafeteria table where some of the Konoha 11 plus Sasuke sat. Rock Lee was one of those who the batmen didn't capture and bring to Playtown. She missed him but didn't want him here, for his sake.
No one spoke much. Naruto remarked that he missed Ichiraku's ramen noodles, as he did every meal. Shikamaru talked to Ino about ways she could modify her strategy to improve her one-on-one combat. Shino muttered to his bugs.
They scarfed their meals down. The faster they ate, the faster they could get to their assigned dormitories for the night and avoid the batmen.
"Tenten."
Shit.
Francis put a massive hand on the dinner table and grinned from cheekbone to cheekbone. "It's fine if you don't have a Facebook account, but I want a picture of us together so I can prove to my friends that I have a hot ass girlfriend."
Those sitting at the table fired glances at one another. Pictures of Will and Hay Lin's mangled bodies flashed through Tenten's mind. She didn't know if that's how Francis would react if she denied him. She didn't know if a picture of them together would make Francis bolder, more intrusive, or if something else would happen.
"I'll post our picture with the caption 'Tenten, light of my life, fire of my loins.'" Francis chortled and bent toward her. "Well?"
She shot a look at Neji. Anger and contempt poured from his pale eyes, but his expression didn't betray anything else. He wanted her to decide.
"All right," Tenten said. "It's just a picture."
"Oh, that's what they all say." Francis wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and he stank so pungently she could taste onion. He made faces and took photos with his cell phone.
"Okay, I'll make sure to post these hot pics soon," Francis said. "Everyone will be jealous. See ya later, babe."
The batman left them to finish their meals in relative peace.
Bedtime. Tenten liked bedtime because nobody ever disturbed her in the dormitories. She felt safe.
The batmen assigned everyone's dormitory and roommate randomly each night. Why? Tenten didn't know. Something about Tootsie pops and how the world may never know, she thought.
Nappa moved to stand beside Tenten, and he smiled at her. "Hopefully we'll finally share a room tonight."
Please not Nappa, she thought. Please not Nappa.
The monitor flashed names and dormitory numbers.
DORMITORY 3: Tien Shinhan; Naruto Uzumaki.
DORMITORY 6: Bryan Dare; Cornelia Hale.
DORMITORY 1: Ino Yamanaka; Markus Bishop.
DORMITORY 10: Irma Lair, Tenten.
"Aww." Nappa sounded as though he'd lost the lottery, and he slumped his head. "Maybe tomorrow."
Tenten didn't wait to see the rest, though she hoped Neji and the others didn't get stuck with Nappa or somebody else as vile. She said goodnight to everyone, found Irma, and headed off to tonight's dormitory. Rain started to drizzle just as they stepped outside.
"I got this." Irma flicked her wrist and the rain collected in an invisible pocket above them. She chuckled, a chuckle empty of humor and filled with disdain. "I may not be able to use my Guardian powers to protect people from real danger anymore, but I can still protect us from getting wet."
They made it to their dormitory in a few minutes. The drizzle developed into a thunderstorm, and thunder echoed all around them. Nothing felt real here in Playtown except the weather—it was the one thing the batmen didn't seem to control.
Tenten and Irma sat on the couch, chatting here and there but otherwise lost in their own thoughts. "You kicked butt in your fight today, even if you didn't win," Irma said. "When I fought Bryan I had him frozen but he still beat me."
"Thanks," Tenten said. "It's tough fighting people you don't want to hurt."
Irma nodded in agreement. After half an hour or so, she retired to the bedroom for the night, leaving Tenten alone.
"Alone." Tenten let out a long breath. Here, even with Neji and most of her friends from her homeworld, and new friends she'd met from different worlds, she felt alone, empty, aimless. A weapon without a target. Maybe that would change for the better the more she got accustomed to Playtown. Maybe it would change for the worse.
Tenten curled up on the couch and lay there until sleep took her.
An explosion of thunder awoke Tenten. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and when she removed her hands to stretch, three batmen loomed over her.
The tallest batman tilted toward her and smirked. "Surprise motherfucker."