"Hellloooo competitors, and welcome to the next day of the Games!" Hadrian's voice boomed out over the speakers, as Jesse flicked through a book. Petra was flicking sparks at the floor, which fizzled out. "And it's gonna be a hot one!"
"Woo! Yes it is, Hadrian!" Mevia said, overly cheerfully. "And how're our teams looking, Otto?"
"Whatcha reading, Jesse?" Petra asked, flicking more sparks off as Otto started going on about the teams.
Jesse looked up from her book. "It's the journal from the Bureau of Amalgamology- actually, after the Order went to go fight the dragon, Ivor swiped the journal and kinda kept it. The book sort of... um, devolved into a diary, of sorts. And he wasn't very good at keeping it updated. There'd be like, year long breaks before it picked back up."
"Really? What was the latest entry?"
Jesse flipped through several pages. "It was actually the day of Endercon."
Petra's eyes widened, and she leaned over to have a look. "Seriously?" And yep- there was the date of that Endercon, so very long ago.
"Yeah... man, Endercon feels like centuries ago," Jesse sighed, leaning back a little, putting the red journal back in her pocket.
"Forget centuries, I feel as though three millenia and a week have passed since then," Petra said, hovering into the air, doing a flip, and flitting into a sitting position with a little sigh.
Jesse nodded in agreement, sitting back.
"And, about our plucky newcomers-" Otto was speaking, making the two girls look up.
"Otto, shut up. We don't need to hear about them," Hadrian cut in, making Jesse raise an eyebrow at that, "well, for everyone else, don't forget to be like Tim out there!"
"Wonder how this is gonna go," Petra said, drily.
"Yeah, it's gonna be a good one," Jesse said enthusiastically, bouncing on the balls of her feet, "I can feel it."
Petra nodded, gold eyes gleaming as she ceased flicking sparks everywhere. "All right, I can get behind that kind of optimism. No idea what this event is, but I'm sure we'll kick butt."
Jesse shrugged as Hadrian spoke again, "Alright competitors, the next event is almost upon us- time to head to the starting line!"
"Starting line... it's gonna be a race," Jesse said, stretching a bit, all six of her arms cracking a bit. Petra perked up noticeably, eyes actually glowing. No, they were literally glowing. "A race! We've totally got this!"
"'Got this', huh?"
Every team in the room jumped, as Hadrian threw his arms into the air, "Boom! Surprise Locker Room Visit, ha! How we doing, everybody," and he started strolling across the floor towards Jesse and Petra.
"It's Hadrian!" one of the yellow team members whispered, loudly.
Hadrian came to a stop in front of Jesse and Petra. "And here are the newcomers that everyone's been talking about since their, heh, explosive debut in Spleef. Tell me, champ," and he pivoted to the dark-haired spider hybrid, "what's on your mind as you approach the next challenge?"
"I'm just looking forward to a fair contest where the best person wins," Jesse said, mildly, although she DID put emphasis on 'fair'.
"Well, listen to this little pillar of nobility, huh?" Hadrian asked, in a rather sports-announcer voice, "don't you worry, that's what these games are all about! Just ask Tim."
And he looked around, making the other teams in the room pretend to look away rather quickly (Nell literally jumped behind Em), although Jace just waved cheerfully.
"I admire your confidence, Jesse," Hadrian said, in a lower, warning tone, "but I must ask, what makes you think you can win when so many others have failed, huh?"
Jesse thought about that for a second. "... I'm actually wondering where you got the 'confidence' part from. I'm sweating bullets and I feel like I swallowed the entire bug exhibit at the zoo."
Petra made a sound that sounded like a mixture of a choke, a snort, and a sneeze.
Hadrian gave Jesse an appraising sort of look. "... very amusing, Jesse."
Jesse swept a deep bow, making dramatic waving motions with her hand. "Thank you, thank you," she said dramatically, making Petra snicker.
Hadrian shot Jesse a glare, before turning around and beginning to walk off. "What a lovely day for a game." And then he let out a laugh that pretty much just screamed 'EVIL VILLAIN LEAVING THE ROOM'.
Jace bounded up to Jesse, almost knocking the girl over. "Jesseeeeee!" he said, happily, making Jesse laugh a bit as Em and Nell came over as well.
"Jesse!" and Jesse looked over the bundle of green and brown that was currently threatening to knock her flat on her back to see Em, "Good luck out there. I mean, I'm sure you'll be great, but everyone could use a little dose of luck, right?"
Jesse put all her hands behind her and gave her a little smile. "Thanks, Em. Good luck to you too."
"Of course," and Em rolled her eyes a bit, before continuing, "I saw what you could do in Spleef. Then you made that deal with Hadrian, and I thought... An enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Nell shot Em a grin, and Jace straightened up and dusted himself off, giving Jesse a cheerful smile.
"Em might be up to something..." Petra whispered into Jesse's ear, looking wary.
"So yeah," Em said, casually, "how 'bout we work together on this?"
Jesse blinked a bit, as Em continued, casually, "I could use an ally... and you could use my help."
"How would we do that?" Jesse mused, brow crinkling as she looked at the brown-haired girl.
"A bigger group has a better chance of getting past the gladiators," Em said, in the voice of someone patiently describing something to a three-year old. "Trust me."
A/N: I HAD to end on 'trust me', right there.
Oh my god... 800 reviews.
And I just got 700 like a few chapters ago! Guys! Do you know how excited I am about this?!
LittleAngelbun: (shrugs, evil grin on face)
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Fanfictionfan03: Aw, thanks!
angelwings: All good things come to those who wait :)
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