OMG! I haven't updated in so long, I'm sorry! I've been doing stuff, but that's no excuse. Anyway, a Happy New Year to you all, and a happy belated birthday to Hilary, who became one year crazier on the 27th.
Han Futsu, Anti Normal: (sniff) But we always act like that! It shows how much we love him! Plus, you can't strangle a phangirl, because we (like no other fangirls) have experience in avoiding being strangled. You have to be, around Erik.
Kojinka: That's exactly what I think! Not nearly hypnotic enough – my exact words. But he does make a great looking Erik.
Goddess of the Neon Rose: Cool name. No, I don't have AIM, or any form of IM. But everyone is welcome to email me. It's in my profile.
Phantomraver: I can just see that girl running to her phangirl friends, going, "Guess what? Erik nearly KILLED me!" Then they all scream and/or swoon.
Hikaze Chimizu: You ought to dare. No one's been refused yet.
Leanan Sidhe: Hm…that's a good idea. I might use that. Wait, what? (frantically checks white notebook) But you're not in my date list. Or my cameo list. (freaks out) I thought I was organized! (as if) Did I promise you a date and forget? Please, remind me!
CassieJo: No dates, sorry, but cameo okay? Hey, I'm morbid too, I find the shunned, deformed genius incredibly attractive.
Eat-drums: Crimbo? O.O Oh, Antonio Banderas was in the movie version of Evita, which is how he knows him. He sand Evita and Phantom songs at Andrew's 50th birthday, and that's how he was offered the role of Phantom. I'm a big fan of Antonio (I'm Hispanic), but I really don't think the Phantom should have a Spanish accent. Which, truthfully, I find attractive.
SummerSong: I'm dying to go to New York! One of my smaller dreams is to go to NY for a few weeks and spend the whole time just going to Broadway plays. Your daughter has been transformed! She is officially complete now.
RaptorChick: Again, cameo okay? And yes, the movie is spectacular aside from sub-par voices.
IcySunset: What exactly is Author Alert for? I thought it was a bad thing, but I'm on some lists of people I know like me. Also, are you Katrina (demonslayer email)? If so, cameo okay? (IY rocks!)
Kianra: I will totally read your fic!
ButterflyOfLothlorien: Chocolate biscuits? Are you British? :)
A little note: I got the idea for this chapter from the paintball chapter of Erik is fired! by MetaChi.
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Erik being rather angry, tired, and sore couldn't remember much of what happened when he woke up the next morning. All he knew was that Aislin poked him until he fell out of bed, then pretty much forced him to dress and pushed him out the door, without so much as a shower.
The bathroom décor was starting to annoy him anyway.
Once outside the room, he blinked dazedly. As he wasn't entirely sure what to do (he thought Aislin had given him some instructions, but they hadn't really sunk in, as he had only been semiconscious), he decided to head downstairs to wait in the lobby. He virtually fell into an elevator with a loud clang and started going down.
He blinked, wondering. Clang?
He woke up a bit. The elevator he was in was all silver metal, with no annoying music.
What's this?
The doors opened. A large group of kitchen workers greeted him. Erik realized that he'd accidentally gone down in the service elevator. He was in the hotel kitchen. He groaned.
A smiling worker guided Erik out into the main lobby. Erik rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands.
A clock told him that it was twelve o'clock. No wonder Aislin had shoveled him out so fast, he presumed he was late.
Lucky for Erik…well, not really lucky, I guess – his date was painfully obvious. A short Asian girl with her shoulder-length black hair pulled back in a ponytail stood by the glass front doors singing to herself, but that wasn't why she was obvious. It was the black Project Phantom T-shirt she wore that made Erik sure she was his date. He grabbed a glass of water from a table in the indoor café, drinking half and pouring the rest over his face to make himself wake up. He strode over to the girl.
Behind him, a short man returning from the buffet was confused as to why his glass was now empty.
The girl walked up to Erik. "Hi." She held out her hand.
Erik shook it. "Hello. What's your name?"
"Phantomraver."
Erik figured she was another contestant signed up over the Internet. They always had odd names. "What's your real name?"
"I'm not telling you," she said disdainfully. "No one gets to know. Just call me Raver."
Erik didn't think it was the most flattering of names, but he had learned not to argue. Silently, he followed Raver out of the hotel, into a waiting taxi. They drove for twenty minutes or so, and got out in front of a large white building, longer and wider than it was tall. Large red and blue letters over the entrance read LaserQuest.
"What's this?" Erik asked nervously, but Raver had already gone in.
The inside of the building was very dark. Arcade games surrounded the walls of a circular room, and a few doors led off to the right. At the back was a square room, part of the main circle, with chairs and other doors. Raver stood at a reception desk to the left. "Erik!" She waved him over.
Looking him up and down, the teenager behind the desk greeted Erik. "Good thing you wore dark clothes. The maze is lit by black light."
"Maze?" They paid Erik no attention.
"Pick a code name," the teenager told Erik.
"Er…Erik." For lack of any other ideas.
The guy raised an eyebrow and shrugged. He typed something into the computer. "Erik's taken."
"With a K?"
More typing. "Yeah."
"Then Phantom." He was more ready the next time around.
"That's taken too."
"You didn't even try that one, though!"
"It's taken by her." He jerked his thumb at Raver. Figures, thought Erik. "How about Opera Ghost?"
He typed it in. "That one works. You've got some weird nicknames. Anyway, you can go through the doors in about five minutes, you came at the perfect time." He motioned them across the room to the row of doors on the right of the circle.
"What exactly are we doing?" Erik inquired, as they joined a short line.
"It's Laser Tag," she told him. "Inside here, you get a gun and a vest, and you hide in a maze trying to shoot other players and get a high score. The more people you hit, and the less times you get hit, the higher your score."
"We get to shoot people?"
"It doesn't hurt them," she said. "They're just harmless lasers."
But still, thought Erik excitedly. I can pretend I'm shooting people I don't like!
A glance behind him told him he wouldn't need to pretend. Oh no…
Behind Raver stood five other girls – all sporting black Project Phantom shirts. "Hi Erik!" said one girl, waving. "Imagine seeing you here!" As if they hadn't planned this 'chance meeting.'
The five girls trooped up to Erik. "I'm Raveene," said the one who had greeted him first. "Not Raven," she clarified. "These are Nessa, Penelope, Hikaze, and Cassie." (A/N: Cameo City!)
Raver greeted them happily. "What are you all doing here?"
"We've come to play Laser Tag, what else?" replied Hikaze.
The doors opened, and the large group of Project Phantomers – plus Erik – crowded in, Erik caught against the tide of girls. Three other random people filed in, looking rather confused at the big party before them.
Inside was a long rectangular room full of pegs with sensor vests and large plastic laser guns. An attendant helped Erik get his on – it felt uncomfortable over the cape.
"You have laser targets on the front, back and shoulders of your vest, as well as on the end of your gun, where the lasers come out," the attendant informed the group of people. "After you get hit, you can't fire or be hit again for five full seconds, so use that time to get away from your assailant. Don't stay with anyone – teams aren't allowed. If you get scared or something, call for an attendant and we'll come get you. At the end of ten minutes, the exit will open – make for the light, and you'll get your scores in a few minutes."
Another door opened, and they all flooded into a large room, full of small walls, turning it into a two level maze. Erik dashed away from the group and up the first set of stairs he saw.
It was dark, and the room was full of smoke and black light. The smoke momentarily blinded Erik, and he coughed. Luckily, his black clothing did not glow. But then, neither did the black Project Phantom shirts.
Erik, the murdering Opera Ghost, was in his element. True, he'd never used a gun before, always the Punjab lasso, but the concept was the same. Wait in the shadows above the victim and strike when they least expect it.
Someone was walking slowly along the passage below, carefully watching each turn. Lucky for Erik, they didn't think to look up. He took aim, and fired through the metal grillework of the floor. She screamed. It was Nessa. Her faint green sensors flashed red, and Erik dashed away.
Turning the corner, he ran into Cassie. Literally. His reflexes took over, and he fired square into her stomach. The sensor flashed red, and Erik kept running.
He paused behind a wall to catch his breath and await his next victim. But before he could aim, his sensors flashed. Someone had shot him. Apparently, waiting and standing still didn't pay. He silently followed his attacker, and when she stopped moving, fired. It was Penelope. She groaned as Erik ran off.
Erik liked this game. He was at last having fun on a date, although truthfully, he didn't see much of Raver. Hardly anyone could hit him, and he quickly became a professional. Before he knew it, the exit had opened, and the dark room was flooded with light. Erik made his way to the door, where he removed his vest and gun and went into the arcade to await his score.
The Project Phantomers amused themselves with the arcade games. They all crowded around Hikaze on DDR, watching the arrows on the screen and cheering. Raver sat with Erik. They were both tired, especially Erik. His strategy had been silence and speed, while most others crept carefully along the passages. Consequently, he was a lot more tired than the others. He slumped in a chair, and Raver slumped on him, leaning on his side. He was too tired to protest.
"That was fun," she murmured. Erik nodded in assent.
When they received the scores, no one was surprised to find that Erik had done best of all, followed by Raveene, Hikaze, Raver, Penelope, Cassie, and Nessa, in that order. They all felt happy, and glomped Erik goodbye as they left. Erik and Raver got back into their taxi and went back to the hotel. Erik couldn't help but think that that could have gone much, much worse.
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Nice long chapter for you! You know the drill – the mighty Button! Pressit!