x Varda x - LOL, I was going for creepy with that one. Glad you enjoyed it :)

Jasminesmommy - Yes, I'd agree.

AtlantisJoeFan - LOL. Thank you. Glad you enjoy them.

Jodz92 - Better a slime pit than a snot pit, and I've seen stories about snot pits. LOL.

Note: This is loosely related to Debbie418uk2's story about the headband that could transfer injuries to another party. I'm sorry I don't remember the name or number of her chapter to post.

Also, I'm really tired at the moment, but I decided to finish off this story, for now. I'm going to post all I have left in one final update, and switch the progress thing to 'Complete'. That's not a guarantee, however, that I'll never come up with another chapter. It might just be months, if I ever do. Thank you all for sticking with me and for the lovely reviews. I appreciate all your support. :)

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(Sheppard's Team, John's POV)

"It's easy once you get the hang of it." Shrugging a little, I tried to ignore the death glare Ronon was sending in the direction of anyone who dare approach at that moment. "I had a hard time at first, too."

"You didn't die so easily though."

"I said 'at first'."

"What's the point of using these…controllers to move the characters on the screen?" Teyla's head was cocked to the side. "You just sit and your fingers do the work. It does not make any sense."

"Well, no, it's just a game." Chuckling a little, I shot Ronon a look and raised an eyebrow. "As in, it's all for fun, there's no necessary need to win."

"There is to me." He stated gruffly.

"Oh, come off it, you two. Mario is hardly a challenging or worthwhile game." Rodney was staring at his computer tablet as we walked towards the center of a pretty advanced looking city. By no means was it an Atlantis, but it was at least a….well, a really big city. "Now this game in the database, on this planet is said to be very advantageous in battle."

"Yeah, for the winners. You still haven't told me what happens to the losers." Shooting McKay a look, I stopped and looked around at an intersection. "And just where is everyone, anyways?"

"Bingo night, maybe? How should I know? Look, I'm looking, but there's not much on this planet. It states about the games, and that the victors gain the skills of the people they beat, after the game is over. That's all I know. It doesn't say anything about the loser." Rodney frowned as he typed away. "Oh, and I'm getting a power reading in that direction." Pointing down the left street…or more like an alley, Rodney stared down it. Looking at his computer again, he frowned even deeper. "It's a weak one, though, and there's a stronger one coming from that direction." He pointed down the opposite street.

"It's just kinda freaky that we're in this big city and no one seems to be around. Do you think it was a culling?" I glanced at Teyla. "Maybe the Wraith were here?"

She shook her head. "I am not sensing any Wraith now, and I do not believe this was a culling. If it was, would the city not have been destroyed?"

"Probably. Ok everyone, I've got a weird feeling. Better stay on your toes. Ronon's with me. Teyla, you and Rodney go check out that direction." I pointed in the direction Rodney had first pointed in. "Stay in visual range of each other and keep regular radio contact." Turning, I headed down the opposite street from the one Teyla and Rodney were going down.

The streets were obviously deserted and appeared to have been so for quite some time. The sides of the buildings were falling apart, and the streets were lined with debris and garbage. Despite being eerily empty, the sky was overcast, darkening them and giving them a more haunting effect. Most of the doors on the buildings were closed, and some even appeared to be blocked, but as we wandered around, we came upon two open doorways. They were right beside each other, lined with purple frames, and the inside appeared to be pitch black.

"Let's check it out." I stated quietly, flipping on the light at the top of my P90. "Keep an eye out, though." I entered the closer door, leaving Ronon the one that was about three feet farther away. Like I thought, the room was pitch black, but the light illuminated it well. The room was empty, except for one large machine against the wall to my right. Funnily enough, it looked like one of those old arcade machines. It was big and made with red metal. There were straps that seemed to go on your arms, but four of them, so maybe two went on the legs. There was also a strap that was bigger, and judging by the image posted on the wall, next to the machine, it was supposed to go around our heads.

Each of these bands had a small rectangular box on it, that I guessed connected at the back of your head, arms and ankles, and connected you to the machine. Turning, I tapped my radio. "Ronon? I found a weird machine, it might be what McKay was talking about. Anything on your end?"

There was no response.

"Ronon?" Frowning, John selected a different channel. "Rodney? Teyla? Come in, do you read me?" Still no answer. Taking a deep breath, he looked around and realized that the room was probably RF shielded. Heading outside, he found Ronon exiting his building at the same time, apparently ok.

"Hey, I called you. Why didn't you answer?"

"Probably because I didn't hear you." I frowned. "The rooms are RF shielded, I think. I found a machine in the room, looked like an arcade game, kinda." Seeing Ronon's confused, look, I shook my head. "Just a big metal machine with bands that go on your-"

"Head, arms and legs." Ronon finished gruffly. "Yeah, I found one, too, on my left."

"Left?" Pausing, I looked back to the room I had entered. "Mine was on the right." Tapping my radio, I tried to contact Rodney. "McKay, it's Sheppard. Do you read me? I think I found your game."

There was no response.

"Oh, that could get very annoying." I muttered as I tapped my radio again. "Teyla?" No answer. "They're probably in rooms similar to these." I gestured towards the rooms we'd entered. Staring at them a moment, I grinned at Ronon. "Wanna check them out?" The poster on the wall showed it to be a Mortal Combat style theme, with two fighters. "I think it's the kind of game you'd love."

He hesitated a moment. "McKay'd have a field day if we break them." He grinned ferally. "But it sounds like fun."

Heading back into our respective rooms, I walked over to the machine and took a good look at it. There was no joystick, but there was a big black platform we could stand on. Otherwise, there was nothing to touch or move. Frowning in confusion, I stepped up on to the platform and nearly jumped out of my skin when lights came on surrounding me, and a large screen in front of me lit up, showing a big monster standing still.

It seemed to be like the Wii system. You used the bands and moved your body to make your character move.

"Ok, this is…different." I noticed there were hand rails on either sides, with spots of rust on them. That's about when I also noticed spots of rust on the ground and on the nearby walls. Water damage, maybe? The building had looked structurally sound. Maybe it happened before and someone fixed it and just never got around to cleaning up the rust spots. Either way, the machine seemed ok. Placing my P90 on a large hook by the edge of the platform, I also took off my vest and thigh holster and put them there, too. Taking the large band, I fastened it around my forehead, wincing at the cold texture of the alien material. I quickly followed suit with the arm and ankle bands and then stood there as a smaller screen appeared in the top right corner of the one I was facing, showing another monster.

They both appeared to be the same. Four arms, big heads, three eyes, and furry or scaly skin, depending on the monster. For the record, I was the furry one.

Anyways, about a minute after I finished suiting up and began experimentally moving, watching as the furry monster did the same moves as me, I grinned when I noticed the other monster moving. It mock saluted me and seemed to grin back.

Yep, definitely like the Wii.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun!" Smacking my hands together and rubbing them, I lowered into a defensive stand, and nimbly jumped to the side as my opponent rushed at me. The monster on the screen actually seemed to come at me, and I was struck by how real the graphics were. Of course, my distraction didn't fail to capture the notice of my opponent. While I wasn't paying attention, he swung out and backhanded me.

It might've been freaky how real it looked, if I hadn't been hit with an electric jolt and a nasty pain in my face, like I'd just been backhanded. "Ow! What the hell?!" I staggered back a step, the game forgotten. Forgotten, that is, until I felt the pain and pressure in my stomach that sent me careening to the edge of the platform, where I winced and gasped for breath. Holding up my hand, I watched blurrily as the other monster didn't stop, but actually grabbed my arm, before spinning in towards me and elbowing me in the stomach and punching me in the throat.

As he moved away, I collapsed to the ground, struggling to breath and stay conscious despite the pain I was in. What was going on? What was supposed to be a game was turning way too serious for me to handle. "Ronon… Stop…" I gasped. Hitting my radio, I tried to get through to him. "Ronon! Stop! I can't…" Coughing a little, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach and closed my eyes as I hissed in agony.

Ronon had always been strong, but for fear of hurting me, he never went all out. Right now he was sure he couldn't actually hurt me, so he very likely wasn't holding back.

Seeing the other monster come stalking forward with a feral grin, I took a deep breath and stared in dread.

(With Rodney and Teyla, Normal POV)

"Colonel? Ronon??" Frowning, Rodney looked to Teyla, who looked as worried as he felt. "We only went into that room for five minutes, they couldn't have gotten into trouble in that time…" He paused and seemed to reconsider. "Then again, it's Ronon and John."

"They have not answered us. Do you think this area is RF shielded?"

Shaking his head, Rodney pointed to his radio. "We experimented, remember? Our radios are working fine, unless they're in an RF shielded area." He frowned deeply. "I still can't believe the machine was broken, but at least I got a valuable amount of data from it. And now we know what happened to the losers." He winced.

Teyla nodded and looked back to the room sadly. "I counted maybe ten bodies in that room. The one next to it, nine."

"Wouldn't that mean someone got away, though? I mean, if it's a two-player game, then one person must have gotten away." Rodney paused and checked the small Ancient scanner he had. "But the only life signs I'm reading are ours. Oh god, not even John or Ronon are showing up."

Placing her hand on his shoulder, Teyla smiled slightly. "I am certain they are merely in an area that is shielded. Perhaps if we followed them…?"

Nodding quickly, Rodney stuck the scanner back into his pocket before reaching over his shoulder and sticking his computer to his back. "Hopefully they didn't find any of these…games." Trudging along side of Teyla, he hesitated. "If they did, and if they tried it, which I'm sure they'd do, since it's Ronon and John, one of them could die."

"I am not certain I understand how those bands can transfer injuries into their bodies."

"It's alien technology. I don't fully understand it, myself. It looks like the machine is set up to send signals to the brain telling it that the body actually was injured. It's a proven fact that when someone suffers an injury in a dream, if they believe it's real, it can actually happen. This is like that, only the band tells the body it's real, even when they know it's not. They don't get a say in the matter. The losers usually died, that's why there was no record of them in Atlantis' database, and why the planet was red flagged, meaning not the best choice to go to."

Nodding simply, Teyla's eyes were narrowed as he walked on ahead. It took them about ten minutes to reach the split where they went in different directions, and continued straight through, in the direction John and Ronon had gone.

(With John, John's POV)

Crying out in pain, I collapsed to my knees and coughed up blood. I wiped at my face and looked up, seeing the blurry image of my opponent in front of me, leering down at me and making motions as if to say 'get up'. Maybe… Maybe if I stay down… Apparently not. Getting to my feet, as a current ran through my body, I staggered sideways and leaned against the hand railing as I fought to keep to my feet. I noticed Ronon's monster pause and hesitate, as if he noticed I was acting oddly. Then he seemed to reconsider and rushed at me.

Jumping to the side, I narrowing avoided getting body slammed into the railing, and surely breaking my back. I felt something swing behind me as my back collided with the wall, and turned, seeing my P90 and hand gun. Wait… Getting an idea, I reached over my shoulder and grabbed my handgun. When I turned back I saw Ronon's monster hesitate before taking a step back. I took aim at the said monster, but hesitated. Damn! If I shoot it, I'll hurt Ronon. Frowning a moment, I paused before aiming at the wall near the door and letting three blast go.

The monster jumped a little, as if the shots surprised him, and I heard someone calling my name from out in the street.

Whoa, good thing I didn't fire out there. I thought with wide eyes as Rodney and Teyla rushed in seconds later. They must have seen me holding the gun, or I really looked like hell, because they stopped cold and stared at me with wide eyes. "Well? Don't just stand there, help me outta here." I groaned as my legs gave out. Turning to the screen, I noticed the other monster standing where it was before, unmoving, and a minute later, Ronon came rushing into the room.

"I heard a gunshot!" He had his blaster in his hand, but seeing me, his eyes widened and he lowered it. "What happened to you?"

"You throw a mean punch." I muttered through gritted teeth, leaning on one arm and closing my eyes against the pain I was in.

(Infirmary, Normal POV)

Rodney had explained about what he learned of the machines, in a meeting with Elizabeth. Unfortunately for John, the information came a little too late, and he was stuck in the infirmary because of it. His ribs were bandaged, almost every one of them being broken, and he had a mild concussion. He'd also had a sprained ankle, and as he told the others, was still feeling numb in places from the jolts he got.

It turned out the machine not only used strange electric signals to convince the body that the injuries were real, it also copied the moves of both fighters and kept them in it's memory. That was the whole 'passing the abilities of the loser on to the winner' thing. Even if the other person lost the battle, any moves they might have known that the winner didn't, were transferred to the winner, along with any knowledge of technology and weapons.

The only real downside was that the loser never made it out alive. John's case was only different because he thought of a way to end the fight before Ronon could give the finishing blow.

And in either case, he still came out the worse. Stuck in the infirmary for at least a week, Carson had ordered him to a jello and soft fruit diet for about a month, until his ribs had more of a chance to heal.

Elizabeth sent the others to rest, though Rodney went to his lab to analyse the data he'd collected, as per usual, and Ronon went to the infirmary. She also sent Major Lorne's team to the planet to destroy the machines before anyone else got caught in them.

"How're you doing?"

Shrugging a little, John winced at the action. "I've been better, but I'll live."

"Sorry, buddy."

"Don't worry about it, you had no way of knowing what was going on."

"Except I saw your avatar acting weirdly, and I just thought it meant it was almost done."

"It was."

Ronon frowned. "Lorne reported that all the rooms with the games in them had lots of blood in them. I didn't even notice."

Wincing, John made a face. "I think I did. I thought it was rust, in the light I had."

"It was old blood."

"Look, when I get outta here, remind me to show you Mortal Combat. I think you'll like it, and that game's perfectly safe."

Frowning for a moment, Ronon nodded slowly, a small grin coming over his face. "No having to jump over giant bullets?"

Laughing a little at the memory of Mario, and wincing in pain, John held up his hand as he took a deep, careful breath. "No. It's a fighting game, really similar to the one on that planet, just a safe version. Oh, and it uses controls instead of bands." He seemed to think about it. "Come to think of it, the bands was kinda cool. It could be really neat for a training idea. Maybe I can get Rodney to design something for the Mortal Combat game, or even other fighting style games." As he thought out loud, John didn't even notice the drugs starting to kick in until he dozed off.

Seeing his friend sleeping, Ronon smiled and pulled the blanket up higher before turning and walking out of the room. Maybe Teyla felt up to a sparring match.

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Hope you like it.

Written October 24, 2008

R+R please.

Thank you

Tenshi