The Turn: Chapter Ten

The Turn

Chapter Ten

~Zero - One~

Three Years before the Turn

Chaud sat on a bench in the changing room. He was fitting bullets into his gun while the others were getting ready. He wore a black and grey cargo pants and a black sleeveless shirt with two slits on the back to allow his wings, if he needed to use them, a place. His tennis shoes weren’t anything special. His two holsters lay beside him, waiting to be used.

Naru walked out from the stall that he had hung his things in. He set three folded pieces of cloth on a table in front of him before taking off his shirt. He wore black pants that were more aerodynamic than Chaud’s but they weren’t ridiculously tight either. Naru grabbed one of the pieces of fabric and started to wrap it around his forearm. Chaud noticed that on the outer side of the fabric were rows and rows of needles. Naru secured the cloth and continued with his other forearm.

Deontay walked into the room, whistling. His baggy pants, unlike most, were decent and were held up with a belt that actually worked. He wore a similar sleeveless shirt as Chaud and his clawed weapons hung from his belt. He looked over at Naru as he was fitting the larger of the clothes containing the throwing stars around his mid-section. After that, Naru placed his sai in a special place on each of his forearm.

“So that’s where you keep them,” he looked to Chaud, “We have a full fledged ninja on our hands.”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Naru said as he put on an off white long-sleeved shirt. The sleeves were fanned out slightly and the lower waist seemed a little loose fitting. Ease of access, Chaud supposed.

“Either way,” Deontay stretched, “our turn is coming up. Do your sources know who we’ll be facing, Chaud?”

Chaud smirked, “They might.”

“You really think he has sources?” Naru said as he pulled his hair back into a long pony tail.

“How else does he know everything? Yesterday he knew exactly what I had for lunch,” Deontay responded.

“He could just be profiling,” Naru grabbed his other shirt and bag and walked out of the room.

Deontay smiled and walked over to Chaud, “You aren’t profiling us are you?”

Chaud placed his weapon in its holster, “When I hear from my sources I’ll let you know,” he said with a smile.

He stood and situated both holsters on his pants as he and Deontay walked out of the changing room. Chaud leaned on the railing while Deontay continued down the steps. The television was showing clips of the 49^th battle.

Hina below was in her fighting gear and was commenting on Naru’s hair. She wore a dark purple sleeveless Chinese cheongsam shirt. Its length stopped at her waist. She also wore black leggings and like her brother, she was barefoot. Both of them found it easier to battle that way. Her arms were forearms and the palms of her hand were wrapped in white medical tape.

Vicky walked out of the girls changing room. She was rubbing her eyes and blinking repeatedly. Chaud noticed that she didn’t have her glasses on. Vicky wore a long sleeved white kimono shirt with long sleeves that extended past her fingers. She wore white shorts that were just above her knee in length. When she saw Chaud she smiled in spite of her contacts problem. She blinked a few times. The problem seemed to fix itself and she went on her way.

Zara came out shortly after in her black long sleeved shirt, black pants, and knee high, high heeled boots. The heel wasn’t too high, nor was it to thin, it was just enough to add a little to her outfit. The katana scabbards hung from the handmade harness on her back. Her shoulders seemed to sag at seeing him.

“It’s you,” she sighed. Zara was hopping for some time by herself before the big battle.

“It’s great to see you too,” Chaud smiled in response, “They just started the 50^th battle.”

Zara nodded, “They should be calling us out soon.”

Just as she said it, there was a knock on the door on the first floor, the one with no door nod. The door slid open and a woman walked in in a black business suit. She glanced up from the blue rectangle in the crook of her arm than back down.

“Are you the 52s, right?” she didn’t wait for the answer, “Good, follow me please,” and she left the room assuming they were following.

Zara and Chaud made their way down stairs. Vicky grabbed her large shuriken and followed behind everyone. They walked out into a dim hallway, lights lines the hallway every five feet or so. They stepped onto a type of platform. Once they did, the door behind them closed and the platform moved quickly. The woman stood in front of them casually and never looking up from the letters and numbers on her screen. They slowed to a stop. Another group was in front of them standing on a kind of lift.

The woman turned around, “Here’s how it goes: you get on that podium you grab a Seer. I’m sure you all know how the stadium chooses a stage. You battle, have fun; remember none of the battle damage here is real. If you were to be ‘killed’, you’ll simply vanish to a separate room where there are doctors to take a quick look at you. If you win, you stand in the middle and let people take a good look at you. After some time, you with be teleported back to your room. If you lose, you will again be teleported to a room where you will take a belt, like this one, back to your room. Any members ‘killed’ or injured in the battle will join with you shortly. Quick, any questions?”

Everyone looked past her as the lift in front of them started to rise. Zara felt a limb in her throat. Another lift rose from the depths of the underground. It was empty, waiting for them.

“There go the 51s,” she smirked, “Let’s get you wired up.”

The platform moved forward. When it stopped the woman stepped onto the lift. As the others climbed on, she keyed something on a control panned nearby. She then pulled out a box and walked in front of the mass of teenagers. Zara heard the platform behind them descending to some unknown location and another one creep up.

“Order!” the woman called.

Zara stepped forward while Chaud fell in line behind her. The woman opened the box. There were six buds, similar to the ear phone buds, only there was no wire.

“Place it in your ear to activate it,” the woman quickly explained.

Zara did and the mechanics curled around her ear and over her right eye.

“This is cool,” Chaud said.

Zara jumped. She heard his voice inside her ear, “So we can talk to each other.”

“Not only that but you can see the vital signs of both yours and each of your teammates,” the woman answered briskly. She carried the empty box under her arm. While she did a final pass, she grabbed one of Chaud’s guns and looked inside. She nodded her approval and gave it back to him. “Roger that,” she said into the piece in her ear, “We’re going up.”

The woman pressed a button and the lift started moving. It carried for what seemed like years when it finally stopped. It stopped in front of a sliding door. They could hear the screams and cheers of the vast crowd on the other side. There was a final roar as whoever won got the glory.

“Ready?” the woman asked.

Zara exhaled and nodded.

“We’re ready on this end,” the woman spoke to the person on the other end. She twisted the button she pressed before and waited. She looked up at them and nodded, and pressed the button again.

Twin sliding doors opened and a bright light streamed through. Zara took an uncertain step forward, then another, then another. Soon she was bathed in sunlight and a crowd of thousands were cheering for her and her teammates. She risked a glanced at the stands. The stands were packed with people. There were no seats to sit in, just steps that served both as seats and stairs.

“And leading team 52 is Zara Uzek!” a booming voice from somewhere shouted, “Behind her, her second, Chaud Galaxy! The siblings Naru and Hina Sasaki! Victoria Chen and last but defiantly not least…Deontay Walsh!”

Zara looked at one of the six large screens. She saw herself walking. She attempted a smile but her nervousness was still obvious. Chaud looked more at home in front of the crowd. Hina too, she made the crowd love her with her spunk and tom boyishness. Deontay walked out as his normal cheery self as if there was nothing different. Naru looked a little pale while Vicky’s cheeks were an ever growing red.

“And coming from the other side; team 54! Simon Runmill leads the pack! Rudy Rockman is his second! Lillian Mathers and Walter Tidsdale! Rickman Louise and, bringing up the rear, Maddie Runmill!” the voice announced, “With the leaders please meet at the center!”

“Wait here,” Zara said in to the device.

She recognized the bully that had first terrorized Naru and his sister. It was just her luck that she got the chance to repay the favor. He smiled at her as we walked up to the rules keeper. She shook the man’s hand and he turned to shake Simon’s.

“Alright, I’ll make this short and sweet,” he said, “Rules are: there are no rules. You can’t kill each other in here so have at it. Kill the leader, the game ends. If you use powers, be careful of the crowd. They can’t get killed either but a lawsuit can come up any minute. Questions? Questions? Alright, be good sports and shake hands.”

Resentfully, Zara extended her hand. Simon took it and pulled her in firmly.

“You and your little gang are going down,” he whispered before pulling away.

“Salute to the big guy,” he turned their bodies to one direction.

Zara saw several large glass windows. The one they were directly facing, a man in white stood there beside a woman in black. She saluted and so did Simon. There was a loud cheer of approval from the audience.

“Alright, back to your corners!” the rule keeper shouted over the noise, “You’ve got a minute to strategize!”

Zara walked back to the others. Chaud had a sly smile on his lips. He started, “So what’s the plan of—”

“Destroy them,” Zara stated she whipped her hand on her pant leg, “Chaud, Deontay and I will advance first, test what their battle strategy is. Naru, you keep an eye on their abilities while Vicky and Hina will be our back up. Everyone got it?”

There was a unanimous nod.

“Alright! Ladies and gentlemen from all over the world! It’s time to choose a location!” the voice boomed again. The screens turned black and the crowd was going ballistic. A series of pictures flashed on the screen. It stopped suddenly on a fiery volcano. The ground began to rumble and a notice in her right eye was telling her to ‘PLEASE STAY STILL’, “Jurassic Volcano! Ladies and gentlemen, the Jurassic Volcano is a fiery paradise! Sure the dark clouds overhead promise a shower of embers but scenery is a glow with streams of hot lava! There are even geysers the spew molten rock hundreds of feet in the air! Try comparing that with Old Faithful! Oh! And don’t forget Mt. Tiki Tiki that erupts beautiful fireworks for the world to see! But don’t forget your sunscreen ‘cause it get HOT up in here at the Jurassic Volcano!”

The temperature increase immensely. The reading in Zara’s Seer was somewhere in the nineties and still rising. Some of the ground around her was crumbling away revealing a deadly swirl of lava bubbling though. An enormous mountain rose behind their enemies. The stands turned red and rocky and the sun was blocked by dark ominous clouds. Even if Zara knew this was all digital it all felt real. She glanced over to her right where a pool of lava was settling and bubbling.

“Just a pointer, guys,” Chaud stated, “don’t touch the red gooey looking stuff.”

“Thanks,” Deontay responded sarcastically, “I was just dying to have my hand melted off.”

“Shush!” Zara hissed.

“52, are you ready?” the voice talked again.

Zara raised her hand and nodded. Then she gripped one of the katana without pulling it from its scabbard.

“54, are you ready?”

Simon nodded and cracked his knuckles. A timer appeared on the screen in her right vision, counting down from ten.

“The moment the timer hits zero,” she said quietly, “start counting.”

Chaud and Deontay took their positions on either side of her. The audience was counting down with the clock. It was down to the final seconds. Zara’s palms were getting sweaty.

“5!” shouted the audience.

Deontay stretched and shook out his arms.

“4!”

Hina slapped one fist into her palm.

“3!”

Vicky gripped the handle of one of her shuriken and shifted her feet nervously.

“2!”

Naru let out one last sigh to expel the jitters.

“1!”

Chaud gripped his gun with a smile as calm and casual as ever.

The clock struck zero. An electronic buzz shot though the crowds screams. But everything seemed strangely muffled and slowed. Zara felt herself start forward, her eyes focused on her target.

That was only in the first second: 0-1.