05-26-2015, 12:19 AM
Samus awoke to the sound of some torrential machine; it took several seconds before she realised it had to be a helicopter. She was inside a helicopter.
The hunter sat bolt upright – or tried to. She found herself shackled to the chair in which she sat. Furthermore, there was some kind of collar around her neck.
Oh god damn it …
It all came flooding back to her. The chase. The fight. She’d been so close, but …
The banishment circle didn’t work.
And then …
Gas. Which means …
Samus felt a great weight take up home in her stomach.
They’re taking me to the island.
Samus had come to the Dante Verse for one reason alone: to banish Cindy. People like her were a danger to law and order. Not the kind of law that the Empire espoused, but true law. Common decency. Not bashing your teammate over the head to pilfer the spoils of a battle. To get to the monster hunter, Samus had had to sign up, but she’d never had any intention of actually competing. Her plan had gone horribly wrong.
“Hey! Hey!” Samus started to yell, struggling in her seat and making as much noise as possible. “I didn’t consent to this! I’m resigning from the competition!”
A black masked soldier marched round from the front compartment of the helicopter. “Pipe down now!”
“I didn’t consent to this!” Samus repeated. “I want to back out! The competition hasn’t started yet!”
The masked man chuckled. “Too late to back out now. We’re already over the island.”
“What!? No-!”
The front compartment of the helicopter slid shut, leaving Samus to yell at it. She tried to look out of the window but everything was blacked out. Where was Blues? Where was Harry? Samus began to feel very sick. They were out there. This was her fault.
No. They knew the risks. You said that yourself.
It was true. She’d made Harry swear it. But Blues … powerful as he might be, Blues was just a kid, and she’d allowed him into the clutches of the psychopaths who ran this voyeuristic murder-show. The guilt practically doubled her over. Suddenly it all seemed so stupid. The plan. Had it been worth it? Her obsession with justice had dragged her friends in, and now they were paying the price.
The soldier’s voice roused her from her addled thoughts. “We’re here. Move.”
Samus didn’t fight. Still dizzy from the drugs, still reeling from her own foolhardiness, she looked down at the pitch black forest.
And then she was falling, tumbling into the hard ground.
Something hard struck her in the back.
With a groan, the armoured daughter pushed herself up. The whirr of the helicopter soon faded to a noise in the distance, swiftly taken over by the sound of crickets. She could faintly hear other helicopters, much further away in the distance. Just how big was this island? Samus wished now she’d taken more time to prepare for this possibility. What were the rules? What did she have to remember?
Survive.
That was it, at its core. That was all she had to do. No killing required. Killing in a game like this, killing to win … it seemed like that would be letting them win. The ultimate sacrifice of her ideals and values. But if someone came at her ready to kill? It wouldn’t have been the first time she defended herself with lethal force.
And what happens if you make it to the end and it’s just you, Blues, and Harry?
It was too much to try and puzzle that out right now. She would solve that when she came to it. For now, she racked her brains for what she remembered about the competition.
Danger zones … as the game goes on, the map fills up with danger zones … and if you’re on a danger zone, you die? That sounds about right for this twisted competition. What else?
Her brain felt muddy, like her thoughts were just out of reach. A frustrating experience for one who never drank alcohol nor took drugs. The persistent grogginess only served to remind her of the chemicals no doubt still coursing through her system, and it filled her with an indignant rage. What gave them the right to make that decision for her? To put her in a hollow game. Her gorge rose.
And yet, wasn’t that just what Omni had done? Samus could certainly draw parallels. In some ways, this was just like a smaller version of the Omniverse, condensed into a few days. Was Karl Jak one of those weird Omni cultists? Probably not. Probably just a lame copycat. But up till now, Samus had never felt like the Omniverse was purely about killing and destroying. The fact that some people had willingly put themselves into this murder game somehow made it worse, in Samus’s opinion. It made her wonder if perhaps killing the kind of people she’d meet on this island, keeping them away from that prize trophy, would be a favour to the world outside.
Samus had to stop herself. She was foggy. Full of rage. And her thoughts were starting to go down a slippery slope. Suddenly her head spun and she braced herself against a tree. Her heart beat in her throat, and she had to fight to keep the contents of her stomach down. She couldn’t let herself throw up. Not in this environment.
Samus stumbled into the trees, into shadow, finding solace in the darkness. Once again she found herself on the thin divide between predator and prey, hunter and hunted.
The hunter sat bolt upright – or tried to. She found herself shackled to the chair in which she sat. Furthermore, there was some kind of collar around her neck.
Oh god damn it …
It all came flooding back to her. The chase. The fight. She’d been so close, but …
The banishment circle didn’t work.
And then …
Gas. Which means …
Samus felt a great weight take up home in her stomach.
They’re taking me to the island.
Samus had come to the Dante Verse for one reason alone: to banish Cindy. People like her were a danger to law and order. Not the kind of law that the Empire espoused, but true law. Common decency. Not bashing your teammate over the head to pilfer the spoils of a battle. To get to the monster hunter, Samus had had to sign up, but she’d never had any intention of actually competing. Her plan had gone horribly wrong.
“Hey! Hey!” Samus started to yell, struggling in her seat and making as much noise as possible. “I didn’t consent to this! I’m resigning from the competition!”
A black masked soldier marched round from the front compartment of the helicopter. “Pipe down now!”
“I didn’t consent to this!” Samus repeated. “I want to back out! The competition hasn’t started yet!”
The masked man chuckled. “Too late to back out now. We’re already over the island.”
“What!? No-!”
The front compartment of the helicopter slid shut, leaving Samus to yell at it. She tried to look out of the window but everything was blacked out. Where was Blues? Where was Harry? Samus began to feel very sick. They were out there. This was her fault.
No. They knew the risks. You said that yourself.
It was true. She’d made Harry swear it. But Blues … powerful as he might be, Blues was just a kid, and she’d allowed him into the clutches of the psychopaths who ran this voyeuristic murder-show. The guilt practically doubled her over. Suddenly it all seemed so stupid. The plan. Had it been worth it? Her obsession with justice had dragged her friends in, and now they were paying the price.
The soldier’s voice roused her from her addled thoughts. “We’re here. Move.”
Samus didn’t fight. Still dizzy from the drugs, still reeling from her own foolhardiness, she looked down at the pitch black forest.
And then she was falling, tumbling into the hard ground.
Something hard struck her in the back.
With a groan, the armoured daughter pushed herself up. The whirr of the helicopter soon faded to a noise in the distance, swiftly taken over by the sound of crickets. She could faintly hear other helicopters, much further away in the distance. Just how big was this island? Samus wished now she’d taken more time to prepare for this possibility. What were the rules? What did she have to remember?
Survive.
That was it, at its core. That was all she had to do. No killing required. Killing in a game like this, killing to win … it seemed like that would be letting them win. The ultimate sacrifice of her ideals and values. But if someone came at her ready to kill? It wouldn’t have been the first time she defended herself with lethal force.
And what happens if you make it to the end and it’s just you, Blues, and Harry?
It was too much to try and puzzle that out right now. She would solve that when she came to it. For now, she racked her brains for what she remembered about the competition.
Danger zones … as the game goes on, the map fills up with danger zones … and if you’re on a danger zone, you die? That sounds about right for this twisted competition. What else?
Her brain felt muddy, like her thoughts were just out of reach. A frustrating experience for one who never drank alcohol nor took drugs. The persistent grogginess only served to remind her of the chemicals no doubt still coursing through her system, and it filled her with an indignant rage. What gave them the right to make that decision for her? To put her in a hollow game. Her gorge rose.
And yet, wasn’t that just what Omni had done? Samus could certainly draw parallels. In some ways, this was just like a smaller version of the Omniverse, condensed into a few days. Was Karl Jak one of those weird Omni cultists? Probably not. Probably just a lame copycat. But up till now, Samus had never felt like the Omniverse was purely about killing and destroying. The fact that some people had willingly put themselves into this murder game somehow made it worse, in Samus’s opinion. It made her wonder if perhaps killing the kind of people she’d meet on this island, keeping them away from that prize trophy, would be a favour to the world outside.
Samus had to stop herself. She was foggy. Full of rage. And her thoughts were starting to go down a slippery slope. Suddenly her head spun and she braced herself against a tree. Her heart beat in her throat, and she had to fight to keep the contents of her stomach down. She couldn’t let herself throw up. Not in this environment.
Samus stumbled into the trees, into shadow, finding solace in the darkness. Once again she found herself on the thin divide between predator and prey, hunter and hunted.
![[Image: 0bwAI3j.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/0bwAI3j.jpg)