Were they burning signal fires to guide us to the fields? [Open]

[silberfuchs]

WHO| Albert, Joe, and Pyunma. Anyone else too, on the open thread!
WHAT| After getting dragged from a different post-apocalyptic dystopian setting, the three men try and figure out what the hell is with this place and decide to head for higher ground.
WHEN| Second day of Week 3
WHERE| Parking garage (closed), Sixth floor at the elevator (open to all)
WARNINGS| TBA


Parking garage - closed

After the bright interior of Valhalla, the parking garage the three men come up in is all the darker. And cold too, Albert notices, though he attributes it to the fact that he'd been shoved into pajamas before being stuffed in a tube and raised into this dank underground. It's difficult to make sense of any of this; the last he remembers he was on his way back from the galley thinking to visit the bridge and ask when they'd be arriving in New York. The next thing he knows he's snapping awake on a cot and being dragged by armed guards through concrete halls. He'd struggled some but the entire thing was so disorienting he didn't make it far and now he's here, barefoot on asphalt with the last words he'd heard before his ascent ringing in his ears.

"...battle to the death. There will only be one survivor."

Fat chance.

Trying to get his bearings, the silver-haired man takes a look at his surroundings, trying to spot if anyone else was inexplicably transported here as well. He isn't certain if he should be hoping for a familiar face or not...


Sixth floor elevator - open to all

There'd really been no help for it. The stairwell was locked and seemingly impassable without some tools to manage to break their way in, so the elevator had been the only option. All three men remain vigilant as the numbers count up each floor, well aware of the risks in using such an obvious form of transit. But these men are no strangers to being hunted and they count themselves ready, though each holds their own doubts concerning what they were told. They'll need to be ready for anything and so they'd decided on the high ground; start at the top floor and work their way down. Get a lay of the land, as it were, and decide what to do from there.

The elevator sounds an ominous "ding" as it reaches the sixth floor, doors sliding open as if they're reluctant to allow the three men's passing, each alter and cautious, peering around the corners into the room instead of striding out into the open.

They may be confused, thrown into this situation with no real frame of reference other than they're meant to win or die, but they're not stupid.

Comments

Garage [Closed]

[silberfuchs]

[underthesurface]

It's Akademi, was Pyunma's first thought when he found himself awakening in a strange place all over again. But the guards aren't dressed the same, and the faces aren't the same. And for all that he's not being very cooperative, they're not taking control of his body to keep him from struggling.

The explanation of why he's here is no better than anything Akademi told him, but Pyunma doesn't even have a chance to protest before he's on the platform and being sent into the arena.

He has no idea what it is he's expecting, but a dim-lit parking garage isn't it. Before he's even stepped off the platform, he's watching the area around him warily, perfectly aware that he's at a disadvantage here, with no weapons or armor. When that reveals a glimpse of pale hair, it takes a moment to realize who it is, and surprise makes him drop his guard for a moment. "Albert?"

[aceinthehole]

Joe had tried asking all the questions, lord had he tried to ask. But after the fifth or so plea for some sort of explanation yielded the same old answers, Joe had given up. He'd tried to fight, he'd tried to keep them from shoving him into whatever tube it was that brought him up to the platform, and he'd tried to keep his normal clothes on him because being in pajamas was just way too vulnerable for his comfort.

No such luck on either front. He was inwardly freaking out, but he wasn't going to let that show, and he had to get a grip fast. A few deep breaths and the tremble had mostly calmed down enough that he could focus again and think with a clear head. He was in some sort of parking garage, but a pole was blocking most of his vision of whatever could be down the other end of his particular lane.

Where was everyone else? The last thing he remembered they'd been on a Valhalla heading for New York and now this! Was this a trick from the enemy? No, somehow Joe didn't think it would be that simple.

He stayed quiet, taking the first hesitant step off the platform and feeling the concrete under his bare feet. The least they could have done was given them shoes. Joe knew first hand that running on concrete or asphalt wasn't exactly pleasant.

He was about to head out, when the sound of Pyunma's voice calling out to Albert caught his attention. "Pyunma? Pyunma!" Joe shouted, probably against better judgement, but as far as he was concerned they were already in a bad situation, how much worse could it get?

[silberfuchs]

At least he's not alone, though a split second later Albert has to wonder if that really is a blessing or if it's a curse. It all depends on if what he was told upon waking into this nightmare was true. Even so, they may well group up. Strength and safety is in numbers and he's certain he doesn't want to face whatever new trick of Jaden's he suspects this is alone.

He raises his arm in a quick gesture towards Pyunma, motioning to where they'd both heard Joe's voice as the German steps off of the pedestal and starts towards their longtime leader. Once they're grouped, he takes a look at their surroundings, again having mixed feelings about whether the fact that he sees no one else is good or not.

Voice low, Albert turns back to his two teammates with a serious air. "Are you two alright? Have you seen anyone else?"

[underthesurface]

When Albert gestures in the direction of Joe's voice, Pyunma nods, rather than continue to shout, and joins him in heading toward their third comrade. He doesn't even think to avoid them, not yet. Whatever this competition truly is, they won't be turned against one another. (Not by choice. Not again.)

Once they're all gathered together, Pyunma keeps half his attention away from the group, on the shadows of the area around them. "Fine, but I haven't seen the others. Did you two get the same story?"

Story, because he's not sure if he's prepared to believe it. This may not be Akademi, but he's experienced Jaden's abilities firsthand. If it is, why? And why this? It doesn't seem like Jaden's usual style.

[aceinthehole]

"Albert!" Joe exclaimed in a hushed voice. So both of them were here, but what about Jet and everyone else? Albert's next question seemed to sum up what Joe was thinking. Looks like for the moment they could assume they were on their own. That was worrisome, never mind the other bad news they'd gotten.

"No, I haven't seen anyone." He nodded in response to Pyunma's question, the expression on his face obviously troubled. "Yeah, I heard, but I can't believe it..." That statement was relative. Joe really didn't have much of a choice but to believe it as all this felt far too real.

"I don't understand, how'd we end up here anyway? What's the last thing you guys remember? The last thing I know is that we were heading to New York..." And this was definitely not New York. At least Dorothy had had the pleasure of seeing the twister before ending up in Oz. They hadn't even had that.

[silberfuchs]

Albert's already frowning but at Joe's confirmation he turns downright dour, squaring his shoulders and looking around the cavernous garage again, this time for the surroundings at large instead of people. "I don't know. I don't know if this is Jaden's work or something else, but if the story we've been fed is true, it's a safe bet that anyone else here has been given the same malarkey."

A car several meters away, some sort of structure in the middle, an elevator and a fire door that presumably leads to stairs across a concrete expanse with many support pillars and concrete parking berms between. For now things look safe but as they're all well aware, looks in situations like this are often times deceiving. "We're going to have to work on the assumption that anyone else who is here will be trying to kill us."

Whether that extends to anyone else from Valhalla he won't say. "I don't like the idea of staying down here too long if that's the case. It's very open.

[underthesurface]

"It doesn't seem like Jaden," Pyunma commented, frowning. "His version of Kirk, perhaps. Or Nevua. But Jaden..." Pyunma shakes his head, but doesn't continue the thought. He can't claim any special insight into Jaden's thought process, and even with Jaden's influence over him, he'd never had that. Or, for that matter, any special insight into Q's mind, either.

Rather than continue to discuss it, he continued to scan the area around them, nodding in agreement to Albert's point. "We'll have to be careful. There may be an ambush waiting beyond this, and we don't know how many others are out there." If there even was anyone else out there, but that was a topic that it didn't seem like a good idea to face just yet.

[aceinthehole]

Joe's lips pressed together as he listened to both of his team mates talk. No this wasn't a good situation. He couldn't agree more that whatever lay beyond this could be dangerous, though for the moment they looked as if they were alone.

"Jaden, or not we can't just stay here."

He'd heard their announcement as well as anyone else -- Kill or be killed. Joe had no intention of killing anyone here but that didn't mean he wanted to be a sacrificial lamb either.

"The elevators can't be safe, people will look out for them, maybe there's another door or a stairwell we can take." That might be safe. The elevators were front and center, an easy lure and thus more dangerous.

Quietly, Joe thought of another point, one that was a little more hopeful, if not bittersweet. "If this is Jaden's doing, maybe that means Jet and the others are here too." Joe's thoughts couldn't help but go to Jet first. He was worried that something may have happened to his best friend, and that he was the only cyborg that had been on Valhalla and wasn't here didn't bode well with him. Why was Jet always pulled away from them?

[silberfuchs]

Albert gives a nod at Joe's words, Jet being at the forefront of his thoughts as well. He'd been trying not to give in to the quiet panic that threatens to choke him. They can't afford for any of them not to keep it together right now, not when death is surely on their heels.

But if they thought he was going to kill his team, his family they had another thing coming. Whoever 'they' were.

"We'll try the stairs. We should find some kinds of weapons as well." Any other supplies don't occur to him. He doesn't think this will be some long campaign. It had been called an Arena, yes? Like gladiators of old, this shouldn't last more than several hours.

[underthesurface]

"If they are, maybe they aren't in this arena." If this was Akademi, then they obviously weren't learning from experience, because the last time anyone had tried to turn the clones against one another like this, it had been the exact opposite effect. Whatever the case, Pyunma's expression gives no sign of his thoughts on the others being present. Right now, he's a soldier, and there isn't room to worry about anything else.

"We'll have to stay quiet. Stairways echo." And anyone in it would know where they were, if they weren't careful.

[aceinthehole]

That was a nice thought. That maybe Jet was here and somehow not a part of this kill or be killed. Same with everyone else really. There were younger people on Valhalla that Joe was now worrying about, Chaud being one of them.

"They're going to be watching the elevators..." It would be too easy to pick someone off there, but maybe as empty as this place was now, maybe they'd all already dispersed and no one was thinking about it. It was worth a shot and a gamble they'd have to take.

"Let's try it." He gestured to the other two, moving as cautiously as he could across the parking garage in case someone jumped out at them. His senses were already humming, trying to pick up on the subtle sounds of someone trying to ambush them.

[silberfuchs]

"They could be watching the stairs too, I would, but at least we'll have escape routes that way instead of being stuck in a metal box." He starts heading for the door, red and white sign declaring it to be the fire stairs. Albert has to resist the urge to hold his right palm in the other like a gun; even after nearly two months without his cybernetics he's still breaking himself of relying on them for combat and resenting the fact that he misses them now.

"If others in this place have been fed the same story, it's possible we could convince them to align with us." He glances back at his two friends and gives a rueful grin, devoid of real mirth other than what's found in cruel irony. "Anyone else reminded of Black Ghost's assassins?"

Sixth floor [Open]

[silberfuchs]