Mini Arena 2

[etcircenses]

Tributes are woken early, and the hovercraft ride is a long one. Not the longest some have experienced, but they are clearly going far.

25 - 24 - 23

They land on the deck of the boat, and are ushered underneath, to the lower levels, quickly. Their stylists go from cabin to cabin, decking them out in over the top finery, before loading them into the pods installed into the corners of the rooms.

20 - 19 - 18 - 17 - 16

The platforms lift them up, and they are all ringed around a grand buffet table, loaded with a grand feast looking ready to sag down from the weight. Among the food are supplies, plenty of them, all for the taking.

11- 10 - 9 - 8

They've all been warned, don't step off your pedestal early. They have also been warned to put on a good show. That's all this is about, a good show. None of them have been told that there can be multiple winners this time around.

5 - 4

3

2

The sound of the gong plays crystal clear across the opening. The games have begun.

Comments

[metalicarus]

Jet nearly jumped back himself once he realized he'd collided with someone. His hands were up and his stance defensive.

"Sorry, I wasn't watching. I'm not looking to hurt you."

Blue eyes darted over the woman's face as he tried to figure out if he knew her, he'd just about decided he didn't when it occurred to him. Albert had pointed her out once.

"You're Joan, right? Joan...um..Watson? Then I'm really not lookin' to hurt you, I'm looking for Albert."

[formersurgeon]

She blinked when he recognized her, narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to place him. When he mentioned Albert, she raised her eyebrows.

"Albert. Oh. Are you Jet?"

[metalicarus]

"Yeah, that's me." He wasn't too surprised he'd been talked about, but it made him a little curious as to what had been said. Too bad this wasn't the time.

He nodded down the hall towards where he'd been headed. "I've already looked around here, I'm thinking he might be down there and with this place sinking, that's not a good thing. There might be others too, I'm gonna head down there and see if I can help."

[formersurgeon]

"I'll go with you," she said. "Better to stick together."

She turned and headed for the stairs.

"We don't have much time." She gestured up toward the beams. "The ship isn't just sinking, it's breaking apart."

[metalicarus]

Jet looked up to see what she was talking about. It took a moment, but sure enough the beams were bowing in places which meant it wouldn't be long before their own weight broke them.

"Then we'd better hurry. But watch your footing, crap might already be breaking apart or some things might have fallen down in the explosion."

Not to mention he anticipated they'd find water the further down they went.

And when he got to the stairs, he wasn't disappointed. There at the base was a good layer of water covering the floor. Not enough to drown in, but enough to make walking through it difficult.

"Shit. I'm just gonna throw it out there that it's probably freezing. You know, since we're reenacting Titanic."

[formersurgeon]

"Of course. They obviously have a check list of cliches here."

She took another look up at the beams, then started down the stairs, step by step, clinging to the handrail. Even the stairs seemed to sag and slide under her, although she wasn't sure if it was the motion of the stairs, the motion of the boat, or an illusion because it was the rest of the room, not the stairs, that was moving.

[metalicarus]

"Well, we are a reality T.V. show." He shrugged, his tone and smile wry.

Jet followed a step behind her,pausing only once he had a similar feeling of motion so that she could go down a step or two further ahead of him. If it really was the stairs contemplating collapsing, he didn't need to put more weight on them.

Once they were both down the stairs, a small hiss and a wince followed his foot sinking into the water. It was ice cold and quickly numbing his foot, not a pleasant sensation, but at least he was used to walking with numb feet.

"Come on, we gotta check every room."

Too bad there were a lot of them.