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Post by ĸara вelova★ on Sept 22, 2009 18:36:19 GMT -5
Stage II had begun. Kirien was lead to the main hall, where a vast pool stretching from wall to wall awaited. The water was murky, and it was impossible to determine how deep it was. Something was moving about in it - many somethings - but the water was too cloudy to confess what lurked beneath the surface.
On the other side of the pool was a wall containing three black doors, clearly labeled with green, ominous numbers 1, 2, and 3. Nothing hinted at what could await within. Large, mechanical hinges promised that opening these doors would be a very difficult task indeed. However, in the center of each door was a keyhole.
"Ms. Melantha, welcome to Stage II! Right now you have three points under your belt! Somewhere in the water there are three keys, each with a number. These keys open the doors you see ahead. Each door leads to a challenging obstacle, and each of the obstacles are worth one point. Only the contestants with the top four scores will proceed to the final Stage. You were given a safety word before you arrived. Should you wish to abandon an obstacle, you must shout the word, and that point will be forfeited! You may start when you are ready!"
This time there was no audience, aside from the cameras positioned around the hall. Kirien was alone, and the door behind them shut and locked.
"You can always back out now..." The disembodied voice suggested over the speakers, "...I wouldn't blame you if you have Stage Fright..."
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Post by Kirien Melantha on Sept 29, 2009 19:33:37 GMT -5
"...and should you find a task too difficult, or should you find yourself succumbing to Stage Fright, you may forfeit the task by shouting your safety word. Once your safety word is used, the door will unlock and you will be free to attempt the other tasks, but you will never be able to regain that point. Your safety word is 'boyfriend.'"
"WHAT?!" Kirien shrieked when they told her. What was the meaning of assigning her a word like that?! Forfeiting a task was bad enough, but they had to give her that word, as if she was some kind of damsel in distress who had to rely on her dashing prince to save her! She was so mad she could hardly see straight!
"I want a different word. NOW.[/i]" She snarled, doing her absolute best to scare the beady-eyed news-bearer into submission, with her hands clenched tight into fists and teeth gnashed together. The beady-eyed woman stuttered an apology but insisted that the system had already been set up and her task was soon to start, and despite Kirien's protests and threats to her and the producers of Stage Fright, she could not change her safety word.
She stormed to the edge of the pool, not at all caring that she was being broadcast on television. In fact, she gave a particularly fierce glare in the direction of the cameramen, as if the entire superhuman community should know just how great an injustice she was being dealt. She then leered at the pool, the big, icky, murky pool, which was about to ruin her cute outfit. She smartened up since Stage I, selecting more combat-friendly attire, but it was still freshly-sewn and she liked it entirely too much to get goop all over it, or whatever it was that was in that disgusting pool! Didn't someone, somewhere have a pool-skimming-and-purifying gift?!
Unfortunately, the best she could do to protect her clothing was to remove her shoes, stockings, hat and gloves, and set them aside on the shore, all the while thinking that the people who made up this stupid competition should have the sense to tell their competitors when to wear bathing suits. Some people just don't have any brains at all! She thought to herself, wishing that the criminally stupid would just hurry up and go extinct.
She cannonballed into the pool, determined to get the swimming nonsense over with. If there was anything swimming about down there, it'd better get the hell out of her way.[/color]
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Post by ĸara вelova★ on Sept 29, 2009 21:51:54 GMT -5
And get the hell out of her way it did. The fishies below were having a beautiful time swimming about their specially imported lake water, moseying around in harmony, when crash! Something angry cannonballed into their lovely abode. They flailed about, wriggling away from the source of the splash, zooming to the far reaches of the pool. A few of the braver ones ventured forward after a little time spent in terror.
Beneath the surface, if Kirien chose to open her eyes, she might see the faint glow of the nearest key. Each key was illuminated from the bottom of the pool, but the water was so dense with lake muck that it was only visible if you were close to it. The surface was nowhere close to the keys, and therefore the glow was impossible to see from the pool's edge.
If Kirien's eyes remained closed, she would have to swim directly over the illuminated area so the light could caress her eyelids. Whatever she chose, Stage Fright made it so finding the keys was difficult, but not impossible.
Meanwhile, the fishies were getting braver, and the underwater cameras showed the yellowy-orange heat signatures of the long squirmy creatures drawing closer to the red-hot form of a pissed-off Kirien Melantha.
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Post by Kirien Melantha on Sept 30, 2009 12:01:57 GMT -5
She opened her eyes as soon as she was submerged, as she always did when swimming, but she soon regretted that decision. Whatever was in the yucky lake water burned at her eyes, so she rubbed them, which only made it all worse.
This stinks! My clothes are gonna be ruined and my eyes hurt and I can't even see anything, and why are we swimming, anyway?! Can't we just get on with the stupid show?!
She blindly swam to the left and right, before giving up and opened her eyes again.
There! That must be a key! She thought triumpantly when she saw a faint golden glimmer nearby. Immediately, she kicked her feet and moved in that direction, hands brushing the ground as she went.
She closed her eyes again, now that she knew she was slowly moving in the direction of the key.
This is it?! How boring! It's too easy! A five-year-old could get these keys! The stuff after this better be more fun!
She didn't seem to notice the creatures drawing nearer.
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Post by ĸara вelova★ on Oct 2, 2009 18:26:58 GMT -5
As Kirien grew closer to the key, hands dragging on the floor of the pool, her fingers would hit the key and bump it a short distance away. The light was bright where she was, and would tell her she was definitely in the right part of the pool.
The fishes swam with her. Some brushed against her side, experimenting, seeing how violent this angry person was. They could sense she was irate, sense she was dangerous, but their overwhelming curiosity kept them close. One of them nibbled her elbow, needle-sharp teeth testing her skin's toughness.
The underwater cameras showed an entire school of elongated fish swimming alongside Kirien, almost blocking her image completely from the lens.
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Post by Kirien Melantha on Nov 8, 2009 10:36:06 GMT -5
I can't believe they call this a competition. Are people really watching this? It's so boring. Why do people want to watch boring things?
Her fingers bumped the key away, and she smiled a victorious smile. Even if Stage II was disgustingly easy, she probably found that key in less than five minutes! At least she'd get the stupid people watching cheering for the right person.
She closed her hand around the key, and felt a sharp, annoying something scratching at her elbow. Maybe there was more of a challenge to this than she thought...but was some scratchy thing the best they could do? She kept her eyes closed and elbowed the something hard in the whatever-it-was, then kicked off the bottom of the pool, heading quickly for the surface.
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