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Post by ĸara вelova★ on Sept 22, 2009 18:28:58 GMT -5
Stage II had begun. Tristan 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.
"Tristan, 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. Tristan was alone, and the door behind them shut and locked.
"You can always back out now..." The disembodied voice suggested over the speakers, "...Stage I was cake compared to what this will be..."
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Post by Tristan Marcus Dell on Sept 24, 2009 0:02:19 GMT -5
The first thing Tristan noticed when he stepped into the main hall was how there wasn’t anyone else there, minus the show’s supervisors and its production crew, who still looked pissed at him for almost destroying their multi-thousand dollar camera equipment in the last Stage. There was no one in the audience and no sumo wrestler guards. It was just him and the task in front of him.
He thought to himself that he liked it better that way - he was never one to crave the spotlight like some of his other friends – but he realized that entering himself into a television contest that would be broadcast to millions of people wasn’t the best way to avoid being the center of attention.
They hadn’t given any of the contestants the slightest clue as to what Stage II would entail, and Tristan was a little relieved when he saw that it had something to do with water. He was a great swimmer, so as long as he wasn’t holding back video gamer freak shows or the leather-clad dude who broke two of his ribs in Stage I, he assumed that Stage II would be better.
The young man sat down on the ground, untied his Nikes, and pulled them off of his feel. He set his shoes and socks next to him and stared into the murky water. There was no way water that gross could be okay for your health. When he decided that he was ready to get the thing over and done with, Tristan stood up and tugged his t-shirt over his head. He tossed it carelessly next to his shoes and walked over to the edge of the pool. He waited for the go ahead thumbs up from the producer before he took a deep breath and dove in.
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Post by ĸara вelova★ on Sept 24, 2009 0:41:20 GMT -5
After Tristan dove into the water, the producer commented that they should make Tristan the male Stage Fright sex symbol. Poor Tristan Dell. His life after this competition would never be the same, and he may require a body guard to keep the ladies off him.
The underwater cameras were actually tracking heat signatures, because the water was too dense for a clear image. The camera picked up lots of orangey-yellow, wriggling, snake-like heat signatures that scattered once Tristan's red-hot body broke the surface. But the initial shock of Tristan's arrival wore off, and soon the creatures' curiosity got the better of them.
The camera showed the serpentine squiggles heading toward Tristan one at a time, making exploratory nudges to Tristan's legs and arms. The scattered keys at the bottom were illuminated from below, so you wouldn't see the light from the surface. Tristan would have to open his eyes in the thick concoction of muddy lake water, or swim directly over it so the light could caress his eyelids. The nearest key was still 6 feet away, and 3 feet further down before he could touch the bottom.
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Post by Tristan Marcus Dell on Sept 27, 2009 1:39:14 GMT -5
The water was freezing, but that wasn’t even worst part. The worst part was not being able to see. Yeah, the creatures were that were brushing against his body, whatever they were, were enough to make anyone uncomfortable. The way Tristan saw it though (or rather didn’t see it), if he couldn’t see them, he couldn’t get freaked out. That way he didn’t know what he was supposed to be afraid of.
He didn’t mind not being able to see what he thought could have been snakes, but that also meant that he couldn’t really see anything else, either, including the keys he was on a mission to find. Luckily for Tristan, if he squinted his eyes he was able to see a little bit of light coming from the bottom of the pool. He swam back up to the surface and tread water for a moment before he took a deep breath and disappeared under the water again.
With his eyes barely open, Tristan swam toward the light until he felt his hands hit the bottom. He started to feel around, hoping to come into contact with the first key. He eventually skimmed his hand across what he hoped was a key and closed his hand around it.
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Post by ĸara вelova★ on Sept 27, 2009 8:56:47 GMT -5
Tristan was successful in coming in contact with his first key. The moment his hand secured the metal object, the first door on the left illuminated in an ominous green. Tristan would be able to use the key to proceed to his first obstacle.
The supposed snakes had accumulated around the young man, treating him like a mother to a school of dolphins. They squirmed forward through the water, surrounding him and treating him as one of their own. Below the surface, the camera showed Tristan descending to the bottom. Further editing would lengthen the descent as though Tristan were able to swim a greater distance. They would also insert a key, so the audience felt like they knew where the key was before the contestant.
The moment Tristan pushed from the bottom to surface, he would startle the elongated fish above him by ramming into their underbellies. The news would spread to all of them, caused by the panic of the top fishes. Tristan was going to have a more difficult time whenever he chose to dive for the next two keys. The underwater camera showed the yellowy snake-like fish darting away from the boy, then regrouping in a much more solid school.
They were on-guard now.
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