I wake up, breathing fast, sweating like a pig. I look around. I’m on the floor of some kind of elevator, going up. It’s quite warm, so that would be why I’m sweating. A voice comes out of a telecom in the wall of the elevator.
“I see you have woken up. Welcome, Jonny, to the arena!” Whoever it was had a very... imperative... voice.
“What?” I shout back at it. “Where the hell am I? Who are you? What is this place? How do you know my name?” No matter how much I shout, it’s useless. The voice does not come back.
I bang my fists in frustration against the wall of the elevator, and shout my head off, asking where the hell I am.
I almost fall through what must have been the elevator door. I stumble out into a sand-filled pit, and I hear people around me, screaming, whooping, cheering my name.
“Jonathan, pandora’s greatest vault hunter!”
It was that same voice again, from the elevator.
“Gabriel, hero of Eternia!”
Well, at least I wasn’t alone in this. Then again, we were in an arena. I wouldn’t want to fight an innocent, who had done nothing I know about.
“Liara, saviour of the universe E-4R1H!”
Whoever these people were, they sounded quite formidable, if they were my foes...
“David, the king of nature!”
Now the names were just getting stupid. King of nature? Who were these people? Why were they here, like me?
“Exedra, greatest fighter of the entire black mesa corporation!”
Black mesa? What kind of company were they? How many of us were there?
“Chocorate, one of the wisest of our time!”
If this was what I thought it was, a fat lot of good being wise would do him...
The crowd cheered seemingly louder every time, erupting with cheering and clapping.
“Vike, the great dragon-slayer!”
“Ladies and gentlemen, these are our fighters! Let the battles begin!”
Suddenly there was an earthquake, and we all started stumbling around, unable to stand up. The arena started, impossibly, shifting and lowering, until it was like we were on a rocky hill. Little cylinders started popping up, and out of them came beasts of all different shapes and sizes. One near me turned around, and facing me was the biggest tiger I had ever seen.
It leaped out, and, by pure instinct, I reached down to my revolver, crouched on one knee, and shot it twice, once in the head, once in the side.
It skidded to a halt, as I stepped out of the way. That creature was from earth, my home planet. I looked around at all the other “fighters”, they seemed to be handling themselves admirably. All of them used different weapons, Liara with some kind of laser gun, Gabriel with a quite large sword, that David guy had some kind of plant wrapping around his enemy, what was it... Grass? I hadn’t seen that since my days on earth, before pandora, when I had been in the military. Exedra had a gun that seemed to throw the beast up in the air, and it then plunged to the ground, where he finished it with a crowbar. That wise one, chocorate, seemed to be using some kind of... magic? I don’t know but I had never seen it before. Even stranger still was vike, he seemed to be simply shouting at whatever he had to kill, freezing it, before he smashed it.
The arena was quiet. The crowd looked like they were cheering us on, but we could not hear them. They had been blocked out somehow.
We all started looking around, at each other, at our surroundings, and at the crowd.
Everyone who had them put away their weapons, as a sign of peace. “Where the hell are we? What is this?” They shouted, like I had in the elevator.
“That was too easy, wasn’t it? Why don’t we crank it up a notch?”
The ground shifted again, and we were in what appeared to be a desert, complete with cacti and shrubs.
I walked up to the nearest person, chocorate, who seemed to have rather a lot of hair.
“Who the hell are you? I asked”
“I think you know that” he responded.
“Well, any idea why we’re here?”
“No, none whatsoever”
“I think I may know” said a voice behind me. I turned round, and it was Gabriel, the one with the sword.”I have heard of this place. People get kidnapped, and taken here, so that they can fight for entertainment.”
“Shit” I say.
“Bring in the mercenaries!”
“Mercenaries?” says Vike?
“We can take them” said Liara, confidently.
Out of more cylinders come men in what look like special forces suits, but they’re far ahead of anything the imperial regime has to offer.
Everyone starts attacking them, while they put up a scarily good fight to us. I put out my sentry turret, and that starts killing a few more, while I snipe a couple of them.
Suddenly Vike lets out a roar of three words, and a group of mercs go flying back, right where David was standing. They are stunned by the shout, and the whole flying-across-the-air process, but they soon recover, and although David tries to kill a couple, they overwhelm him, and he is shot several times all over the body.
I try to feel sad for him, but he hadn’t even spoken. We finish off the mercs, and the crowd dies down for a bit.
“I see you have woken up. Welcome, Jonny, to the arena!” Whoever it was had a very... imperative... voice.
“What?” I shout back at it. “Where the hell am I? Who are you? What is this place? How do you know my name?” No matter how much I shout, it’s useless. The voice does not come back.
I bang my fists in frustration against the wall of the elevator, and shout my head off, asking where the hell I am.
I almost fall through what must have been the elevator door. I stumble out into a sand-filled pit, and I hear people around me, screaming, whooping, cheering my name.
“Jonathan, pandora’s greatest vault hunter!”
It was that same voice again, from the elevator.
“Gabriel, hero of Eternia!”
Well, at least I wasn’t alone in this. Then again, we were in an arena. I wouldn’t want to fight an innocent, who had done nothing I know about.
“Liara, saviour of the universe E-4R1H!”
Whoever these people were, they sounded quite formidable, if they were my foes...
“David, the king of nature!”
Now the names were just getting stupid. King of nature? Who were these people? Why were they here, like me?
“Exedra, greatest fighter of the entire black mesa corporation!”
Black mesa? What kind of company were they? How many of us were there?
“Chocorate, one of the wisest of our time!”
If this was what I thought it was, a fat lot of good being wise would do him...
The crowd cheered seemingly louder every time, erupting with cheering and clapping.
“Vike, the great dragon-slayer!”
“Ladies and gentlemen, these are our fighters! Let the battles begin!”
Suddenly there was an earthquake, and we all started stumbling around, unable to stand up. The arena started, impossibly, shifting and lowering, until it was like we were on a rocky hill. Little cylinders started popping up, and out of them came beasts of all different shapes and sizes. One near me turned around, and facing me was the biggest tiger I had ever seen.
It leaped out, and, by pure instinct, I reached down to my revolver, crouched on one knee, and shot it twice, once in the head, once in the side.
It skidded to a halt, as I stepped out of the way. That creature was from earth, my home planet. I looked around at all the other “fighters”, they seemed to be handling themselves admirably. All of them used different weapons, Liara with some kind of laser gun, Gabriel with a quite large sword, that David guy had some kind of plant wrapping around his enemy, what was it... Grass? I hadn’t seen that since my days on earth, before pandora, when I had been in the military. Exedra had a gun that seemed to throw the beast up in the air, and it then plunged to the ground, where he finished it with a crowbar. That wise one, chocorate, seemed to be using some kind of... magic? I don’t know but I had never seen it before. Even stranger still was vike, he seemed to be simply shouting at whatever he had to kill, freezing it, before he smashed it.
The arena was quiet. The crowd looked like they were cheering us on, but we could not hear them. They had been blocked out somehow.
We all started looking around, at each other, at our surroundings, and at the crowd.
Everyone who had them put away their weapons, as a sign of peace. “Where the hell are we? What is this?” They shouted, like I had in the elevator.
“That was too easy, wasn’t it? Why don’t we crank it up a notch?”
The ground shifted again, and we were in what appeared to be a desert, complete with cacti and shrubs.
I walked up to the nearest person, chocorate, who seemed to have rather a lot of hair.
“Who the hell are you? I asked”
“I think you know that” he responded.
“Well, any idea why we’re here?”
“No, none whatsoever”
“I think I may know” said a voice behind me. I turned round, and it was Gabriel, the one with the sword.”I have heard of this place. People get kidnapped, and taken here, so that they can fight for entertainment.”
“Shit” I say.
“Bring in the mercenaries!”
“Mercenaries?” says Vike?
“We can take them” said Liara, confidently.
Out of more cylinders come men in what look like special forces suits, but they’re far ahead of anything the imperial regime has to offer.
Everyone starts attacking them, while they put up a scarily good fight to us. I put out my sentry turret, and that starts killing a few more, while I snipe a couple of them.
Suddenly Vike lets out a roar of three words, and a group of mercs go flying back, right where David was standing. They are stunned by the shout, and the whole flying-across-the-air process, but they soon recover, and although David tries to kill a couple, they overwhelm him, and he is shot several times all over the body.
I try to feel sad for him, but he hadn’t even spoken. We finish off the mercs, and the crowd dies down for a bit.
