ENTER THE GAUNTLET (IC)

ENTER THE GAUNTLET



Zooz stood impatiently in the center of the stage. She was an unusual-looking creature comparable to a hairless cat minus everything that made such a being hideous. Her skin was smooth as smooth could be and a lovely shade of pale purple. She wore a black, wispy dress that appeared to be full of stars and storm clouds. Sharp, feline violet eyes surveyed the place she’d just finished constructing—the Lobby. It’d do.

It was a perfectly circular stage some twenty feet in diameter, and all around her were amphitheater walls of comfortable-looking chairs. At the very top of the amphitheater, where all the stairways came to a rest, there was a level wooden floor. Pleasant music fit for an elevator came through speakers in the ceiling. There was a concession stand in the northwest corner, a little area with tables in the northeast, and bathrooms between them.

“I daresay I’ve put enough work into this,” Zooz mumbled to herself, one of her pale, purplish bare feet tapping against the stage. “Alright. I’ve waited long enough.”

“Stop talking to yourself and just do it already,” called down a voice from the concession stand. A disgruntled, wolf-like creature stood behind the counter, his red eyes watching Zooz with obvious impatience. His greasy black fur looked as if it hadn’t been properly washed in weeks. Between two black, stag-like antlers on his head, he wore a hat shaped like a hotdog. His uniform was white and grease-stained, and he rested his gloveless arms on the counter with an obvious disregard for any health code violations he might be breaking. “Wait any longer and all those advertisements you put out are going to be disregarded,” he grumbled.

“Shut up,” Zooz snapped. Her violet eyes went a little unfocused as she raised her arms into the air. There weren’t any visible indications that she was using powerful magic, but there was a certain PRESENCE around her. A pulling, yanking sensation. The air went cold, and yet felt charged with a sudden heat. An unseen wind stirred her star-filled black dress.
With a pop, people suddenly began to appear. They filled the seats in the amphitheater, and as Zooz hoped, they were all already sorted by team. She smiled, watching as few seats expanded to fit their oversized occupants. Then, each chair underneath each butt of each soon-to-be contestant transformed to better suit their occupant’s needs.

“Now before any of you start blabbering to each other,” Zooz spoke, her voice suddenly amplified by an invisible microphone, “I’ll need you all to pay attention.”
Zooz snapped her fingers. SILENCE spread forcibly around the room and an UNSEEN FORCE held everyone down in their seats. At the same time, MANDATORY PACIFISM kicked on. No contestant-borne weapons, magic, nor otherworldly technology would work in this room, no matter how many times it was tried… and any violent thoughts anyone might have were snuffed out with the thought of ‘Hm… maybe I’ll go get some nachos instead.’

“You’ve all been selected!” Zooz cried happily. “Selected for what, you might ask? Why, to perform in the aether metaverse’s finest show: The Gauntlet! And if you’re here, it means its mandatory, so I hope you brought your smartest versions of yourselves.” She snickered and walked around the stage, getting a good view of all those in her audience. “I must say you all look like a fine bunch. This should be delightful. Now, dare I ask if anyone has any questions?” With a sickening smile, she waited for the shouting to begin.

You fool! It’s your own fault you’re in this situation! Why couldn’t you have been stronger?”

So thought Erukai Gudarien, formally a Saritas of the great Gerran Empire, as he turned the pilot’s chair around to face the cabin door. His eyes narrowed inside his helmet, ignoring all the temperature readings his helmet was providing him with. Standing, he took up a defensive stance, ready to sell himself against his own fellow Gerran, the ones who pursued him as a traitor.

But what was happening? His armor was suddenly and rapidly retracting itself back into the spine, and he hadn’t even commanded it. His surroundings, which had been clear a moment ago, suddenly blurred and then suddenly changed. He was now seated in a chair in some sort of amphitheater. Around the circle of the amphitheater were other seating areas, filled with the most bizarre menagerie of people he had ever seen. In the center stage stood another creature that looked like a hair-less feliniform in a black dress.

“What?” said a voice on Erukai’s left. “Wha. . . Where am I?” Looking over to his left, Erukai saw, seated in a considerably smaller chair was what he thought might be another filiform creature, this one with dark fur, and wearing a brown toga and sandals. Closer examination, showed a more humanoid torso, and a rather sheep-like face, albeit with a bit of a long mane around the back of the head.

Just then, Erukai’s attention was forcibly brought back to the creature on the stage. Erukai listened carefully to what she said, frowning. Who was this creature? And what in the name of the Empire was the aether metaverse. Thankfully, her speech was a short one. “Now, dare I ask if anyone has any questions?” asked the creature.

“Er, ahem,” said a computerish voice on Erukai’s right. Looking over, he saw a small (from his standpoint) humanoid figure, obviously a machine of some sort, raising a three-fingered hand. It was a slim thing, having white plating over top of some black, rubber-like material, and its face seemed to consist of some sort of flexible, latex-like material. “I have a question,” it continued in a thoughtful, absurdly polite tone. “Or more of a request, rather. I was a in the middle of a very important assignment, and I really need to get back to it. Could you please return me to where I was?”

“But . . . but wait a minute!” cried the furry one, clearly starting to freak. “What is this place? What do you mean ‘selected?’ Who are you?”

And thus the shouting was commenced.

The universe was seeking its assistance once more it seemed, the quiet stone sage thought to itself. A quiet afternoon aboard the Kruez station seemed to be taking it someplace else, beyond any astral plain it had witnessed in the past. Warwisp Roo'k'thi'k felt itself fall into the chair prepared for it, giving a small smile as it examined the surroundings it was placed within. A new challenge, seemingly in the guise of the ancient circuses it remembered from so long ago...

It allowed the chairs to its right to be filled by the glowing forms that sat beside it, little surprised it anymore. The entire theater seemed to be occupied by races and forms even it didn't recognize throughout its travels. It prepared for the various outbursts, as expected as they were. The cat-like creature in the center had an air of authority, best to allow it to speak its course before responding.

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The young alien slowly beat her drum, matching the pattern placed before her along a holodisk. It was some generic pattern from a few eras ago at least, Yyoi Zee simply using it to practice. The necromancy tracks tended to attract some unwanted attention, either from vigilantes or smelly zombies. She noticed her surroundings start to brighten as the drumming continued, slowly drowning out with the hum of whatever this...energy was.

A small yelp escaped Yyoi's lips as she sat down in a somewhat comfortable chair, her small frame dwarfed compared to the hulking rock giant thing to her left, and another mass even larger appearing to her right. She paid attention to the feline yapping at her, always one to allow the other to speak before proceeding. Questions? Sure, but not while there were so many loud voices. Her drum and proper uniform were now on her, surprising even herself. Yyoi went through a rudiment quietly while the others settled in.

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Orwin Malt, the esteemed warrior of the Tvoln unit, slowly ate his conquest. He was a hulking beast, his fur stained with a few bloody stains here and there, bulky armor being washed by one of the more adolescent of the tribesmen. Orwin was congratulated on his victory by a few of the other soldiers, mostly a lot of grunting and nodding. They had an unspoken language between them, the close knit unit used to these small victories. The Molven and the Grakk were in a longstanding war, but it was nearing the eve of it's conclusion. Just one more battle it seemed, at least Orwin supposed so. An energy enveloped him as he took another chunk of the Grakk officer's leg in its mouth, Orwin feeling himself depart from this plain.

Mouth still full, he felt himself offer a loud thud into the chair it arrived in. He chewed slowly as he examined the amphitheater and the inhabitants that were calling the shots. It didn't like to be ordered around, but some sort of energy was holding him back from launching an outburst. He attempted to swallow the remains of the Grakk leg, before choking up and spitting out a few crushed bones and ligaments from his mouth.

He winced slightly, "The Grakk....need to be cooked before consumption it seems." Orwin stated to what looked like his closest seatmates. The stone creature was off-putting with its slight smile and relaxed gaze, but the shocked expression of the tiny...bard of some kind gave him a slight chuckle.

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Warwisp examined what seemed to be its...teammates for these proceedings. Glancing between the two, "Best to let the others say their share." It said as the shouting seemed to grow louder by the second.

Recet Dyruri found himself staring out into the stars a lot lately. Here after his crew’s active hours had passed, there was not much to do on the Dyruri 3 other than sleep. Ideally, he’d have landed on a wild planet or some other place to sleep, though after his most recent stunt, the resident interstellar empire was on high alert, and so interstellar space would have to serve as an ideal resting spot. Here, at least, starvation would get to them before anything else.

Somewhere in the ship, Touo slept, and probably not in her own room. Solindas meditated in her own quarters. And here Recet was in the cockpit, quietly falling into the deep embrace of slumber.

Deeper, he fell. The twinkling stars faded.

Deeper still.

And deeper still.

And then, a blink. And Recet’s chair suddenly felt quite a bit different than it had before.

“Ahh!” He yelled, jumping in his seat—though a phantom force seemed to keep him from standing up. “What in the damned Void is this? I can’t get one damned moment of damned sleep in my own damned ship, can’t I?”

To his right, Touo sat, slowly blinking away sleep. Her reptillian body uncurled on the pillow, clearly designed for a Nohkkra. “What in the..?”

Recet cast her a glare—he was very expressive for someone who didn’t have any eyes. “Do you know what this is about?”

A nonplussed visage crossed her as she gazed across the room, dark grey eyes scanning every other prisoner in the strangely unprisonlike room before her gaze finally settled on the strange humanoid on the stage before her, observing them all as a predator would prey.

She finally looked back at Recet, “Yeah, I don’t know what this is.”

“You can’t move at all?”

“If I could, I would,” Touo sighed, as she made a very visible attempt at standing up.

From behind, Solindas spoke, voice calm and soothing, “Peculiar this be.” Recet twisted to face her, and found that she, too, sat, cross-legged on a small circular platform. Solindas continued, “As we hath no options, the only correct choice may be compliance. A mistake this may be, after all.” Her triangular eyes narrowed at the humanoid on the stage.

Recet growled, “You’re both oddly calm about this.”

Touo’s eyes suddenly widened, “Wait, I think I know this.” Then she twisted to face Recet with a grin so genuine that his heart plummeted into his gut, “That girl up there’s Zooz, and she runs a game show called The Gauntlet. I and my family used to watch it whenever it aired... which was about twice, before I left.”

“You’re joking me,” Recet deadpanned.

“No, I’m serious,” Touo continued. “Zooz pits us up against puzzles, in teams of three—” she gestured to herself, Recet, and Solindas “—and it’s great!”

“Then thou possesseth a strategy?” Solindas questioned, a hint of hope in her tone.

“Oh, I don’t,” Touo’s face suddenly fell. “We might all die here.”

Touo and Recet’s frantic shouting joined the chorus of the others'.

The setting sun around which Nuclea orbited cast a lovely yellow on the shiny exterior of the Platinum Palace, reflecting off the building onto the large palace grounds, and causing the various architectural details to cast shadows of interesting shapes. The building itself lived up to its name, given due to the exterior of the massive building being covered primarily in a layer of the element for which it was named, which was supplimented with traces of saphire and glass, all combining together as a testament to the post-scarcity Ecumene.

From outside, all appeared peaceful and quiet, the only sounds being the occasional distant spacecraft entering atmosphere alongside the sounds of nature, one of the various benefits of having the palace located away from the city, along with the tight limit on visitors.

Inside one of the rooms however, it was a different story. The sound of music could barely be heard beyond the soundproofed walls through the doorway, echoing within the space, which was shaped like a rectangle with rounded corners. Off to one side a small bar area was located, forming a smaller area within the wall. The center of the room was occupied by an area filled with comfy looking yet ultramodern couches and chairs, behind which (from the view of the doorway), was a dance area which divided the seating area from the raised platform against the far wall, which was currently empty. The room's lighting pattern was currently set to that of a nightclub, with a somewhat higher level of illumination, and large speakers embedded in the walls about ten feet up provided the source of the music.

A party was currently underway between the leaders of the various allied nations. Not a diplomatic event per se, but rather a gathering among friends to get together and de-stress, temporarily forgetting about the current issues and enjoy themselves.

Currently, Cindy had gotten ahold of the music controls, and so the large speakers within the room were blasting what would sound to someone from Earth as a rather good mix between metal and electronic dance music (which Cindy herself had actually composed). Having adjusted the music to something she liked, Cindy was currently sitting at the bar along with Tank, talking while they enjoyed some drinks, both more for the flavor than anything, as neither could really get intoxicated.

As they spoke, Tank would steal glances over at Silvera, who was sitting on one of the couches talking to Nuke and Chucky, and Cindy would snicker, thinking it funny. Right before Tank could give a sarcastic response hower, he suddenly vanished with a moderately loud pop.

--

On one of the chairs in Zooz's lobby, a large creature appeared. They were massive, appearing about eight feet tall had they been standing, with large well definined muscles. The being was covered in fur, and had a small flat tail, poking out from the green camoflague pants they wore (which were the only article of clothing on them).

The being glanced around quickly in surprise, unable to move due to the spell Zooz had cast, and after she had finished speaking, promptly said quite loudly in a definitely male voice "Caeraa", uttering what one could surmise was a curse word, although they couldn't be sure.

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Petri was flying through the air above a lake, purposely skipping off the water every twenty or so feet. He enjoyed zipping around during the day, exploring and appreciating nature. The lake itself was not that large, only about two hundred feet long, and was currently fairly peaceful, apart from the ripples caused by Petri's skipping that was.

While he skipped, he considered his past adventures, including the recent one on that island known as Triviis. It had been an interesting experience, and he had made some new friends, although he had to leave them behind when they had returned to their homes.

Reaching the end of the lake, he applied an upard force to himself, propelling him into the air and sailing above the trees that stood around the edge of the water, rotating as he did so to let the wind and sun dry himself. That was when he heard a popping noise, and his scenery abruptly changed.

Petri immediatally found himself sitting on a chair in what appeared to be some sort of room filled with other beings sitting in chairs around him. And forward was a raised platform with a cat like being in a rather pretty dress. He wasn't sure what was going on, nor how he had been brought to such a halt without any jolt whatsover, but he decided to wait and see what was going on, listening carefully to what the being had to say, as well as looking at the other beings around him with his multiple spectrums of vision.

To the others around him, Petri would present a curious image, a smooth granite rock of moderate size, sitting unmoving on a chair, which was likely to elicit laughter from those who couldn't percieve his true nature (which would be nearly everyone).

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Sigma sat within his hiding location in an abandoned studio of a building overlooking the street near a set of landing pads, assembling the various pieces of a black and dark grey sniper rifle, which he pulled from a medium sized bag on the floor near him.

Carefully he finished screwing the barrel into the upper reciever, which he then mated with the lower reciever and butt combination with a satisfying click. Reaching inside the bag, he then pulled out a scope, which he carefully attached to the top rail of the upper reciever.

Holding the weapon up in a firing position with one hand, he looked through the scope, minutely adjusting dials on the side for windage and elevation to align it with the forward sights of the barrel. Satisfied, he then took up a three point stance on the floor, and carefully inserted the muzzle of the rifle through a small hole he had cut in the glass, before looking through the scope.

His target, about a kilometer away on one of the landing platforms, was a crime boss who had just exited his landed space yacht, a reptillian alien wearing a nice business suit, flanked by two others of his kind in black suits. This was precisely what Sigma had been waiting for, and he steadied the rifle, alighning it on the target's center of mass, before gently squeezing the trigger.

Invisible to the naked eye, a pulsed X-ray laser erupted silently from the barrel, striking the target exactly as intended, flash boiling a section of his stomach and chest in a grotesque explosion of steam and flesh. He dropped to the ground, dead.

Sigma pulled the muzzle back out of the hole in the window, and carefully began disassembling the rifle, putting the pieces back in the bag and closing it. Before he could pick it up and leave however, he heard a popping noise, and found himself transported to a different location.

Around him in this new location, he saw multiple empty seats, two of which were filled by a large alien and a rock. Beyond this he could see other sections filled with various other beings, who seemed to appear in much the same way he had. Before he could get up and start investigating, a feline alien on a platform in the center told everyone to be quiet and informed them of the situation, to which Sigma listened intently with unblinking eyes.

When she had finished, he calmly addressed her in a loud voice "What does this 'Gauntlet' entail?"

Camryn took the meats and reached to hand the vendor the money but before she could she seemed to be pulled from space and she found herself in a chair. Her hand outstretched with the money was cautiously pulled back. She made an attempt to stand but she seemed fixed to her seat so she directed her attention to the feline figure before her and listened closely. It seemed fairly straightforward so Camryn saw no need to ask any questions.

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Medusa was finishing up with a bandage as she stood next to the falls. Having visited many waterfalls, this one was always her favorite. She pulled her shirt on and started on braiding her wet hair when she felt something, she groaned and continued as she was transported to a different place. She found herself in a chair, which surprisingly enough, fit her quite well. She turned and saw another being on her left, also confined to a chair, possibly a fairy of sorts with multiple sets of gossamer wings. On her right side she saw a youth with strange hair that seemed to be both blue and purple, so she assumed it was another fey. She continued braiding and then realized the figure on the stage in front of her. The figure seemed to be female and she was addressing all those who were assembled here. As she looked around she did not recognize many of those in attendance. She assumed they were magic of some sort; otherwise they would have looked more human. She finished up her braid and faced forward, if this was mandatory then maybe she had better listen. When this “Zooz” had finished Medusa looked at her two companions, she had no questions to ask currently, though she was sure she would have some later.

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Sandy was straightening her hair when she felt a strange sensation almost like something from another universe was pulling her. Not that she knew what that felt like but this was probably it. She dropped the straightener and found herself in a chair. She attempted to get up, but to no avail. She tried again a few more times before she gave up. Then she remembered what she was wearing and attempted to cover herself. Her sports bra top and shorts were not meant for regular public, only for the gym and sometimes sleeping. Quickly she looked around to see who might have noticed but everyone else seemed preoccupied with screaming. She quietly took a hair tie from her wrist and put her hair up. Then she saw the hairless cat figure in front of her, this wouldn’t have been too bad except for the fact that she looked to be a pale purple and was speaking. Sandy’s voice joined the noise and she asked, “What the heck are you?”

Zooz listened patiently to the outcry. Her expression seemed to suggest that she was drawing no small amount of pleasure from the confusion and the anger of her new contestants. She waited a moment, just to let everyone get the shouting out of their system. Then she clapped her hands in a cute, girlish way. Smoke immediately began to pour from the base of her dress and fill the air. She herself levitated upward. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed. Stars seemed to rain from the ceiling, which now looked more like an open void than anything else.

“Seems like you all need some clarifying,” Zooz’s voice boomed. “My mistake.” She cackled wickedly. “I am Zooz, and I am the host of this gameshow you’re now on. Do smile for the cameras.” She gave her best feigned smile, as if to demonstrate. “Perhaps I should also tell everyone that I am a GOD.”

The black, wolfish creature running the concession stand materialized underneath her and yanked at the hem of her dress. “Hey, use any more special effects and I’m gonna have to halve your time.” His red eyes narrowed at her. “Those powers of yours aren’t cheap.”

Zooz glared down at him, but sighed. “Fine,” she said. The smoke vanished without a trace and the amphitheater returned to normal… except Zooz herself stayed floating mid-air. She didn’t seem to mind that the wolfish man was looking up her skirt. She addressed the crowd again, once again donning her sickening smile. “No, you can’t go home. Not until the show’s over.”

“Basically Zooz is gonna drag y’all through Hell n’ back,” clarified the wolf-man. “Hope yer prepared.” He snickered and started walking away, but Zooz snagged him by the collar at the back of his shirt.

“Since you’re being so hasty,” she smiled at him, “I’ll introduce you.” With great flourish, she lifted the wolf-man up effortlessly and held him there, his feet kicking back and forth as he tried to get down. “This,” Zooz spoke, “is Visum Tempore. Our sponsor! Do be kind to him—he also runs concessions and the souvenir shop if any of you need anything when you’re tagged out.”

“And by tagged out she means not playing,” Visum choked. “Woman, put me down!”

“Behave yourself, then,” Zooz snarled.

“Then explain the rules!” Visum snapped.

Zooz blinked. She snapped her fingers, and each and every contestant was suddenly holding a paper copy of the first three posts on the OOC. Somehow, it even had moving gif signatures.



Kind of like this one down here.

"Oh . . . dear," said the white and black humanoid robot slowly as he read the rules. "This really won't do. I was on an important mission, one that can't be put aside. I really can't stay. Please send me back." As he spoke, he still used the same absurdly polite tone he had been using before.

"You're not a god!" snapped the furry creature indignantly. "There's only one God!"

Erukai cast a glance at him, slowly crumbling his own paper in his hand as he did so, and then looked at Zooz with narrowed eyes. "You certainly do make some lofty claims, CENSORED," he said in the emotionless tone he had become very good at using. "You certainly can do some nice visual effects that I'm sure would impress primitives, but I've been around, and I've seen equally impressive things done with just the right tech, and all it really was was illusions. Why should I believe you're what you say you are? And as for this rather sick game you seem to be intent on putting us through, what if we refuse to participate?"

Camryn blinked, it was easy to see that this being “Zooz” had power but gods did not exist so that was out of the question. She tied up her bag of meats and placed it in a pocket along with her money. She looked down at her paper and read the rules, she wasn’t fond of them but she had no choice it seemed. This Gauntlet might prove to be enjoyable though so there was no use in complaining. She looked over and noticed two others in her area to her right. One was fairly tall with braided black hair and the other was about her own height with blue and purple hair. Other than that her companions seemed to be humans. A twinge of longing came as she remembered Paul Garret; he was the only being she ever truly loved and also a human. She shook the though off and refocused, whatever happened next she was resolved not to be phased by it.

*****************************************************

Medusa crossed her legs, Zooz might be fairly powerful but there was only one god and he was male. In any case there was no use in arguing with her or fighting her on this point. The best idea might just be to be compliant and go with what she said. It was highly unlikely that she would die from any of this but if she did then that was Gods will and Medusa would be fine with it. She read the rules, they seemed fair to her. At least being surrounded by such a strange assortment of beings it was unlikely for anyone to label her a demon here and chase her out with pitchforks and torches. She was very glad for that idea and smiled as she awaited the next instructions.

***************************************************************

Sandy looked down at her paper, decently convinced that this Zooz was a god. Although she was uncertain that she had ever heard of any god like Zooz before, she was probably Egyptian or something. The rules seemed to infer that there were multiple beings with powers and magic in the room, which was slightly unsettling. She glanced up again to scan the assortment, and decided she would rather make friends with the rock than most of the others; rocks didn’t attack or talk back. Power ups sounded fairly good but the idea that she could die was a fairly terrifying one. What kind of game was this? Well at least permanent death was out of the question, she shuddered, and rocks also didn’t kill you, at least not by themselves

Warwisp took a moment to examine the sheet placed in front of it, not particularly fazed at the feline theatrics. It wasn't a combatant, only laid hands on someone a few times. Gravity did most of the talking for it. This ruleset was...peculiar, but it did seem to be some kind of friendly competition. No harm in having a bit of fun every once in a while was there?

He glanced at the young drummer, and again to the hulking mass to the drummer's right. "If we shall exchange pleasantries, I am Warwisp. I can't say I'm a skilled fighter, but perhaps from these rules its more than just brute strength" It said simply.

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Yyoi was never one for pesky rules or the like, but she didn't exactly feel like messing with the scary looking mastermind behind this ordeal. The idea of some kind of competition that wasn't all physical force intrigued her, perhaps there was a drumming section? No, because most organics or even inorganics don't drum at all. Her thoughts continued to swirl before being cut off by Warwisp introduction, "Oh, um, yes. I've done some fighting and I can hold my own. I'm Yyoi Zee" she said firmly, her tone slowly becoming more controlled and less nervous. Truthfully the rock looking...human seemed to be more approachable than the guy who just spit bones out a minute ago and laughed. The rule set itself, exotic and alien to what she even knew about, seemed interesting enough.

The three of them were diverse in size, and apparent strength. The hairy one's jaw looked like it could crush her in half. With a lot a drumming and undead thralls, they could just win some sort of competition together.

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Orwin memorized the rule set and began his usual task of strategizing, before realizing there wasn't anything to plan yet. He huffed, but looked to the bard giving him a look of worry. "Relax, cub. If we were pulled by some force to compete, then I must be the physical muscle we need. Cooperation between us is key" Orwin looked , "we'll let these others yell at the cat, I'm not getting on its bad side" Orwin said. He gave them a long stare, "Orwin Malt. Warrior of the Tvoln Unit of the Molvens."

He wasn't one for exchanging friendly information based on their situation, but if there was no imminent danger and they were selected by force, there wasn't much of an option. Orwin grew annoyed at some of the incessant whining of the people in the ampitheater, but if they wanted to toe the friendly line with that feline thing, by all means.

Recet was pleasantly surprised to discover that his copy of the sheet was in Bioran Braille, a writing system he was most familiar with. Needless to say, the moving pictures were lost on him. Touo found her sheet to be written in her birth dialect of Soneni. Solindas received a completely blank sheet.

Solindas looked up and announced to no one in particular, “I cannot read.”

“I’ll read it for you, then,” Recet responded, and laid his fingers on the braille. Aloud, he read to his Metallurgist companion.

Touo had quite a hard time reading her own sheet over the utter chaos in the room - she lamented her lack of focus which came to Recet and Solindas so easily. So she skipped ahead on the sheet, bypassing the rules while Recet read in a calm, paced manner (“It says here ‘no killing,’ Solindas,” Recet stressed), soon discovering a section of great interest, labelled “CHARACTER SHEETS.”

Shouldn’t it be labeled “CONTENDER SHEETS,” instead? Must be a translation error. Touo dismissed the wording.

She looked past the names of several contenders that she truly did not care about until she found a subsection labeled “Prussian’s Characters,” As she knew nothing known as “Prussian” - it sounded like a fake name - she ignored that title, as well, and delved directly into her own sheet.

“...Ah! It says that death is impermanent,” Recet couldn’t help but sigh in relief. He glanced again at Solindas, “But our no killing rule still applies.”

Solindas rolled her eyes. “I be not a child.”

“Act like it,” Recet retorted. “Well, then. Next section is-”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Touo interrupted, and Recet could have sworn that he heard a small sniffle. “The contender section tells lies about everyone.” She turned to face him now, and a clearly upset frown had crossed her face.

“Well, why not?” Recet pressed. “It would be prudent to at least see the other contenders’ sheets.”

“Oh, you can read those losers’ sheets. I found a few that’re shorter than you, Recet.” For a brief moment, a grin crossed Touo's face. “But they’ve got our sheets all wrong. It’s… bad.”

Recet frowned, and had he had eyes, he may have raised an eyebrow. “If you say so. I’m not interested in our sheets, anyways.” With a shrug, he rolled his sheet up, and placed it around a belt loop. Touo eyed the sheet from the corner of her gaze, and Recet noticed. Neither did anything.

“Prithee, conflict not with each other now, of all times,” Solindas hummed lowly. “What be important is that we live to the end.” Noticing Touo’s apprehension, she was keen to add, “We may sell Recet’s sheet for good money once we leave this place.”

Touo sniffed again, and smiled. “Money sounds nice right about now.”

“Standing up sounds nice right about now,” Recet responded wryly, squirming in his seat.

Tank was immediatally reminded of Cindy by this 'Zooz', and to that end he rolled his eyes at the "I am a God" comment, particularly after the other creature told her off and mentioned something about her powers not being cheap.

Since he was still unfortunately held in his seat by the invisible force, he couldn't get up and go over to the concession stand to see if they had alcohol, so instead, he had to read the paper which appeared in his hand. After a brief thought on how primitive it was (in fact the whole room seemed rather dated to Nuclean standards), he started reading, his interest growing at the thought of a challenge.

After he had concluded reading the document, he folded it and stuck it in his back pocket, before looking around at the other 'contestants', and then up to the feline being on the stage, speaking in Nuclean, which was then magically translated for the others "Listen Zooz, or whatever your name is, cut the trash and get on with it. I've got better things to do than have my time wasted on your theatrics, so either get this show on the road or send home. Or at least give me some [alcoholic drink] while I'm sitting here."

After he finished talking, he sat back, hoping to either have one of his friends help him out of the situation, or to at least get going. At this point in his life, Tank wasn't as picky about what went on, being that he had survived so long, and was rather durable.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Petri wasn't very fond of this Zooz character already, nor did he like the idea of being whisked away from what he had been doing, which sounded way more pleasant than this Guantlet that they were all expected to run.

He likely would've sent something, or at least gotten up and zipped around and perhaps bonked the annoying feline on the stage in the head, but he was immobilized by her evident powers. At the thought of bonking Zooz on the head, immediatally in his mind spawned the thought of craving nachos. This thought was quickly stifled and disregarded as Petri wondered what nachos were, and if they were food, why he would want them, as he didn't have any method of eating and indeed didn't need to, as his body was made of inert material.

Having completed this train of thought, he continued listening to what the others had to say, and spinning in place around his center of mass in the chair.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sigma listened as Zooz continued explaining, or tried to explain, as she seemed to have rather poor communication skills, as he noted his question going largely unanswered. Then a document appeared in his hands to his surprise. He glanced at it, reading it rapidly in a single glance, included the animated gifs, before setting it down and storing the data. Somewhat more satisfied now, he considered his options, which seemed to currently be to go along with whatever game that was being played by this Zooz.

It was a lovely sunrise over the small town, and very few people were even awake yet. The sunlight was only just creeping over the tops of the buildings, the birds were beginning to sing, and there was a wyvern standing in the middle of the marketplace. It had its massive green head tilted down, and was allowing its nose to be stroked by a rather cheery looking man, while a woman secured its saddle and loaded it down with bags. There were footsteps, and the man, Renir, turned around.

"Ah, there you are," he said, waving at the three figures approaching him, "all packed and ready to go?"

Serin, in the lead, finished pulling her hair up and nodded. "Pretty sure I've got everything," she said, "though I can't speak for anyone else." She raised an eyebrow at Rylek, who only groaned.

"I think so. If I forgot anything, it must not've been important," he said, but he started rummaging through his bag anyway. "I just wanna get home and get some sleep," he complained, "we've been here way too long." He finished checking his bag and, apparently satisfied, allowed the woman, Desqir, to take it from him.

Shade, the final member of the party, stepped out from behind Serin to hand over his bag, too. His face was unreadable, but his thoughts carried his relief clearly. 'Are we leaving now?' he asked, shuffling his clawed feet. He was the only one of the three that had his hood pulled up, and he seemed a bit tense. Most likely, he was hoping they could be gone before he had to interact with any more strangers.

"In just a minute," Renir answered, "as soon as everything's loaded on Aizr." At the sound of its name, the wyvern made a low humming sound and nudged Renir with its beak. He started, and turned around, amused, to pat its beak again. A moment passed before anyone answered.

And then another moment. Renir paused, and looked over his shoulder. They were gone. "Uh, Desqir?" he asked, "did you see... Where they went?" There was a thud, and Desqir came into view, looking around. It wasn't as if they didn't have a habit of suddenly vanishing, but he had thought they were eager to head home.

Desqir shrugged. "Not a clue," she said, crossing her arms, "guess we'll have to wait. Again."

Renir sighed.

--------------------

Shade, it should be mentioned, could not read. He blinked at the piece of paper that had suddenly appeared in his clawed hands, scanning over it. He was fairly certain it was text, at least aside from the brightly colored moving images, which he could not really make any more sense of. After a moment, he turned to Rylek, who was holding what looked like a copy of the same paper. It took Rylek a moment to notice, and then he grimaced. "I'm not... Completely sure," he said, barely audible, not that it mattered to Shade, "but I think it basically says they're gonna have us do a bunch of puzzles, or tests? It looks like we're on a team, but only one of us can... 'play'.. at a time."

That didn't exactly make sense to Shade, but Rylek didn't quite understand yet either. Around them, the others, beings unlike any Shade had encountered before, were finishing reading their own copies, and were starting to get upset. He shrank down a little in his chair, and tried to focus on something other than the anger of a bunch of strangers. Serin, to his right, was apparently reaching the same conclusions as everyone else. She moved to stand, but something stopped her, so instead she raised her voice. "Okay, I've already had a long week, and this" she snapped, holding the paper out, "was not in my plans for the weekend!" She tried again to stand up, then growled. "I swear, as soon as I get out of here I'll-" she trailed off, and Shade blinked, surprised. Moments ago, she had been furious, but suddenly her anger had dulled to something more like annoyance. She herself barely seemed to notice, though there was a flicker of confusion as she pocketed the paper and crossed her arms, electing to glare impatiently up at Zooz until the situation changed.

Around him, the other contestants were gradually shifting from sheer anger and confusion, to a sort of displeased acceptance. It was still making Shade uncomfortable, but it was a bit better. Rylek threw him a sympathetic glance and flipped his sheet back to the front, and began mumbling the words as he skimmed the page a second time. Shade sent him a short thanks and began listening in, as much to drown out his surroundings than anything else.

As more shouting and questions began, Zooz released Visum and let him fall to the floor. He grumbled and vanished a moment later, retaking his position up at the concession stand.

With that, Zooz suddenly split into identical versions of herself. One zoomed up entirely too close to Nodd, another to Camryn, and a third to Medusa. “Funny thing about gods,” she said, all three of herselves speaking in unison, “is that they never ever talk about each other. I might not be the god that made you, but I can assure you there’s more than one. Depends on how you define us.” She shrugged comically and then rubberbanded back into the center stage, all three of her clones combining back into one person.

“You’re all so whiny,” the newly-reformed Zooz grumbled. “For the last time, no, you can’t go home. Not until the show’s over.” She twirled around, her dress shooting off miniature lightning bolts. “Now, decide amongst yourselves which member of your team will be attending the first challenge, and we’ll get started. When that’s all sorted out the rest of you will be free to move about the lobby.” She gave her audience another sickeningly sweet smile. “Those of you left in the lobby will get to watch! Or eat food. Or… do whatever it is you do when you’re trapped in a magical lobby. I don’t care.”

"I don't care what she says," said Nodd (that was the name the furry creature generally went by). "She is not a God. She's not even close."

"I wouldn't know," replied the robotic humanoid. He let out what sounded like a sigh. "Either way, it would seem that we are going to be here for awhile, whether we like it or not, so perhaps we should get to know each other." He tentatively began to stand, and finding that he was no longer being constrained, he stood to full height, and bowed to Nodd. "I am Recon Asimov Unit Beta-116, at your service, though if you find it easier, you can simply refer to me as Asimov."

Nodd rose to his feet and made a respectful bow. "Supani'sav, though most of my friends just call me Nodd," he said. All who heard him couldn't help but noticing that he had a lovely voice. "Are you a robot?" he asked curiously.

"Well, yes and no," said Asimov. "Most of what you see is indeed robotic, but I was originally human; just my brain is left, albeit with some enhancement."

"You mean you had your brain cut out?" said Nodd, rather shocked. "That's awful!"

"It's not as bad as all that," said Asimov. "And I volunteered for this." Suddenly, and image flashed in Asimov's brain. He was human again, standing with a girl his age, watching an advertisement for the Asimov program flashing on the television. I don't care if it's voluntary, he heard himself saying. I still think it's wrong to do that to someone. Nodd watched as Asimov's face took on a slightly disturbed expression for a moment. "At least . . . At least I think I did," he said, seeming to be speaking more to himself. Then he abruptly changed the subject. "I don't believe I have encountered a creature like you before," he said. "What exactly are you?"

"I'm a Qwi'Ren," said Nodd. "I come from Valnar." Then he glanced over at their third companion. He had risen to from his seat, and was now standing looking out at Zooz with narrowed eyes, his hands behind his back. He was massively taller than either of them, taller than any person Nodd had ever seen. "What's your name?" Nodd asked.

"Erukai," replied the other without turning. "Erukai Gudarien."

"Well, then," said Asimov, "now that we have introduced ourselves, perhaps we should decide who goes first."

"You decide," said Erukai heatedly. Then, he began to shout in a loud voice, loud enough for most of those present to here. "Find yourself another toy, CENSORED. I'm not playing your sick little game, and I don't care what you do to me."

(@Sairei Perhaps torturing his fellow players a bit might change his mind. He does have a rather strong sense of compassion.)

Warwisp wasn't much of an objector to the day's events so far, something new and exciting was a welcome treat for it. The idea of it being some kind of fun display was enough to make it a little nervous, but it could probably handle what this Gauntlet threw at it.

It made a face at the upstart across the room, rudeness and unwillingness to compromise were near the top of the list when it came to its dislikes. Something about the amphitheater contained a sort of nullification field, else Warwisp would have chose to float the man a bit with it's gravitational manipulation. Warwisp offered a heavy sigh as it turned to its teammates, "Seems as if not everyone is willing to accept this for the current matter. I should warn you both that the time for fighting has passed me, might be best if either of you could take the reigns at first" It said with a slight tinge of pain in its voice. It didn't like submitting others to the chopping block, but a non combatant taking initiative was foolish wasn't it?

His thoughts were halted by Orwin standing on his hind legs and addressing the upstart, "COWARD! Do you always let your comrades fight your battles for you, worm?" Orwin's fierce commanding voice shot out across the amphitheater. Evidently, Orwin was probably going to be submitting himself into the first challenge.

After Zooz had finished speaking, Sigma looked at the other two beings on his team with more interest than he had before, a mobile rock and a large alien. He addressed both of them in a quiet tone, adopted so that the other teams couldn't hear without above average hearing capabilities "It seems we're all on the same team, and competing against the others. So who among us would like to volunteer for the first challenge?"

Tank, glad that the Zooz girl finally seemed to be shutting up and that they were finally getting somewhere, found himself approached by the blue-grey skinned saurian alien in his section. He then responded "I will go first, I'm not afraid of whatever she throws at me"

Petri meanwhile, was sitting in the seat between them, and had halted his spinning as Sigma spoke. Finding it rather inconvenient that he was once again in a situation where he needed to speak and could not. Instead, finding that the binding field was gone, he hovered above his chair and bobbed after Tank had volunteered.

Sigma nodded at Tank's words "That is good then. You can see what sort of challenges these are and we can observe and figure out the best plan from there." He then turned his attention to the now floating rock "Curious, a floating rock. Can you speak?'

Petri spun around but of course said nothing.

Sigma, taking this as a no, asked "Do you have any objections to our friend here going first and investigating what sort of challenges these are? Lower for no, maintain height for yes"

Petri dropped several inches, before starting to spin in midair.

Sigma nodded "It is settled then" he paused, then continued, "By the way, I am Sigma. What are your names?"

"I go by Tank" Tank responded. So far this Sigma seemed sensible, although he wasn't quite sure of his motivations yet. However as he had pointed out, they apparently were on the same team, so that seemed good enough for now.

Petri halted his spin, unable to speak, setting down on the chair and doing nothing.

Sigma nodded at Tank's introduction, and then addressed Petri, "We can figure out a way to communicate while we are here, not to worry. In the meantime, Tank you should indicate that you are ready."

Tank nodded, attempting to stand up after seeing Petri float. Finding himself freed, he stood and looked at Zooz "I will go."

“I’ll go first” Camryn turned to her companions “unless anyone else is eager to do so”.
Medusa turned towards her “That sounds acceptable to me.” She smiled “My name is Medusa, what is yours?”.
“Camryn” she stated and then turned to their third companion “what is your name then?”
“Oh, you two are in my group?” Sandy examined the two and tried to recall if they had said anything else “I mean I could volunteer for the first thing, whatever it is”
Medusa shook her head “No, you see, Camryn” she gestured to her short winged companion “already said they would go”.
Camryn nodded “So what is your name?”
“My name is Sandy” she eyed her two companions settling on Medusa “and your name is?”
Medusa put her palm to her forehead and bent her head down “Medusa, I am called Medusa”
“Oh! Like the snake haired lady!”
“I have no idea what you are talking about” she turned back to Camryn “I wish you the best of luck”
Camryn nodded “Thank you” she took her money out of her pocket and handed it to Medusa “Would you hold this for me?”
“Yes, I can do that” she took the money and placed it in an unseen pocket under her shirt.
“So do we need money to buy concessions and souvenirs?” Sandy looked over at her companions and stood up.
Camryn and Medusa looked at each other, then Medusa turned to Sandy “I have no idea”

Suffice it to say, neither Recet, Touo, nor Solindas were her impressed with Zooz’s show of power. Recet didn't doubt that she could probably kill everyone in the room if she chose—so could Solindas, probably—but he had seen much even in his sole year lost in space, and this wasn't so different. The splitting into three was a nice touch, though, as Zooz attempted to intimidate some of the louder contestants. Mercifully, she didn't even bother with the crew of the Dyruri 3; no one on their end needed any more convincing. The crew was largely used to horribly impossible odds, after all.

Yet upon Zooz’s invitation for volunteers, Recet faltered. No, he couldn't just galavant out there. He'd likely die a horrible death—or worse, embarrass himself while doing it. But who else would go, if not him?

No, Recet thought, steeling himself. It’s my turn to take one for the team.

“I will go first,” Solindas volunteered.

“Thank you,” Recet sighed.

“No, no,” Touo cut in. “Look over there.” She gestured with her tail to the other end of the stage, where several other contestants sat. “They already have a big, tough guy going out there,” she explained, “and If you go out there, Solindas, one of you is gonna be redundant.”

“How is a ten-foot metal killing machine not always useful?” Recet asked, ignoring Solindas’s sharp glare in his direction.

“You're not going out, either,” Touo ignored his question with a smirk. “I always wanted to participate in a gauntlet.”

Recet snorted, grinning amusedly, as Solindas only cast Touo a strange look. “If it pleases thee,” she relented.

“Thanks, Soli,” Touo said. Finding the phantom force lifted from her, she stood up and made a show of stretching. “It'll feel good to go out into the field with a new set of strangers.”

Serin practically jumped out of her seat the instant she could and took a moment to look around the room, scowling. Most of the teams had given up arguing and were choosing who of them would volunteer for the first challenge. It looked like most of them did not know each other, and were introducing themselves. She took a moment to scan over each of the other contestants, noting that the majority of them looked like nothing she had ever seen before, not that she was particularly surprised. She turned back to Rylek and Shade, who had both also stood up. "Ok, since complaining obviously isn't getting us out of this," she said, "you two have any ideas?"

Rylek frowned. "Not that I'd know what to do anyway, but..." He held up a hand, and Serin watched, expecting the familiar globe of blue light to materialize, but nothing happened. She stared for a moment longer, hoping he was just bracing himself or something, but when she met his eyes he shook his head and dropped his hand back to his side. "I've got nothing," he said, "even if I did have an idea how to get us out of here, I wouldn't be able to do it."

"Great," Serin deadpanned, "and Shade?"

Shade wasn't sure. 'I can communicate,' he said, 'I haven't tried anything else, but it seems unlikely.' He was glancing around the room uncomfortably, and Serin winced.

"It's ok," she said, "we'll get out of here. She said we just have to play her game for a while, and then we can go, right?" She straightened her posture a little and tried to look like she knew what she was doing. Rylek didn't seem entirely convinced, but Shade, thought he was clearly scared, seemed to believe her. "So, since we don't have any other options," she continued, "I'll go first."

"What?" Rylek spoke up, shocked, "no way! We have no idea what we're getting into, you can't just-" he cut off, trying to find a word, then shook his head, "You can't."

Serin crossed her arms. "Why not?" she asked, "it looks like we'll all have to go eventually, I'm just getting the picking over with and volunteering myself first." She shrugged, "it's not like you'd have a better chance, at least based on what we know about it, which is, y'know, nothing."

"But you-" Rylek groaned. "Fine, makes sense I guess." He gave her a wry look, and added, "just don't go getting killed."

'Good luck,' Shade added.

She returned his look with a smirk. "No promises," she said, and turned back toward the stage, raising her voice. "I'm going."

Zooz seemed pleased that most of the teams had chosen their first contestant. She again snapped her fingers, at which point all those that had volunteered were teleported onto the stage. She floated above them and counted their heads. That included Serin, Touo, Camryn, Tank, and Orwin. Oh well. Five out of six wasn’t bad. “You’ll all be transported to the first puzzle in one moment,” Zooz spoke. “I’ve just got to sort one thing out. Don’t move, will you?” She laughed a pretty little laugh and dissipated into smoke.

An unnatural silence fell over the lobby. Forceful and oppressive, it killed all ongoing conversation as easily as a bucket of water doused a candle. The lights in the lobby slowly dimmed until the entire place was bathed in darkness. With a mechanical click from overhead, a spotlight switched on and illuminated TEAM ONE, composed of Nodd, Erukai, and Asimov.

Zooz’s voice rang out loudly through the lobby.

“Eeny meeny miney moe…
Drag the fat one by his toe
If he hollers make him go
Eeny meeny miney moe…”

Nodd, Erukai, and Asimov were simultaneously jabbed lightly in the respective gut and felt as if someone were pulling at their respective toes or other foot-apparatus.  
 
“Not a sound? How brave you be.
Patience is not what I foresee
Our viewers watch with widened eyes
Their clocks; oh, how time flies!
Seeing as we’re short on time
And truthfully, I’m bad with rhymes
I’ll decide for you, it’s true.
It’s ASIMOV. Yes, I choose you!
But seeing as your comrades stutter
Waste again, wait and mutter,
There are uses for their slime
Yes there are, now speak in RHYME!”

The spotlight above TEAM ONE flashed red, bestowing the curse of RHYME on them as Zooz’s cackling echoed through the lobby. Asimov was unaffected, but was teleported instantly onto the stage with the other volunteer contestants.

Only silence immediately followed Zooz’s incantation, with no one seeming to want to be the first to speak.

Finally, Touo cracked a toothy, nearly manic grin. “I like her. I like her a lot.” She had hardly flinched as Zooz performed on the stage practically beside her, mere feet away.

“I don't,” Recet disagreed with a rapid shake of the head.

“She is alright,” Solindas attempted to compromise with an amicable shrug, clearly missing the point of the disagreement.

Recet didn't respond to this, either, instead clamping his hands together, his antennae twitching nervously. It was very clear that he was apprehensive. “Be careful, Touo,” he sighed and looked away. There was no way he would ever trust anyone who used such fantastical power so recklessly.

Touo’s grin of excitement faltered to a scowl as she seemed to acknowledge Recet’s fear—though interpreted it as something else. “I'll defeat the puzzle solo if I have to, Recet, if it means l get to rub it in after.” She then rolled her eyes, “Don't patronize me.”

Recet nearly leapt out of his seat to approach the stage, seething rage suddenly overtaking him. “You imputant, short-sighted—!”

“Let it go and calm thyself,” Solindas gently chided. “Death be impermanent. You should both learn to not take things so personally.”

Recet crossed his arms and bitterly managed to settle back in his seat once again. “She'd better have the best damn tea in the galaxy here.”

Touo’s scowl softened, and it seemed by the looks of it that she took no joy in upsetting Recet. But damn it, she had a point to prove—she didn't need anyone.

And drama made for good ratings. Yeah, that was a good strategy.

Of course they were all good friends here.

Tank immediatally found himself on the stage at the snapping of Zooz' fingers, to his surprise. He did have to give her credit, she did have power, although he still hadn't seen enough to warrent god status. This weird incantation of hers was interesting though, and he was sure of it now, Zooz reminded him more of Cindy by the minute. He half wondered if it was her in disquise, although she wasn't really one to disguise herself like that...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Petri and Sigma watched carefully as Zooz teleported the contestants onto the stage and invoked the incantation against one of the teams, saying nothing.

Petri however, disliking this, hovered above his seat and accelerated forward, flying in circles around the room.

Orwin wasn't one for prose, but Zooz knew how to perform theatrics at the very least. The stage was a new battleground for him, a possible conquest. He was happy that the coward's team were given an inconvenience, though he didn't think the punishment really fit the crime.

Some of the other chosen seemed....interesting. A strange rat-like creature wearing...camouflage pants? Followed by an archer. Then another kind of reptilian. This Zooz didn't seem like the type for raw strength fights to the death, but if it happened to be what was chosen, Orwin felt he could mop the floor.

Pah. Talking like a grunt again.

Never underestimate anyone. He told himself that hundreds of times.

///////////////////////////////////

"Rhyming. Huh." Yyoi said quietly, adjusting in her seat. She noticed Warwisp look at her once more, "Oh, I'm sorry for being shy. That beast kinda scares me."

Warwisp responded with a smile, "No bother. He is a formidable creature. Perhaps we should be happy he's with us?" Yyoi nodded and resumed drumming a few practice patterns. Although her incantations had no effect, it was still good to give them a whirl every now and again.

Camryn was transported to the stage when Zooz snapped her fingers. It seemed Zooz was a big fan of showing off her power, she noted this as the feline creature cast a spell on the group that had refused to choose a volunteer. In the end the volunteer was chosen for them. Camryn made a note to be decisive, seeing that the opposite wasn’t very desirable. She turned to look at the other volunteers and immediately noticed the largest one. As long as they were not fighting it should be good but if they did get into a fight she decided she would steer clear of that one.

*****************************************************************

Sandy watched as the cat goddess cursed the group and forcefully chose a volunteer. She wasn’t too keen on rhyming so she was certainly glad it was them and not her. She turned to Medusa and immediately started talking
“So Medusa is from Greek mythology, she like gets attacked by Poseidon and then cursed by Athena to have snake hair”
“And why does this happen?” Medusa gives her a quizzical look
Sandy returns the look of confusion “I don’t really know… But, hey, do you like nachos?”
“Once again I have no idea what you speak of”
“Well its like cheese with chips”
Medusa, still not understanding quite what Sandy was trying to tell her changed the subject “Here, let me braid your hair” she turned her companion and took out the holder in her hair “at least I understand this” she mumbled