The 7v7 Tower Climb

The seven members of each team stood on each end of the mountain, in the almost empty stadium. The screen above them was displaying the faces of both sides. Huang's side looked uninterested with the exception of Vanessa, but Wendy's side looked at least somewhat motivated. The sole exception of Micah, who just seemed to be staring into space with his hands in his pocket, looking around at the mostly empty seats around the stadium. The only thing populating the stands were a few smilers looking over the games, at least attempting to cheer with a raspy drone being let out over the stadium.

"Okay, everybody refreshed, limbered up, ready to take this challenge on?" Leonie asked. "If you're not, I don't care, let's do this!"

And with those words of encouragement by Leonie, a foghorn was heard over the stadium and everyone started running. Huang let Vanessa jump onto his back and flew as his wings sprouted. He made it about a quarter of the way up the mountain, before gunshots were heard from the seats, hitting his left wing and crashing him to the steps above the first two obstacles.

"Sorry Huang, can't let you just fly to the finish like that." Leonie started calmly. "Which is why we have smilers watching. You know, to make things fair."

The screen above the obstacle course shown two smilers manning a sniper rifle.

"Oh god, oh god oh god oh god." Vanessa murmured, hyperventilating.

"Relax, Vanessa. You weren't the one who got attacked." Huang replied as calm as ever, grunting slightly when he retracted his wings. "Besides, my blood allegedly contains that of mountain climbers, so we should be able to go."

Before the five other members of team Huang was a slope. Andrei summoned his greaves and ran as fast as he could up the slope, barely stopping once a boulder started rolling below him, which Ulrich just managed to dodge once it went down towards the others. Slowly, more and more boulders started coming down.

"We need to run." Odebode started.

"Yeah, whatever." Ulrich replied, completely deadpan.

Amber leapt forward, taking the shadows beneath the boulders, wrapping the three of them up and stopping their momentum.

"Need me to help?" Andrei asked.

"Go ahead!" Amber yelled back. "Everyone, run!"

Odebode and Yun-Yeong did as she instructed. Odebode got up fairly quickly, but Yun-Yeong took a little longer, stumbling as she went. Ulrich picked her up and ran up the slope. Amber pushed the boulders out of her way, meeting the other three at the top.

"So what now?" Yun-Yeong gasped, throwing up a small puddle of blood.

"Jesus Christ, lady! You okay?" Ulrich screamed.

"I think so." Yun-Yeong nodded slightly, sitting down.

"You need to sit down?" Ulrich asked. "It's cool. Take all the time you need."

"But…once you come to, be sure to come back." Amber added quickly.

"So…we just start walking, right?" Silvia asked, seeing the hill of hexagonal shaped steps on their way to the top.

"It doesn't look too bad, anyway." Seeta replied cautiously.

"Screw it, I'm going." Eric exclaimed, climbing up. It seemed safe to him, so the rest of them started climbing. All of them climbed quickly, not running into any problems. Or least it was like that for most of them, as once Micah and Seeta stepped onto a platform each, it fell out below them, swallowing them below the arena.

"Guys, what the fuck was that?" Silvia asked apprehensively.

"What was what?" Valentina asked, seeing the lack of Micah or Seeta on the stairway. "Oh."

"Relax, relax!" Leonie shouted over the loudspeaker. "Both of them have been taken to our combat arenas. If someone from another team falls into the traps we lay out, they'll fight it out. Whoever wins gets back in the game!"

"Traps?" Ulrich asked. "Is there like, anything to indicate them?"

"It wouldn't be fun if you could just tell where the traps are. That's why they're traps!"

Ulrich sighed, before making his way across the platforms, hoping that he wouldn't drop. He made it up towards Vanessa, hearing the yelling of someone behind him.

"Uh, who was that?" Vanessa asked, the parasites ungraciously exiting her skin.

Ulrich set a hand down, burning the parasites before they could move down, looking at Odebode and Yun-Yeong below him. But no Amber.

"Amber, Amber, Amber." Leonie chuckled mockingly. "Mob boss, yet you can't see such obvious deception. Anyway, see you if you win against…Micah." She said flatly. Not exactly a bloodbath, but Amber being popular enough on the ratings seemed just important enough to film it. "Okay, see you in a couple seconds."

Amber looked around at the glass cage, where Micah was casually sitting down. He stood up, dusted himself off, and inspected his nails for any damage.

"So, I guess we have to fight now?" He asked sheepishly.

"I really don't want to." Amber sighed, looking around for an exit. She took Micah's shadow and slammed it into the glass. Didn't break.

"Well, I don't want to fight you either. After all, we're allies, and allies shouldn't fight."

"Since when are we allies?"

"Since I voted off Ulrich to keep you safe. After all, even outside of the game, I think it would be beneficial to work together. After all, I know things."

"Define 'things'." Amber asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Later, perhaps." Micah replied, casually walking towards her. She gave a quick left hook to his face, and he fell to the floor.

"And Amber wins, I guess." Leonie sighed over the loudspeaker. "Really hoping Seeta's fight is a bloodbath."

The platform rose to the halfway point of the arena, where Amber stepped out of the glass platform, and it retreated back underground, with Micah still inside.

"Ah, glad to see you're fine."

Huang was casually bounding up the arena, waving to her.

"Wow, nice climbing." Amber nodded.

"Well, if we're to make the climb up mount Lifl, this shouldn't be an issue."

"Clearly." Amber replied, not knowing what that was.

Once the two of them climbed up, they were greeted by a series of platforms being suspended in mid-air.

"Anti-gravity measures, perhaps?" Huang asked himself.

"Think so." Andrei replied slowly, looking almost frightened at the idea of the platforms.

"Come on, big guy." Amber muttered. "We're halfway up now, we can't just give in."

"H-halfway up, huh?" Andrei asked.

"Ah! A fear of heights, maybe?" Huang asked jovially.

"Think so." Andrei sighed.

"What's up?" Ulrich asked.

"Oh god, this…is a lot." Vanessa exclaimed.

"It should be around ten platforms across." Huang explained. "A few quick leaps should make short work of it."

Vanessa did as instructed, trying not to think of it, jumping on the first platform. It was barely big enough for her to stand up straight, but it shook as she landed. She desperately tried to balance herself, but the platform ended up tipping over, and she fell to the bottom of the mountain.

"Vanessa!" Huang yelled, lurching forward. "Are you okay?"

"It's a giant pile of rubber at the bottom." Kalea explained over the loudspeaker. "She's fine."

Andrei tried next, and the same happened to him. His weight made the platform fall over instantly.

"Well, that's just unfair." Ulrich sighed.

Amber tried next, leaping across the platforms, and when she fell off, she used the shadow underneath the platform to swing onto the next stage.

Huang tried summoning his wings, and no smiler bullets hit him, so he assumed he was good. He flew over the platforms, landing next to Amber.

Ulrich employed the same strategy Amber did, throwing himself at the platforms and hoping it would work. He counted seven platforms, and his right foot ended up missing the eighth platform. In a panic, he shot a flame out of his hand, and he managed to propel himself enough for Amber to ensnare him with shadows and drag him to the next stage. Ulrich took a step forward, before banging into the glass door.

"Not yet, Alien!" Leonie yelled. "Once the next team gets past the platforms, the final stage can begin!"

Eric watched Silvia fall to the bottom of the mountain, sighed, and flicked his hand. Water came out of his fingernails, and he wrapped Wendy in water before flinging her across the platform. Eric tried jumping across the platforms but fell halfway through. He tried making a strand of water to cling onto the platform, but it snapped as he grabbed onto it, leaving him to fall.

Valentina melted her arm and wrapped it around the platform. She jumped on, and the platform didn't shake. She removed half the metal, and the platform shook slightly, but not enough to concern her. Using this method, she slowly managed to make her way to the other end. Cyrus made it across the platforms normally.

As Odebode fell through the platforms, Leonie's excited yell was heard through the loudspeaker before she even said anything.

"Seems like we have a three-on-three battle! Huang, Amber, and Ulrich vs Wendy, Cyrus, and Valentina. The glass is about to become undone, so here's to the grand finale!"

The glass in front of the final area retreated underground, and the final challenge shot out from the floor. Orange platforms arranging themselves from within mid-air, making the worlds worst stairway up to the plush at the top. In the centre of all this was a tower with small grooves in the surface, enough to fit a person inside.

"At the top of that tower is the plush! Now go get it!" Leonie screamed.

Ulrich immediately started running, hopping onto the first platform. It flipped over, leaving him flat on his back. Amber coiled the shadow underneath the platform around his legs, throwing him upward onto the second platform, which slowly started spinning. Ulrich jumped into one of the grooves, staying there for a few seconds, before jumping onto a small circular platform. Which started moving at bizarre angles. One second it was before the next platform, the next time it wasn't.

Wendy made a mad dash towards the first series of platforms, three of them moving vertically at varying speeds. She got up onto the middle one, with Valentina at her left and Cyrus at her right. Wendy jumped on the next platform, narrow and long. She crawled along it, with Cyrus slowly following, walking upright. Huang popped out from behind the tower, and landed a kick to Cyrus, who managed to block it by encasing his left arm in bone and shoving him away. Cyrus lost his balance, however. And if it wasn't for Valentina stretching her arm out to catch him, he would have fallen.

Amber used a set of shadows to tether herself to her own balance beam, before using the shadows underneath the beam as a rope to fling herself into the next area. She climbed the stairway, considering opening the door to the next area. She decided to wait for one of the others to get here, which only took a few seconds, as Ulrich and Huang were both behind her.

"Mind getting a move on?" Ulrich asked aggressively.

Amber quickly opened the door, only to be met with…more doors.

"Do we open the right one?" Amber asked.

"More than likely." Ulrich replied, shoving past her and opening a door. Then dodging the bullets. Behind the door were a group of smilers, all holding pistols. Huang quickly opened the door next to him, which happened to be the right one. The three of them burst through it, only to be met with another set of doors. Huang picked one at random, three more smilers. They let a small storm of bullets into the air, which Huang blocked with his wings. Ulrich got behind them, but Amber took a bullet into the shoulder, falling to the ground.

"Ulrich, dispose of these people, please."

Ulrich loaded heat into his hand, sending it out into the pile of smilers. Their heads and hands melted, and the smell of rotting flesh filled the small room. Ulrich felt like vomiting, but that would eat up time dedicated to finishing this. Huang picked up Amber, and the three of them went into the next room. In it was another tightrope, only with giant orbs swinging around, already hellbent on beating them into a pulp. Not to mention a few smilers hanging out in secret compartments. They were deadly, but stupid, and discreetness wasn't exactly their biggest boon.

Ulrich flung himself towards the course propelling himself forward by setting off fire boosts behind him. He dodged one of the orbs, slowly walking towards the other end of the room. He heard a gunshot from his left side, throwing out a wall of flames with a horizontal flick of his wrist to block it. Huang followed suit, casually dodging anything that was thrown at him, silently landing at the end of the platform and avoiding a final bullet as he did so. Ulrich threw one last fireball at the smiler behind it and opened the door.

The stale Nova air hit him, and before him lay the plush, sitting slumped over on a podium like a long-forgotten relic, only fluffier. Huang appeared behind him silently.

"Good work, Ulrich." Huang nodded. "Now, which of us will claim the prize?"

"I'm thinking neither of us." Ulrich casually replied, loading his fist with flames, and landing a hit to Huang's stomach. Huang stumbled back, falling off the tower. Ulrich swung his hand forward, creating a wall of flame in front of him. When that was done, he charged the last of his body heat into his right hand. Huang appeared through the wall, and Ulrich landed a punch straight to his face. He waited a few seconds as the wall dissipated, and he didn't reappear. Ulrich could barely stand. If Amber woke up, the whole operation was ruined. The door on the opposite end of the room opened, and a terrified looking Wendy walked in.

"Congratulations, kid. You win."

"W-what?" Wendy asked, clearly suspicious.

"The plush. It's yours. Good job."

Not knowing what to do, Wendy directed a build up of electricity into her hair, sending it all into Ulrich, who fell off the tower. All alone, Wendy ran up and took the plush, waiting for Ulrich's trap to activate.

And all that came was victory.