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The Portal Games

Arena 3, Episode 1

Black Chaos

Ailsa was boiling beneath the desert sun, and she knew that Jaden wouldn't be doing much better. Sanmer, with all his white fur, and Lykus as shaggy as he was, didn't seem like they were feeling well, either. The only one that seemed half-comfortable under the desert sun was the black-furred deer, and he was demon-possessed.

If the last round had been a 'fuck you' to the Whoopsie Daisies, this one felt like a giant 'fuck you' to her team.

"Damn..."

"We need those collars," Sanmer said as she joined the rest of the team, shaking his head. "Almost all of us."

"If we get one, can you synthesize more?" the stingray asked.

"Maybe, if we get the materials."

She nodded. It wasn't much, but it was something.

The other team had already gathered their water and were dispersing. She could see their mare running up the sand dunes to their north, but the momentary temptation to use their loss of one teammate to fuck with them was burned off by the heat. The sheer oppression of the desert warmth meant that her usual instinct to fuck with the other team was all but dead.

Sanmer went back to cradling his tentacle plant, pouring a small amount of their limited water over the plant's base in the pot. Jaden was still clutching the knife, whispering to it, the orca's eyes narrowed and fixed on the blade itself as if he was afraid that it might do something if he took his eyes off it for even a second. Tarin had his eyes on the dunes, watching the mare climb up.

"Everyone. Eyes on me," Ailsa said, shaking her head. "I want us to move to the challenge point ASAP."

"Mmmph..." Lykus groaned. "It's too hooooooot."

"Focus, group, focus."

"Trying, but it's hoooooot. And not the good kind of hooooot."

The wolf's tongue hung out of his mouth, panting like a dog that had been tied up outside a summer store for too long. He had her sympathies, but it wasn't the time or place for that. Shaking her head, Ailsa shook him by the shoulder until he pulled his tongue back into his mouth.

"We've got the momentum," she said. "We need to keep it. They've just lost someone, so let's make sure that they lose another. Understand?"

The team nodded, though tiredly.

"Good. Now, let's -"

"Um, excusing me..."

Ailsa blinked, slowly turning around. Isabella had walked up behind her, and without a sound, at that. The other team captain waved her hand in a tentative hello.

"Um, if I can just say something?"

"...What?" Ailsa asked.

"I just wants to say, I hope that you can be safe in the desert. Do any of you know how to survive in it?"

"I've had training," the stingray said.

"Oh? Good training?"

"I know the rules of desert travel. Do you?"

"Oh, completely! It's easy if you know what you're doing. I mean, it's so easy...if it's a normal desert."

"...What do you mean, normal?" Ailsa asked.

"Oh, you heard Mr. Draconicons. He said that there's djinns, and, you know, look at the sky."

"..."

Ailsa and the rest of the team looked up, and saw something that none of them wanted to see.

Hanging just over the edge of the dunes to their north was not one, but two suns, beaming down on them and casting heat. They'd missed the second one when they were talking to the dragon before, and that meant that things just got that much more complicated. Isabella giggled, drawing Black Chaos's united gaze back down to her.

"I mean, just saying...be safe."

"And why do you care?" Tarin asked, not spitefully, but curiously.

"Oh, because I figured it out."

Isabella held up one of the water bottles. The pangolin smiled...then upended it, pouring it all out on the hot sand. The five members of Black Chaos watched wordlessly, Jaden's and Lykus's mouths hanging open.

"...What are you doing?" Ailsa whispered.

"Oh, nothing. Just saying...I know something you don't know."

"You're going to die."

"Only if I'm wrong."

The pangolin giggled, waving over her shoulder. Ailsa watched her go with narrowed eyes, only to see her join up with the timber wolf as she walked back to her team. The pair of them walked together, and -

Wait.

Ailsa whipped her head around, looking back at their pile of water bottles, but none seemed to be missing. Yet...the thief...

"What's going on?" Sanmer asked.

"...I don't know," Ailsa admitted, looking over her shoulder at the other team. "But keep an eye on them...they're making me a little nervous this time, and I don't like it. Everyone else, get ready to move. And someone be ready to help carry Tarin."

"Carry?"

"Those hooves aren't doing you any favors."

"They're not - gah!"

Whoopsie Daisies

Isabella bit off a giggle as she heard the black-furred deer sink into the sand.

"Knew it would happen," the pangolin said.

"Tiny hooves in loose sand...never thought I'd see someone drop that fast," Glyn admitted.

"They're going to have fun here." She nodded firmly. "And while they're dealing with everything, we can be smart. You get it all?"

"Yeah...how'd you know that was going to work?"

"Mr. Draconicons said, remember?"

The pangolin took some of the water bottles that the timber wolf carried, shaking her head. It was all part of the plan, all part of the game. Mr. Draconicons had said from the start that nobody would be hurt, that they would not be allowed to die or anything like that. And that meant that nobody would outright dehydrate and die in the desert.

And in her mind, that meant that there was a way for someone to always have the absolute minimum supplies to stay alive.

She'd watched Glyn as he stole the water bottles out from under their noses, and saw that the bottles were copied every time that he took one. Just enough for the other team to have the water they needed to stay alive, not quite enough to ever not be thirsty.

But now, they had double their water, and that would help a lot.

They returned to the rest of their group with supplies in hand. Sergino had shrunk to some extent, going from the second-tallest of the group to someone barely Glyn's height. Kotone was rushing back down the dunes, all but skiing down, while Sarah was using some of their residual bits of rubber and latex from the space station to rig up some sort of harness.

"You sure that you can carry me?" Sergino asked.

"Easily, particularly when you're that small. And you'll be a living ice-pack on my neck. Built-in climate control," she said.

"...Any chance we can share the living ice pack around?" Glyn asked.

"We'll talk about it."

"Guys?"

Isabella pulled all their attention back to her without even trying. The pangolin pointed back to the descending mare, and they all hustled over. There was another rip from behind, followed by an 'Oh...I see' from Sergino, as they met Kotone at the base of the dunes.

"Did you see anything?" Sarah asked.

"A couple of possibilities. There's much to see at the top of the dunes," Kotone said. "But much to be concerned about. It is flat from here forward, with sand twisters and more."

"We'll deal with that. We're awesome," Isabella said. "...Even without Jason, we're awesome."

There was a moment of quiet between the team members, but they all nodded. The pangolin gathered herself, nodding.

"Anyway. Do you think you and Glyn can move ahead? Scout a bit?"

"Of course."

"Thanks. Let's move."

Both Teams

For once, the Whoopsie Daisies led the charge, and Black Chaos followed. The former reached the top of the dunes first, and the latter followed a few minutes later, exhausted and covered in sweat as they reached the top of the sand hills. They paused, all ten competitors staring out at the arena that awaited them.

It was a massive spread of sand and occasional stone, with a taller spire more than a day's journey towards the center of the dust bowl. Sand blew up as the winds seemed to sweep across the vast expanse, and where it rolled, it rolled like waves, crashing forward like dusty tsunamis across the land. Here and there, small ruins of outposts, abandoned trading areas, and more could be seen appearing and disappearing, and the faded echoes of mad laughter could be heard upon the wind.

It was barely past mid-morning, and the two suns were still on the rise. Black Chaos began their descent, while the Whoopsie Daisies hunkered down, sending their two team members out.

Black Chaos

"...You're kidding me," Ailsa muttered.

"I said it was a maybe, remember?" Sanmer said, smacking his scanner. "It's never been long range, anyway, and with all the sand and who knows what else blowing around - GAH!"

The team had ended up running right into a sand storm as they rushed down the hills and made a beeline towards the challenge point. The spires of stone standing out on the horizon had made it an easy landmark, particularly compared to the smaller structures that were buried and revealed over and over again. The shifting sands in the dustbowl meant that the desert was almost a living thing, changing size and shape as it suited itself.

And it meant that the constant winds buffeted them and were doing no favors to the aquatic species. Both Ailsa and Jaden were getting dried out to a horrible degree, having to pour as much water over themselves as they were drinking it to keep from cracking their flesh and getting injured. Ailsa made sure that they didn't waste it, and that it was dried out enough to keep from getting sunburned from the magnification effect of the water on them, but it was still a painful journey.

The only good discovery had been that the water bottles did slowly refill, though very slowly. Too slowly for some. Lykus slumped forward, falling to all fours as the sand blew around them.

"Bleh. Why couldn't we have gone to a magic forest or something?" the wolf muttered.

"Because that would have been easy," Tarin said, the black deer shaking his head. "And I doubt that our observer wants us to have an easy time."

The sands were slowly calming around them, and Ailsa bit off her retort. The plan to make a beeline for the challenge had worked for them last time. It had given them what they needed to deny anything to the Whoopsies, and that had gotten them back in the game. This time, they needed the prize even more, and they were struggling to make much headway. With the sand all around them, billowing in abrading spirals that were just short of the flesh-ripping stuff she'd trained for, she doubted that they'd be able to find anything.

And they were wasting time.

"Next ruin we find, we hunker down for the cooler part of the day."

Whoopsie Daisies

"Is there a cooler part of the day?" Sarah asked, looking up at the heavens as a third sun poked its disk over the horizon. "I mean, not complaining, I like this, but I'm just starting to wonder."

"Yep. It's called night," Isabella said, using her tail to flick the worst of the latest dust-storm out of their observation hole. "And when it cools down, it's going to get cold. Sergino's going to be warm, then."

"I hate warm," said the grouchy ice dragon from deep in the shade. "I hate it."

"I know, I know. Have some stolen water. It's the best."

As the ice dragon gulped down one of the stolen water bottles, Sarah called out from the top of the hole.

"They're on the way back."

"Oooh, hope they found something good."

The two members of the team that could stand the heat pushed their heads over the hole in the ground. Coming up the dunes were their scouts, both looking haggard, but both with grins on their faces. It boded well for them, at the very least.

Offering her hands to Sarah, Isabella extended her tail down the hillside as a rope. Their scouts were all too happy to take that and pull themselves up, and soon, they were all safe in the shaded little hole in the side of the dune.

Four hours had passed since they'd all reached the top of the dunes. They'd given up their lead at the top to Black Chaos in terms of raw forward momentum, but it meant that they'd had time to rest, plan, and get ready for this. Kotone sat down, rubbing her feet, while Glyn smirked and gestured over his shoulder.

"We found two good caches. One's basically unguarded, the other's got a genie standing guard," he said.

"I thought the dragon said they were djinns?"

"Same difference," the timber wolf said, shrugging. "But we got a couple of good ones. Might be enough to keep us going for the rest of the arena, if we can get the caches open."

"How much?" Sarah asked.

"Six crates in the guarded one," Kotone said, massaging the heat from her soles. "And wood and rope in the unguarded one."

"...Perfect," Isabella said. "Okay, everyone. Let's get some sleep. We'll be working hard as soon as it cools down."

"What's the plan?" Sarah asked.

"Heehee...it's mean, but it's fun..."

Black Chaos

"...Bombs? They've got...bombs?"

"And food, captain," Lykus said. "Looks like there's plenty of food in here...if you like fruit."

"Better than nothing," the stingray said. "Alright, everyone. Inside, let's see if we can rest up a bit..."

She didn't like the fact that it had taken them til nearly nightfall to find a shelter that wasn't at risk of being buried as soon as the winds started shifting again, but it was better than nothing. She guided them in before stepping inside the stone structure herself. The shade immediately made her half-burned skin feel better, and she grumbled under her breath as she stared at the trickle of water that was barely filling the bottom of the bottle she carried. She would have killed for triple what they had, and still wondered what the hell Isabella had done earlier.

Sanmer had his nose buried in one of the explosive crates, poking and prodding around the contents, while Lykus was passing out the fruits that were stored away. Some were fresh, some were dried, which meant that it would have some hydration...and sugar. Probably more of the latter, but better than purely dried fruits.

She took one of the cactus fruits and nibbled at it, giving Jaden a side-eye. The orca looked like he was about to collapse.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Mmmph...honestly, no," Jaden admitted. "I'm barely keeping myself awake...and barely staying up..."

"The heat?"

"And this," he muttered, nodding at the knife in his lap. "This...thing...wants to spread. It's a cutting weapon, very...Mmmph. It's strong...but it wants more than just Tarin to be demonic."

"..."

She had expected there to be complications with the demonic things, but she hadn't thought that it would go that far. But the possibilities were also popping up, things that might be done if she allowed it.

At the very least, it was something to consider. At least one of them wasn't bothered by the heat, and she could put that down to the fact that he was probably more focused on a thing that came from too hot a place to be bothered by a desert like this.

Shaking her head, she turned to the others. Tarin stood by the door, as much a guard as ever, and Sanmer was just pulling a hunk of something that looked like clay from the box. Shaped explosives, then.

"Any detonators?" she asked.

"Uh...maybe. Some gadgets at the bottom of the box, at least."

"Options, then." Ailsa sighed, rubbing her face. "Alright. Alright. One hour nap for everyone."

"Everyone?" Tarin asked.

"Everyone. We need sleep after that disaster in the sandstorm."

"But what about -"

"We'll start moving again after an hour's rest. See how far we can get when it's night...and cold."

It wasn't going to go well, but it would be a hell of a lot better than the alternative.

Whoopsie Daisies

The unguarded cache had been as good as the scouts had promised, and they'd left Sergino, Glyn, and Kotone there to take care of some minor bits of construction that Isabella had in mind. Sarah accompanied her, panting softly as the chill of the suns disappearing started to get at her.

"This...this is really...really unpleasant now," the T-Rex said, pushing back into the warmth of the pangolin's body wrapped around her. "I...mmmph...ah...ah...I forgot about how cold the nights are...out here..."

"It's better than the day, for the rest of the group," Isabella muttered. "Sorry for this. I just...I don't want to screw up."

"Heh. Get it. Got it. Understand it. Still - nnnnnnngh."

The pangolin wrapped her tail tighter around the other woman, pulling her closer to the fuzzier bits of her body while trying to keep as much heat between them as possible. It wasn't easy, but it was better than nothing.

As they trudged towards the ruin Kotone had pointed out, they eventually found themselves before a rather tall tower, one that loomed over the sands that blew against it. Sarah leaned against the outside, and Isabella slowly moved down. She stumbled, leaning against the T-Rex's thigh, and shook her head.

"I don't know how you hid that thing," she muttered.

"Hey, most of the time it's tucked back," Sarah said, chuckling. "Didn't want to distract anyone."

"Probably would only distract Sergino."

"Jason liked it well enough."

"Yeah...He might have."

They stepped inside, and instantly, the air went from chilled to burning hot. A fiery spirit leaped from the sands, spinning in a whirling tornado that threatened to turn the sand to glass at its base.

"Who dares enter a Spire of Ignis?" it shrieked in a high, piercing voice.

Isabella held her hand back, stifling anything that Sarah might have said, and hissed and whistled in return. Her voice mimicked that of the wind through fire, and she whispered back to the flame spirit.

"One with the wish to trade."

"To trade, one must have payment."

"We brought payment," Sarah said.

"...How did you -"

"I don't know djinn, but I know dealing."

"Hehehe, fair."

"What can you pay?"

"What do you want?" Isabella asked.

Black Chaos

The hours of night were limited to say the least. Black Chaos pushed forward in the winds of night, fighting against one sandstorm after another. They slowly started to figure out where it was coming from at different times, learning the signs of the wind and reading it to stay safe, but it never got easier. They only managed a few miles over the course of the unlit hours, and by the time the first sun came over the horizon, the challenge point still seemed to be miles and miles away.

They pushed forward until they were perhaps three hours from the ruined city, stopping only when they were sure that there was no sign of the Whoopsie Daisies around. They stumbled into the nearest ruin to the center point that they could find as the second sun started rising, and they huddled up, hoping against hope that they'd be able to keep this lead that they'd managed to gain.

"You still have that water card, Lykus?" Ailsa asked.

"Yeah...one."

"Think you could drain the water manipulation from one of the bottles for a card?"

"Well, maybe...I know Drac's magic a little bit, but I don't know if I could actually make it work that well. The transition rate's not perfect."

"Damn...well, don't touch it, then. Not yet."

They weren't that desperate. They were still alive, after all, though none of them were in great shape. The sand had stripped what little clothes they'd had left, and now, they were nude. Nude, covered in sand, and more than slightly water-deprived. The water bottles were really keeping them right on the edge.

As Tarin went further into the ruins to see what this one had stored, Lykus slumped back against the wall. The striped wolf worked through his cards, flipping one after another, holding them at arm's length before shaking his head and putting them away. If she'd had more energy, Ailsa might have asked him to tell her what he was thinking, but she was just focusing on staying upright at that point. She had never gone through anything like that in her training, and she felt just...horrible.

But as long as they could keep the lead they had, they could rest for a while. Even an hour in the shade was better than running out toward the city with this bullshit.

Sanmer sat with his plant, petting it lightly, and Lykus looked over at him. The wolf cocked his head to the side.

"How the hell is that thing even alive, anyway?" the wolf asked.

"Search me. My water bottle seems to fill up for me and it, as long as I'm pouring water into its pot instead of into my mouth," Sanmer said.

"...That's not fair."

"I guess our observer rewards responsibility," the white fox said, smiling.

The plant leaned on him, wrapping its leaves over the fox's head and casting extra shade. Sanmer petted it and kept watering it.

Whoopsie Daisies

"I have to admit, I didn't think this plan would work," Glyn said. "I mean, I wanted it to, but I didn't think it would."

"Hehehe. I got serious," Isabella said, grinning widely.

"Apparently. Think we're going to catch up?"

"If it works? Yes. Oooooh, yes."

The five members of the Whoopsie Daisies passed fruit-flavored water around the group, the spent shells of the fruits they'd found scattered on the sandy floor. Behind them, a great hulk had taken shape, and they sheltered under it for the shade.

They continued to rest and relax in the shaded silence for a time, but then, one of them broke it. Unsurprisingly, it was Sergino. More surprising was what he said.

"I voted for Jason," the ice dragon said.

All eyes turned to him. He shook his head, one foot pushing a little harder on the hellaxe at his feet as he tossed a piece of scrap wood away from him.

"I voted for Jason. Didn't have a good reason, but didn't have a bad one, either. Didn't have a good reason for anyone. But...we voted for so many people, so I think we all had that problem."

"..."

"I can't stop thinking about it. And I can't help but wonder...why? Why did we vote for -"

"You want to know who voted for you, don't you?" Sarah asked.

"...A bit."

"...Well, let's clear the air," the T-Rex said, stretching one leg out. "I voted for Sergino."

"What?! You?!"

"Yes, me," Sarah said. "Not for any personal enmity, but I saw what you were doing."

"And what -"

"You were getting angry. You wanted to push, to lash out. Oh, I understand it, don't get me wrong. But there's a time and place for that kind of aggression, and doing it when they're trying to make you angry is playing into their hands."

"So, you wanted me...gone?" Sergino asked.

"No. As you might have noticed, you only got one vote. I knew that nobody would vote you out, but I still wanted to send a message. A notice, if you will. Let's not be stupid."

The rest of the group looked back and forth, and Isabella rubbed the back of her neck. Before she could say anything, Glyn sighed.

"Guess I should come clean. Kotone." The timber wolf looked up at her. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to vote for anyone, but I just...you seemed to do the least in the space station."

"And this is why I am doing as much as I can now," the mare said, shrugging. "We must push as hard as possible, all the time. I begrudge nothing. As I hope Sarah does not begrudge me my vote for her."

"Not at all. I kind of expected it; ever since I asked the question of how the ties worked, I imagined someone would attempt to play that game."

"That was part of it."

"...Yes, my work last time wasn't my best, but let's see if we can avoid that this time, hmm?"

Isabella looked around, shaking her head.

"I feel bad. I didn't want to vote for him, but I thought he wanted to change...and then he said he didn't, and..."

"...It's okay," Glyn said.

They shared a quick hug. The fact that Jason had been the one to vote for Sarah was obvious in the process of elimination. Now they all knew and there were no more secrets, they could move on.

And what a way to move on...

Both Teams

Black Chaos were thirty minutes out from the challenge point, laying explosives behind them as traps for the inevitable approach of the other team. They were starting to perk up, the hours of rest having done them some good. They expected the ruined city and its various shadows to give them the shelter they needed to run for the mid-point during the hot hours of the day, and then take to the desert again as the hot time passed.

It seemed like they were still in the lead, and their aggressive push at the start had given them something to work with. Perhaps, some thought, an advantage that would carry them all the way to the end of the round. It was a little optimistic, but hardly something that they could be faulted for.

Then, they heard something. A whistling wind, but not the sort that would have called a sandstorm. Rather, it was something being pushed by the wind. Sanmer looked up from planting another charge, and his jaw dropped.

"That's...just...not...possible!"

"What?" Ailsa called back. "What is it?"

"That!"

The arctic fox pointed straight back the way they'd come, where a wooden sled - for lack of a better term - rode the sand on the wind. All five members of the Whoopsie Daisies rode on top of it, and the pangolin rode at the front, waving with arm and tail with a giggly grin on her face.

BOOM!

Someone - it was hard to tell who - pressed the button on a detonator. One of the bombs went off, nearly destroying the sand-sled in the process, but whoever was piloting it swung it back to rights before it could topple and break. It swept sideways, but its sheer speed still carried it past Black Chaos, heading right for the city.

"...That's just not fair," Ailsa said. "That's just not fair at all..."