Powers Ch. 04

Jeong's body hit me and she hugged my head tight against her breasts. Was this something ladies just did when they were happy, or was this another seduction? Maybe a bit of both? Cleavage in my face was nice either way and I didn't complain.

"See. I'm better than Grace. You stick with me and I'll teach you all you need, kiddo."

"I bet you charging in with three times her energy had nothing to do with it. Now, two wins and we're Rankers."

***

We beat our last opponents just as easily but our low rating meant we were the last team to challenge. Which was a bit of bad luck. The two first teams challenged the empty seats left by leaving duos. Then four teams in a row challenged team ninjas representatives. It looked good for us until the challengers turned it around in the second half of the second set.

So our options were either Kendolls or the Brothers, both totally fresh, and there was a blowjob on the line for me, so, of course, I went for the brothers.

Luke and Tom were showboating as we walked in. There were loud cheers as Tom turned his back to us and Luke played his booty as a drum. Luke even blew his tongue at me. Real mature, but they the crowd loved it.

I walked up to my mark and waited, while they finished riling up the audience. There was a loud wave of cheers as they ran around the octagon. They even started a queen clap as if the audience wasn't loud enough.

'Boom, boom, clap,' went through my bones when Luke finally walked up to his mark. Luke was a great stand up fighter. His pikes bought him about thirty cm (1') of reach advantage on a normal striker. That meant his jabs could outreach my legs.

Tom didn't, his coating only made his hits heavier. So I grabbed Jeong and filled her with my energy and flung her legs first into Luke. She was my weapon.

Tom was mine. There was a loud thump as Jeong crashed into Luke. It didn't sound good.

Tom took advantage of my distraction and closed in. His fist just barely swished by my ear as I panic bobbed right. His other fist came after my head. I was off balance and there was only one thing to do. Roll backwards, block the punch, and get back up as fast as possible.

His fist was freakishly heavy. A little love tap as I was rolling backwards and he broke my glove. He was a monster. Why is he only the eighth rank?

I stood back up and Tom was on me. I clinched in on him and tried to shift his balance, but he stood firm.

Then came the fucking one inch punch from hell. I was dangerously low on energy. I tried to Popp him with a knee, but that didn't do anything. He punched again and I was out.

Jeong closed in, but one punch and she Popped. She must have spent most of the energy dealing with Luke.

So close to a blowjob. So close.

***

For once Em had help half-carrying me home. Jeong took one of my shoulders and kissed me on the cheek as we said goodbye. It didn't go unnoticed by Em.

"Am I the only duo partner you haven't seduced?"

"Hey, I try hard every day, you're the one that keeps shooting me down."

"But Amber, Lucy and now Jeong?"

"She promised me a blowjob if we got ranked, and your family's always in the way of my happiness."

"Next time you come crawling to me for help I will remember you said that."

"Sure. How about right now? I could use some 'stress relief' and my pimp hasn't been selling me."

"When will you let that go? It got you a good palate cleanser."

"It was a bit lonely though. Now, what are you bringing to the island?"

"Wouldn't you want to know? You're the biggest competition; I won't tell you a thing."

Wait - What?

"We're on the same team?"

She looked at me and there was an ocean of sadness in her eyes. "You're rated too high. The principal's rule? You know? I thought you understood that?"

Right. I hadn't figured that one out. I was stupid. Oh fuck.

"You'll have to prepare for yourself. There's no one in the first year you can team up with."

***

So that was how I spent the next day.

I looked up different survival guides on the internet. Then I spent my points on a military duffle bag and filled it with everything I thought would be useful. Five rolls of heavy duty plastic, supplies and some small stuff. It left me with a really heavy bag but not too heavy.

The survival month was easy. The thousand first years were dropped off in a remote location and you had to survive up to a month. You were scored on three categories. How much weight you brought with you, how long you survived, and how many you Popped.

I was pretty sure I had a price on my head and every encounter would be me quickly killing some random first year and running away. Unless team Em and team Asian juniors came at me at the same time I would probably be fine running away. So I kept my bag light. Only packing the absolute minimum I would need for a two week period. Most survival games didn't last longer than that before everyone was Popped.

It was time to put what the Colonel taught me to the test.

***

My heart was beating in my chest; the thumping was loud in my ears. I had to calm down, it was just another fight. I wasn't in any real danger, but at the same time I had to win. That was the only way to get back my spot, show people I belong and they will like me. I had to win.

A tremble went through my body. The pod hit the ground and I walked up to the door, but it didn't open. Why didn't the door open? Oh fuck, was I stuck in here? Had I missed some clue to how to open the door?

There was a loud shrill signal and the drop pod opened. The hot moist air hit me like a sledge hammer. Sweat pooled against my skin. Fuck, the air and humidity made it unbearably warm. My throat clenched with the first muggy breath. My eyes stung from all the green.

I can't be standing around here.

My drop pod was still a clear orange, so I scanned the surroundings and, sure enough, there was another pod. People inside were arguing about what to do as I snuck up on the pod. The only door was open but no one was keeping guard. Amateurs.

My glove and shield buzzed as I went inside. The first guy just stood there, shocked. I put my fist through his face. They all screamed as I quickly cut them down. I didn't have time to go through their stuff so I just ran to the next pod.

It was empty.

In the next one there were signs of a struggle. Five people locked down by their protective gear. The school would come by and pick them up for hell training.

I wasn't the only hunter around. I kept moving up the mountain. Looking through all the orange pods I could find on the way. Only once was there anyone inside. A little girl with nine other locked down people. She didn't even struggle; her eyes were filled with hopelessness. It was over quick.

The first hours were the deadliest.

***

I kept checking all the pods but found nothing until it was time to give up and put up my shelter. I found a spot next to a ravine with two good trees close enough to be helpful.

This place was a tropical island. I could see the water around us as I climbed up in one of the tall trees. Maybe a volcanic island? I would need to get to the top to find out.

The Corporal's voice screamed in my ear, 'Venomous animals and dehydration!'

I had a four liter dunk of water in my backpack, so with rations I would last four days.

Venomous animals were the first test. I setup my two tent pins in the ground about a meter from the trees. They would become my protection. Then I took out my isolative plastic wrap. Animals will be drawn to my body heat in the cold night. So I need to make a hammock for a bed, raising my sleep position away from the ground. That's what the two trees are for.

I quickly start working on the bed. Just stretching out and then shaping the plastic into multiple layers so it will be strong enough to hold my body. The sound of the jungle pick up as the nightlife starts to spread out around me. The mosquitoes come out and I'm their prime food source. I quickly activate my shields and get to work on creating a bug net. I spread out the plastic and make tiny holes with my knife.

A horrendously distorted call for help brings me out of my work. Well, that's one less idiot to care about. A red flare blooms against the sky, the red flare we got for emergencies. So, ok, not just one less idiot. There was something actually dangerous out there.

The screams were far enough away and I had no way to know where they came from. The school would fix it.

It got me thinking about escape routes, just in case. My rope went around a tree and out to the edge of the ravine so I would be able to throw it down and climb down at a seconds notice.

It was time to start working on my perimeter. I rolled the plastic into a small rope and opened a can of beans for myself to eat. It wasn't the most delicious food, but had a lot of water and energy.

I created a bell out of the can and tied it to the perimeter rope. It should warn me before I got visitors.

Then it was time to put the finishing touches on the bed. For my first day I was satisfied. I had created a makeshift hammock that I could carry with me, I hadn't wasted very much plastic at all, just a couple of meters for the rope that would be hard to reuse.

I had a bed, a bug net and a perimeter warning. I had only taken out six people but everyone else was probably in teams of five.

Out of the thousand people on the island this morning probably less than a hundred were left. I would have to check the high scores tomorrow. I cuddled in tight to my plastics as the sound of the jungle rocked me to sleep.

***

The sound from my phone woke me up with the update. 192 souls still remaining, I had underestimated my class mates. On the top of the kill board was Jenny, no surprise there, with ten kills. Second was Jack with nine and then Em with eight. There were a lot of eights and sevens. I was only twentieth with my six.

It was time to get serious and hunt, for water primarily, but also for classmates.

I loosened all my knots and packed down my net and bed, hiding them under a rock. Then I hid my backpack in a bush not far away. The cameo wasn't the right shade of green for this environment, but it worked for a casual glance.

About half an hour up the mountain the smell of smoke hung in the air. Idiots. I followed the smell to a camp site. They were all up and about, but that didn't matter.

I got two down before the rest of them ran. I hunted down one more, but the last two were gone. That should put me up to second place. Then it was time to go through their stuff. They had some storm matches and a couple of filled water bottles. Nothing else useful. Their tent was interesting, but, no, my plastic would work well enough. I was disappointed until I found the last item a true jackpot. A snickers bar.

With my gains I started a secondary drop location. I found a very distinctive bush midway between my camp and theirs. Then I circled back around their camp and the rats were back, looking through the camp for things to salvage. It was too easy.

I found a big tree and hid behind it. It took five nerve wrecking minutes, but the sound of steps kept getting closer. One of them walked out carrying a lot of stuff. I popped him with a right hook. The last one ran.

He disappeared behind a tree and I chased after. Slowly gaining ground as his weight hunkered him down. He'd disappear behind something and I would get there in time to see him disappear behind the next thing. I was slowly gaining on him. Then it all ended anti climatically. He stumbled on a root and went down. I was on him before he could get up again and I popped him. His backpack had another goldmine, three snickers and a soda. This was heaven.

I got back just in time to see the school take away the other guy, backpack and all. So there was no chance to loot him for the goodies inside, but, if they had backpacks where were the other three? They had moved towards a specific location before. So I kept moving that way and there was an orange drop pod. Surely they wouldn't -- but yes they had.

Inside the drop pod were three backpacks, all filled with the same three snickers and a soda. Then there was a bunch of canned food. My second drop point now held more food than my primary. It wasn't even noon and already this was a great day.

***

The top of the hill was beautiful. The ship out in the natural harbor was the only sign of human life; otherwise it was wilderness all around. It was a view almost worth tracking four hours uphill, almost.

What made the hike such a success was that I knew how big the island was.

When I got back to my campsite there was barely enough light to rig it all up again and I didn't want to waste my energy on shields for lighting again. So I hurried.

You should never hurry. That's how you almost get stung by a scorpion. Luckily my reflexive glove was fast enough. Unluckily I crushed the rope that held up my bug net and had to find my bag to make a new one. My backpack was also crawling with scorpions. This wasn't natural. They shouldn't even be here, much less out before dark. Was this one of the traps?

It was a really stupid trap since there wasn't any way they could hurt a shield. I cleared the back pack, made my rope and turned in, while picturing the diabolical principal and his pet scorpions.

***

Once again the buzz of my phone woke me up. 187 people still alive. How was that possible? No one but me found a target, all day yesterday? It felt good to be number one, but something was fishy. I quickly packed my camp and moved out.

I raided my secondary stash for a can of vegetable soup. It really needed to be warmed up, but I wasn't starting a fire, that's how you got found.

I explored the ravine this time. Going uphill hadn't found me a water source so this time I went east if the mountain top was north.

About midday I sat down and enjoyed a second can, this time of meat soup. I tried to convince myself it would be fine to start a fire this far from camp, but the corporal's voice in my head said, "No." That fight was quickly forgotten as there was the sound of voices. I quickly poured down the soup and washed it down with some water. Then it was time to investigate.

There was a chain of people walking down hill. There was about five meters between each person. The thing they kept yelling was, "All clear." That explained a lot. The reason no one got popped was that they all had identified me as the big threat and were working together. This changed everything. I needed to move. They passed me without noticing where I sat up in a tree. I felt mighty clever right about then.

I quickly made it back to my camp site. The plastics went into my bag and then I got as far away from their search as possible.

I stopped when it was about to get dark and I set everything up. There even was a small spring not far from my new location. It felt good to have a water source secured. It helped ease the panic a bit. 187 vs 1. That was going to be tricky.

***

The next day there was a surprise. Only 183 people were left. Em and Jack now had 10 Popps. Not everyone was against me. Good to know. In my heart I hoped Em, Jack and Jenny were on my side, but it was more probable they had found some stragglers.

I packed down my camp and I kept working my way down the mountain until I was on the other side of the mountain from where they had hunted.

Days passed and I built a fortress, first a ring of traps, then a barrier of sharpened trees. I used most of my power every day building an escape tunnel. It was something to do while I waited. At first it was something I could crawl through but as the days passed it got bigger and bigger.

The hunters kept steadily declining as Em, Jenny and Jack got Popps, increasing the likelihood they were on my side.

***

I was making a clay oven when the alarm sounded, there must be people outside. It was quickly followed by the yells. "Over here, over here!" Then came the snaps as they walked into my snares. I ran outside and there was two people hanging upside down by their ankles.

I sent a prayer of thanks to the Corporal and took two easy Popps, leaving me only one behind the gang.

Then five people were charging at me, my old pupils. Those backstabbers I could handle. So I ran towards them and they turned, running the other way while yelling.

Time to get out of here, I ran down my escape hatch, leaving it open while I sauntered over to my ultimate trick, the weight bearing pillar. One guy jumped down into the hole and was greeted by my fist. The next one wasn't as stupid and stuck down his head for a peek. Sadly for him that was a great target and he got Popped.

Finally it was time to get out of there. I pulled the pillar with me and then three more -- and nothing happened -- FUCK! I couldn't really test that my collapsing escape tunnel would actually collapse ahead of time. Well, fuck it, time to run.

I picked up my backpack. It was significantly lighter now. I only had the plastic and a two liter bottle of water inside. I was cursing my laziness, but there was nothing to do.

As I ran out of my tunnel I ran straight into two surprised classmates. I popped them before they had a chance to make a sound. Then I followed my planned route down to the beach and I just ran.

***

It was a breath of relief when the next day I got back to my secondary food drop and it was still there. I needed food to get back the energy I used to run away. It was clear though. I would have to thin them out. Slowly slice away until no one that dared oppose me was left. So the building started again.

It took four days, but my plan was finished. I built a huge amount of traps around my rock. My rope was gone so I had to make a makeshift one from my last plastic. I rested all day, getting what sleep I could, then, as darkness hit I lit a fire. A huge fucking bonfire to draw them in. Their yells got louder and louder and louder. It was time for the hunting to begin. I crept out. Their night sight was ruined by staring into the fire. I made sure to not make the same mistake.

I started on the outside of their pack and popped probably fifteen people before they even noticed something was wrong.

Close to fifty people swarmed around me as I retreated up into the traps. As soon as the first person was flung in the air all the other got scared, giving me time to Popp a couple more.

Karateka junior yelled something and all of a sudden team Asia junior was leading the charge. Time to get out of there. I ran to the cliff. There was the sound of groans as people ran head first into the trip wires.

I jumped down the rope, using it to climb down into the ravine. Two people were dumb enough to follow me down the rope. When I got to the bottom it was easy to pull it out and slam it back into the ravine. Both lost their grip and I didn't want to hurt them, so I caught them and then Popped them.

I grabbed my backpack and it was time to move.

***

The buzz from my phone made me smile. 97 people left. I was up to 47 Popps but that wasn't all. The others had also had a nice night of hunting. They had scored three Popps each. There were also ten people with one Popp each. It must have been a frightening night for a run in the dark. Some friendly fire was better than I hoped for.

All I had to do was to do that two times more and it would be over. Only problem was that I was now out of supplies.

***

There was five people guarding my fort. They were just sitting ducks down there. I waited for the cover of darkness and sneaked back down there. The two people on guard were watching the fire in my clay oven burn. Poor newbies, when will they learn. I sneaked up behind the first and shoulder tackled him into the other guy, Popping them both with two quick kicks.