Jaimie and five others

The last thing that I remember was the slow and soft sensation of my mind drifting off to sleep. Under the covers late at night, I’d almost been safely asleep when that wrenching feeling of falling had suddenly brought me awake. It had been bad enough that I’d kicked out in response to the jarring sensation, except, well... I realized in that moment I was no longer in my comfy bed but rather in a black void while I sped through that infinite blackness at what felt a ridiculous speed.

So, now sitting on the ground in nothing but an old floral nightie, rubbing a knee I’d scraped on the stone, I stared in shock at the literal sea of onlookers in the stands.

Some part of me was aware of the chill, that I was almost naked underneath my loose nightwear. However my mind was distracted by other things at the moment.

Information filled my head, the basic rules of a game, with some idea of the changes that would be taking place soon.

I shivered. What a fucked up game.

I knew what the numbers on that huge screen so far away would mean for me. Beside each of the six contestants a small number listed what they had rolled for “initiative”.

I was last.

I had played DnD once before, with some friends in college. We were drunk and one of them had some experience with being… well the person to lead the whole thing. I couldn’t remember much from that night, but I could remember the shape of that dice with its many sides that had appeared for a moment on each of our screens.

“Wooh! It looks like our first to play will be Ericka with a natural twenty!” the announcer's voice climbed in excitement as he said “natural twenty”.

“Too bad it wasn’t rolled for something a little more impactful, but perhaps it’s a premonition of things to come?” The announcer said with his usually grandiose voice.

In a small room, dirty looking puddles in the corners as well as a few scraggly bushes. I couldn't see around the corner, but it looked like I might be able to find my way out through there. Off to my left was an opening in the wall which pointed out towards the watching mass, between us a dense forest which seemed to be like a barrier between this maze and the onlookers.

Just a couple feet before me floated a curious being. A cute monster of small proportions floated on a cloud, something like a fishing pole held before him. On the end of the string what looked like a big production camera pointed right at me.

Odd.

The... whatever it was, sort of reminded me of a cart racing game I used to play as a kid.

With a glance, I confirmed that it was in-fact the feed that was being shown on that massive screen floating way up above me. It and five other screens circled slowly so that every eye in the stadium could get a close-up on each of us for at least a little while.

“What an… archaic system.” I mumbled.

I could move, but as it wasn’t currently my turn, I knew that if I were to try and leave my immediate space I would be stopped by an invisible barrier. Still, I stepped up to the barrier, feeling along it.

Yep, definitely solid.

Hopefully no one would run into me right away. I shivered at the thought of what “combat” would be like.

Sitting tight, I looked up to the screens to watch the first turn unfold.

—

Turn order: