A Contest of Speed and Trust, Part 1

Felix was more emotionally drained than he had ever been in his life. Watching someone try and fail, over and over again, to make even the most basic connection with him was too much. Austin was too narcissistic for him to have any sympathy for her, or her plight, because she just didn't get it. What she did was wrong, and in the process, she had contributed to everyone else being there, but because Austin was incapable of being guilty or meaningfully apologizing, it was impossible to get her to see that. So all Felix could do, knowing he wasn't going to be able to meaningfully forgive her, was just try to ignore them, or stare at the oncoming train wreck they were all going to suffer the collateral damage of.

So when 12:50 came, it was a relief, even though Felix was scared of what this competition would entail. He was still in the bedroom, staring at a sobbing Austin, when Vizrokoth teleported in.

"Well, that was a disaster," Vizrokoth said. "I guess you two really weren't meant to be after all."

The demon took them both to the obstacle course Felix had seen before, but hadn't ever entered. It looked large from the outside, but the inside of the room was even larger than it looked from outside the doorway. The room's initial area was a platform with metallic floors and railings. It opened up into five different paths, although what these paths led to he couldn't see. These pathways, though, quickly disappeared behind various obstacles, ranging in difficult from a steep flight of stairs to a sheer chasm. Whoever built this obstacle course must have been testing more than just humans, because some obstacles didn't seem to be meant for someone bound by human limitations-- there was a bed of spikes that was too wide to be jumped over, and Felix couldn't imagine how else someone was supposed to cross it.

Once Felix overcame the shock of the size of the room, he found a different surprise waiting for him on the platform: everyone else had already shown up. It was just him and Austin who hadn't shown up. How did they know where this room was? Even if they had seen it on the way to the gym or similar, how did they know this was where the competition?

"Excellent, you are all here," Vizrokoth said to the assembled group. "Time for the first competition, and for some of us, the only opportunity left to avoid elimination."

The demon gave a meaningful look to Austin while she said that. She was still sniffling from her tears, and her eyes were red from crying so hard. The rest of the group stayed separate from her, as if they were worried they were going to be contaminated by Austin's garbage fire of a performance so far. At this point, the question was not whether Austin was going to be eliminated, because barring a lot of hidden training that was pretty much guaranteed, but what shape the elimination would take, and how traumatizing it would be for the rest of the group.

"To begin, let's go over the basic objective, and the rules," Vizrokoth said. "This contest is divided into two parts. The first part--"

Vizrokoth paused to stretch out a hand and wave it over the course the platform was connected to, "--is an obstacle course that you are trying to get to the end of as quickly as possible. There are five pathways through this obstacle course. From left to right, each of these pathways gets harder, but also shorter."

Looking at the rest of the group, Felix saw the group paying intense attention... except Austin, who looked very resigned to their fate. Everyone else was hanging on every word the demon said.

"The two right most of these pathways are not crossable by humans," Vizrokoth said. "The middle pathway can be traversed, but it will be very tricky. The leftmost pathway can be done by any of you, but it will take the longest, especially if you walk most of it. If at any point you take an injury, or are about to die from a mistake, you will instead be returned here, the beginning, with a time penalty."

"All of what I just described to you, is the first half of this particular contest," Vizrokoth said. She then walked over to Felix.

"Felix, put this on." Vizrokoth revealed a blindfold with an intricate design woven into the face. It was beautifully made, but something about it was terrifying.

Looking at it, Felix almost thought he could hear voices in the distance. He couldn't make out specific words, only faint whispering. That alone made him very hesitant to take the blindfold from Vizrokoth, much less put it on.

"Why?" Felix asked. "Heck, what am I even doing here, I'm not someone who runs the obstacle course-"

Vizrokoth took hold of his head and forcibly wrapped the blindfold around it. As the cloth covered his eyes, Felix heard the whispers come into sharp focus, forming into clear words.

'They lied to you.' The words rang in his ears as he lost consciousness.

It was bad enough for Cameron to see the demon put the blindfold on Felix against his will. To also see him fall ****, and disappear into a cloud of black smoke made it even worse.

"What did you do to him?" Cameron asked. Cammy was furious, and also terrified, because she knew of the power of this demon, so the male side of Cameron let that come through in their words.

"If you're so worried about him, just go get him. He's through the obstacle course." The demon then snapped her fingers, and the exit slammed itself shut.

"However," the demon said, "before you go, I do suggest you hear my explanation of the second half of this contest. Upon finishing the obstacle course, you will need to convince Felix to let you grab him, and lead him all the way back through the obstacle course to the start. How you convince him is up to you, but he must consent to you grabbing him."

The demon paused and made a point to stare at Janessa. That caused Cameron to look at her as well, and wonder what was going on. Had she done something to Felix against his will? The fallen angel's face was suspiciously blank, as if she was trying to hide something. This would be something both Cammy and the male side of Cameron wanted to follow up on, but it would have to be later.

"The blindfold you saw me put onto Felix does more than cloud his vision," the demon said. "It also whispers various things to him, some of which are even true. Every pain point in your relationship with Felix, and anything he may suspect about you, even if it isn't true, will be what he hears over and over again when you are nearby. You will not be able to remove this blindfold until you have carried Felix all the way back to where we are right now."

As a practiced manipulator, Cameron knew exactly what kind of damage lies, rumors, or worse, truths revealed at inopportune times, could do. Their present situation made this much more complicated, because would the blindfold be whispering about Cammy, or Cameron? Cammy felt secure in her relationship with Felix, but the male side of Cameron had no such security.

"Otherwise," the demon said, "keep in mind that you can carry Felix, guide him by the hand, or whatever else you deem necessary as long as it gets back him back to the starting point. If, at any point, Felix is hurt, or comes close to **** during the obstacle course, he will be returned to the location you picked him up from, and you will have to get him all over again. Understand?"

Cameron nodded, as they wanted to get this competition over with as quickly as possible. They had already decided their route would be the second one from the left, as while she had some skill in athletics, she hadn't done anything like rock climbing or parkour, so she figured she lacked the skill to really do this properly. However, someone else did have something to say.

Z came to the front of the group, and for some reason, was holding an urn. The oni whispered something to the demon while gesturing to the urn a couple times. The only part Cameron caught was the demon saying, "Alright, I will let it happen for the duration of the contest."

Before Cameron could wonder what they were talking about, Z opened the urn, and then did a strange ritual that neither side of Cameron had any understanding of. It involved a mixture of dance, whispered phrases in Japanese, and then closed the urn in a motion similar to a bow. They then saw the oni put the urn into a corner of the room, and then said to the group,

"Unless you want to piss off an ancestral ghost, I would suggest leaving the urn alone." Z said while getting back to the group and preparing for the contest.

"Any other requests?" The demon asked the assembled group."Going once, going twice... alright, Cameron, since you seem to be so worried about him, why don't you show us how it's done?"

Cameron nodded, thankful for their current habit of dressing in athletic gear for their morning workout had carried over to a day where she wouldn't exercise. The one change from their usual booty shorts and tank-top was that they had on a trusted pair of tennis shoes. While they were a little worn, she had broken them in during college, and trusted them to hold up even during a difficult exercise like the one she was about to do.

They got to the starting line, took a runner's pose, and then **** themselves into a sprint that went into the second from the left pathway. Cameron figured it would be slightly faster than the leftmost pathway, and still doable for someone with the basic, but not amazing athletic skill they had. They bolted through the entrance and went through what was initially just a simple hallway, but she knew it would get harder...

Felix didn't know where he was, as he couldn't see anything. He could move but it was risky, from his lack of sight, and the ground beneath him felt cold. He had started on all fours, and then very carefully went up to a standing position. Making all this worse, he constantly heard voices telling him things.

"Who do you trust...?" The voice was a whisper, indistinct. Sometimes it was slightly masculine, sometimes slightly feminine, but it made no difference.

"What are they not telling you...?" The voice drifting in and out, but it never left Felix alone for long.

"They think you're pathetic..." The voice became a little more clear, but still had a wispy tone to it.

"You're just a NEET in making," The voice came in far clearer for him than it had before. "You don't really think Cameron wants you, do you?"

That made Felix want even more to take this stupid blindfold off somehow, but he couldn't, regardless of where he put his hands. The blindfold was lying anyway, Cammy had reassured him too many times, and-

"Cammy isn't real," The voice said. "That could just be Cameron leading you on again like he did in middle school."

Impossible, it'd be far too much for him to fake. While Felix knew Cameron was a good manipulator, that didn't mean he could fake being a girl just to get close to him. Besides, why would he be willing to blow Felix and all that other stuff then? How could the male Cameron know how to use a female body?

"Why didn't they let you fuck them?" The voice continued to probe at Felix...

The initial easy run of Cameron's chosen path started as had morphed into a series of inclines going up and down, at steadily higher and lower altitudes that culminated in a sudden drop they just about stopped at in time for. Looking down, they saw there was a long staircase that could take them down to ground level, or a ladder that would be faster but more risky. Given this route they estimated had taken five minutes already, Cameron chose to take the stairs. Each step down was nerve racking, as while the ladder was securely fastened to the wall, Cameron knew if they fell they would have to start all over again, and all the vertigo of heights was still present for them. Ladder step by ladder step, they descended, and gradually got faster as they gained confidence until they got to the very bottom. Feeling accomplished, they turned around, and saw a long narrow pool of water between them and another wall. That wall also had the choice of either stairs or a ladder.

It wasn't a large pool, but it was just long enough that they would have to swim, and their shoes would be far less useful underwater. Worse, it would increase their chance of slipping and falling during any future obstacles. But, they had to do it, so Cameron steadied their breath, and then bolted forwards to get the best possible dive they could. The water was cold, but they fought through it, swimming hard and fast to the point where they were through the section in a flash, even with their feet being mostly useless from how their shoes interacted with the water.

Cameron got out of the water she had to swim through dripping, frustrated, but still determined to get Felix back. She slowed down, and then carefully went for the ladder she had spotted earlier, climbing up. When they reached the top, they could see they only had one obstacle left before they got to their prize. It was a series of small concrete islands, that jutted out of swamp water that they did not want themselves or Felix to enter, or even touch. These islands were just close enough that with the proper footing, one could walk through all of them. Once through those islands, and up one small flight of stairs, was Felix, who was wondering around on a circular stone platform, back and forth with his hands outstretched.

More determined than ever, Cameron jogged forwards, and then leapt from concrete island to concrete island. It took seven such leaps in total, but she managed to do it quickly, and then got to Felix. They stepped onto the platform, and Cammy, knowing what was coming, chose to take control, something the male side of Cameron gladly delegated to them.

"Felix?" She ran over to him.

"Cameron?" Felix asked, ****. "Is that you? Or is it another trick..."

Cammy was furious hearing that, and knowing that all the bullshit this blindfold poured into his head was going to be there the entire trip back, which she already knew would be slower. Taking a deep breath, Cammy answered in a way far better than any words.

She walked up to him, put her arms around his neck, and drew him into a deep kiss. How fitting, Cammy thought, that a kiss would break Felix out of delusions. "I'm here, and I'm not going to abandon you Felix. Let me grab you."

"Oh Cammy, thank you, please get me out of here!" He screamed while reaching out for her.

She didn't need anymore encouragement as she grabbed Felix's hand. "Whatever happens, just keep holding my hand. Got it?"

Felix nodded, and got a firm grip on her hand. Cammy then took him, and guided him back the way she came. She knew parts of the trip back would take longer from the stairs, and certain sections of the course would be tricky. But she didn't want to risk either a longer trip that'd waste more time, or a trip through a route she didn't know.

With that in mind, Cameron guided Felix back. The concrete islands they took slow, but were able to tell Felix when to stretch his leg out as far as he could, or on the flipside, to stop to avoid slipping off. Both sides of Cameron participated, but they always used Cammy's voice, knowing that Felix would trust it more, and for good reason. She had never abandoned him, and outside of a harmless prank that acted as foreplay, had never tricked him. The male side of Cameron could not claim the same.

The vertical drops Cameron took the stairs with Felix, knowing the logistics of taking the ladder was going to be completely out of the question when she had someone to escort. The pool was annoying, but at the end of the day it just meant they had to go a bit slower while ensuring Felix knew where they were at all times. They came to realize the constant bullshit in Felix's ears made him scared, and worse, have a harder time than he should've following her voice. Hence, they made sure to keep a firm grip on Felix at all times, no matter how inconvenient it was when moving forwards.

Once they got back up, they were in the home stretch. The inclines, which were some kind of smooth ceramic surface, were a little more annoying with Felix in tow, but Cameron was still able to speed them back up, knowing that on the back, they would level out into a smooth path. The metal would be annoying, but at this point she was willing to slipping.

The inclines smoothed out, and so Cameron said, "Alright Felix, we're going to run. You've been doing great so far, just keep holding my hand, and we're going to get back before you know it."

Cameron then bolted with Felix in tow. Gripping someone's hand this hard wouldn't be pleasant in most circumstances, but he didn't make any complaints. The sprint back was almost as fast as her initial sprint had been at the start, as they burst back through the door to the main platform, and ran onto it.

Right when they got back, Cameron immediately ripped the blindfold right off of Felix. "I'll never abandon you."

Cammy pulled Felix into another deep kiss, this one he returned, as they passionately made out in front of everyone, including the demon. They heard something about her being around twenty seven minutes or something but she didn't care. She needed to hold him, show him she was going nowhere, and his grip around her was every bit of evidence that he felt the same way.

First Public Display of Affection with Master: +10 VP

"Alright, while I hate to break up young love, I'm afraid I'll need to in this instance." The demon said while she picked up the blindfold from the floor.

Reluctantly, they both broke the kiss. Felix was in tears letting Cameron go, but Cammy, against her own instincts, reassured him.

"Babe I'll be right here, okay, you just got to do this a little longer." Cammy said before guiding him back to the demon and letting him go. She hated it, but the male side of Cameron emphasized the rules of the game, and she grudgingly accepted his advice.

The demon wrapped the blindfold around Felix again, and he disappeared. Cameron all the while went to a corner, and cried, the Cammy side of them hating that they had to put him back into such a horrible position again. Worse, they would have to wait as six other women all took turns saving him...