Waking up...in a van?

The next time Aaron Reigner opened his eyes, he saw two pairs of worried eyes. He blinked through his drowsiness. Rather than the snug comfort of a mattress, he felt a cool steel across his back.

"He's up!"

"Thank the maker..."

The eyeballs disappeared from view. Aaron picked himself up by the elbows. His surroundings were dark and the world was bumpy.

'Where am I?'

This wasn't his apartment unit. This wasn't his bed. Was he…was he inside a van? And…were those the bars of a cage?

"Careful, Aaron! Don't push yourself."

"That voice…" His vision finally adjusted to the darkness. Aaron saw a black-haired spectacled male with a long head and dry lips. "Todd?"

"Noah is here too," Todd replied. "See?" He gestured to the dark man sitting beside him.

"Yo, Aaron. The cage is small so don't stand up." That deep voice couldn't be mistaken. Noah. What the hell was going on? Why were the three of them in a fucking cage?

"Where are we?" Aaron asked, holding his head. He managed to compose himself through sheer social anxiety. "How did I get here?"

"Remember those rumours about Leviathan **** people?" Todd chuckled anxiously. "Well, it seems like they weren't rumours. They were true."

Aaron exhaled. 'Great. The one day I wanted to sleep without reservation, I got kidnapped. Just…fantastic.'

He maintained a stoic mask. No need to panic just yet. "We're in a van, I'm guessing?"

"You guessed correctly," Noah said. "I was half awake when I got kidnapped from my home. I can confirm it's a van. The question is…where are they taking us?"

"Also, also," Todd began, "don't you find it weird that they took us three specifically? We're Wayne Tech workers. Me and Noah are security people and you're a cubicle guy. Do you think maybe it was on purpose?"

"You're right," Aaron agreed. "The chances of the three of us reuniting like this is slim to no none. Gotham has a population of…what? Over ten million? Yet here we are. Plus…" he paused as he came across a terrible thought. He crawled to the end of the cage and checked to see if there were other cages. There weren't.

He checked the pockets of his sweatpants. His phone was gone.

His heart hammered. Days upon days of sex had weakened him and now the consequences had caught up to him.

"Chloe," Aaron muttered to himself. "She's not here."

"It's just us," Todd said, having understood a snippet of what he said. "They didn't take my roommate, which is obviously weird."

"Who is Chloe?" Noah asked.

"My…daughter."

There was an immediate reaction. Intense and loud. Noah raised a shaky hand, bewildered.

"You have a daughter!? No way!" Todd huffed and was tempted to go and slap him on the back. "Congrats!"

"Thanks," Aaron replied slowly.

"Is she going to be okay? How young is she?" Noah asked, concerned. Considering his questions, Aaron was suddenly relieved. He peered over his shoulders and nodded.

"She'll be fine. She doesn't need me."

Chloe had been living on the streets for a long time. She could certainly survive without him.

His heart slowed down. 'Yeah…yeah. She'll be fine. She's Chloe. She's a smart girl.'

As long as Leviathan didn't hurt her. If they had…

He clenched his fist.

Minutes passed. The van must have been running across a very smooth road because the cage hadn't shaken once. Todd spoke incessantly, a nervous tick of his. Noah remained kept together.

The van stopped. Light poured in as the backdoor flung open. Three military-clad figures with guns appeared, opened the cage door open, and beckoned them forward.

"Out," a woman ordered, irritated. It wasn't an Assassin or a Shadow. It was a grunt from Leviathan. The dark blue military-grade vest they wore screamed out their affiliation. All three of them, Aaron, Todd, and Noah had seen it on the news.

Arms behind their heads, they walked. Pain stung the bottom of their bare feet.

Todd and Noah did not dare attempt to reliant or speak against the dark men. They carried guns five times as heavy as the meagre pistols they carried as guards. The looming threat that they would be shot was too much. They obeyed.

Aaron did too.

Quite arrogant of them, really. They hadn't even bothered to chain them up or blindfold them. Leviathan assumed their guns would be enough talk.

For the average person, that would be correct. Not Aaron. Oddly enough, he was relaxed. His eyes darted left and right and his ears listened in on the surrounding noises. Every step, every crinkle of the gun, and every drop of liquid.

Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

The sounds echoed from everywhere. They were in a tunnel of something, rocky and dark and lit up by green torches, yet eroded with a strange liquid. There was a smell to it distinguishing it from water or most chemicals.

They walked for about a minute. Aaron wasn't particularly worried. These guards were lax. If he wanted to, he could take them down by swiping their legs from underneath them and kicking their guns away. His eyes weren't mistaken either. He could see it. He could predict it. Without shoes, his senses were dialled up to eleven and he could feel the wetness of the rocks underneath. With this kind of environment and lighting, these people were easy pickings.

"Faster."

Todd was shoved forward and nearly stumbled and tripped. Aaron maintained a rushed pace as they requested. For now, he would play their game–the supposed Tournament of 100.