Let the Games Begin | Dream Smp

Chapter 25

"Holy shit," Kayla breathed. Techno's grip on her shoulder loosened as he took a step towards the open passageway in disbelief. The hallway had a white-tiled floor and white walls, and there was a spot in the ceiling that glowed, shining a bright, white light onto the floor below.

"What just happened?" Phil asked, his voice no louder than a whisper, "Why did some kind of door open when your hand touched it? Where the fuck did the door even come from?"

"I don't know," Kayla replied, shaking her head. She stared at the white hallway as a single image flashed in her mind. The white room with the gadgets from her dreams. Perhaps that room was somewhere down the passageway?

"This must lead out of the arena," Techno said in confidence, "I don't know how you managed to do this, Kayla, but I think you've opened a passage that connects the arena to whatever is outside." The pink haired male tentatively placed one hand on the opening, and when it didn't shock him, he took a step onto the white floor.

"Should we go through?" Sam asked, walking forwards so he was right behind Techno. Phil appeared at Kayla's side, a worried expression on his face.

"Maybe we should go back to—"

"Don't worry, Phil," Techno assured the winged man, turning back to flash him a smile, "I think we should go inside and investigate. Who knows? We might just find our way out."

Something told Kayla it wouldn't be that easy.

"Fine," Phil sighed. Kayla reached up and pulled her swords from their scabbards, snapping them together and then holding the hilt tightly in her right hand. She followed Sam into the mysterious hallway with Phil right behind her, glancing around and letting her left hand run against the smooth wall. This was nothing like she had ever seen before—that is, in her limited memory.

The hallway turned to the right and opened into a small room, the white walls lined with many boxes, either colored white or brown. There was a single, glowing white light on the ceiling of the room that shone dimly onto them, casting eerie shadows of their figures onto the walls. Techno walked over to one of the boxes and opened the top, pulling out a roll of white bandages. He stepped to the side and opened the box beside it, holding up a large piece of green cloth for the others to see.

"These are all supplies of sorts," Sam commented, "I suppose that this is where all the items in the arena came from." Phil hummed in agreement, walking forward to take a look inside the boxes as well.

Kayla glanced around the room, her eyes falling onto an unfamiliar broken, black object that laid on the ground beside one of the large, brown boxes. She moved towards it, leaning down to move the fragments with her fingers. There were also remnants of a clear material, shattered into jagged pieces that dug into her fingertips when she picked one up.

Glass. The word had appeared on her tongue out of nowhere, and Kayla found herself connecting the word to the object in her hand. She held it up, her head tilted slightly to the side in curiosity as the material reflected the dim light in flashes. Then, she placed the shard of glass back on the floor and stood up again, pushing the broken object against the box with her foot.

"Let's keep going, this is all just supplies," Techno said, waving to them. He walked over to where the hallway continued, pausing to turn and look at them. Sam dropped the roll of bandages he was holding and switched his trident to his other hand, standing a few steps to the left from Techno.

"Come on, Kayla," Phil said as he walked past her. She nodded, turning away from the boxes and followed Phil to stand by Techno. The pink haired man looked over the room quickly before turning to continue down the hall. A moment later, Techno came to a sudden stop. Kayla walked forward to stand beside him and looked ahead, to where the hall split into two passages. To their left was a set of stairs that led downwards, and the hallway continued onwards slightly to their right.

"Which way?" Kayla asked.

"I'm leaning towards the stairs," Sam commented, nodding his head to the left.

"I feel like we should stay at the same level," Phil suggested, "Going down the stairs might lead—" The winged man paused mid sentence as the sound of footsteps grew louder, echoing in the enclosed space. Kayla's grip on her sword grew tighter and she watched Techno's mouth twitch slightly as they froze.

Around the corner of the hallway, there suddenly appeared a group of people wearing the same outfit, running quickly towards the four. There were eight of them in total—all wearing a dark blue jacket and gray pants, and each carried a strange, stick-like object in their hands. When they paused a few paces away, two faces caught her attention.

One belonged to the man standing a step in front of the other seven—seemingly the leader of the group. He was slightly shorter than the rest and wore a dark blue beanie over his head, leaving only a few tufts of black hair visible beneath.

The other belonged to the person standing to the right of the beanie wearing man. A brown hood was pulled over their head and two large antlers—like a deer's—protruded from the sides, as well as large, floppy ears. There was a dark blue mask pulled over the top half of their face, leaving only two large, blue eyes, and there was a round, red nose below it.

The beanie man cleared his throat, staring directly at them. "Contestants. This area is off limits for participants of the Games, and you should not have been able to access it." His voice was higher than Kayla imagined, but, as she replayed his words, it sounded familiar.

"Um...okay?" Techno replied in confusion, "If we're going to be honest, here, we're not sure how we managed to get here, either—"

"That's a matter for another time," the man responded, "Please surrender yourselves peacefully and drop your weapons. I would prefer to not have to resort to force. Yet." Techno's mouth was pulled into a thin line as he studied the people before them.

"Why should we? Why can't we just leave?" Sam questioned, stepping forward to stand at Techno's left, "We're better armed than you are." Phil nudged Sam as a warning, gripping his sword firmer.

"Actually, you're not," he huffed, "I will repeat myself one more time—drop your weapons or we will fire."

"Fire what? I don't see any wood," Techno deadpanned. The beanie wearing man narrowed his eyes, a wrathful expression on his face, before lifting the object in his hands to be aligned in front of his head.

A loud boom—similar to the cannon shots in the arena—thundered through the hallway. Kayla jumped at the noise, looking over at Techno in shock, but the male's gaze stayed locked on a single spot behind them.

There was a small crack in the wall, and a tiny, black object filled the hole. Kayla's eyes widened and she flipped back around to face the group of strangers in disbelief, a single thought suddenly coming to the front of her mind.

Gun.

That's what that object was.

And her senses were telling her that those guns could kill them.

——————————————
A/n - Aight hope you enjoyed this chapter! This is gonna get real interesting, real soon ;-;
Love you all <3
~Echo