AN: This is a continuation of a preference I wrote a while back. Hope you enjoy!
Michael (17)
Ever since you'd first gone to play laser tag with your brother and his band, they've been begging you to come back for a round two. You had no idea why they were so adamant about having you come play with them again. If anything, it was a fluke that you won the first time.
"Come on, Y/N!" Michael begs, blocking you from seeing your laptop screen by standing directly in front of it. "The guys and I only have a week left before we leave for the tour. They really want to get at least one game in beforehand."
You roll your eyes. Michael's been trying to get you to go for weeks now, but his attempts had only become more frequent the closer their impending tour became. "Then just go without me."
"But we all really want you there!"
"Why?"
"Because it was way more fun when you were there. The guys all agreed."
"Well that sucks because nothing you say can make me change my mind."
"Nothing at all?"
"Nope."
"Not even if I keep begging?"
"No, because you've been doing that for weeks and it clearly hasn't gotten you anywhere."
"What if I said I'd pay you?"
"I'm listening."
"I'll give you a hundred bucks if you come with us."
Would you seriously break your resolve for something like money? Yes, yes you would. "Okay, deal."
"Wait, there's a catch."
"You can't say there's a catch after I already said deal."
"Too bad. You have to win. If you lose then you have to give ME a hundred dollars."
"I don't have a hundred dollars!"
Michael smirks, "Well don't lose and that won't be a problem."
"I take it back. I'm not going."
"You can't back out on something you said deal to already."
"We didn't even shake on it!"
He shrugs, "Sucks."
*****
As soon as we walk into the laser tag center, I immediately regret my decision. The entire center has been rented out. I can already tell because there are no other cars in the parking lot except a few that I assume are employees or the other members.
"Did you guys seriously rent out the whole place?"
"Of course we did. We're going all out for this."
You roll your eyes, "Right..."
Michael leads you both inside to where the other guys were waiting for you. "Hey, Y/N!" Ashton says as soon as he sees you. "I'm surprised Michael actually convinced you to come."
You sigh, "Yeah, me too."
"Well, now that we're all here, we can get this party started," Calum says, leading the entire group over to the counter.
"Are we doing the same teams as last time?" You ask as you gear up.
"Nope," Luke smiles as he slides on his vest. "We're playing individually."
"WHAT?!"
"Every man for himself, Y/N. It's gonna be hella epic."
"No, it's not! That's a horrible idea!"
"Too bad, we already paid for it."
"I hate you all."
Calum simply shrugs as he hands you a gun for the game. "We all you don't mean that. If you really hated us, you wouldn't be here."
"No, I'm actually here because Michael offered to pay me." You take your gear over to the entrance. Suddenly, you realize how much harder this is going to be. On the car ride over, you'd been trying to think of ways to win. You figured as long as you got paired with the right people, you could probably pull it off. Playing individually is a whole other ballpark. How the hell are you supposed to win now?
An announcer's voice comes over a speaker. "The door will open thirty seconds after this announcement ends. You will have five minutes before your equipment activates. You each have three lives. If you get hit three times, you're out of the game. You'll have a time gap of fifteen seconds if you get shot where you can't be hit again. Good luck."
Five minutes? You only get five minutes to get as far away from everyone as possible? What's even the best strategy to go for? Find someplace to hide out and wait until it's down to the final two or be super risky and try taking the others down? You don't even have the time to completely decide on the best game plan because the door in front of you opens, and, instinctually, you run. By the time your legs start to complain, you're sufficiently satisfied with the distance you've managed to put between you and the others. From what you could tell, it didn't seem like anyone followed you. That at least gives you some time to think.
The best plan is probably to wait it out, but, knowing Michael, he won't let you. Doesn't mean you won't try. You crouch down as close to the ground as you can and move into a corner where you can see from every direction in case someone decides to try sneaking up on you.
The announcer hadn't mentioned anything about there being a second floor, but you can see a ramp leading upwards from your position. Is it worth the risk? Yeah, probably. You don't know for sure if this the only ramp up, but if it is then there can't be anybody up there. They would've had to have walked past you. You can hear the sound of the fight already starting, so you take the opportunity to sprint up the ramp.
"Guys!" You hear Michael shout. "Why are we fighting each other? I told you guys I really don't want to lose a hundred dollars." Wow, of course Michael's plan was to get everyone to team up on you. Of course it was.
"Everybody puts your hands in the air!" Ashton shouts. You can see a balcony like area that you could probably have a view of the first floor from, so you make you're way over there as quietly as possible. You hear the sound of one of the guns firing just as you peek through the fence. "Calum, what the hell??"
"You still had three lives left. Now we're all equal except for Michael's dumba*s who only has one." You can see all four of them from where you are. They're all standing in a circle with both arms in the air. You can just happen to see the back of Calum's vest from here. The sensor on his back lights up brightly in the darkness. You slip your gun through the opening of the fence and aim. As soon as you pull the trigger you drop to the floor and flatten yourself against it as much as possible.
"What the hell, Ashton??" Calum says as his vest goes off alerting him and you of your success.
"That wasn't me, man!." Ashton replies, waving his arms in the air. "I didn't move."
"He didn't." Luke agrees.
"If it wasn't any of us then there's only one other person who could've shot you," Michael says. You lift your head and gun from the floor and aim for Michael's chest, pulling the trigger quickly as all of their heads whirl around in search of you. "Y/N!!" Michael shouts as soon as his vest goes off. "We'll have to split up and find her." They each walk off in a different direction. Calum is the one person who walks somewhat towards the area of the ramp up. He shouldn't be that much of a problem. You only have to hit him one more time.
You get up from the floor and squish yourself into a corner where you can still see the bottom floor. Luke peeks out from behind one of the walls of the maze as he searches, and you take the opportunity to nail him in the back as he turns around. Unfortunately for him, Luke spends his fifteen seconds wildly looking around for you only for to shoot him again when they're over. One down to three more to go.
"Guys, I'm out somehow. I don't know where the f*ck she is." Luke shouts.
"There's a ramp heading up over here," Calum says. You catch a glimpse of him heading up, and, luckily, his sensor is visible.
You shoot in his direction, but his vest does light up. "S*it," You curse under your breath.
"You guys!" Calum yells. "She's up here!!" You shoot him again just as he starts to aim at you.
"D*mn it." He swears. "Have you been up here the entire time?"
You get up, having to move your position now that he just exposed you to the two other people still in the game. "Not the whole time."
"Ashton still has two lives left by the way."
"Yeah, I know." You eye him warily. "Are you on my side now?"
Calum shrugs, "I just want Michael to lose a hundred dollars."
You take off in the complete opposite direction and find a different ramp that connects the two floors. You rush down and head to the spot where the four of them had met up originally. Ashton and Michael wouldn't think you went all the way here after what Calum said.
"Y/N!" Michael bellows as you dash behind a wall. "I'm going to find you."
You only have to hit him once so you decide to take a dumb risk. "No, you won't!"
"Oh really?" His voice is way too close for comfort. Figures that he didn't go up in case you came down. He knew you too well.
You see a flash of green light from the barrier you'd occupied earlier and you shoot in its direction without much thought. "The f*ck??' You hear Ashton yell.
You decide to move again. You feel something press against your back and before you can even think, you spin around and shove your gun forward. You end up with your gun pressed right up against the sensor on Michael's chest and he does the same for you.
Michael smirks, "Found you."
"Funny, shoot me and I shoot you. I know you only have one life left."
"Maybe, but I'm not the only one still in the game in case you forgot." Your vest lights up indicating that you'd been hit. You gasp and turn around out of instinct to find Ashton standing there. Instead of running away immediately as he should have, he stands there for a second too long and allows you the chance to shoot him.
"Aww, d*mn it." He complains.
You turn back around to find Michael missing, so you run after him. You still have two lives left as long as- Your vest lights up again just as your fifteen seconds end. "F*cking... Michael!" The lights of his vest show you where he is so you storm up to him and back him up against a wall, pressing your gun to his vest again.
"Funny, seems like you could lose now." He laughs, pressing his own gun to your vest. "How about we wait out your fifteen seconds and shoot each other? Fair and square."
"Sure," You agree, knowing that Michael probably has some other plan.
The others find you guys just as your invincibility ends. "Are you guys going to shoot each other at the same time?" Ashton asks.
"Yep," Michael replies.
"Do you want a countdown?" Calum asks.
"Sure, why not."
"One, two-" You pull the trigger just before Calum manages to say three.
"Hey!" Michael shouts.
"GAME OVER!" Comes over the loudspeakers. "PLAYER FIVE WINS!"
You flash Michael your brightest smile. "Looks like you owe me a hundred dollars!"
AN: Hope you all enjoyed! Thanks so much for reading!!