NM: So You Want To Be A Superhero?: Laser Saga!

[x-gambit.livejournal.com]

The New Mutants go off to engage in some team building, thanks to Julian's prize from Screw Top Games. While a handful of staff is on hand to supervise, they all end up heading into the laser tag arena, only to get an unpleasent surprise.



LASER SAGA said the sign above the door in massive red letters. Obviously, this was not a business built around subtlety. It was nestled in the exurbs of New York; a strip mall development new enough to only have 'coming soon' signs over the other intended businesses. At ten in the morning, there wasn't expected to be much traffic, but save for a couple of cars in the employee parking, the lot was empty.

The prize had included a full day of free laser tag battles in their 'Battle Arena', as well as a pizza lunch and free access to all the video games and other amusement stations in the centre. The business would reopen to the public at seven, and they were invited to stay as late as they wanted, although being charged normal prices, of course.

The two school vans disgorged students and staff alike, and as they approached the door, a man in a red 'LASER SAGA' polo shirt opened the door and waved them in. "Hello! Hello! You guys are the Screw Top Games winners for this month, right? Excelsior's school, was it?" The main room was full of video games, air hockey tables, large platforms for race car simulations and Dance Dance Revolution sets. "Come on in. It's going to take about a half hour to input you guys into the system with your codenames, so feel free to check out the other games while you wait! Who's the head staff for this? I've got a release that needs to be signed."

"That would be me." Jean-Paul took the clipboard he was offered and read through two pages of forms and fine print. Typical agreement not to sue in event of injury or seizure and the school was responsible for damages to the course and equipment by careless students. "So where do we wait while the students are running the course?"

"Oh no way in hell, I want in," Lil declared, fists planted firmly on her hips. "If I got dragged here to babysit, I'm gonna have some fun while doing it." There was no way she was going to sit on the sidelines and watched while the students played their little wargames.

Sure, she'd make for a decent sized target, but she highly doubted any of the runts had taken shooting lessons with Bishop. "Put my name down for a vest and gun. Amara's, too," she told him, signing up her suitemate whether the other blonde liked it or not.

Amara had been about to say 'I don't mind waiting...' but then Lil had decided she was signing up, so she just grinned and shrugged a little. "I think we should all go in," she decided. "I am not entirely sure it is a good idea for us to let them run around in there by themselves." Never mind that she'd been amoung the students recently herself, she was now one of the responsible ones. ...barely.

"Good supervision requires that one is always aware of their charges' activities," Zanne sermonized in a bland tone, her eyes twinkling. "What better way to supervise the kids than by playing?"

As the adults discussed the logistics of supervising the students, Callie's attention wandered elsewhere. Running around a dark room filled with obstacles she could easily trip over was not exactly on the top of her list of things to do, but she would try at least once.

"So... this should be fun, yeah," she asked the person next to her.

Yvette seemed about as enthused as Callie. "It is, how you say? The team building?" she suggested wryly. "And if we are not liking it so much, we can always be finding the hiding place to wait, yes?"

Inez looked over as she buckled on a vest from one of the racks. "Not to be a buzzkill, yo, but if you're going to try and hide in the dark? Might need sunglasses for the whole neon eyes thing." She walked over by Yvette and crouched down next to the smaller girl. "Trust me, this is fun. I used to go a lot when I was a kid. All you need to do is stay low and keep your back to a wall."

From a few feet away, where he was adjusting the straps on his own vest, Julian laughed. "Don't listen to her Yvette, the way to do this is to run around like mad, shooting everything you see, while not getting shot yourself." Julian smiled at the small, red girl then turned to Inez and winked. "Inez, I didn't know you used to play. Want to make a bet about who scores more kills?"

Watching Inez and Julian, Catseye put on a vest and pulled at the straps. "Catseye will kill the most!" she informed them all. "Because Catseye is a sneakycat even when Catseye is a girl!" She'd sat on enough laps while people- mostly Evan- watched violent television or movies so she knew how to use the gun thingy to shoot players and get the kills. "Catseye is the sneakiest player!"

Nearby, Meggan grinned at Catseye's enthusiasm. "We'll see who's craftier when it comes to laser tag! After a pause, her tone grew unsure. "Isn't that what they call it? I think I saw a mention in a magazine once." She had seen a couple of tv shows about these sort of games in the past, but really had no experience with them other than handful of old ads in various magazines she'd seen—still, it would prove to be a great learning experience for her. At the very least, she should be agile enough to do Dance Dance Revolution—not so much with the race car simulations, though.

"Alright guys, once you've got your vest and gun on, come down the stairs into the airlock, and we'll get ready to deploy you into the Battle Zone!" The guide was a little too enthusiastic for this early in the morning. Obviously, attitude was very important in this job. The stairs down were painted black, and then the walls slashed with dayglo paint, and black lit into a lurid glowing tunnel. He tapped Jean-Paul on the shoulder. "The release is filed. Just let me know when everyone is downstairs, and we'll get guys started.

Tatiana was working on tightening the nylon straps on the vest - she'd never played anything like this; not paintball, definitely, and it wasn't like she'd shot a gun. Still, she remembered seeing stuff on Nickelodean when she'd been growing up. She looked over at Inez, who seemed to be the expert (more so then Julian, since she didn't really see how running around could make you anything but a target.) "Can you actually see the lasers?"

"You'll be able to see the little dots on your vests," Angel piped up, gun hoisted on one shoulder, while she twisted her baseball cap around backwards. She looked ready for war. Very cheerful war. "Add another person to the 'used to play a lot' list. Man, though, I prefer paintball. Now that's fun, especially if you can climb trees while doing it." She bounced on the tips of her feet for a moment.

As Julian neared the bottom of the steps, dragging his hand along the dayglo splashes, he looked behind himself at his friends. "Okay, just so we're clear, anyone who beats me gets hot chocolate, on demand, for the next month." He smiled as he entered the staging area, turning his attention back to the game- having no intention of having to make cocoa for anyone.

"Alright Space Marines, into the airlock!" One of the employees called out, and herded them down the stairs and through a sliding door painted in gunmetal grey. The room beyond was small, lit with black lights that made their teeth and any white clothes glow. In the opposite end of the room was another sliding door, this one decorated with futuristic looking red lights, and 'Battle Zone' spelled out on an LCD screen. As they entered, fake smoke started to hiss into the room, sketching odd designs in the black light. To the side, a light came on, and the employee was now standing behind a window, obviously powering up the arena and the vests. He motioned for them all to listen to him.

"We have some rules, so unholster your gun and point it in the air. Repeat after me. I will not jump, roll, or lie down in the Battle Zone. I will fight hard and fight to win. I will not have any physical contact with the other players. In case of a problem, I will stay where I am and call for a Marshal to find and help me." There was a beep and a long powering sound, as the lights on all their vests came on. Some of the students sagged for a moment, and in horror, they watched Yvette's skin suddenly fade from its reddish hue, and the light in her eyes die out, until she looked like a normal girl. The marshal continued.

"I will keep breathing the gas and not be concerned that my powers have just been taken away by the inhibitors hidden in my vest pack. I will play the coming game to win, because if I don't—" The students and staff started to drop from the gas, with the marshal's words echoing. "it will be the very last game I ever play."