It really didn't hit me until I was done with all that just how much energy I was putting into it. In the heat of the moment, I really hadn't thought about that. There hadn't been any time for it. Or for thinking at all, really. All of my attention had been devoted toward going through the next obstacle, performing the next stunt. I had shut everything else out completely, ignoring it all as just background noise.
But now, after leaving the arena and being guided by one of the assistants to a small room that he assured me was free of any recording devices or anything, I had to sit down on the bench that was sitting up against the wall. I sank that way and breathed, my knees shaking a little. I hadn't even been in any sort of fight, but it still felt like I had gone through the wringer. Oh, it was fun, no question. But it was also a lot of very intense acrobatics and use of my power in a short time. Between all that and the belated understanding of just how many people I was performing in front of, yeah, it was a lot. I had to sit there doing nothing, just staring at the floor for a minute or so.
I wasn't stupid enough to take my helmet and mask off or anything like that, of course. It didn't matter that they insisted there was no way to monitor this room, or how much trouble they would be in if it turned out there actually were cameras. I wasn't willing to take that risk. For all I knew, someone had managed to sneak something in between the time that it was checked last and now. That really would be just my luck. So, as much as I wanted to take all that off and breathe better, I didn't dare. Well, I could and did take just the helmet off at least. I clutched it against my stomach and panted a little bit. I was still very exhausted mentally and physically, but at least I could think.
With my helmet off, I was able to take advantage of the bottled water they had sitting there in a small fridge. God, that tasted good right then. I gulped it down and let out a slow, relieved sigh.
Realizing that I had felt my phone going off repeatedly, I tugged it out and took a look. Oh yeah, I had a bunch of messages from basically everyone back home. Wow, that was a lot. I had multiple messages from everyone on my team, including a few from Qwerty and the Cuddles using phones that Wren had apparently given them, from Amber, Eits, Pack, even one from Cavalcade of all people. And speaking of messages from my team, Paige had sent about a dozen. Everyone wanted to know how I was pulled into that, what had been going through my mind, how it felt, if I was going to participate in even more events or if that was a one time thing, and so on. And, of course, there were a bunch of congratulations. Seriously, some of the messages I read made me blush under that mask. Sure, they were my friends, mostly, so they had to be nice about the whole thing, but still. My face was burning hotter the more I read.
Paige’s messages were a lot more under the lines of wanting to know what I was thinking, if I’d lost my mind, if I had ever even glanced in the general direction of the definition of a vacation, and more. Yet somehow, reading those messages made me blush even more than the complementary ones did.
Okay, that was probably enough of that. There wasn't time to really absorb it all properly. I sent several quick messages, promising to talk more later and explain things a bit better. I also thanked everyone before picking myself up. Right, time to get out of here. My parents were going to be wondering where I was. Rather, where Cassidy was, not Paintball. Though to be fair, they might wonder about that as well. But right now, I just had to make sure they didn't start to connect not being able to find Cassidy-me with Paintball-me now being here. I had to get back.
Of course, as soon as I stood up and went to leave, I found myself face-to-helmet with a man standing in the hall. He was a short, blond guy wearing a blue and gold jumpsuit with Event Staff written across the front. When he saw me, the man extended a hand. “Hey there, the name’s Devon. Think of me as your go-between, your aide, coach, whatever. Anything you don't understand, I'll help with. Anything you need, I’ll go get. Here’s my number.” His hand extended, offering me a card with nothing but his name and the promised phone number. “Call me any time, for anything. I know you’re brand new here so you’ll probably need a bit more than most.”
Honestly, that was a lot of words to be throwing at me all at once at that moment. But I could tell he really did just want to help me understand what was going on and all that, so I took it in stride. Accepting the card, I let out a soft breath before simply asking, “Do they need me for anything right now? Please say no, I kind of need to do something else for a little bit. Uh, personal stuff.”
Devon blinked at that before quickly shaking his head. “Oh, no, you're good for now, no problem. They need you to come back tonight around nine for a few pictures and have some discussion, and so you can turn this in.” He produced a thick, colorful pamphlet and held it out to me. “That's a list and explanation of all the events we're doing this year. They just want you to go through it and see which ones you might be interested in, then let them know tonight. They’ll work out the details beyond that. Believe me, we're pretty accustomed to working with people who have limited time and keep running off to do other, more important things.” That came with a wink. “We know we're just some silly games, but we try to make sure everyone has some fun with it.”
Accepting the pamphlet, I thanked him and promised to come back that evening. He, in turn, gave me directions to the place I was supposed to go for those pictures, and again reminded me to call him if I had any questions or anything. Then he slyly added that I’d made quite the impression. Which only made me blush again, so it was a good thing I’d put the helmet back on.
With that, I quickly headed down that private hallway to get out of the arena. Or at least, I tried to. Except I didn't really think about the fact that there would be a huge crowd (understatement of the century) out in the main foyer around the arena. The place was packed. As soon as I opened the door and saw the sea of people out there, I made a noise of surprise in the back of my throat. How was I supposed to get through them? Maybe I could just paint my way right up to the ceiling and run along that until I found an exit to slip through? Would that be too rude or something?
Before I could think too much about that and come to an actual decision, I heard Devon clearing his throat behind me. When I turned that way and let the door close before anyone could notice me, he pointed to the door at the opposite end of the corridor. “There's a tunnel through there. It'll lead you to an exit in one of the parks nearby. Looks like a locked storage shed. Should be fairly private. We do our best to keep it that way. You can get back in through there anytime you need to. Just flip up the keypad and type in the last four digits of that phone number I gave you. There is security all the way through the tunnel and on the shed, so don’t take your mask off yet.”
Yeah, that was good advice. Thanking him again, I quickly moved that way. Staying away from the crowd was probably for the best. I did enjoy showing off for people, but right then I just wanted to get back to my civilian identity and find Izzy so we could make sure our parents saw us before any sort of suspicions might have settled in. This whole situation was going to be hard enough to keep from spiraling out of control. That voice in the back of my head insisting that agreeing to this had been a stupid mistake that was going to blow up in my face had been getting louder now that the first event was over. But I told that little voice to shut up for awhile and just mind its own business.
Shoving all of that out of my mind as much as I could, I went through the door and followed the tunnel. It was a long one to get all the way to that park, which gave me time to look at my phone once more and type a few more quick messages. I let the others know more about what was going on, and why I had been pulled into the games. I promised that it wasn't going to be a big deal, and that I would let them know whenever I was actually going to be involved in any of that.
While I was at it, I sent Izzy a message asking where she wanted to meet, and telling her where I would be coming from. Then I made my way up the stairs at the end of the tunnel and into an empty room. There was a keypad on this side of the door too, so apparently they weren't taking any chances at all. And there was a very obvious camera in the corner. Which I was pretty sure wasn't the only one. That was just them being polite by making it clear that there wasn't any privacy in here. Which was better than being secretive and trying to catch people, for sure.
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Giving that camera a wave, I punched in the code that Devon had given me. As soon as the light turned green and the helpful, affirmative chirp came, I opened the door and carefully slipped out.
This really was a secluded area of the park, surrounded by trees and set down under a raised hill. I could hear people running around and calling out to each other off in the distance, so I went the other way, deeper into the trees and away from that shed. As soon as I was sure there wasn’t anyone around and I had left any cameras behind, I quickly moved into the thickest part of the trees I could find and changed clothes. Belatedly, I also took a moment to drop into a puddle and then reform into my female-presenting self. Or at least as physically female-presenting as the usual me tended to be. I was just plain old Cassidy again, my costume safely stored away.
With that done, I checked my phone one more time. Izzy had let me know that she would meet me by the hot dog and popcorn stand on the northeast side of the stadium. She was already in line while they were changing out the obstacles to get set for one of the next freestyle challenges. That one I went through had been more about agility, reflexes, that sort of thing. The new one set up would be focused on people showing off how strong and tough they could be.
Between wanting to see that, not wanting my parents to have any reason to be suspicious, and needing to get out of this heat (it was like the surface of the sun out here in the open air), there wasn't any time to waste. I quickly made my way out of the park and back to the arena. I just had to show them my VIP badge to get back inside, and from there, it was easy to find Izzy. She was still waiting in line, and I didn't want to make it seem like I was trying to cut in front of all the people behind her. So, I just stopped there long enough to let the other girl know I was going to grab drinks from the nearby comically overpriced vending machine while she got the food.
I was feeding money into the slot when a voice called out, “Oh thank fuck, someone familiar!”
Blinking in confusion, I turned that way, unsure if the voice was even talking to me. But yes, as soon as I saw the source of it, I knew the words had been directed my way. “Dani?” It was definitely her, striding right up with a backpack slung over one shoulder and fancy-looking binoculars hanging from her neck. Apparently she wasn’t doing that well in the heat here either, given the almost scandalously and definitely distractingly skimpy tank top and shorts she was wearing.
Wiping hand across her brow, Dani gave me a quick smile. “Not only someone familiar, but you found refreshments. You really are a life-saver. Can you believe how fucking hot it is around here? I wandered out of the air conditioned area for like ten minutes trying to find something, and I think I almost died. It’s gotta be a hundred and ten degrees in the goddamn shade.” Her eyes disappeared behind quickly-produced shades. “My l--lucky friends love it, but they’re insane.”
Taking the several bottles of water I had requested from the slot, I offered one to her before taking a deep gulp from my own. Yeah, that definitely hit the spot. “Uh, hey, Dani. I didn’t know you were coming down to this place. I mean, I didn’t know you had any interest in this sort of stuff at all.”
After thanking me and downing about a quarter of the bottle in one swig, the girl shook her head. “Are you kidding? I watch the games every year. I mean, yeah, I never got to see them in person, but now that--ah, my aunt found out I like them, she thought it’d be good for me to have a trip.”
For a couple minutes, the two of us stood there and talked about several of the major events from previous years. She really did know a lot about this stuff, though her favorite competitor in the strength competition, Grigori Aliev, was absolutely gonna get trounced by Victoria Palmers, no matter how much he had been bulking up in the off season. Vics, as she went by, was just too good. She was one of the physically strongest Touched in the world, and definitely the strongest who was actually participating in the games this year. But oh well, Dani would just have to learn how to live with being disappointed once all those competitions were done with.
Soon, Dani started talking about this competition. Which meant she immediately mentioned Paintball, asking if I had known anything about him actually participating this year. For just a second, my paranoid brain tried to start setting off alarm sirens, but she finished by noting that given who my parents were, we probably had some sort of inside track on that whole thing. Right, right, she just thought we’d had a heads up on that thanks to the whole being rich donors thing. That made sense, I could stuff all that terror and panic about potentially being exposed back in the box where it belonged, and get my heart to settle itself back to a regular rhythm.
By that point, Izzy had joined us, and she was the one who quickly answered. “Nuh uh, nobody knew Paintball was gonna compete. I don’t think even Paintball knew until pretty close to time. I heard someone say something about teleporting him down here to replace one of the others.” With a smile, she lifted the tray laden with food and offered it that way. “Hot dog? Nachos?”
Shrugging, Dani took one of the cartons filled with cheese-drenched chips. “Hey thanks. Between you throwing food at me and Cassidy supplying the drink, I’m making out like a bandit.” She gave a low chuckle at her own words before adding, “But seriously, my aunt sent me down here with a crapload of vacation funds, so next time, let me pick up the tab. If we’re all gonna be here for the whole competition anyway, we might as well meet up again, right? Unless I still have cooties.” With a considering frown, she lifted her arm and sniffed the pit. “Am I contagious?”
“I think we’ve been inoculated recently enough,” I replied dryly. “But sure, that sounds cool.” I was, naturally, going to have to find ways of disappearing from Dani’s sight whenever Paintball needed to compete. Which was going to be a whole other thing to add onto the pile of complications. But if I could stay away from my parents without arousing too much suspicion, I was pretty sure I could pull that off too. Especially with Izzy’s help. We’d just deal with it.
From the sound of things, the strength exhibition was about to start up soon, so we started making our way back. Dani had her own seat down in the crowd, but we assured the girl that there wouldn’t be any problem with her joining us up in the box. It wasn’t like we didn’t have enough seats in there, and I felt like I should probably make an appearance in front of Mom and Dad. I really needed to do that as much as possible. Actually, come to think of it, I should probably make a point of disappearing sometimes when Paintball wasn’t competing, just to make sure they didn’t tie those two things together at all. It was just too bad Sierra wasn’t here so we could go the other way and have ‘Cassidy’ be around while Paintball was out on the field.
As soon as we got back to the private box our family had rented out for the duration of the games, I introduced my parents to Dani. Simon had apparently gone off somewhere, so she was spared from meeting him. Mom and Dad greeted her warmly, and immediately insisted that she feel free to come use the box for any of the events, even if we weren't here. They gave her a badge like the ones the rest of us had, and assured her that it was no trouble at all. As Dad put it, us Detroit natives had to stick together through the competition. And through the ridiculous heat.
I was barely paying attention to all that, of course. Izzy and I had already found our way onto the balcony overlooking the arena below. It was time for the big strength exhibition to start. All those other obstacles from before had been removed, and now there was an assortment of heavy objects. It ranged from simple, yet enormous weights, to broken cars and trucks, even a bus. To one side was a firing range where uniformed guys with guns were waiting to help show off how bulletproof some people were, and there was even a length of railroad track set up with a working, reinforced train engine on it ready to literally attempt to plow into anyone who wanted to go that far.
People took the strength competition very seriously, needless to say. And this was just the exhibition, a chance for them to show off for the audience. When it came time for the actual matches, things would really kick up a notch. I couldn’t even imagine the sort of liability waivers and whatnot the competitors for those things had to sign.
Dani joined us, sitting on my other side, opposite from Izzy. Raising those fancy binoculars, she took a long look before lowering them as she gave me a quick grin. “And I thought my seat down there gave a good view. I could get used to this.” Her head turned slightly to glance through the doors and back into the enclosed part of the box, where my parents were having a quiet conversation. “Your folks are pretty cool, you know? They didn’t have to let me come right in. I mean, you barely know me. And they don’t know me at all.”
I offered a shrug. “It’s no big deal. I mean, we’ve got plenty of room. And like my dad said, we’ve gotta stick together. As for not knowing each other, maybe we should fix that.” I still wasn’t sure exactly what was going on between her and Amber, especially with Pack added into the mix, and that wasn’t any of my business. But still, Dani seemed cool.
She, in turn, smiled easily. “You know, that does sound pretty good. And not just because it means I get to spend more time in places like this.
“I can’t wait to get to know you better, Cassidy Evans.”