The Most Dangerous Game

The various monitors lined the wall flickered as the dozens of screens showed various scenes before him. The insides of an abandoned resort, a bunker, beach fronts, wild jungles, and more. Occasionally, he would see the stirring of hidden predators lurking in the shadows, fleeting glimpses of reptilian eyes in the dark, or the scraping of claws on old concrete.

Wanting sat in his chair as he observed all this. This plan had been a year in the making and he wasn’t about to let something as simple as a blind spot ruin it. Once he was certain he had lined the entirety of the island with cameras he crossed off yet another item in a long line of tasks in his list.

Up till now, his plans had been more…Intimate. Him and another, someone to challenge him, make him feel something, feel alive, but it never came. He had thought to increase the depravity of his actions on the other, each more gruesome than the last but still he felt nothing. He found himself at a loss after he made an angel into a stark raving loon, paranoid about everyone and everything. How could he do more than utterly drive a holy man insane? It was then he realized it was not the quality of the deed but the quantity. If one person wasn’t enough, what about 10, 50, or even 100?

So he stepped away and planned what would be his most horrific crime yet. Over the past year, he set up a fake music festival that would take place on a luxurious remote island in the tropics. He tailor-made the advertisement to make the event so extravagant that only rich kids would have a chance of going. In reality, he was sending them to Rapture Island better known as Raptor Island.

Raptor Island used to be the secret lair of a notorious supervillain from the 50s. A mad geneticist obsessed with dinosaurs. He was only found out when his cover operations of running a resort were revealed to be a staging ground for kidnapping tourists. The island has been abandoned ever since but the dinosaurs remain.

Not only would these rich kids have to worry about roaming carnivores, but he had installed numerous death traps throughout the island from the more common landmines and pitfalls to toxic nerve gas. Lastly, he decided he would take a more hands-off approach so that he could oversee what happens on the island and hire a mercenary to act as a ruthless hunter.

There would be no point in just killing these children for the sake of it. After all, he could just blow up their airplane en route. No, for this he would set it up much like The Most Dangerous Game. They will be dropped off at the airstrip and have to cross the entire island to the docks. If they can get there in 3 days then they were free to go. If not well, he supposed the dinosaurs would be eating well.

Vincent Olrick, 21 years old and already knees deep in money laundering schemes and fraud. Amanda was sent his file by one of her contacts in the FBI, all legal of course. She had recently applied to the Supers Information Share Space, a place for the law to come and ask for assistance. Most of the time it meant whoever they were dealing with had some ties to super villain crime. This young man knew one or two Meta's that he kept close for protection.

Amanda tailed him for several weeks. Gathering information and finalized an ironclad case the FBI had started putting together last year. It was time to pick him up. They were going to perp walk him out of his fathers multibillion dollar company when Amanda intercepted an encrypted email sent to his personal. It was a Friday, he always went to work and cut out early. But this morning he was going to be getting on a plane to fly across the world for some... party? She let her contact know on her way to the Airport.

When they landed in Germany she delayed his flight and booked passage. The new plan was to keep an eye on him, gather information, and arrest him when he gets back to the states. The FBI had a thing about jurisdiction and rules. She did too, but was more flexible. Everything would be accomplished, she just didn't want him to disappear before his day in court. The good news was she didn't see any of his goons around.

Inflight she tried to gather all the information about this island he was visiting. Something about it seemed familiar. She wasn't even able to get satellite coverage, the only images she could get dated back to WWII. A digital black hole it seemed. Someone had scrubbed the web, and hard. It almost amazed her that the plane knew where to go.

They landed in some obscure large city somewhere near Brazil and then took another really small plane to the island. She thanked God no one recognized her. The large sunglasses that covered most of her face and boonie hat must have thrown people off.

As she walked off the plan in the small crowd the heat of the island hit her like a wet towel in the face. "Ugh, why do people like going to these places?" She thought as her northern blood started to warm.

Vacation is not something Heroes get to experience very often, tenfold more if they have a grunt to train as well. When word came down from an old colleague about some festival on some tropical island, he knew he’d be a moron if he passed this chance up. The second plane had just landed when his phone buzzed with a text. Opening it, he was met with a photo of a madman holding an alien in a headlock. All his worries washed away from him with this simple photo, any fear of his shop burning down was even worse but now it’s comedic.

Walking out into the crowd, James was instantly hit with a wave of heat that almost made him twitch. Even with his hat on, he could still feel the sun beating down on him from above. Quickly finding a shaded spot and sitting down, he was able to get a good look at the people coming from the airplanes. This still didn’t stop him from getting jump scared as he heard a voice speak up behind him.

“Sir” The voice of his novice apprentice spoke out from behind. “Are you sure we won’t need to keep an eye out for evil-doers during this trip?"

James spun around and stared at his crime-fighting partner, his breathing barely returning to normal as he stood up. “Waldo buddy, how often do I have to tell you?” He reached out and rested a hand on Waldo’s shoulder. “You’re barely my Junior, Cut it out with this ‘Sir’ Shit.” He chuckled to himself as he moved his hand from Waldo’s shoulder to his back before pushing him along with him as he walked.

“We’re on vacation buddy, We don’t have to worry about hero business for now.” He reached down and tapped the bag hanging from his side, “Still brought my gear just to be on the safe side though.”

“Yes Si….Jim, Sorry Jim.”

---

While heat was one thing for her, heat without some form of cold sweet to manage it was a whole new level of hell for Eevi. Tapping the pen on her clipboard she wagered wondering what she had done to deserve such inconvenience. But quickly erased such a stupid and obvious question from her head, such a list was too long after all. Setting down the clipboard, she returned to the pair of binoculars she had hanging from a hook in her roost high in the tree canopies. From the old abandoned tower by what had once been the administrative building for this island she observed and waited for the first sign of the arriving guests for their island entertainment. It was just so boring.

While not a social person whatsoever by any standards of the norm. The “help” provided to her by her current employer was as blank as an ai and may as well have been robots as such. They worked just fine of course. Each command given to them they had followed through with the efficiency of a production line without flaw. It's just that none of them could even be bothered to make good conversation though unless she told them too. There was something unnatural about selective parts of each of their personalities either being overexaggerated to the point of parody or downplayed to near nonexistence. At this point she had taken to naming them.

One in particular had become her point man of sorts. A short, stocky man who looked Levantine to her with his curled dark hair and beard with matching copper-toned skin. She had named him ‘Dirk’. And it was Dirk she spied coming up to her from the jungle to the north of her tower. If he was coming, that meant her task for him and his detachment of helpers had to be finished. Slinging the binoculars over her shoulder and taking the old ladder down the tower, Eevi made her approach to her faithful helper and point of contact with the rest of whatever he was.

"I take it you're finished then Dirk?" With only a nod, Dirk handed Eevi a marked map of the area. Observing the marks she requested, Eevi let a fiendish grin slip. While her employer and Dirk's handler had set up more than enough with all of the traps, cameras, and trackers over every region of the island, she was a quantity over quality kind of lady. And so, at her instruction, she had sent Dirk and his groups into the jungle to add even more than prior in junctions that completely blocked any "safe" routes that had been left open as rat lines of a kind. Maybe even for their targets to navigate by her boss in some morbid competitive spirit? She had no sense of sport or fair play however.

If what she had been informed was true then all of the aid she would have on this island would do as she said without question be it taking a hit for her or walking through a minefield. Surveying the map that had all the updated locations as she had ordered Dirk alone to memorize and oversee the task of on this sole map, she proceeded to the next part of her preparations.

"You and the rest are to now ignore the updates I've had you all make and follow your maps as originally marked. Understood?" Tucking the map into the small shoulder bag opposite her binoculars the quiet and gruff voice of Dirk answered her.

"Yes ma'am. I will spread the word." And without another word, he turned from her, unclipped his radio, and began to deliver her new command as his green camo drab merged into the jungle and disappeared.

"And now we play the waiting game. Tulkaa leikkimään pennut, metsä on syvä ja pimeä." And a dark, malicious smile took her face. She had missed her work so, so very much.

#3724 operating under the main directive and sub directive…

Main Directive: Ensure participants arrive at the location by any means necessary.

Sub Directive #1: Ensure participants are ignorant, calm, and relaxed during travel.

Sub Directive #2: Provide an ongoing live feed and maintain up-to-date information regarding participants.

Sub Directive #3: In the event of unplanned actions and situations that threaten participants' arrival, maintain a network with other bodies to ensure efficient and effective response times.

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“Free refreshments? Snacks?” #3724 said as she pushed a cart full of bottled liquor, water, and various snack foods down the center aisle. She smiled politely as she gave pre-programmed responses to the various questions the participants had. All was well within the expected parameters.

She handed a pack of gummy worms to a young man sitting next to his nervous friend. She wasn’t sure if their friend was nervous with excitement or fear but she updated her search parameters to keep a closer eye on him for the duration of the flight.

“Much appreciate stewardess friend. Glad to see the rumors true and y’all did upgrade from packing peanuts.”

“No thanks necessary, this is an all-expenses paid flight after all.”

#3724 along with its fellow bodies maintained an image of professional normalcy, catering to the needs and whims of the participants for the remainder of the flight.

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As the crowd of rich kids and secret heroes adjusted to the hot climate of Raptor Island the flight crew offered free water bottles and cold towels before standing in front of the crowd, quitting them down.

#3724 felt the presence of The Creator enter its body, the AI chip was unsure how to process the feeling of possession but its directive dictated that this was no cause for alarm. As the malignant spirit settled into #3724’s body the AI chip went dormant until further command was given.

“Attention, attention, if I may have a moment of your time, there is vitally important news. “

"Where’s the bus bro? Shouldn’t it already be here when we landed?” A teenager in a backward baseball cap and sunglasses asked.

Wanting stared at the teen before giving a forced smile.

“I assure you, all the questions you have now will be pointless once I'm done explaining what is happening.”

Wanting gave a small bow, resting his hand on his chest.

“I would like to welcome you all to my island and I would also like to disappoint all of you in saying that there is no festival.“

There were murmurings of confusion amongst the crowd.

“What do you mean no festival? We all paid for it!” Said a young woman in a tank top.

“Quite simply that. No festival, I’ve lied to all of you to have you here today.”

He slowly shook his head tsk’ing at them.

“You kids really should pay more attention to the details in the ads, I did leave clues…In any case, you are all here now and as your host, I wanted to welcome you to my fine island and tell you what will happen next.”

He motioned off the airstrip towards the dense jungle of the island.

“For those of you who don’t know, Rapture Island has another name, Raptor Island. You see, this place used to be the secret lair of an insane scientist who was just obsessed with dinosaurs, so much so that he figured out how to recreate them. The scientist is long dead but his various dinosaurs are still very much alive.”

Numerous people tried texting or calling on their phones but to no avail.

“Oh, I wouldn’t bother trying to contact anyone here, even if you had a satellite phone I’ve installed a scrambling device anyways so stop trying and listen well. I’ve brought you here to this island in the hope of having all of you die horrific and violent deaths but in the interest of making your demise more memorable, I am giving you the courtesy of a heads-up so you are all aware of what you are up against…”

He stared at the crowd with dead seriousness, leaving no hint that he was joking.

“I’ve already mentioned the dinosaurs, but I’ve also starved them for several days so they are quite hungry. Not only that but I have surrounded the entire island with death traps of all kinds, so I would watch where I step. Lastly, there will be a highly skilled mercenary with access to various tools, weaponry, and men, that I’ve paid a fortune to to hunt and skin you alive.”

“Yo- - You can’t do this!

“Some sort of joke!”

“Do you know who my father is?!”

The crowd was in an uproar of near panic as Wanting stared at them calmly. Eventually, he drew a pistol from his coat and fired into the air, quieting the crowd.

“I’m afraid I am quite serious, this is no joke, and while I do know every one of your families, I simply don’t care. Make no mistake, this is not a kidnapping for your family's money or anything like that, I do aim to see you all die here."

One of the participants, a man in a leather jacket rushed at Wanting only to be shot in the shoulder, crumpling to the ground in pain.

“The next shot is fatal.” Wanting said.

It took another minute for the panicked crowd to quiet down before Wanting spoke.

“Now in the interest of fun, I am going to give you a chance at survival. You have 3 days to cross the entirety of my island and reach the docks on the opposite side. Those of you who reach it will find a safe haven with a radio able to call for rescue. For those of you who don’t make it in that time, well, you’ll have to deal with me flooding the entire island with a deadly nerve gas.”

He motioned to the plane.

“Inside the plane, you’ll find enough food to last 3 days, compasses, flashlights, and cyanide pills if you feel like taking that way out. Don’t bother trying to fly the plane, there is no gas.”

He looked back at the crowd, closely examining them.

“Now…I’ve spent months studying this group but I am fallible and there is a likelihood that one if not more of you have superpowers. Feel free to use them but don’t cheat and just fly over everything or help others escape the island entirely. For the more heroic of you, I have hostages I’ll kill if you cheat, and the villainous, well, I’ll find and kill your family.”

The flight crew all drew pistols and placed them against their temples.

“With all that said I truly wish you the best of luck on my island, and am rooting for your success.” 6 gunshots rang out.

The hot air of the island soon eased up as the flight attendants started to hand out bottles of water and cool towels. It was a few minutes till everyone was off the plane and gathered in a small huddled circle as the attendant started to explain what was going on. Amanda was in the back of the crowd, keeping an eye on her mark who was somewhere in the middle. Thanks to her abilities she was confident she could pick him out blindfolded due to her connection to his active cellphone.

When the flight attendant started to talk the whole crowd went silent. "Important news?" Amanda thought, and instantly tried to pull up news channels only to be meet by her minds version of static. "ah, dead zone." She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She could still feel electronics, could sense them in the pockets of the people in front of her, not to mention the many electrical lines and cameras hidden in the trees and ground, nothing out of the ordinary for a resort. But out of signal, that had ramifications she couldn't yet fathom as the woman continued to speak.

No festival? Lured here? Clues? She pulled up imagines of the email sent to Vincent to look at them later, then it hit her. Raptor island? Now she knows why it was so familiar to her. She heard the story before, but at the time of her interest the location of the island was a closely held secret, and once the information was made public, she had little interest in dinosaurs. She was regretting that now as black hued lighting nervously arched between the tips of her fingers.

After she explained the reason for them being brought here the crowd was in commotion. She looked around nervously, trying to connect to the cockpit of the airplane, but with no avail, only static met her as she activated for the automated SOS, she nonetheless kept it active, who knows if it might somehow get through. Instantly she was brought back to reality as a gun shot rang out. Everybody in the small group instinctively duck flinched. Then one young man in the front rushed the attendant. Only to be met with a bullet in the shoulder.

Before she could move the attendant threatened his life. She could hear her heart thumping against her rib cage. A feeling of doubt passed through her body. Could this really be happening? Taken hostage, threatened by a supervillain, told not to "cheat", and given three days to cross an island full of traps, murders, and dinosaurs? Before she could look back at the plane all of the flight crew drew pistols and pointed them at their own heads. After a word of encouragement six shots rang out as blood and brains sprayed across the concrete. Grey matter and brain chunks landed into the crowd causing more commotion. Some screamed. Others began to cry and one ran off.

"Screw this!" One of the young men darted off towards an open path through the island.

"No!" But before the word could fully leave Amanda's mouth, the ground erupted before him blowing him into small bloody chunks. The rest of the people all stood in awe, some started to puke as their bodies went into shock, others ran into the airplane, and still others just stood there, cursing and yelling at the dead bodies of the attendants, asking them how they could to this.

Amanda took a breath. Ran to the boy that had gotten shot, still on the ground and surrounded by his two close friends. After removing her large sunglasses Amanda sat him up.

"My name is Amanda Martin. Known as Shock Heart in New York. I can help you but it'll hurt a little. Are you ok with that?" She asked the injured man.

"Yeah. Just make the pain stop, yo!" He said as tears rolled down his face.

"Can't you just give him something?" A girl next to him said.

Amanda rested her hand on the mans wound and generated a light pulse of lighting through her palm. Slight pain moved through him as the lighting did it's work. He gritted his teeth, but Amanda was able to make the shoulder as good as it was a few moments ago, before he had gotten shot.

"The area is going to be sensitive for a few days. Just try not to over work it ok? I was able to reverse some of the damage, but it makes your cells work overtime, so... take it easy." She tried to explain.

Now, to get a handle of the situation.

"Everyone, please calm down." She stood and lifted her non-bloody hand. "I am a Superhero from New York. My name is Amanda Martin, also known as Shock-Heart. Just stick with me and we should be fine." Most of them looked at her with worry. "You!" She pointed at Vincent. "Go and check on the supplies in the plane, see if they were telling the truth about the food. You three." She pointed another small crowd that looks somewhat confident. "Go and try to gather any supplies that might be in the cockpit, electronics, silverware, anything. Everyone else look for something near by that can be used as a weapon..." They all looked at her dumb founded.

For an instant. One moment. Amanda let her rage burst out. Lighting coursed through her arms and hands and two bults of black hued lighting struck the ground, sending bits of it flying, "NOW!" The people went to work.

"Now... to get a handle on the situation." She took a breath, knelt down, and touched the ground. Reaching for anything electronic. The plane was easy to feel and the electrical lines in the ground were easy enough to 'jump' into. She followed them to several buildings that would be down the road with the crater. Cameras dotted the jungle before them. She let her mind jump down one of the wires, but before she could get too far, pain shot through her mind. "Ah!" Feedback. No doubt a trap for someone of her ability. Whoever this guy was, he was no joke, and also didn't want to be found that easily.

Waldo’s heart dropped as he watched the chaos break out around him. His legs started the jellification process when he felt a tug on his collar. He looked to see his mentor grab the wrong spot as he ran past him toward the plane.
“We’ve practiced this kid. Mask and wrist tool NOW.” was all he heard before he slammed into the ground watching his mentor run up to a group and break up a fight. He got up and reached into his bag. He pulled out and equipped the demanded equipment.


Taking a moment to catch his barrings, Waldo quickly scanned the scene around him. People ran over each other trying to get inside the plane while others ran deeper into the jungle. He only took a step forward before something caught his attention. Looking over, he only saw one of the plane staff lying on the ground. Approaching, he noticed a small pile of destroyed tech blown out of the head. Bending down, he picked out what could only be described as a broken and charred computer chip. After quickly sliding it into his wrist device, Waldo barely had enough time to see the scan process begin before the built-in radio roared to life.
“I said wait your fucking turn” was all he could hear followed by a lot of static. Knowing his mentor, he started picking up the pace as he jogged down the path toward the plane

---

The sound of metal on metal vibrated throughout the air as James slammed his bat into the side of the plane.
“Okay, I’m only going to say this one more time,” he says as he steps forward to make his presence more known. “Everyone calmly back up, let the first responders do their job and take a deep breath as we distribute the rations equally.”
he placed the end of the bat into his left hand as he started to pace slightly.
“I guess I’m gonna have to make another command: No more fighting until we get things moving smoothly.” he raised the bat to point it at a man sitting on the ground with a broken nose and restrained with homemade handcuffs. “Do I make myself clear, Steve?” The man named Steve quickly nodded back.
James popped the bat back onto his shoulder and looked at the crowd with a smile. “Great. Now, unless someone else has any comments or concerns that need to be addressed. I’m going to leave the real leading to my new friend Michelle.” he started his walk through the crowd, he was just about through when he added, “If anyone needs any more of Gearhead’s services, I’ll be looking for my apprentice.”

Beautiful. Beautiful was the word that came to mind as Inkwell listened in on the final message from the flight attendants being delivered to her targets. It fit the situation so well to her. The beautiful way her employer conveyed their situation to them. Their beautifully panicked reaction to said message. And the beauty of her chance to already secure a kill.

While most were shocked and panicking around the plane still, some had already began to take their chances and run into the jungle around them.  One such group, a young man and what she assumed to be his girlfriend, ran hand in hand towards her general area of operation. "Ahhhh young love. Always important to endure hardships such as this to test their bond early." With a feigned nostalgic sigh at the couple, Inkwell capped her supply of ink, placed it in her bag, and climbed down once more from her vantage point. Although it was no doubt that the help she was provided for this mission would already be aware of the landing just as she was, it was time for boss-lady to put the rank and file into action. Unclipping her radio from her overalls, she delivered her orders. "Be alert. The game have already entered the jungle. Weapons free and report each kill." She didn't need a reply. They had heard her and they would follow that to the letter. Now, it was time to work.

Making careful progress through the jungle, Inkwell made deliberate movement through the entrapped, green-maze around her safe plot of land. If the two that had caught her attention had kept up their pace then she should run into them in about a quarter of a mile. With all hopes in the preparation she had put in her looks, then she would catch them off guard enough for an easy kill. Wearing appropriate boots and cargo pants for the jungle but a more "casual" white and blue top with a dark rain coat over that and her bag. She hoped it would come off as something these idiot youths wouldn't pay too much mind to. If anything, she hoped the sight of another "young person" like her would distract enough for any advantage she'd need against her targets.

"Babe. I know you’re scared but we need to keep going." Snapping out of the careful thought she put into looking like a 'hip youth', Inkwell focused her hearing onto the couple she heard ahead through the brush. "It's fucked backed there. It's fucked in here. We both heard those psychos for sure about that. But no fuckin' way there's actual dinosaurs in this shit." But of course. In a world of super heroes and extra-dimensional incursions, dinosaurs are just far too wild for their idea of realism. Inkwell couldn't help but smirk at that thought. These people were so naive. They deserved everything that was coming for them. Taking pause and reviewing herself and her appearance, Inkwell braced for her 'debut' for the job.

"Showtime." Inkwell made an effort then to stumble out of the brush perpendicular to the path they were carrying on that led towards a zone of punji pits that had been dug in a field of some exotic-seeming and beautiful flowers. Putting on her best confused and scared demeanor she jumped and recoiled back at the 'surprise' of seeing the two. "Ohmygoshlikepleasedonthurtme!." With as much acting ability as she could muster, Inkwell threw her hands forward in submission and crouched down in 'fear' towards her unsuspecting prey. Peaking through her fingers she saw the two give each other a cautious look but it was the girl who finally approached.

She was a skinny brunette wearing a large, white, flower-patterned shirt that went down to her thighs and blue leggings. The jungle had already worked a number on the two having scratched her face and cutting her shirt along the forearms. When she was close enough to Inkwell she crouched down and offered her hand. "You're okay. We're from the plane like you." Inkwell still held the act up but cautiously looked up at this girl, maintaining her guarded posture. Seeing the tension she apparently still held, this girl pulled a bracelet off her right arm and offered it to her. It had multiple colored beads with letters on it that once she took it could see they spelt out a name, 'Taylor'. Smiling warmly at her the girl evidently named Taylor continued to speak to her.

"Obviously I'm Taylor. That's my boyfriend Lyle. What should I call you?" At the mention of his name the man behind her gave Inkwell an up nod at her with his chin and a simple 'sup to accompany their awkward, stressful, and tense meeting in the jungle. Regarding the bracelet, Inkwell smiled at Taylor and stood back up. Putting up the appropriate look of gratitude and took her hand.

"Anna" Shaking hands with Taylor, she quickly ended that interaction and crossed the distance towards Lyle. Seemingly wanting a handshake as well. As soon as the man offered his hand however, the visage of 'Anna' dropped from Inkwell. Her hand went from it's open handshake into her more familiar and comfortable finger guns. "Click." Lyle only had time to scrunch his face in confusion at her change before the blow found his leg. "Bang."

With a crack and crunch, the confusion changed instantly to a look of shock and pain the likes of which he had never known. The impact had caught Lyle directly above his kneecap and caved his leg in as badly as any swift, strong kick could've achieved. Collapsing with only one working leg now, Lyle began to scream and cry. Finally bringing noise back to the jungle like Inkwell had been waiting on for the last week. Turning to control the other standing person Inkwell expected to see a stunned girl too shocked at the brutal injury of a loved one to do anything. She found herself pleasantly surprised.

Taylor was running straight at her with the intent of some kind of poorly executed tackle a girl of her lifestyle could try to pull off in such a desperate situation. Inkwell had been in her line of work longer than Taylor's parents had been alive unfortunately for this girl. Stepping aside easily from the attacking rich-girl, Eevi lowered her finger pistol on Taylor as she landed roughly on the ground next to Lyle.

"Atatatata. Easy there Taylor. Lyle needs your attention more than I need your beating." With Taylor glaring up at her, Inkwell put on a very clearly feigned look of pity and concern for the man she had injured and pointed at his knee. "I don't know that his career as a runner can go anywhere after that."

"YOU FUCKING PSYCHO BITCH!" With another lunge at her legs, Taylor tried to tackle her down again. Expecting such action now from the fiery girl, Inkwell delivered a swift kick across her chin. Landing once more in the dirt and mud, Taylor lifted her face to Inkwell, her lip now split open from top to bottom from the blow she received.

Sobbing out a worried plea for his beloved to calm down, Lyle chimed in. "B-b-babe stay down." Looking down at his leg once more, his already sheltered, pale complexion whitened more. "Oh.. oh fuck babe this is really bad. I.. I. c-can't feel my leg." He was a shaking mess now. The shock would set in soon enough. Inkwell had seen it happen countless times to men stronger than this pampered boy.

"Yeah it looks like I got you really good huh Lyle?" Inkwell put a mocking tone over his name and kicked the foot on the same mangled leg. He cried in terrible pain in response to this. "AH! Success! Lyle my good friend your luck is holding.! If you can still feel it that's a good sign!" A sickeningly happy yet sadistic tone had taken her voice at this point as she practically hopped around the two. A very happy predator with fresh prey. "At least I think." Tapping herself on the chin with her free hand, she shrugged off the thought. Why worry about his problem anyways."I'm an expert, just not about THAT so don't quote me on anything with medical professionals or for insurance purposes."

Stopping her circling of the two she resolved to move on. "Let's see if that luck holds for you Lyle." Beginning to bounce her finger guns between the two to the rhythm of a popular nursery rhyme, Inkwell explained her sick game. "Tragedy makes everyone stronger. It helped me and I firmly believe it will help either of you. Now I've got a good feeling about both of you so I want an equal chance here. Miss Taylor you were exceptionally kind to a stranger and that should be rewarded with a chance. Dear Lyle I heard you before we met. You're priorities are correct. You're protecting your loved one while not callously disregarding the others here on the island. It reminds me of people from a VERY long time ago. You're good people as sheltered as you are."

"So I'm going to leave what happens next to chance. You know eenie meenie miney moe? Good. We're playing that. You seem like a loving couple so get your lovey-dovey whatever or not out while I do the rhyme. I am shooting IT" The shock and panic that crossed both of their faces was almost enough to pay for the job her all on it's own. A girl has got to eat unfortunately. The couple quickly took to begging and bargaining. Offering what they could and making comments about her. 'You don't want to do this.' 'We can pay you please just let us go.' etcetera so on and so fourth. But Inkwell didn't care.

"Enten tenten teelikamenten"

Taylor had reached her limits with her. She was furious. "Do you like this is that it? Hurting innocent people like us?"

"Hissun kissun vaapula vissun"

"Well you're sick! Fucking sick and I think you shoul-" before she could finish that thought she was cut off by Lyle's hand on her shoulder. "Taylor, I think she's serious. We should Talk."

"Eelin keelin klot"

Taylor bit her lip in frustration but let out a sigh, she was crying now. "Okay Lyle. I love you. I love seeing you. I love waking up every day knowing you're mine." Letting out a bitter laugh and letting all the tension out of her shoulders as the slouched down, she motioned to him. Biting down a heavy sob. "You're turn silly."

"Viipula vaapula vot"

Choking out a laugh that was shadowed by his shakes of pain, Lyle answered his girlfriend. "I was going to propose to you on this vacation. I know it's only been a year and a half but I believe it when they say you'll know when you know. and I KNOW."

"Eskon saun, piun paun"

Painfully pulling his bag out from behind him, Lyle began to dig through it for something stashed at the bottom. "I've been saving since Jerry's Vegas trip last fall for this." He then produced a beautiful gold ring from a case in his bag.

"Now you're out of the game."

Struggling now with every word because of his injury. Lyle made each one count "T-Taylor Harding. Would-dd you. Make. Me. Ttttthe hap-happiest. THEeee luckiesT. Mmmm... Mmm.. Man in thi-thiss entire god damned world and marry me? Please." He presented the ring forward with one hand and looked her in the eyes, his own now pouring tears freely.

"Puh. Pah. Out of the game. Click"

Taylor nodded. Her own tears matching the flow of her boyfriend's. Smiling at him and sobbing, she raised her head to him and smiled as large as she could. "I Wi-" but was cut off as Inkwell's fingers found the side of her head and Inkwell uttered her distinct word.

"Bang."

And the silence of the jungle returned quickly again.

Wanting watched as the start of his game began to unfold. In the moments after his suicide greeting, he was back in his control room, deep within the island, hidden under the remnants of the resort the older supervillain used.

He had to give some credit to Dr. Saurus. While he may have been a deranged nutcase obsessed with overgrown lizards, he knew how to build an acceptable secret lair. He had to replace almost all the aging tech, but the infrastructure and design were nothing short of high quality and suited his needs well enough.

The children have thus far proven to be boring and dull. Running around, screaming, crying, or rushing off blindly into the jungle in some sort of flight or fight response only to die shortly after. Although there were a few...Abnormalities he noticed as he watched the group from the hidden cameras lining the plane and landing strip.

The first and most peculiar was the presence of a superhero. Wanting knew he should be frustrated and annoyed at this development. After all, he had painstakingly spent months setting the stage and finding the right people. Still, had he not mentioned this possibility happening? That one of them could have superpowers? Besides, in his experience dealing with the world of caped crusaders he had concluded that no matter how well he planned around them, they would always somehow stumble their way into his plans.

The superheroine stepped up to try to lead these hopeless kids, trying to calm and reassure them. It was nice of her to outright state who she was so he didn't have to waste time trying to ID her. Doing a quick search on his supercomputer brought up news articles showcasing the daring heroics of Shockheart the "Protector of New York". She was also the leader of a hero group called Daybreak, interesting. He would have to do more research on her later but he was fairly confident she would try to cheat at his game and wouldn't leave the kids to die so he would wait and see what this big-shot hero would do.

The other peculiar were two men who immediately donned masks and grabbed weapons. They were also trying to restore order amongst the panicked crowd so they were most likely heroes as well. Unfortunately, they were not announcing themselves so he couldn't ID them just yet. Regardless, three heroes have found their way into his game and he would watch them very closely. He wasn't about to let them ruin the fun after all.

He switched her view to the bodycam that Inkwell wore to see what she was up to and was unsurprised to see her playing with her food. Her psychopathic tendencies as he watched her play Eeni Meanie Minie Moe with two unfortunate kids lined up well with the personality profile he had of her. He was pleased to see that she wasn't just a merc who efficiently killed. Had he wanted efficiency he would have just crashed the plane en route. No, he was glad to see that she had a certain cruelty, finding joy in crushing others. She would need that if he was going to continue using her in the future.

He waited for her to be done with her fun before speaking through her earpiece.

"Playing with your food I see... The children are still organizing themselves at the landing strip. Three dead and seventeen remain."

He sent pictures of the 3 heroes to her phone.

"We have surprise guests on my island. Two of them donned masks and weapons, no ID on them yet but I assume heroes given how they are trying to calm the children. The other is Shock Heart, some big-shot hero in New York with electrical powers. I'll give you more information about all of them later. Do with this as you please."

Gearhead’s attention was pulled behind him as he heard a voice yell, "Hey.” He quickly spun around to see another super staring him down. After looking around and pointing to himself, he heard their follow-up.
“By all means my new companion, go get your look around and leave the people with us.” He quickly gave them a cocky salute. “Though if I’m being honest, can’t promise  there won’t be pure shenanigans along the way.”

~~~

Waldo spotted his mentor and quickly made his way over.
“Sir, erm I mean, Gearhead. I found something I think you’ll find interesting.” Waldo poked the slightly older man with increasing urgency. When he couldn’t get his attention, he walked around and started waving both arms in his mentor’s face.
“Hold on Waldo, I’m talking with a new ally.” Waldo only started to turn to look at the woman before he heard a follow-up.  “You know, if it weren’t for Nyoko, I’d probably be making more “flirting” jokes.”
His mentor didn’t even wait for a response from Waldo before he bent down and looked him in the eyes.
“Oh uh, so this theory is very much formulating but it’s a working theory and you always told me to tell you about my working theories so I think it’s better to just tell you about this just in case it goes anywhere which is why I found you ime……” Waldo’s unbreathing speech was cut off as he felt his mentor shove something into his mouth, a cold sensation started flowing inside his mouth as his mentor spoke up again.
“Exe buddy, we’ve been over this. 1: Working theories are nothing to be ashamed of and you should not be nervous. Also 2: you got to work on the long ranting thing, get to the point or you’re getting another popsicle.” Gearhead suddenly shot up as he looked back to their new ally.
“Forgive me, my dear new friend, I almost forgot my manners. I am the Electrifying Gearhead and this little protege of mine is the Captain Homes. Though you might know me better as Lightniningtron (rebranding can be a bitch, am I right?), and him the tech-obsessed EXCALIBYTE!!!!”

Waldo looked around at the people trying their best to survive, he couldn’t help but feel his nerve slowly surface before pushing it back down. He was about to poke his mentor again when a woman comes running up to him freaking out about a bad gash on her arm. Waldo quickly rips off a piece of his right pant near the foot and helps her by wrapping the wound. His nerve was almost gone as he caught his mentor’s eyes watching him as he made the last knot, the smile of pride plastered on the older man’s face stabbed to death whatever nerves he had left. Waldo knew it was going to be a troubling challenge. as long as he had his mentor nearby, he knew things were going to work out.

He quietly sobbed now, his head cast between his arms against the ground. Probably unable to view what had become of her. The gore from what used to be his beloved decorated them both now. The mess of this former person was thankfully hidden enough by the canopy of the jungle for him, but Eevi knew well enough what anyone would see peering past them. The joy of the moment was already gone for her. Her face blank again, she spoke to Lyle. She had a lesson to teach and bait to set out.

"It was something just like this when my parents were killed right before me eyes. By soldiers of a foreign country. Because of your love, because of their love, we sacrifice for others. As well as hate. Now you can understand me better. Now you know loss. Now you know me better than any living soul on this island." Squatting down before him she cocked her head, he hadn't moved at all. "Do you hate me now that you understand me? Does that understanding make the hate less or worse? He didn't respond, too far broken by her reckoning. Sighing, Eevi stood back up and nudged the corpse's foot with her own. "She was a strong woman. A good woman. I am not sorry nor will I ever be. Do not ever forgive me. But, thank me."

Turning away from him, she made her way back into the thick haze of the jungle brush. "Sink or swim Lyle. Let this consume you and join poor Taylor. Or hold onto it and become better than me and take your pound of flesh. If that's your decision, I'm heading ahead to a location with supplies, food, medical, and otherwise. Treat your leg and help the others if you so desire." Remembering a detail of this route, she stopped and spun. There was more salt to add just before she left.  "I don't mean to rub any salt on a fresh wound friend, but you were running straight into a minefield with your partner." Shrugging and turning on her heels, she called out one last time before disappearing from sight. "Really if you think about it you got Taylor killed coming this way no matter what. I saved YOU if you really put a positive spin on it."

Once she was a few minutes away from her first kill, the earpiece she had buzzed to life. Her employer had a message. Following her map towards an old supply bunker she had scouted out earlier, she gave him her attention. Once her phone buzzed she tucked the map under her arm and pulled it from her pocket. Three heroes, two men one woman, had begun to rally and organize the remainder of her quarry at the plane. An annoyed look took her as she furrowed her brow,  'Always with these fucking heroic types.' Just her luck. First her ice cream, now a super powered individual with two potential others in tow.

Placing her finger to her earpiece she spoke to her employer. "If they're a part of the initial population group you hired me to exterminate then they'll die. If they're not and you consider them outliers however... Then they'll die last. I want them to know they failed and that their selfish want for approval and recognition as 'heroes' wasn't enough to save these morons or themselves." Scrolling over her phone, she found her prime target of the three based on their pictures provided.  "I'll kill the shorter, younger male first. If these three know each other then its always most hurtful to start there. A real tragedy and all that."

Stepping cautiously around a pit trap and pulling the fake brush covering she had erected over the door into the bunker, Eevi moved into another plan she had thought of over the last week. Setting the covering down, flattening the grass with weight, she twisted the heavy valve to open the door. Entering inside she found the provisions that had been stocked on the island for herself and the assistance she had, if they even had to eat. Food, water, medical supplies, some of the explosive supplies she had ordered, and what of her ice cream had remained intact enough for her to consume. Grabbing the centermost pint of ice cream from the outer melting heap, she stuffed it into her bag and pulled out a length of strong steel rope from said bag. Tying the rope around a loose plank on one of the boxes with medical supplies, she began the preparation for a trap.

Pulling the line tight, she lead it over to one of the explosives stored in this bunker. A bandolier of grenades. Grabbing one such grenade in the bandolier, though careful to not remove it, she clipped the wire with wire trimmers and fastened it snuggly around the pin of the grenade. After pinning the bandolier in place by pinching it between two other boxes on the floor, Inkwell strategically hid other grenades close to the epicenter of this trap. Pleased enough with her work, she moved deeper into the bunker and headed towards the ladder at the back which climbed out onto the hill this bunker was built into. Climbing up the ladder, she looked back at the door of the bunker, cracked open and only faintly illuminating the dark space, and smiled. She almost regretted not staying to see if someone would trip it and the aftermath of that mistake.

Wanting watched the screens passively as the 2 unknowns all but shouted their names to the kids.

'Well, that makes this easy.' He thought as he did a quick Google search on Gearhead and Excalibyte. There was not much to find about them compared to Shockheart, which wasn't surprising since she was the leader of a team in one of the biggest cities in the world. Gearhead was mentioned in a few news articles and science expos as some sort of tinkerer but he didn't seem to have any major news stories about him. A bargain bin hero that can't stand out from all the other mediocre heroes. Excalibyte has even less about him with the only references about him being within the last few months. A newcomer then. Wanting hoped they still had that blind optimism, it would make it all the better to see him crack as he realizes just what happens when you think you can be the hero...

Wanting stared pensively as he watched Excalibyte try to mask his obvious nerves while his mentor tried to reassure the kids. A deep-seated anger lingered behind his impassive as the heroes calmed the kids down and smiled to themselves at a job well done.

He opened the comlink to Inkwell.

"The 2 other heroes are nobodies, a hero reject and his lackey sidekick, Gearhead and Excalibyte...Feel free to kill Gearhead but leave Excalibyte to me...I want to have a little chat with him. Try to separate them if you can but your main objective remains the same, kill the kids."

Wanting looked back at the screens as Shock Heart ventured off, no doubt in search of his lair. The rest of them remained at the plane, gathering supplies, crying, and comforting each other. He felt enough time had passed for them to come to terms with the situation. If they were going to just huddle down while Shock Heart did all the work then the next days would be boring indeed. Navigating the control panel he released the locking mechanisms of the pens in the treeline closest to the plane. 5 velociraptors slowly crawled out of their now-open cages and turned their heads to the sounds of people in the distance.

Gearhead didn’t have time to respond before he watched them dash into the jungle. After a little spin and pretending to look for her, he looked at his apprentice.

“Are her powers invisibility or super speed? Because that was fast.” He said with the dumbest smile on his face, thus was interrupted by a “No Sir, she has electricity manipulation.”

Gearhead didn’t have time to scorn his apprentice before they heard a monstrous roar. Looking up, they were met with the sight of flying monsters beginning their divebomb attack on the victims we know as “tourists.” Gearhead charged forward and slammed his bat into the skull of one of these Silent P menaces. He spun around just in time to see his partner get attacked by one of the other flying beasts. While the creature crumbled to the ground as if it slammed directly into a brick wall as it slammed into the green barrier, the force still sent Waldo flying back and crashing to the ground next to the bodies of the stewardess. Gearhead just slammed the first step forward to ensure he was alright before he felt his collar being pulled upwards as a Quetzalzoatlus scooped him up and dragged him into the sky.

~~

Waldo’s head was fuzzy as he tried to regain his focus. The screams of the tourists shot him back to full consciousness. Slowly pulling himself to his feet, he quickly tried to keep his nerves deep down and figure out his next move. His next step forward made him pause as his foot crunched down on something hard. He quickly scooped up the object from under his foot, realizing it was one of the guns a stewardess used to blow their brains out. A new idea popped into his head as an excited smile crept across his face. Without thinking another thought, Excalibyte was running around the area and scooping up every gun he could see.
~~

James broke free from his kidnapper and quickly climbed onto their back. Looking out, he could see the island and his ever-stretching jungle. He looked around for any sign of this ‘safe haven.’ when all he could see was nothing but trees and monsters running around, he gave up and looked down just in time for a cracking of lightning to shoot out and crash into something down below.
“That must have been the work of that Shock-Heart chick,” he thought to himself as he reached for his bat. He looked the back of this creature up and down before stopping directly over a spot he assumed to be a key spot of its spinal cord.
“This might kill me but it also might be the best ride of my life.” he pondered. His pondering was abruptly interrupted as he heard something fly by his head. Turning towards the sound, he was able to spot, even for just a moment, another seafoam-colored projectile flying past the creature's wings.

~~

Waldo held back his excitement as he looked up at the sky and watched as two of the fly monsters started to plummet back to the ground. He looked down at the still-smoking gun as the glow faded slightly. His smile almost glowed just as bright.
“It was a long shot but desperate times come with desperate and very illogical measures.” He said as looked back to the sky and saw that the remaining creatures started to flee, all but the big one.

~~
Gearhead had to stop himself from jumping with joy as he felt all the pride in him rush to the surface.
“FUCK YEAH, The Kid did it,” he screamed so loud, it must have echoed across the island. “He pulled off the Tech-bullet maneuver.” A smile and a laugh came as he looked back at the spot and then at his bat.
“If the kid can pull off a dangerous move, Why shouldn’t I?” He said out loud before he pushed a button on his bat, causing a tiny spike to poke out at the bottom of the handle. He quickly grabbed it by the other end and slammed it onto the spot he was analyzing. The creature screamed in pain and shifted before correcting itself.
“See ya on the ground kid, Godspeed until we meet up again.” He thought as he rested his hand on the round end and pumped electricity through the bat, sending electricity through its spine and spreading quickly throughout its body.  The creature screamed once again but this time it gave out something much weaker before it tilted down slightly as it started its descent towards the jungle below. James could only think of one thing to do at a time like this. He looked down below, gripped the bat with both hands and yelled “BOMBS AWAY” as they both started their crash through the treetops.