[IC] - All the World's a Game

[S121]

Chireiden

John smiled at Yuuka and spoke.

"Well isn't that what friends are for? I'll have you know that I take care of my own.", John said to Yuuka.

Once the hug was over, John then looked over to Yukari and spoke.

"True. We did cause a pretty loud commotion.", John said to Yukari as he followed her to Chireiden's exit.

[NeoFox]

Ancient City
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Now that Shade Man was found all that was left was Astro Man and Daniel...

On Jack's radar there was a few red blips... which eventually turned to 20, then to 4..., and finally became 50 blips!? Astro Man was using his trickery to mess with anyone's radar. Astro Man was also hiding in plain sight... yet one wouldn't know because of what Astro Man is doing.

Astro Man was hiding in the black sphere that is his lower body, as well as using a holographic projector to generate to make him appear as a bench to anyone who sees him.

[S121]

Ancient City

Jack was slightly frustrated by the radar jammer. If he couldn't find Astro Man and Daniel, then he would fail. Trying to relax and gather his thoughts, Jack walked over to a nearby bench and sat down.

[NeoFox]

Ancient City
______________

As Jack went to sat down he ended up almost falling through it. As soon as he did the hologram wore off, and Astro Man's entire ruse failed. "Oh dear!" He said as he popped out of the black sphere that is his lower body. "I should run now!" He said as he attempted to fly off.

[S121]

Ancient City

Seeing that the bench was a lie, Jack spun around and lunged at Astro Man with his arms out on front of him, trying to tag him before it was too late.

[NeoFox]

Ancient City
_______________

Astro Man tried to escape, but he ended up getting tagged by the lunging Jack.
"Aw! I can't believe I lost... " He said as he looks at Jack. "Well your friend is left. Find him and you win the prize! If you don't find him he wins! You also have approximately... 15 minutes left..." He said as he flew off.

[S121]

Ancient City

Jack's calm demeanor changed from calm to serious at the time frame. Jack had to hurry. If he didn't win, then Daniel would.

(Okay, Danny-boy. Let's hunt...), Jack thought as he sprinted off, trying to find Daniel...



Meanwhile, Daniel found a truly impressive hiding spot. Daniel was still hiding in the Ancient City, only he was hiding way up top, on the ceiling of the cave. Daniel had climbed the walls of the giant cave and had managed to hold onto some of the stalactites on the very top.

(Let's see him find me up here...), Daniel thought as he looked below him.

Down below, he could see that Jack had found all of the robots, and that he was the only one left. He could see all the Oni, Youkai, Characters, and Spartans partying, not knowing that above them was a Spartan, dangling above their heads. He could also see Jack sprinting through the city, desperately trying to find him. This caused Daniel to slightly smirk as Jack sprinted.

(Oh, Jack. If only you knew that I was hiding above your head.), Daniel thought.

All of a sudden, one of the stalactites Daniel was holding finally gave out from the weight of the 1,350 pound Spartan. Daniel almost fell as it broke, but thanks to his Spartan reflexes, he was quickly able to grab a hold of another stalactite. Unfortunately, the stalactite that broke fell down into the city and crashed against the road. It narrowly missed an Oni below, causing the Oni to look up in the air and shout out a hail of curses at Daniel, drawing Jack's attention to the Oni.

"Huh?", Jack uttered as he followed the Oni's gaze.

That's when Jack saw it. Daniel was up above, dangling from the ceiling of the Ancient City.

"You tricky b*stard...", Jack said in amusement.

Jack then sprinted off towards the nearest wall and began to climb up, taking care to check the rocks' stability, but still rushing before time ran out. After 2 minutes, Jack finally reached the ceiling. Now all he had to do was tag Daniel.

(Aw, crap. I knew that stalactite would come back and bite me in the end...), Daniel thought as he adjusted his weight and prepared to swing across the stalactites.

It didn't take Jack long to swing across the various stalactites on the ceiling. In fact, he was quickly closing the distance between the two, leaving only 20 feet to go. Daniel kept a safe pace as he swung across the stalactites, trying to run the clock down.

(Only 3 minutes to go...), Daniel thought as he started to slowly lose Jack.

This caused Jack to become frustrated. Daniel was proving to be harder to catch than he had anticipated. In order to close the distance again, Jack took desperate measures. Jack held on to two stalactites and shifted his body weight so that his feet were against the stalactites he was holding and forced himself into Sartan Time. All of a sudden, Jack pushed off of them with his legs as hard as he could, rocketing him towards Daniel. Jack noticed that he was falling, but he didn't care. All he wanted was to tag Daniel. As Jack soared horizontally, he began to slowly drop, inching further and further down, watching as the seemingly slowed Daniel inched further and further away, almost out of reach.

(Just a little bit more...), Jack thought as his hand was mere inches away from Daniel's ankle.

Jack was so close to victory that he could taste it,... only to come a little too short. Jack's hand was mere centimeters away from Daniel's foot, but it was not enough. Jack now inched further and further away in a downwards arc as he passed right under Daniel's feet. Jack gritted his teeth in frustration as he saw his mark getting away. It was unacceptable. He was not going to lose so easily, not yet. All of a sudden, Jack turned his body in mid-air, causing him to face his stomach up towards Daniel. In one quick flick of his body, Jack then propelled his legs towards Daniel's foot, leaving him in an upside-down position in the air. Jack had one final chance, he was not going to fail again. Jack's feet inched closer and closer as he fell, leaving his feet inches above Daniel's dangling foot. As soon as the time was right, Jack clamped down on Daniel's ankle with his feet and let out a shout of victory.

Unfortunately, the combined weight of Jack and Daniel was too much for the stalactites to bear, and they snapped under the overwhelming weight, causing both Spartans to fall. Jack and Daniel plummeted to the ground until...



*BOOM!*



The impact sent dust up everywhere, obscuring Jack and Daniel from everyone outside the cloud.

[NeoFox]

Ancient City
________________

As the Robot Masters gathered around the cloud of dust they waited patiently to see who came out on top. Gyro Man was in charge of keeping track of things. He saw how Jack managed to grab Daniel by the ankles.

"Only one minute left... I believe Jack won." Said Gyro Man as he flew above the cloud.

"Don't worry I'll clear the cloud so we can see." Said Air Man as he activated the large fan built into his body to blow away the dust.

[S121]

Ancient City

As the cloud dissipated, Jack and Daniel could be seen, lying rigid. It seemed as if they died from the fall, but after a couple of seconds, their armor eased out of lockdown and they were able to move again.

"Well that sucked...", Daniel muttered as he slowly stood back up.

"Fuuuuuuuuuu*k...", Jack said as he rose to his feet.

After they both patted themselves down, they then looked over to the Robot Masters in front of them.

"That was the most extreme game of Hide-and-Seek ever.", Daniel said in a light-hearted tone.

"War is Hell.", Jack finally said.

"But that was a game of hide and seek...", Daniel said as he looked at Jack in slight confusion.

"Same thing."", Jack said.

[NeoFox]

Ancient City
_____________

After the smoke cleared a few Robot Masters led by Galaxy Man stepped forward. "Congratulations Jack for winning the game! You managed to win with only ten freaking seconds! Now time for your prize! First is the 1,000 US Dollar cash prize!" He said as a panel opened up on Galaxy Man's front side. He then took out a large lump of cash and handed it to Jack.

"Next is a crystal trophy made by Crystal Man!" He said as a large robot with Crystal Man steps forward. Crystal Man examines Jack and Daniel for a few seconds before stepping back. Then within a few seconds Crystal Man managed to create an extremely durable, and well detailed crystal statue for Jack. The statue was roughly the size of a football if not a little smaller. The statue was that of a triumphant Jack standing over a downed Daniel. The detail on the statue was absolutely amazing. It got almost every little detail of Jack and Daniel's armor. Even down to the cuts in Jack's armor.

"Now for the final prize! Either a kiss from the beautiful Splash Woman! Or an autograph from Tengu Man..." Said Galaxy Man as Tengu Man and a mermaid looking robot came forward. The mermaid robot Splash Woman was being cared by Stone Man. While Tengu Man just hovered there in the air.

[S121]

Ancient City

"I guess I'll take the autograph.", Jack said.

[NeoFox]

Ancient City
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Splash Woman pouted at Jack's choice, while Tengu Man laughs arrogantly. "Wise choice sir!" He said as he took out a small photograph of himself. He then took a pen and signed the autograph.

"To my greatest most powerful fan!" - Tengu Man

Once he was done signing the photograph he handed it to Jack and gave a thumbs up to him.

"Boy is he arrogant..." Whispered Splash Woman to Stone Man.

"Tell me about it..." Replied the large stone robot.

[S121]

Ancient City

Jack nodded at Tengu Man, only to hear a familiar voice approaching.

"What the F*CK were you guys thinking!?", Six angrily said to Jack and Daniel.

Jack and Daniel quickly turned over to the angry, helmetless Six and stood up straight, as if they were in boot camp.

"I leave you guys for 20 minutes, and I get reports from the locals that you're playing Tarzan on the cave ceiling! You do realize somebody could have gotten hit by the stalactites, right!?", Six angrily asked Jack and Daniel

"Sorry, Sir. We became too absorbed in the game. It will not happen again.", Daniel said.

"It'd better not, or I'll report you to Halsey!", Six said to Daniel.

After a brief moment, Six took a deep sigh, raised his hand to his face, and massaged his Temples with his middle finger and thumb.

"... Just be careful next time...", Six said to Jack and Daniel.

Six then turned to the Robot Masters and spoke.

"Sorry you had to see this. Sometimes, I feel more like a babysitter than a squad leader.", Six said to the Robot Masters.

[NeoFox]

Ancient City
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"Oh it's okay! Besides we have back up plans to prevent anyone from getting hurt. Quick Man would have gotten anyone out of the way in time with his speed, while Burst Man would have caught any falling stalactites with his Danger Wrap! No one would have gotten hurt unless they purposefully tried to get in the way!" He said as he turns to Quick Man and Burst Man. Galaxy Man gave them a quick glare, causing them both to stand up straight as well. "Right?" Galaxy Man said as both Quick Man and Burst Man nodded their heads in agreement.

[S121]

Ancient City

"Well anyways, we're going to have to go back soon. Partying was not part of the mission, but it was still a nice reward for everyone. I'll be gathering the other Spartans.", Six said to Jack and Daniel as he left.

"Well, looks like this might be goodbye, everyone. That was the most badass game of Hide-and-Seek I have ever played.", Daniel said to the Robot Masters.

"It was a welcome distraction. Thank you.", Jack added.