FIRST ACT (3)

James was spooked as he saw the man. He stood in the dark of a corner, while smoking a cigarette. It seemed that the smile design on his mask had a small space in between allowing him to smoke without a problem.

The mask had no other features except that detail; even eyes holes, making it very unsettling.

The man wore a long, dark coat with black pants and shoes of the same colour. In his hand was a thick brown book that he looked to be reading.

James finally stood and looked around the place. It looked like an enclosed warehouse with nothing in it except windows and a door at the far end. The walls looked rather crude with chipped paint.

The lighting came from some hanging light bulbs on the ceiling.

The man in the mask suddenly walked up until he reached a certain distance from the people on the floor who were still waking up and struggling to stand.

"Welcome," he said in a particularly masculine voice. "You have qualified and have met the conditions to play a game."

Everyone looked at the man in confusion. They were processing what he had just said while trying to alleviate the heaviness they felt in their bodies.

A certain man in an office shirt and formal brown pants walked sluggishly towards the man in the mask, unveiled annoyance on his face.

"Hey! What the hell is this? Where are we?" he asked.

"You are currently at the venue for a game that you have qualified to participate in," the man in the mask answered.

"Is this some kind of a joke?! Drugging people and hauling them off to who knows where is a serious offense! Get us the hell out of here!" the man in an office shirt suddenly advanced towards the man in the mask.

As he reached within three meters of the man, he struck against what seemed like a transparent barrier!

There was no sound when he knocked against it, but be found himself unable to advance further.

"What the.. What is this?" he said with a look of shock as he attempted to advance a few more times.

The sensation he got from the barrier was unlike anything he had ever felt. It simply stopped him from going forward.

As he pressed his hand against the barrier, a realisation dawned on him.

"W..wait..are you a Super?" he asked with a shaken expression on his face.

As soon as everyone in the building heard the word, they panicked, some even shrieking.

James' eyes widened.

Katie, who struggled to stand started panting in fear.

The idea of having a Super with unknown intentions in the same space as them caused to panic.

"Your movements are currently restricted to the boundary of the game venue. Do you wish to rescind your participation token?" asked the man in the white mask disregarding the man in the office shirt's question.

The man in the office shirt swallowed hard, his disposition shifting immediately. He backtracked a few steps, his eyes gazing at the man warily

"Do you wish to rescind your participation token?" the man in the mask asked again.

"We can choose to not participate in this?"

"Naturally."

The man in the white shirt warily looked at the man in the mask.

James suddenly asked.

"And you will let us leave? Alive?"

No doubt this was the question on everyone's mind. It sounded too good to be true, considering that if this man really was a Super, their lives were in his hands.

The man in the mask turned to James who shuddered at being gazed at by him.

"Naturally. However..." the man said with pause, which made everyone hold their breaths.

"..the participation token will be granted to a random family member of the former participant, forcing them to continue the game on their behalf."

Everyone had their eyes widened.

 Implicating their families in a game they didn't ask for was too low a blow. Many were enraged while some dropped to the floor.

"What kind of sick bullshit is this?!" bellowed a burly man with fiery hair in a crew cut. He pointed his finger at the man in the mask threateningly.

"Why the hell are we even here?! Is this some shitty stunt to get your name out?! Having us play some sort of death game and make people fear you?!"

The man in the mask turned to him and replied in a nonchalant tone.

"The game does not strictly demand any form of murder. All you have do is follow the rules of the game to win," he said.

"Is that right?!" the burly man asked in an unsure tone. "What do we win then?"

"The winners get two prizes."

The man in the mask raised the book in his hand to show its title.

'Rules of the Game.'

"The first prize is one random rule from this book to each winner. The second prize is an offer that will be disclosed only to the winners."

"The hell?!" the burly man blurted in confusion. "The reward is some nonsense from a book?!"

James had his mouth agape, after hearing what the man said.

Their purpose for playing the game was not even clear and the reward for winning was also as vague as it could be.

Katie reached into her purse and hurriedly took out her phone. She turned it on and tried to make a call, only to receive no signal.

"Shit!" she cursed in frustration and bit her thumb while her face looked pale.

"With the basic rules out of the way, allow me to inform you that you have 24 hours before the game begins. The time can be adjusted provided the participants vote on it. You are free to prepare in the meantime," the man in the mask said.

He walked straight to the front door which was open and exited, smoking his cigarette as he went.

A woman with a pale face ran up to the door hoping to somehow go through, but a barrier prevented her from advancing once she was within three meters of it.

"Please let me out! I have a children at home! I'll do anything, please!" she cried.

In everyone's minds, a super villain had abducted them to make a name for himself. Nobody bought anything he said, believing that this was just a game that demanded them to play for their lives.

Their moods were somber. The man in the office had a particularly distressed face as he gnashed his teeth.

'Why?' he thought.

James cursed as he sweat bullets.

'Damn it! 24 hours?! I can't wait that long! I need to get home to granny and fetch her medication as well,' thought James as he gripped his satchel.

'He said we can adjust the time for starting the game if we vote on it, right? I just have to convince everyone to get this over with. But...'

He looked around seeing the different expressions on the people's faces. People tended to choose irrationally while in tight situations. He had a feeling it wasn't going to be that easy...