Obstacle courses

Quin woke up to the smell of donuts. Sitting up on the bench he suddenly felt an aching feeling on the back of his head. As he reached up to feel his head Issac poked him with the gadget. The pain subsided. Issac pulled it back and put it back in his bag.

Quin turned to face him: "Hey. Can I have my glasses bac- ow." Issac shoved his glasses back on his face in his usual aggressive manner. Quin rubbed his eyes: "Shouldn't I be the one who's a little upset right now?"

"How come?" Issac responded shamelessly.

Quin: "Right. Nevermind then."

Issac shrugged: "So what gives?"

"What?"

"If it wasn't the scare you were afraid of then what? Don't tell me you were that worried about your glasses falling off. How clumsy can you get?"

Quin retorted internally: "If that were the case then I should have really been worried about you."

"What was that?"

"I didn't say anything."

"Your face did."

"Let's just say that when I was younger I entered a haunted house that was ten times scarier than usual."

"Okay. So what it traumatized you or something?"

Quin tilted his head: "Not necessarily. Not so much the scares more so what I did because of it."

"Which was?"

"One of the jumpscares may have ended up with a broken nose."

…

"And maybe a dislocated jaw."

"The hell?"

Quin quickly tried to alleviate and explain: "It was completely my fault and I've learned to not do that but it's better to be safe than sorry. Especially since I really want to stay here for the month. Better to not get in trouble too early."

Issac had a blank expression: "You're kidding."

"Nope."

"You were worried about sucker punching the staff?"

"Or you of course." Quin said quickly.

Issac scoffed: "I'd like to see you try."

Quin smiled: "I probably shouldn't then."

Issac sighed: "Whatever. I got what I wanted in the end."

"What would that be? Dragging me by the ankle?"

"No idea what you're talking about."

"Right. Anyway, let's get some donuts!"

After the haunted house it was smooth sailing for Quin. With over a hundred arcade and festival games to compete in, the two were pretty busy the next few days.

Day ten.

Issac and Quin had finally completed all of the park's mini games and were taking a lunch break. Quin stretches: "Ahhh. Finally, those games are fun and all but after a while I swear they started to repeat themselves."

"That's probably because they are repeated. Normally people pick and choose which ones they want to play. Not go down the extremely long line for days straight." Issac was obviously annoyed.

"Maybe but how else would we have collected all those points?"

"If all competitors think that way then maybe it's meant to wane down the competition."

Quin nodded: "That would certainly help. Well as long as it's over. Up next are the courses."

Issac picked up the map. He pointed to a highlighted area: "This area is pretty long. It starts somewhere in the park then circles around the outside."

"So there's a lot of ground to cover."

"That's right. Aside from the GM controlled mini games there's bound to be plenty of hidden and hard to reach proof marks to find."

"I see. So not only will we have to carefully move around, we'll also have to be on a constant look out." Quin chuckled: "It really is turning into a hunt. Something tells me this'll require a lot more physical activity."

"I would hope so."

"Oh? Feeling a bit bored are we?"

"Shut up. So far this has just been a headache."

Quin smiled: "Well then let's hope that they made this part a bit more your pace."

"Whatever."

The two finished their meal and headed to the environment grounds.

Issac: "Alright so since this is a one way we'll just see how far we get then call it a day."

Quin: "That works."

The environment grounds were a wide mix of natural and man made obstacles. All of which eventually lead to a goal with a symbol similar to the one in the haunted house. The farther in you go the more difficult the path gets. There's multiple paths you can take. You basically have to reach as many symbols as possible before the deadline.

Unless there's a GM present most of the paths have no rules. As long as you can get yourself and the symbol clear in the picture the points are yours. The reason for this comes from the symbols being in almost impossible places the further you go. No matter how you choose to reach it, it will require an annoying amount of physical effort. Basically there is no easy route, only a slightly easier way.

Issac and Quin made sure to complete every GM watched path first as they were the easiest to complete. They would then continue through the grounds checking high and low for symbols. Rather than heading straight through they had to continuously check the surroundings. At first this slowed their pace but they eventually got the hang of it.

"So then I was like what the hell is this? I asked for thirty pies and you brought me thirty tarts. I mean I like tarts and it was nice of you to bring me something but if you didn't have pies you could have just said something. I mean I wouldn't have held it against them. It just sucked because I paid for pies and I had already eaten tarts the day before. And nobody wants to repeat a day of tarts. You know what I mean?"

"No."

"Anyway I still ate the tarts but then because of the mix up I also got thirty pies. And honestly after tasting them I realized why they got such good reviews and honestly I didn't even care about the tarts. In the end it was a pretty solid after breakfast snack. Have you ever had a day like that?"

"No."

"I'll take your word for it. But when it does happen just remember that it might end up being worth it. Anyway, that reminds me, shouldn't we get dinner soon? I feel like it's getting around that time- oh look another one!" Quin tossed his bag to Issac who barely caught it.

He had long since spaced out from Quins ramblings. Checking the time he called to Quin who was already climbing up a tree: "Hurry up with that it's already late!"

After a few hours they had created a sort of system. If the symbol required both of them they would both make their way up separately. If it could only be reached by one then the other would hold the bags. Like now once in place the other would pass the camera or take the shot themselves if possible. This was especially useful when water was involved.

Quin put one hand on the symbol and waved: "Alright pass it!"

Issac climbed some rocks and passed the camera up.

"Annnnd got it." With a click Quin took the photo and dropped the camera back down to Issac.

"Alright that's it no more it's time to eat."

Quin nodded: "You got it boss."

Quin checked around for a way down. It's always easier to get up than it is to get down. Issac put the camera away and pulled out the map. After checking their position he put the map away and started walking towards the closest exit into the park. After a few steps a loud thud sounded from behind him.

"Oh goodness."

Issac turned around to find Quin sitting up from the ground: "Uh doc?"

Issac stared at him before questioning: "Why is there a branch sticking out of your stomach?"

"Probably because I hit one on the fall down." After speaking, Quins head also started to bleed: "Well that's not good."

Issac looked up and took a deep breath to calm himself. Why is this guy always so injured? Taking the gadget out of the bag he crouched down near Quin. In two swift motions he yanked out the branch and jabbed the gadget into Quin's leg.

"Ow!" Quin screeched. His wounds started to heal: "Did you just EpiPen me?"

"Oh relax, it's a flat end."

"Uh hello?" Quin grabbed the hand holding the gadget and pulled it away from his leg. What used to be a flat end now had a small needle sticking out of it. Issac went from shocked to confused: "How?"

"You stab me and you're the one asking questions?" Quin stands up dragging Issac with him. He takes the gadget and holds it as the small needle returns to a flat end. He then passes it back to Issac and drags him towards the exit. Issac examines the gadget top to bottom: "There's no needle."

"Not anymore."

"Well what happened?"

"If you're asking for the science behind it I have no idea."

"Tsk. Stupid magic user."

"Oi. Don't count me out so quickly. I just mean I don't know the fine details. Obviously it changed to a needle because you thought of a needle."

"I wasn't thinking of needles."

"Maybe not specifically but you have some first aid training don't you?"

Issac looked suspiciously: "So?"

"So what comes to mind when someone needs a quick dose of medicine? To you, me getting severely injured is about as treatable as an allergy attack isn't it? It could be fatal but usually the fix is right there in your hand."

"I guess."

"It's not the exact same but somewhere you mentally made a connection between them."

"But that doesn't explain why it changed. Doesn't it only work for you?"

"And that's exactly why the needle didn't pop out until after it made contact. It was a team effort." Quin grabbed Issacs arm and forced a high five.

"Just another weird trick to add to your list of weirdness."

"Rude."

"But it's true. Basically you can change its form."

"Yup but just a bit."

"Huh." Issac puts the gadget back in his bag.

"What lost interest?"

Issac didn't respond.

Quins eyes lit up: "Or maybe you think it's super duper cool and don't want to show it."

Issac ignored him.

Quin gasped: "So you do think it's cool! Oh but we're enemies so you can't like anything about me I forgot. That's my bad. I'll do my best so you don't end up being fascinated by me."

Issac stopped moving.

Quin faced him: "What? You want to be friends?"

Issac quietly extended his hand.

"Oh a handshake?"

Quin reached out to grab his hand: "Wow I never would have thought you'd warm up so soo- ahhhh!" As he spoke Issac had twisted around him locking his arm behind his back.

"Ow! Nevermind! Sorry jeez you are so aggressive. It's fine to be interested in technology ahh! You're going to epi me if you break my arm right?"

Issac started moving towards the exit again. Still dragging Quin with one arm.

"Ow okay sorry stop. Wait. Seriously this'll be kind of embarrassing walking through the park like this."

Issac continued to ignore Quin all the way to the exit. He then dragged him all the way to dinner like this. Only letting him go once he stopped talking.

He was planning on letting go sooner but Quins endless ramblings made him hold on longer. In the end it was a battle of perseverance which Quin lost only because the food arrived.

Day 11.

The next day went a lot smoother than the first and the two progressed even farther. Spending the day facing increasingly difficult obstacles both Issac and Quin got to witness just how athletic the other really was. Quin was actually a lot quicker than he looks. And Issac could hold his own strength wise.

It was also a great time to see just how clumsy Quin was. Although clumsy might not be the best word for it. His ability to reach difficult places and get through obstacles was amazing. What was more amazing were the exceedingly random external factors causing him great injury at every turn.

He'd perfectly climb a tree and a branch would break on the way down. He'd scale a cliff and the wind would blow leaves blocking his view causing him to crash. He'd push through water then get tripped up by a fish.

Issac wondered if his bad luck caused his great ability to avoid danger. He could evade and get through everything. But then some miniscule thing would cause some giant catastrophe. You could throw a hundred rocks at him and he could avoid them with ease. But then he'll step on a pebble and break his arm. Truly mystical indeed.