Virtually Existent

Chapter Thirteen - Enter Lex

Eli Jameson had everything. Money, power, the mind of a genius, with the face and body of a greek god. Lex had been fascinated with Eli since kindergarten, always watching him with a strange curiosity. As she became older he became something else entirely to her. Of course, he never noticed her at all.

Lex's eyes were fixated on Eli as the competitors were lead down. It was all noise, the cheering of the crowd and the announcer's explainations blending together into a white noise. As the barriers fell, the crowd surged out into the grounds.

She took a moment to straighten out of her purple streaked fringe and clear the black strands from her right eye in the few moments she thought that maybe someone would actually come up to her. It was a depressing scene for the competitors that were unknowns. Almost half of the competitors were miserably alone, in a stark contrast to the Nation Entries that had fans who flew in just to see them and the ones that had been featured on the advertisments.

The Nation Entries were being swarmed by people painted entirely in the colours of their homeland, and there were more than a few men being swarmed by teenage girls because of their looks with Eli almost completely obscured. Finally there were the femme fatales, who had a drooling crowd of men surrounding them attempting to cop a feel.

Despite it all, Lex was enjoying her alone time. She was going over her plans and backups as a face she knew all too well approached her. "Hey, Lex..." began her father "I've been a little aggressive in training for... too long."

"Sir?" Lex asked, quickly tucking her fringe behind her ear "Please, honey, relax for a moment." She couldn't help but cringe as her father rested his hands on her shoulders "I want you to know that I love you, and you've already made me proud getting this far. Go and get them, Monkey." After almost an entire year of brutal training, Lex was surprised at what he was saying "Yes, s-, Dad."

The crowd was beginning to disperse as Lex's father was moving her fringe back into place. He gave her the most uncomfortable "encouraging" slap on the back anyone could manage before retreating into the crowd.

Lex cleared her mind as she descended in the elevator. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and focused, immagining dark clouds of negative energy flowing through her body and out of her fingertips and toes.

"Are you comfortable?" the attendant asked, still working on the calibration at the side of the pod "This is fine, thank you," Lex answered with a smile. "Good luck in there, hon," the attendent offered to Lex as she gently sealed the pod's lid shut.