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prologue part 4: no 'i' in team, but an 'i' in win

short chapter today but AYYYY

Munchy

As a baker, you come to realise that the quickest way to a person's heart is through their stomach.

Kokie, Jay and I came to the Main Hall only a few minutes ago, and already I've gone from thirty cookies to two. I'm not so good at making friends, but people are a whole lot easier to talk to if they're chowing down on warm cookies. Funny, huh? I've learned more names than I was expecting to. It seems that everyone's concerned — we've all been duped into thinking that this was supposed to be a solo challenge.

"So... What do we do now?" Kuma dusts her hands off and slips her gloves back on. "There's obviously gonna be some sort of competition, so when do we start brawling?"

"Brawling? Oh, no!" Evie cringes. "I can't fight for the life of me!"

"And this is a brand new outfit," Luna says, gesturing to her shoes. "If these get scuffed, everyone dies."

There's a small smatter of laughter, but the stone-cold look on Luna's face kills it. To be honest, now that it's a competition I've kinda lost the motivation to even be here. If I'd known I'd be fighting for the money, I'd have packed more than baking utensils and cooking books. Maybe I would've brought something I could fight in? Bouffant dresses and aprons don't make for good combat gear. Damn.

"We won't fight," says the guy at the back. He's one of the only ones whose name I didn't catch. I would've liked to know him. His outfit screams 'different' in a strangely enticing way. "Not physically, anyway. Do you really think it's legal to force a group of people to beat eachother for cash? It'll be a makeshift death arena that's definitely gonna catch the eyes of law enforcement."

The girl next to him jumps up. Kio, I think her name was? She asked me for two cookies, offered one to the other guy and ate it before he could take it from her hand. She's kooky. I like her! "Ooh, do you think there are people betting on us?" She waves around to no one in particular, probably hoping to catch the eye of some CCTV camera.

"If this mansion's this far out, something tells me that the owner won't be so happy to attract unwanted attention. They've gone through all the effort of putting this place smack bang in the middle of a dense forest, and it makes sense when you remember that the invitation made it clear that we couldn't bring tech."

I hate that. Something about being in the middle of nowhere without so much as a phone really put me off! But the invitation did say that there'd be a phone here, so at least there's that...

Jay nods. He's fiddling with the ribbon of his top hat, twisting the threads between his finger. "And then the taxis were totally whack. Did anyone's ride actually get them all the way here?"

There's a general agreement of 'No, and it was really annoying.' Obviously no one seems particularly happy about it, no thanks to the gruelling walk that ensued. I dont think I've ever walked for so long, in such agony, in my life.

"Figures. Makes you wonder what's lying in store for us here, huh? No tech, taxi drivers won't even get close, untrustworthy invitation..."

He snaps the thread from his top hat. In a impressive move, he flips his hat high in their air and tilts his head ever-so-slightly to let it drop on his head. He could be a magician with that attitude, like he lives in the spotlight. "I think we're in for a real treat."

It could be magic. As soon as he says that, the lights in the hall go out. Startled murmurs fill the hall, but woven into each voice is an undeniable wave of excitement — it's finally about to start! Even I'm a little pumped up now, even if the lights going out was an unwelcome surprise.