Spectacular World

Hey

"So, what card did you get?" Rowan asked casually.

Hope shrugged and fished the card out of her robes. To be honest, she had basically forgotten all about the strange cards they had been gifted until Rowan brought it up out of the blue. She looked down at the golden card, her eyes tracing over the image of the woman that was on the front of it. "I picked the Athena card. Says it makes me wise or something, I dunno."

"You didn't get the Aphrodite card?" Rowan said, a little shocked.

"I debated it... Am I that predictable?"

Rowan just gave a shrug and chuckled. "I got the Hephaestus card. It says I can make stuff. Still haven't used mine either, though." The tech-based hero turned to look at the other two bodyguards. "How about you guys?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at Claymore and Phoenix.

She had been shocked to see Rowan. The Sub Enforcer member, as it turns out, was also in the Murder Games. More shocking was Kyle. The poor kid had apparently been selected as a player. The two had been surviving for the past few days without food or water and had been on the brink of starvation or dehydration when they came across the city. They apparently managed to steal some of the local clothing and snuck in and had been eating free sample food to survive. They also apparently had run into Intake. Turns out that old villain was running around this place and likely held a massive grudge against her.

Rowan had noticed her walking through the streets and had stalked her all the way to her old hideout. Like her, he had clocked in on the fact that this city was a one-for-one recreation of Oleander. After getting jump scared by him, she had used her enhanced hearing to find out where Phoenix and Claymore were and gathered them.

They all planned to stalk the city and be on the lookout for good spots for the battle, but since this was a direct mirrored version of her city, she already knew this place like the back of her hand. So now they were bunkered down in her old base. This place looked like Oleander City, but it did have a few flaws. Namely the buildings. Pantheon's base was completely empty. The entire building on the outside was a perfect replication, but the inside was just an empty shell.

It wasn't the only building either. Pretty much every major building in the city was totally gutted. The skyscrapers didn't even have other floors and instead were just hollowed out, allowing you to look all the way up them if you entered one. Many of the buildings were being used by the people as homes, though, but all the decorations and furniture in them were provided by the people staying there. It was the same for the underside of the city also. She had tried to enter the sewers or subway stations. There were stairs leading down and manholes, but if you were to remove them or go down the stairs, you'd be met with a wall of dirt.

This city reminded her a lot of a toy or model. From a distance, it looked like a perfect replica, but the longer you looked around, the more you realized that the creator was lazy and took several shortcuts. Still, it did worry her as to why it was here. Why on Earth would someone recreate Oleander? And why do it in such a fantastical world?

"I got the Poseidon card," Phoenix spoke up and caused her thoughts to end as he finally answered Rowan's question. The hero pulled out the golden card that showed off a man holding a trident.

"So it was you who stole it!" Rowan huffed and folded his arms, shooting the other boy a mocking glare. "I tried picking that card, but you beat me to it."

"I tried picking it as well." Hope chuckled.

"I got Zeus," Claymore said casually. "Though, like all of you, I haven't used it!"

They were all seated on the floor of her old base, sitting cross-legged in the box-shaped room. This was one of the buildings that wasn't being used by the public, so for today, at least, it would serve as a good resting place. Come tomorrow night, they'd begin the battle, and all bets would be off. Until then, though, they were going to enjoy each other's company the best they could.