*Would you like to play a game*

*Marcus Lauri was a tall, skinny youth. He walked the streets of New York City day in and day out. Most never paid him much attention, almost every teenagers wore black in New York City, they all began to look the same after awhile. He walked with his head down, his red brown eyes watching the cracks the sidewalk. The hood of his black hoodie drawn up, obscuring his face, the tattered edges of the hole on his right knee bounced with every step, the faded black jeans fitting his hips and thighs to the point he would never buy new ones. Pieces of gold tipped brown curls peeked from beneath the hood, curling around the handsome face within. He was truly a dark youth, his face pale from lack of sun.
As he walked the busy streets he passed business men and women, chattering or texting on cellphones, laughing girls who passed him without so much as glance, and many broght store fronts bright with "Buy me" sales. This city stank to him. Stank of pointless conversations, boring school classes, worthless food, parents that were never home, and lonliness he would never willingly admit. Life had become so fast paced all the people had left him behind. He didn't care. All he needed was himself. Himself and his video games. They never left him alone and always cared about him. He didn't need anyone.
He walked to the bus stop under the over pass. Everything was cast in shadows, and made the already chilly day even colder. A women shivered standing afew feet away. She kept eyeing a black homeless man that sat warming his hands by a fire in a trash can. Marcus knew exactly what ran through her mind. He was a mugger, preying on weak women who walked alone. Marcus knew better. He envied the homeless. They had no worries, except surviving. That sounded like a much easier life than the mundane one he had now. He reached into his hoodie and pulled out his black Nintedo DS. After flipping it open he pushed up the power button and looked up at the homeless man. He flinched when he realized the old man was starring directly at him. His eyes were strangely bright for an old man, like he knew something the rest of us didn't. It felt like hours they starred at each other, before finally Marcus broke his gaze to look at the his screen.
It was different. Rather than the bright white start up screen on the top and bottom, both were black. On the top screen white words started to appear, as if they were being typed out. "Would you like to play a game?" it said. Then on the touch screen, "Yes/No" appeared.
Marcus looked up again. The homeless guy was still creepily starring at him, and the women was still shivering eyeing the homeless man. The street was empty except for the three of them, and everything was oddly loud.
He looked back at the screen and pulled out his stylus. Slowly his stylus hovered above the screen before he quickly tapped "Yes."
The sound stopped and he froze. The last thing he remembered was thinking, "My name is Silence." Everything else went blank.

----

The DS slipped from his hand and cracked on the floor as the screen showed the bright white start up screen. The bot crumpled to the floor as his body began convulsing. The women screamed as she saw his eyes roll back into his head. Blood slowly dripped from the side of his mouth as his limbs flailed.
The old homeless man didn't bother with the scene. He just took his cart and wheeled away as the woman screamed for help. [Wish_Alley]

*"BING-BONG, its 'bout time you woke up." A giggle issued in the dark. "Welcome to the world, Silence. My name's Sound. I'm the game guide." The girl whirled in his presence. She was short only four-foot-eleven at the most. She was carrying a cherry-red electric guitar with stickers slapped across it. One read 'yes/no'. There was a black spiked collar with an amethyst hanging from the front. It feel in dip where her collar bone met the neck. Her hair was a vibrant green, with purple bangs. On her head was a pair of goggles silver with green tinted shades. "Did you hear me?... Hello? Eh?.. WAKE UP!" Sound shook the boy violently. "Are listening to me because if you aren't you are going to die and I'll laugh!" Sound yelled her black and red checkered, pleated skirt caught the breeze revealing a pair of black skin tight shorts. She wore a plain white shirt that held to her flat chest and a pair of black suspenders covered in flair. A dark-blue half-jean jacket on top of the shirt and suspenders. Her boots were combat boots, big and clunky. "I HELP RUN THIS GAME!" She slapped the boy a few HP were taken down. "Wake up and find a partner, Silent!" She ordered with an irresistible voice.* [lrs928]

*Silence drifted in darkness. He felt grounded but at the same time felt as if he was floating. Something was tugging at him, like a nagging feeling at the back of his mind. Slowly consciousness came to him. He opened his eyes at the sound of an overpoweringly desirable voice only to receive another slap upon barely opening his eyes.

"Jesus christ!" he hissed grabbing his cheek, which he realized hurt a lot for just being slapped once.

Thats when he caught sight of the oddly bright female and his jaw dropped. She was oddly... cute with all the colors. He cocked his head at her. His head was muddled. Things felt off but he couldn't remember why. He looked around at his surroundings instead.

"What... the hell?" he whispered. [Wish_Alley]

*"Did you even hear a single word I said?" She waited for a response but the 17 year old girl didn't get a response. "I said welcome to the game I'm your guide, Sound. I am pleased to meet you, silence; I am ordering you to find a partner now!" Sound was stubborn. Her eyes burned into his retinas. She called with her siren voice once again. "Find a partner!" She ordered.*[lrs928]

*A smirk crossed Silence's lips as he felt the pull of her voice again. So she was the one calling the shots, huh? She was cute for sure, but a bit pushy. This could work to his advantage. His hand shot out and grabbed her's by the wrist.

"Ok, if you say so. I'll pick you," he said with an innocent smile.
[Wish_Alley]

*Her lips slide into a large crescent moon. White stars shone from her radiant smile; the crescent moon turned into a black hole and an inward suction. "What?" boomed the small rainbow-colored girl. "Wait, I'm not a player I... I've never been the player." It was too late, a bright light over came the two and glittered like the arora borealis. "Too late, eh! I didn't plan on playing I'm supposed to be working. Ah well, I suppose it couldn't hurt to play but know if you lose those points of you will not go back home. It won't be good. You earn more points by winning tournaments and preforming in towns and right now you interrupted me gettin' me double-double!*[lrs928]

"Your what?" Silence said getting to his feet.

He looked around. They were in a town it seemed, like one of those western towns you see in old black and white photographs. People with white masques milled about in old time clothes. It took a few minutes before he realized none of them had any skin showing.

"Wait, where the hell are we, anyway?" he said raising an eyebrow. [Wish_Alley]

"This is the city of River. The river dried up a longtime ago; the water poisoned the soil and the air. Dry winds blow the dirt creating a sandstorms. All the ships land here so there are plenty of pilots that fly about as well as a ton of bar fights. People have to cover up or they'll fall ill. The poison burns the skin. You should get some new duds from Frank. You just have to come with me to café to get my double-double and run my errand. Hurry up your points are declining steadily." She said carelessly.*[lrs928]

"Ships? How can there be ships if there river dried up? Wait, did you just say poison!? What the freak is this place!? And what the hell is a double-double!?" he said losing his earlier bravado as he followed the girl.

The wind was picking up and everybody was leaving the streets. Silence quickly pulled his hood over his face and pulled his sleeves down to cover his hands. People pushed past the two of them as they entered the cafe. By the time they got inside the wind was turning into a tornado of sand. The doors were slammed short with a loud bang. At this point Silence noticed the entire inside of the cafe was steel. The shutters on the windows were slammed shut and every settled down like it was nothing major the world was ending out side (so to speak). [Wish_Alley]

*"Space ships, the ones that go to the stars and fly over water and land. Water ships are far to relic to be used any longer. If you want to win you will always have to be quick." Sound moved to the counter as she jabbered at thirty miles an hour. The birista pushed a cup of coffee at her. She smiled and bounced back over to Silence. "coffee two creams-two sugars, memorize it because I have to have one every morning." She shoved the cup in his hands. "Now that I am late I have to preform." She said with a wink. She moved to the stage as she blew Silence a kiss. The microphone buzzed as she pulled her guitar to her front. The guitar issued a growl and then began its plunder in the punk-rock sound. Then Sound began to sing, all the people in the café fell silent. Her voice mesmerized them. Trapping them under his spell but her eyes fixed on Silence. The points on the other members decreased but Silence's numbers held. She was singing to Silence. "Take the road... to Eldarado to win the fight." She sang.*[lrs928]