Here is the inaugural issue of my new ongoing series! Please let me know what you think in the comments. I will most certainly get better at writing these as time goes on!
“It’s like watching a car accident, that reality TV.” -Enrico Colantoni
The first episode of Arcade’s and Mysterio’s new Murderworld Show opens with the host Arcade himself explaining the rules of the new show and introducing the first season’s round of contestants. Arcade explains that over the course of 12 episodes the contestants 4 superheroes and 6 civilians will have to work together to attempt to escape all the deadly traps and puzzles laid out in front of them or die in the attempt. In case of anyone trying to teleport in or out of the Murderworld compound explosive bomb collars will go off killing everyone immediately. If anyone manages to survive they will be rewarded $50,000 or the equivalent to a charity of their choosing if they are one of the celebrity contestants. As Arcade introduces each of the contestants the camera cuts to them sitting in their starting cells, a themed individual cell for the heroes and a generalised one for the “Powerless Six.” The Contestants are as follows:
- Alison Blaire The Dazzler: We see Dazzler awaken tied to a chair in what appears to be a singing competition show studio with robot judges ready to judge her performance.
- David Haller Legion: Legion is currently being held in what looks like The Danger Room that is going haywire.
- Jacques Duquesne The Swordsman: A circus Big Tent with Jacques being dangled over a vat of acid with a sign billing him as an escape artist nearby.
- Elizabeth Twoyoungmen The Talisman: Trapped in a locked room her talisman has been removed and placed in a trap she has to use her magic to get the timing right and retrieve it
The rest of the contestants get introduced chained together in a slowly flooding room and they are
- Jodi Furman: A nervous looking woman with scars on her face from some previous injury
- Sam Eggers: An angry banker demanding to know how he got here and generally being a millstone
- June Foster: Suburban soccer mom they’re determined to escape with their life
- Charles L’engle: Elderly college professor not the strongest but sharp as a tack
- Orson Hyde: A preacher convinced he’s here for some prior sins sees helping the others escape as his shot at redemption
- Evelyn Smith: A tv producer who got kidnapped when she refused to produce this very show.
Legion escapes the danger room by tapping into some technomancy deactivating the defenses and finds the key hidden in a Wheelchair
Dazzler after realising the “Judges” are going to kill her no matter the quality of her performance fights her way out and almost destroys the cameras in a flash of light
Seconds before his death The Swordsman escapes his trap retrieves his sword and blasts a hole through the door
Elizabeth tapping into raw magic slows down just enough to grab her magical Talisman and with it escapes the room.
At a loss for anyway out their chains and with water rising more and more, The handcuffs suddenly fall off of Jodi as she reveals her secret power over metals and uses this ability to force open the door and free her compatriots. The ten people all follow the hallways from their rooms into a central location. In the middle of this large room is a giant screen with Mysterio’s face on it and before he can speak the words “To Be Continued” show up on the page