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The kiss lasted only a second. Till pushed him away confused, angered, panicked...
The arena fell silent.
Till's eyes were wide with disbelief, his breath caught in his throat as Ivan slowly pulled away. Neither of them noticed the audience anymore. The crowd of aliens, the blinding lights, the screen showing their score—they all faded into distant noise.
Ivan's hands wrapped around Till's neck choking him, he knew death was at his door, he pecked his lips a last time.
Then the gun fired.
A sharp crack echoed through the stadium.
Ivan staggered backwards, a crimson stain blooming across his neck and shoulder instead of his heart. He clenched his teeth into a smile, refusing to fall immediately.
Till yelled, reaching toward him.
"Ivan!"
Before another shot could ring out, every screen in the arena flickered.
ERROR.
The holograms distorted into static.
Music skipped.
The lights flashed violently before plunging the stage into darkness.
A mechanical voice echoed overhead.
"SYSTEM FAILURE. MATCH SUSPENDED. SYSTEM FAILURE. REBOOT IN PROGRESS."
The audience erupted into confused shouting. A loud repetitive alarm filled the whole stage
Alien guards looked around in panic, barking orders over broken communications. Even the drones hovering above the stage twitched erratically before crashing into the floor.
For the first time...
The Stage wasn't in control.
Till dropped to his knees beside Ivan, pressing shaking hands against the wound.
"Stay with me! Don't you dare die on me!"
Ivan gave him the faintest smile.
"So... you finally... called my name..."
Footsteps echoed through the darkness.
Fast.
Confident.
A smoke canister rolled across the stage, exploding into thick gray clouds.
Several guards shouted before collapsing unconscious.
A familiar figure emerged through the smoke with a rifle slung over one shoulder.
Hyuna.
*A bloody bat in her hands a motorcycle next to her*
"Both of you. Move."
Till blinked.
"...Hyuna?"
"We've got maybe thirty seconds before the backup systems come online."
Ivan tried standing but nearly collapsed.
Hyuna clicked her tongue.
"You're heavier than you look."
She threw Ivan's arm over her shoulder while grabbing Till's wrist.
"Help me don't stand there"
The three disappeared backstage as alarms screamed throughout the arena.
*An alien guard appeared Hyuna pulled Till away whispering to his ear*
"Run."
Behind them, the massive screens finally rebooted.
CONTESTANTS NOT FOUND.
SEARCH PROTOCOL INITIATED.
~~~
Hours later...
Rain hammered against rusted metal rooftops far beyond the borders of the Stage.
The city lights were nothing more than distant stars now.
Hyuna pushed open an enormous steel door hidden beneath the remains of an abandoned factory.
Inside was a forgotten underground shelter built long before the Alien Stage existed.
Generators hummed softly.
Old blankets covered makeshift beds, used, ragged, dirty.
Maps filled the walls. Plans written all over the walls, a spaceship to get away from the current planet they were forced to live in was the pan Hyuna had.
Medical supplies sat beside scavenged weapons.
A handful of tired faces looked up from around the room.
Delinquents.
Runaways.
People who had escaped the aliens... somehow.
Just 4 mostly men.
No one spoke.
They simply stared.
Hyuna helped Ivan onto a mattress while another survivor, Mizi immediately began treating his wound.
"He'll live," she muttered after removing the bullet.
Till finally let out the breath he'd been holding.
Only then did the reality hit him.
They had escaped.
For the first time in their lives...
There were no cameras.
No audience.
No judges.
No music.
Just silence.
Hyuna folded her arms.
"Don't celebrate yet."
She pointed toward the cracked doorway leading outside.
Beyond it stretched a dead city swallowed by fog.
Massive alien patrols wandered the streets.
Strange creatures moved between abandoned buildings.
Every trip outside meant risking death.
"If the aliens won't find you..."
She looked each of them in the eye.
"...the world outside probably will."
Somewhere far above the bunker, a distant roar echoed through the ruins.
Till instinctively moved closer to Ivan.
Ivan, pale but conscious, glanced toward him before giving a weak smile.
"Till... We're alive..."
Till didn't reply just looked at him feeling conflicted about what just had happened his feelings mixed, uncertain he just looked at him glad he survived, a roach ran on the floor mizi jumped with a scream.
"AH! WHAT IS THAT"
Hyuna sighed and stepped on it.
"Relax princess, it's just a Roach, harmless"
Mizi looked at her in disgust then went away.
Till was still sitting besides Ivan silently, zoning out, their kiss replaying in his head the gunshot as well... The alarm everything. He could still feel his heart hammering in his chest from panick, he then realized how much he was afraid to lose Ivan, he looked at Ivan a faint smile formed on the corner of his mouth he hesitantly held his hand. Ivan's lips parted he looked surprised, taken aback by his gentle gesture he squeezed his hand and interwined fingers with him their thumbs brushing against their palms, they were unsure what this meant... The concept of loving someone was unknown to them they've never learned what loving someone was or meant. They just stayed in silence holding each other's hand as if silently telling each other they were there, there for each other if they needed it.
Ivan smiled, not forced, raw, real... His snuggle pointed tooth stood out, Till didn't respond just looked at him in the eye, his face softening ever sligthly, he lays besides him the others were either eating, or resting as well, Hyuna looked over at both with a knowing smile and called out the others for dinner, leaving them both in the room they were in alone, giving them space for the rest of the night.