Zero Two

The pink-haired shape awoke slowly, taking in her surroundings. It was an unfamiliar and almost empty room, just pink papered walls, an oak wardrobe with a mirror door, and a statue in a corner by the window that was blocked with thick black curtains. One white door led presumably out.

Zero Two frowned at this scene. She couldn't think of any reason how she'd have come to such a strange place. It certainly wasn't a very big room. The Franxx pilot could only conclude she'd been captured by... someone. Or it was some strange exercise?

Studying the strange looking marble nude with just-below shoulder length hair, Zero Two noted it seemed very detailed. It held a startled expression with blank eyes, and the speaker was hanging from its neck, just above the pale white stone breasts. Her study of the statue found the speaker was labelled 'ROOM 1 - DAPHNE', but her confusion over this was soon overruled as the speaker crackled to life.

"Good morning, my six sleepy contestants! You may be confused and bewildered as to where you are... That's perfectly normal. For you see, you have been chosen to play a little game. Some of you may already be familiar with the strange whims of all-powerful beings, or fiction with lazy excuse plots to get people into situations they'd never be in. This is both!"

This hadn't helped her feel any less confused, though had made her sure she was wasting time in studying the statue, so while the speaker rambled on, she tried the door, which was locked tight. Looking out the window, she was baffled to find that it apparently led to literally nothing.

"...Some of you have learned the doors are locked. Others have looked outside. Some of you even did both, rather than listening, which is very rude, but we'll let that pass. As you may have seen, you are nowhere. Those windows are sealed, you can even attempt to break them..."

Zero Two was very tempted to try, preparing to kick at the pane.

"...But you'll simply hurt yourself."

She hopped on her now sore foot, cursing the voice from the speaker.

"The rules of our game are simple. In this labyrinth dimension, your doors lead to new passageways and rooms. Navigate through them, and maybe you'll find the exit. First one there, wins! Of course, you and your fellow contestants aren't alone here. There are of course, obstacles. Traps, monsters, guardians, that sort of thing. And other contestants. Maybe you will wish to use some of the tools and traps to your advantage. Thin out your competition... "

Well ,fighting for survival. Something that made sense at least. Even if why she was here didn't. She checked the wardrobe, only finding a purple dress on a hangar. She had no need for a change of clothes so closed the door.

"...But know that nothing will be fatal here. Any abilities you have, they have been reduced to those of a normal human or locked away. Any attempt to inflict mortal injury, on other contestants, on the monsters, the guardians, or even yourselves, will result in disqualification - only those tools we have provided may be used. If you do not wish to take part, simply touch the statue in your room, but be warned, you'll simply be losing, not leaving. May the best player win!"

The speaker fell silent, and the door clicked. Well, giving in was no option, so Zero Two went over, mindful of traps, and cautiously opened it... to reveal a simple passageway.

She moved into it, realising it led to a few other doors, and a stairwell. Trying a nearby door carefully, she found that it led to a pantry.

And noticed there seemed to be a jar of honey sitting out.

'This is probably some kind of trap,' she thought to herself, cautiously examining the honey. She found a wooden spoon nearby, dipping it in the golden syrupy liquid... and nothing happened.

Sniffing at it, the honey seemed perfectly normal... and gave it a cautious lick before realising it may have been poisoned.

It was not. Instead, it simply began spreading over her tongue.

"Bleh?!" She managed to say in surprise as it flowed out, coating her inner mouth, and then cascading out.

Mildly surprised, she tried to claw at the spreading honey, only for it to stick her hands in place and keep spreading down. Flowing over her skin and up over her red sleeves, she soon felt the mouth-honey start lapping up her nostrils, and realised with a panic she wouldn't be able to breathe.

Except she realised for the remaining few seconds it took to flow over her eyes - she didn't have to any more. It flowed up her forehead, over her headband and horns, and down her pink hair. It flowed down her dress, down her body below, and began pouring down her black tights and reached her white boots a moment later.

And so she was left trapped, encased in the now-solidified honey, wondering why she apparently didn't need to breathe anymore, cyan eyes locked open below an amber encasement, preserved like a mosquito in a sweet amber.

...At least it tasted nice, though.

***

Shanoa

Shanoa had left her starting room, finding four doors and a stairway also. The black-haired Glyph master was frustrated to discover her powers were indeed locked out, and sought to find a weapon quickly. Whoever was doing this had made it clear she was in a fight to escape. Her wardrobe had held nothing but a yellow top and shorts, no useful tools. Her speaker-statue had been short haired, well endowed, and the label on the device had said 'ROOM 2 - FAYE'.

Shanoa, of course, had been quite startled by the strange voice from the speaker, but had simply listened to it, before leaving.

Her first room was simply a small study, careful examination of the books showing no obvious traps... but no obvious benefit to any of them. The second simply contained a clock, the third...

...she slammed the door shut behind her as she heard the hissing of the medusa-like creature within, thankful she'd not met its gaze. The fourth room however was a triumph - a shining golden shield and a silver blade, apparently imbued with ice magics as mist poured from it.

Now armed, she entered the room of the Medusa, using the shield to try and...

"That's not going to help, I'm immune to my own gaze," The Medusa sighed.

"I can still use it to see you!" Shanoa retorted.

"And I can bounce my gaze right off it too."

Shanoa's eyes widened in surprise as a green bolt struck her shield, and bounced right into her eyes, locking them open in granite. The petrification flowed down her body, every inch of skin turning grey below her blue dress. Her long black hair became a dark curtain of rock, soon leaving her a statue clad in her unaffected clothing

Still aware of her fate, the newly-made statue's room-mate moved over.

"Well, we'd best be getting you somewhere else. Can't have contestants cluttering up the place so soon in after all..." The Medusa sighed.

She moved over, pulling the shield away and lifting the new statue up with ease, the icy blade clattering to the floor as it fell from granite fingers. Shanoa's petrified eyes could only watch her own reflection in the golden shield as she was carried off... and then she could only see the hallways the Medusa had carted her through, until she found herself deposited in a garden.

And there it was she had to wait....

***

Asuka

Zero-Two oddly wasn't the only mecha pilot amongst the contestants... but had managed to last longer.

Asuka Langley Sohryu, Pilot of EVA Unit 2, had been extremely angry when she awoke, ranting in her native German before trying to punch the speaker worn by the statue in her room... only to find herself now holding it aloft, nude. Before her sat a baffled green-haired woman, that looked a lot like statue she'd just attacked, come to think of it.

"...Oh no, you should have listened to the whole thing," the woman sighed.

'What? What's happened here? Why am I standing here now and...' Asuka's mind raced with questions, as the woman went over to the wardrobe

And then if her heart wasn't stone, it would have stopped when the woman opened the door, letting her see that where the statue once stood, was now herself - but in stone.

She wanted to scream, but couldn't. She didnt hear the speaker talking onwards, could only watch as the woman withdrew her plugsuit on a hangar from the wardrobe - how had it got there? She was wearing it a second ago!

The woman sighed, put the plugsuit back, and withdrew a green dress.

"Look... Asuka? I'm sorry, but this strange game we're being forced to play had rules, and you fell for the earliest trap. There's nothing more I can do for you," The woman said, studying the speaker to check for the label.

Asuka protested in her mind as the woman left the room a moment later.

'What do you mean? What game? Where are you going?!'

Left to herself, distracted by her panic, she would now serve to hold the speaker for the next contestant to arrive in her room...

***

Y'shtola

The Miqo'te Conjurer had overcome the first hurdles, opting to ignore the room that had contained a small basilisk, grabbing a jade axe from the other room, and heading down the stairs. In the gardens, she'd hidden as first a gorgon carrying a victim wandered in, and then a few moments later a woman in green, presumably another 'contestant' had ran past.

Not wishing to attack another person presumably forced into the strange game, she let the other woman leave, before going on her way.

Five routes led from the gardens, five had led in. The woman had gone down the middle exit. Y'shtola took the furthest left, or would have, had she not been forced to dodge a spear.

"Are you responsible for this?!" A grey-haired woman challenged her, swiping at her with a spear headed with a silver blade.

"No! I'm the same as you, whoever did this wants us to fight!" Y'shotla protested, trying to block the swings.

"A likely story, you're clearly trying to trick me, monster!"

"I'm not a monster!"

"You're clearly not human! I've never seen anything like you before," the woman said, her long cape fluttering.

Y'shtola sighed. Great, so this woman had never seen a Miqo'te. It wasn't a surprise, if the being behind this could bring her here from her own world, no doubt the other contestants came from other worlds and universes.

Reasoning was out - she'd have to fight. Swinging the axe, she struck the cape, and it turned to green crystal, shattering apart - but the woman quickly removed it, letting the rest turn to crystal away from her.

"I don't want to hurt you, please listen," She tried again, only for the woman to parry her own swing and nick her cheek with her spear.

And Y'Sholta froze on the spot, feeling cold numbness spreading. The woman stood back, watching in surprise as her spearhead seemed to melt and crumble away. Y'Sholta guessed that she was turning into the silver it had been.

Indeed, she was - the silver flowing out from around the nick, the small wound already filled in and vanished. Her skin turned to shimmering polished metal, every inch of her light brown flesh turning silvery. Her hair, her ears, everything transformed, leaving her a solid silver statue clad in her white shirt and blue trousers, pigtails dangling down in precious metal.

"I'll take this," the woman huffed, grabbing the axe from her now metal fingers.

Y'Shtola couldn't protest, her mouth now a frozen line of silver.

***

Aranea

Hefting the jade axe aloft, studying the shattered remains of her cape, Aranea Highwind sighed. She'd maybe lost composure there... and the spear had apparently disintegrated after defeating one opponent. Still, an axe was an axe.

Heading down the exitway, she found herself in a room with one other exit - and a large golden sculpture of a hand. She studied it in confusion, noting some lead bars nearby, as well as recesses in a wall beside a caged and locked glass case with a gold sword behind- but the lead bars did nothing. Placing one on the hand, however, she was not surprised to see it turn to gold.

"Figures. Maybe gold bars trigger something?" She mused, collecting the other lead bars to transmute them, only to hear a noise behind her. Axe raised, she saw a red-haired woman in green and white enter, a revolver in her grasp.

"Freeze! STARS!" The woman shouted.

Aranea had no idea what that meant, and moved to attack - but the woman was quick on the draw, firing her pistol three times, and a round hit home, knocking her down as she charged. Aranea looked down to see not a hole in her stomach, but a spreading shimmering transparency. One round had hit the axe, and it too was transforming.

Before her now wide and frozen eyes, she was transformed from head to toe into diamond. She was glittering and transparent, even her leather uniform now precious carbon, lying in surprise staring at her stomach.

The red-haired woman sighed, tossing the gun down.

"...Well, you froze... what the heck is with this place?" She muttered, then walked behind Aranea's now diamond form...

***

Rebecca Chambers

The STARS rookie had not done very well for herself. Her second room had contained a clock, and the redhead had walked over to study it... and upon trying to touch it, activated the trap it held, freezing herself in time.

Fortunately for her, it was merely temporary. It wore off after five minute to her surprise as the clock seemingly jumped ahead.

But she touched it again, wasting another five minutes. She learned her lesson somewhat, thinking all it did was advance the clock ahead instantly with a touch, and retreated. Entering the small storage room that was her fourth door, she was surprised to find what seemed to be a revolver loaded with three diamond-tipped bullets.

"What a weird place this is. Odd clocks, that statue back where I started, now precious gemstone bullets?"

She was about to open another door when she heard voices. Heading down the stairwell, she saw two women fighting, one seemed to have... cat ears? And then, Rebecca was shocked to see the black-leather clad one strike the cat-eared woman, and somehow transform her into metal.

Frozen in surprise, she blinked a moment later, and followed the woman.... only to be forced into firing as the black-leather woman charged. And Rebecca was startled to see that woman also transform... into diamond?

The gun was empty now, and she presumed whatever crazy dream this was... the woman wasn't a problem any more. She walked past, looking at the three gold bars now lying on the hand. She noted the recesses in the wall, the sword behind. And with no ammo left, it may be all she had to defend herself.

Except in grabbing the bars, Rebecca brushed the sculpture - and found her hand freezing. Gasping, she looked down and saw her fingers were gold, and the metal was flowing under her cut-off gloves, up her arms...

She screamed, stumbling and trying to scramble away, but this simply meant the gold flowed up and down her body while she was sitting, turning her into a strange golden statue in green. Staring from gilded eyes, all Rebecca could see was the shimmering diamond form of the woman she'd fought - and the hand of Midas that had turned her into what she now was.

***

Rydia

Had Asuka had patience, and read the speaker's label, she would have seen it say 'ROOM 3 - RYDIA'. Now, of course, it said 'ROOM 3 - ASUKA', and the previous speaker-holder had been freed.

Rydia, now redressed, had a slight advantage in that she'd been through a previous round... but hadn't come from this direction. Still, she ignored the third room, grabbed a small obsidian dagger from the fourth, and was on her way. She reached a garden, spotting the petrified form of Shanoa, leaving it be - she'd touched a victim her last turn, and found herself turned into a marble nude in an instant, being installed in a room with a speaker.

She'd watched dozens arrive and leave, heard the rules dozens of times over... and knew the dagger she had would likely turn anything she struck with it into the same material. She heard a commotion behind her as she left the garden, but ignored it.

And soon found herself in a strange room full of... small black rubber balls? Pondering the scene, she was almost struck by a flying creatures attack. She saw it was a giant wasp-like thing, but from the stinger dripped rubber, dropping in little balls.

Well, mystery solved. She tried to swing the dagger, but with a cry, found herself stabbed by the stinger.

"Ah, no..." She groaned, seeing the black rubber spreading outwards along her flesh.

The transformation made her eyes slip closed, and she was unaware for the moments as her skin turned black and vulcanised. Out it flowed, transforming her into black rubber from head to toe, but that was not the final fate for Rydia this day. The buzzing wasp stabbed the stinger into the back of her rubber head, and the blackness began to fade, turning to pure green. At the same time, her robes transformed also, becoming rubber... and then her sealed eyes opened, revealing them to be black rubber.

The new rubber form of Rydia stood, as the wasp-like creature flew off. The drone it had created now stood, waiting for future contestants, ready to ambush them and hold them for the wasp to make more drones.

***

Oh dear! No winners this time at all. Well, that's a shame. Maybe the next six might have better luck... assuming, unlike Asuka, they don't just ignore the instructions. Or unlike Zero Two they don't let their sweet tooth get the better of them.

Maybe they'll have the misfortune of underestimating the monsters and guardians like Shanoa. Maybe they'll fall prey to other contestants like Y'Shtola, and technically Aranea too. Maybe they'll be careless like Rebecca. Or maybe just unlucky like Rydia on her second try thanks to Asuka.

Who knows?