A Hero In The House of Horrors (Starboy vs ???)

[DSX93]

The night's events replayed in Emilia's mind, from her first step down the stairs to the moment where his breath had grown slow and shallow against her thighs. She was always her own worst critic when it came to her performances: Things would feel right in the moment -- when she's slipped into her role, her thoughts becoming those of her character. But when the cameras were turned off and it was time to return to the real world, she would often wonder.

She's a good actress. She knows that she's a good actress. But she also knows that she could be better. There would always be these little details that would come to mind after. Tiny adjustments that she could've made to be perfect. They were the worst ones, worse than any larger blunder that called for another take. Numerous. Never-ending.

Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to put him out. Maybe she should have been a little crueler. More villainous. Perhaps pushed that point about him being a boy more? Give him a little extra motivation to stick around for the night. Maybe she could've held onto this hold or that for longer. Done this instead...

The circumstances behind this match -- sharing the stage with her sister on grounds that could become so intimate, whilst playing a character who had been built upon an important aspect of herself as a foundation, more than most of the others she'd crafted -- made it worse, planting seeds of self-doubt to go along with it.

Maybe bringing Daeva Asphodel out was itself a mistake.

Ironically, the bite wasn't standing out anymore. Not in that regard.

Was this rational? Probably not. But that didn't stop that internal flow. Who would the world like more when this airs?

Emilia would try to shift her thoughts to the next act. Who amongst The Collective would appear next?

***

The hero stirred. His consciousness returned, his entirely unfamiliar surroundings jarring him awake. Lacramioara, having sat just in front of those bars, rose calmly to her feet as he remembered his predicament, her expression cold.

Who is she?

"Someone who is so far unimpressed with your performance. Not the first time you've heard that, I imagine." Her tongue was like a dagger in the hands of a rogue. A blade handled with finesse, meant to cut, rather than skewer. Without waiting for his response, she would continue: "There is a key in your cell. It won't deliver you to salvation, but if you're able to make use of it here and now, you may find yourself someplace not quite as troublesome.

I'll give you three minutes. Starting now."

[Jaystar]

Well, at least he got an answer. Not in any shape or form that he had envisioned or would have hoped for, though. No clues whatsoever who she was, but mocking of his performance so far in this match, and his career instead. That never felt good - but at least, it immediately made her a rather convincing villain. That at least felt always invigorating for the Lonely Superhero.

Although even if he wasn't exactly lonely now, he was alone in this cell, apparently. And in quick succession, the hero got to hear the challenge he was faced with now. Finding a key? Somewhere in this cell? Promises of a reward extremely vague, yet he had only three minutes time to achieve something?

That was a shame. What Starboy would have really wanted to, and really needed to do first, was to analyze who exactly was this woman, and what was she here to do. And why did she have the ability to comment on his performance so far? Star swore that he had never seen her before... Yet she was adamantly familiar with him?

Then again, situations and challenges like these were the spice of life for a superhero. He just needed to perform.

Still, the supposed timer, if there was one, had probably reached already 2:45, or at least 2:50, before the hero finally seemed to spring into action. It clearly took some time trying to process it all - and things weren't getting any easier now as he had to figure out how to first get himself back up, and then try to find and gain possession of some key while having his wrists still bound behind his back.

Starboy was tempted to protest just a little. "Well, would you mind to free my hands first?" But no. That wasn't the way to go. Obviously, the villainess would have already done so, should she had wished to grant him the privilege.

Thus, a struggle ensued, albeit only with Starboy by himself in the locked up cell. It must had taken at least fifteen seconds, if not thirty for the aspiring hero to finally get himself back up to his two feet, and start taking in his surroundings properly now.

Of course, it was dark. Of course, he could see next to nothing. Of course, he had no idea where any key might had been.

The lucky part was that keys tended to shine any light reaching them. Or at least that's what he guessed?

Star began roaming around the cell, trying to observe any cuts in the walls, holes in the corners, or bumps on the floor where he could find something like a key. But perhaps unsurprisingly, he wasn't detecting even a hint of one.

Eventually, the hero succumbed to the need to get at least an update from the villainess issuing the challenge. "How much time left?"

[DSX93]

"Tick. Tock."

Her

https://youtu.be/knNSdmlf0E0?t=27

was every last bit as dainty as she appeared, her words thickly laced with her Romanian heritage. The thorns of the Sanguinarian Rose would, for the moment, show through her ruby red eyes in particular. And they were indeed like stone: Unmoving, unblinking, capturing every passing moment.

No, she would indeed not be doing any more than that. He's the hero walking inside to face an unknown number of opponents, so he can figure it out. Maybe he has some aces waiting up that proverbial sleeve of his.

"One minute, forty-five seconds." She wasn't actually counting them down, and there wasn't a clock to do it officially, either. Lacramioara wasn't entirely unsporting, however. The key had been placed in a spot where...

"Oh. Right."

She began, her lips curling up on one side, into a taunting smirk...

"The key."

...That would tell him: His failure to locate it was not his, nor was it an accident. She lifted an arm from her side, turning her eyes to her wrist. The spot where it had been kept beneath her detached sleeve. Without even the slightest sense of urgency, she'd produce it and toss it inside the cell.

"Forgive me. When you reach my age, the little details tend to slip your mind." That wouldn't stop her from stating, however, "One minute, thirty seconds."

[Jaystar]

Starboy was becoming increasingly busy inside the cell. The less hints of the key he could see, the more concerned and urgent his movements became... Even if it might had probably looked a bit comical when observing from outside. But the hero had clearly been given a mission, and subconsciously, that kind of thing wasn't anything that Star could have just shrugged off without genuine effort...

1:45. OK, great. So there was still time.

What "Oh. Right."? Had the clock stopped? Well, all the more time for the hero...

What "The key"? That was enough for Star to take a glance at the woman... And that glance was enough to freeze him in his place.

Something wasn't right. She surely hadn't spotted the key, in that case, her gaze would have been towards some spot on the cell floor. Instead, she was clearly adopting some kind of a pose...

...And pulling the key out of her sleeve. What a crooked bas-....villainess!

What was even more crooked though was that the lady simply tossed the key inside the cell without any care, somewhere into the darkness... And Star couldn't tell exactly where. It was enough to earn her another, irritated gaze at her direction after the key toss, one that clearly communicated dissatisfaction with her actions...

...But probably also communicated her that now that her clothing had played such a central part in this turn of events, his eyes had gotten stuck on her for a moment now. Her exquisite red and black attire that dressed her lovely body so perfectly, those sultry stay-ups and those sexy sleeves...

"Shit. Right. The key."

The hero would have also wanted to question her comment about her age - she certainly did not really look to him old at all, or even really that much older than him. But this wasn't the time for that. This was the time to fetch the key.

A desperate search continued. And after quite some effort, Star finally caught a glimpse of it! In desperation, he placed his foot on top of it, trying to use his toes to grab it, and...

And now what?

This was ridiculous. He wasn't going to be able to make use of any key with his toes. Obviously, any lock of the cell was going to be on hand-level.

So, the only option now was to get down again, and hopefully to somehow reach the key with those hands tied behind his back... But needless to say, that was going to be a substantial and tricky effort.

One that his internal clock was saying that he most likely wasn't going to have any time left now, by the time the hero had once again managed to get down on his knees next to the precious item on the floor.

[DSX93]

Eveline had come into this match with every intention of being fair to Starboy. He seemed an honorable sort. And his dedication to the role of a superhero was also of great interest to her, for the same reasons as her little sister and fellow actress. If Emilia hadn't staked her claim to the more sensual arena of this contest, she would've loved to test those waters herself.

And within that lied the one and only thing she had against him. Bearing witness to Emilia's struggles has led Eveline to understand why their father behaved the way he did when she was a teenager. Why he gave the boys she brought home such a hard time. Though she hadn't forgotten the trouble it made for her; enough to make her start dating girls exclusively for a time, for the man was possessed of those old school sensibilities that prevented him from being nearly as harsh. Until he met the woman who would become her wife, that is. Though that came down to following her into what was easily the most dangerous combat sport in the world.

This will require some careful handling. But she didn't have to be nice here. After all, what is a hero without a villain?

"Forty seconds. Perhaps you should've prioritized looking for the key over looking at me." Lacramioara's tone was deliberately dismissive, like the remainder of the time was worthless. Perhaps it would give him the push he needed to do something impressive.

Though his abilities weren't what she would watch the closest, which leads back to what she just called him out for. It was nothing that she could fault him for morally, in this context. But she took note of it, nonetheless. Filing it away quietly, clearly continuing an assessment, but revealing nothing of what was being assessed.

"Twenty seconds."

The number wouldn't throw him off, most likely due to acceptance. Unlocking a cell with both hands behind one's back is already a difficult ask. With the crunch of twenty seconds, however? She saw no need to count down ten seconds later. But he did keep trying and trying, with no less effort in comparison to when he began the search.

"You are tenacious. An admirable trait. Go ahead, then: Your time is up, but that cell was going to open either way."

[Jaystar]

Starboy understood his mission. He also understood the futility of his mission.

But he didn't understand the unfair comments.

Or well, a comment. While the countdown felt unfair, of course, it wasn't. But claiming that he had spent some kind of excessive amount of time simply looking at her? No! That had been... Like, five seconds, at best! That was nothing!

Besides, he could have looked her for much, much longer...

But that was completely besides the point. By "twenty", he had gotten onto his knees next to the key... And now he just needed to flip his body over somewhere in the close vicinity of it. Close enough so that he could grab it, and...

Start a tricky, if not futile struggle to get once again back up to his two feet? No chance. At least with the time that was left.

Finally, the Lonely Superhero could feel his fingers catching the grip of the key, still trapped behind his back under the weight of his own body, surely hidden from the lady's view... But at the same time, unsurprisingly, his time was up.

The hero let out a deep sigh. And then her words caught his attention again.

"Wh-...What do you mean?"

Perhaps a useless question... He could bet that he was going to find out soon enough anyway. But until then, he genuinely had one, rather pressing, question.

Yes, the door was going to open sure enough. But was it going to let him out of the cell... Or lead her in to the cell?

[DSX93]

"Including me, there are four of us here. You've won the intrigue of the others: One wants into your head. Another sees you as a fun playmate. Or maybe "plaything" would be the better word." Lacramioara would let the man chew on that for a moment. Gauge his reaction. She's seen enough to know that he might not make it obvious. Not to her, perhaps. But there are always little tells that betray a person's true desires. Even she isn't exempt from this.

"And Daeva...the girl is practically infatuated. It's been so long since a hero's blood has graced her palette." A revelation that would come with a measure of displeasure that was easily applied in this context. But to anyone but her -- and Emilia -- it would not be clear: Was this aimed at Starboy or Daeva?

Another beat of silence followed as Lacramioara took a closer look at Starboy's face. And seemingly satisfied with what her search turned up, she would remark, "I suppose you do look similar enough to...Nevermind. I'll leave that story for her to tell, if she so chooses." A little hook, placed to play on what Emilia had told her earlier. That belief that they had a moment similar to what she and Serina had when they first met.

Eveline wagered that it happened right after that bite. That silent moment where she sat atop of him. Face-to-face, with both the cameras and microphones failing to capture whatever may have been said or done.

Would curiosity tempt the hero to stay, at least a little longer?

"And that's if you possess the strength to make it through the night. But given that you were utterly trounced by the softest heart of our group..." A taunt thrown out with surgical precision, meant to serve as motivation.

"Or is the feeling mutual?" She began as she approached the bars, a small measure of her previous harshness melting away into something softer. "Perhaps this is a reunion fit for the pages of a novel." Her focus shifted. Or rather, diminished; as she said this, she didn't look at him so much as through him, as though stepping into her own headspace for a moment, thinking aloud.

Eveline was going to hear about this later. She was certain of it.

And Lacramioara would return to the real world before long. "Or perhaps it is as simple as this being your way of...'Getting your jollies'. In which case, I'm sure the others will be happy to help you. To varying degrees. And you can consider me to be your ultimate test, for either path you take.

If you wish to stay, you will need to show that you can handle the physical trials that will come with your residency. And if you truly wish to escape, you will need to earn it. If that is your desire, you can begin by lasting through five minutes of combat against me once you're out of that cell and I've freed your arms." Another pointed pause would follow, giving the hero the time to hopefully clue in to the reality of the situation: That he was effectively being rescued, shown mercy by the villainess who locked him up.

"The choice is yours, Starboy."