Victoria ‘Vicki’ Rubie was the kind of girl that turned heads wherever she went. Not because she’s particularly beautiful, but because she’s the embodiment of confidence. The short skirts and push-up bras weren’t for anyone’s eyes but her own, and neither was the bright spray tan or the bleach blonde hair she spent way too long styling every morning. Vicki just looked like she never left 2008 because that’s what she enjoyed, no matter how many people told her that she’d be much prettier if she dressed more plainly.
Everyone had a story about Vicki. From taking drunk girls home safely to spending weeks looking for a missing cat, everyone in her small town had been helped by her before. Despite looking like a typical mean girl from a high school movie, Vicki was as kind as she was confident. She spent her weekends volunteering in soup kitchens and animal shelters, and she even got up extra early every morning to help the girls at the children’s hospital do their hair. One of the most common sentences spoken in her hometown was “Thank you, Vicki.” followed by a cheery “No probs! I did it ‘cause I wanted to!”
That’s the kind of girl Victoria ‘Vicki’ Rubie was.
It was a regular Tuesday for Vicki. Before breakfast, she’d done her makeup and checked up on her sponsor children in Indonesia, Ghana, Malaysia, and Mongolia. After that, she taught Chelsea and Roselynn from the pediatric ward how to apply lipgloss without getting it all over their teeth, gifting the nurses some hand-made bedazzled scruchies before heading out. Now, she was buying her daily bubblegum and energy drink from the convenience store.
“Okay, so you’re not gonna belieeeeve this! The bengal tiger I’m sponsoring just had a litter of kittens! How amazing is that?” Vicki rambled cheerfully as the clerk rang up her items. The scent of powder and cheap coconut perfume followed her wherever she went, suffocating her surroundings and the clerk.
The clerk was about to have a coughing fit when the sickly sweet smell just disappeared, and so did Vicki. She was just gone without a trace; the items on the counter were the only evidence that she was even there in the first place. It’s not like she could’ve just walked away; everyone heard the clacking and the clinking of her cheap jewelry whenever she walked. But there was no clacking or clinking, just complete silence.
One moment, Vicki was showing pictures of tiger kittens on her flip phone, and the next, she found herself in a large white space, surrounded by people of all ages and cultures. The place was chaos. The sound of mothers screaming about the location of their children, people praying to whatever god they believed in, and the high-pitched wailing of kids filled the space. One thing they had in common, though, was that they all somehow spoke the same language.
Vicki was totally freaking out, obviously. She had no idea where she was or who these people were, and it seemed like nobody else knew, either. It looked like people had been transported with whatever their body was touching. Vicki had her purse, but other people had more random items. An elderly man was holding a lawnmower, a young boy carried around a carton of eggs, and someone even had a bag of cement. It would be pretty funny if everyone wasn’t having a collective panic attack.
An elderly woman was hunched over near Vicki, grabbing her attention. The woman was clutching her bare chest with her hands, and she looked like she was on the verge of crying. Even in this panicked state, Vicki didn’t think twice as she rushed over to her with the determination of a glittery warrior. She thanked her lucky stars that she had decided to wear a jacket that day as she wrapped her fluffy leopard print jacket around the lady with the kind of grace you only get after fixing many fashion mishaps.
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“You look gorgeous in that jacket, girl! I love your hair!” Vicki whispered when the woman looked up, trying her best to lighten the mood. She had learned that the best thing to do when helping someone through something embarrassing is to not make a big deal out of it, and not making a big deal out of stuff was what she was best at.
“Thank you… sweetheart. You see… I was getting dressed for a date… but then suddenly I was here with all these people…” The woman’s words were slow and shaky with age, but Vicki listened patiently; she always did.
“Oh my god, no way! Is he a hottie? You’re so gorgeous I bet he was telling all his friends about you! I was just paying for bubblegum when I was brought here. Boring, right?” Vicki gave her a cheeky wink (it looked ridiculous with her massive fake lashes) and was about to chat about her tiger cubs before she got cut off by a booming noise.
[WELCOME, HUMANS OF EARTH. YOUR GODS HAVE ANSWERED YOUR CALL.]
The loud space turned silent in an instant as the existence of gods was supposedly being proven. People of all ages, genders, nationalities, and religions looked up to the sky as the voice continued. Vicki had never believed in any god, but even she looked up with the others.
[ALL OF YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY A GOD AS THEIR IDEAL CANDIDATE TO REPRESENT THEM IN THE GAME.]
A chorus of murmurs emerged from the crowd. Were they the chosen ones? What was this game, and did they get to go home when the game was over? The religious cheered and danced in prayer that their god had chosen them. A giant beam of light descended on a man in a prison uniform, gaining everyone’s attention. When the light faded away, the man was twice as big, and his hair was replaced with flowing fire that didn’t seem to hurt him at all.
“HAHAHA!! Praise Kōjin! I feel the POWER you’ve given me! I’ll do whatever you want as long as I can be this powerful!” The man’s now demonic voice bellowed in laughter, making nearby spectators cower in fear. The entire crowd was about to erupt in terror when more and more lights emerged from the sky.
Vicki’s body felt like it was on fire as a beam of dark pink light descended upon her, making all her senses scream out in pain. Humans weren’t supposed to be this close to divine beings, especially not gods themselves, but there was nothing Vicki could do to stop it. Eventually, though, the sensation of being on the surface of the sun faded into the feeling of being submerged in a warm bath as her body transformed itself to accommodate the power of the god that chose her. She wanted to hurl, but she felt like she’d totally get smote to death if she threw up in the presence of her god.
[YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY XōCHIQUETZAL — GODDESS OF WOMEN, ABUNDANCE, HANDICRAFTS, AND FLOWERS.]
[DIVINE MESSAGE]
[Kill the beasts, absorb their meat, and sacrifice their skin. Save the women, save the girls. Let them weave the hair of those who capture them, let them eat the meat of those who beat them, and let them dance in the skin of those who took what they didn’t want to give.
Wear flowers in your hair, wear gold on your head, dress in all that is colorful and beautiful to bring honor to my name. Drink to be merry, dance to spark desire, and fight to protect those who cannot.]
Ah. That seemed really heavy. Yet she resonated deeply with what the goddess had ordered her to do. She had always wanted to help as many people as she could, and if her goddess would give her the power to do that, then she would gladly worship her with all her might. This game thing sounded super scary and like a huuuuuge deal but so did her finals last year and she got through those just fine. She could do this.
The light around the people around her faded one by one, transforming them with the power of their gods. Some barely changed, only getting younger or taller, while others were twisted into the shape of angels or demons. The people who had gone through drastic changes rightfully freaked out. One man who was transformed into a mass of legs couldn’t stop screaming, and a many-eyed angel kept throwing up from motion sickness.
Vicki was glad she didn’t change like these people. Well, she was glad until she looked down at herself.
