The Problem

It's part of my routine now. I get in the bathroom, strip off my clothes, and before I pull the curtain back, I pull back my fist and punch the shower curtain. The curtain flutters back, revealing what I already know: nothing's behind it. Sometimes I laugh; most of the time, I just roll my eyes at my own stupidity and hop into the shower with the stream of water running down my back.

This morning, there wasn't anything different. I got into the bathroom, brushed my teeth with my new toothbrush, and punched the shower curtain. Only this time, the curtain didn't flutter back to reveal nothing. My fist made contact with something—or really, someone. They screeched, and I heard them stumble, trying and failing to catch their balance on the shower floor. I live alone; there should be no one in my shower except for me. Naturally, I did what any normal human being would do when they realize they're no longer alone in their home. I started wailing on the intruder in my goddamn shower. I didn't bother pushing the curtain out of the way. If anything, it was a benefit to me. It bent around their body, blocking their vision and slowing their movements. They couldn't get away from me.

I'm not going to say that I'm jacked or anything, but I'm not a wimp. I can hold my own in a fight. I battered away at the intruder, hitting them in the stomach, over the head, wherever I could reach. They didn't fight back, which surprised me. Maybe they could, but it didn't matter. They finally lost their balance on the shower floor, where they remained quite still. I ripped away the curtain, ready to see who had invaded my home. Nothing. No one was there. I glanced at my hands, expecting to see them battered, but there wasn't a mark on me. The only sign that anything had happened was that my shower curtain was crumpled, and I'd knocked over my shampoo bottle.

I got into the shower and turned it on. I'd only just started washing the suds out of my hair when I heard the tell-tale squeak of someone opening the bathroom door. I thought for a second I was hearing things, but I saw the dark shadow emerging from the door. I was either planning on running for it or tackling the guy when he made the first move. He punched me right in the face, right through the curtain. Got me right in the nose. I yelped and slid back, barely catching myself when the next blows rained down on me. Dozens of them. I could barely block a kidney strike before the dude went for my face again, all through that damn shower curtain.

I cried, I screamed, but the one time I did, I got punched right in the mouth. I spat out a few teeth, blood spraying the entire shower curtain. I gave up and decided to cover myself, hoping that it would all stop. It all stopped when I got knocked off my feet. I slammed my head into the side of the shower stall, leaving another streak of blood across the tile. It hurt. Everything hurt. Blood poured out of my mouth and circled down the drain in a scarlet tornado as I watched through my swollen eyes. The curtain was ripped away, and I saw my attacker, who had beaten me so brutally.

It was me. 

We then cut to Jovian and Calista getting ice cream, enjoying the view, and soothing their skin in the hot, and glistening sun. 

Jovian feels a slight pain in his hand, and checks it out. 

He looks at the palm of his hand to see it was cut. 

It wasn't any normal cut though, there were words carved into his skin. 

The words were '3 seconds'. 

"Woah... what are these letters?" Jovian asked himself, keeping his voice down so Calista couldn't hear. 

To Jovian's surprise, the '3' carved into his palm seemed to move along his skin, like an ice skater who was performing their tricks in front of a croud. 

The sentence now said '2 seconds'. 

"STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!!" Jovian yelled, attracting a crowd. 

At that exact moment, the crowd could hear a lady screaming utter terror, with the same carvings in her palm. 

As the crowd catched on, they too looked at their palms, with the same carvings. 

The crowd went into a panic, people screaming, and people crying. 

"It's certainly absurd that the carvings are on everyone's palm, but what's the range...?" Jovian confidently asks himself. 

The carving slowly turned into '1 second.' 

"What's going to happen when it reaches zero?" Jovian says, mildly sweating to the point where he didn't notice. 

The carvings disappeared after it reached zero. 

"U-Uh... was that meant to happe-" Jovian says, before being cut off by a loud voice in the local speakers, phones, national television, etc. 

"Greetings all in Queensland." A voice said behind the speaker. 

Jovian's mind instantly struck several questions, 

Who is he behind the speakers? 

Why is this happening? 

What are his intentions? 

"I have placed an invisible barrier around the whole of Queensland, and whoever touches it gets instantly vaporised." 

At first, everyone though it was a load of bullshit until the video camera turned on. 

It showed the mysterious man, who was wearing a mask, and a local farmer that looked like a father. 

"Please, just let me go." The farmer calmly begged, with no fear or concern on his face. 

With the slightest shove, the masked man pushed the farmer into the barrier, instantly vaporising him and sucking his corpse up. 

Everyone screamed in terror, not knowing what to do. 

"You see? This is called an Air Barrier!" The psycho blabbering on, while everyone starts crying and calling their parents on their phones. 

"Disgusting. this pig is fucking vile." Jovian says, clenching his fists, the dark shadows grasping his soul, ready to unleash at any moment. 

"This is known as the 'Queensland Competition, 2024'. I will now present the rules." 

Rule 1: Do not touch the barrier. 

Rule 2: Kill players (people) for points 

Rule 3: Points can be used to add rules to enhance the game so players get eliminated more easily. 

Rule 4: Non-Stand Users = 1 point. 

Rule 5: Stand Users = 10 points. 

"What's a Stand User?" A couple asked. 

"Ah, so the douche has gathered some Stand users and put them in the Queensland Competition..." Jovian says to himself, his teeth gridding, 

Rule 6: Air barrier moves at 1km/h (Can be increased by 75x with rule 3) 

Rule 7: Last one standing wins. 

Rule 8: You have 1 hour to prepare. 

Rule 9: Winner recieves $50,000,000,000 (50 billion AUS) 

"Those are the rules." 

In a flash, I saw everyone's eyes light up with competition after they heard the winning amount. 

"The Queensland Competition starts at 11:00 AM!" 

This guy... 

To Be Continued!