The sky slowly darkened as the blazing sun began to set. It was a welcome change to the intense heat that the city had been experiencing lately. Castor watched the people hurrying by, going in and out of City Hall MRT station. Occasionally, a pretty girl would pass by, that made the wait easier. He sighed. It was a boring existence, in a country where nothing really happens. His watch beeped. 1700 hrs it read. They're late, he thought as he took a deep breath. "I'm not late!" a voice called from behind. Castor turned. Ben stood there smiling at him. "Didn't you come by MRT?" Castor asked. Ben shook his head and said," Nope, took a bus." Then looking around continued, " Where are the others?" Just as he spoke, Chee Keong and Vincent walked up to the pair. "Hey, guys." Vincent said. "Where's James?" James walked out of the MRT station. After a quick glance, he spotted his friends, and jogged up to them. "OK, we're all here," James said," Shall we go?" The group started walking toward Marina Square.
Another typical Saturday outing with the gang, Ben thought. It was almost a ritual. The five of them had been classmates in Secondary school and somehow had stuck together ever since. Though each one now was in a different phase of life, still they kept meeting and catching up with one another; as they were doing now. Today, James had convinced the rest to go and try out the new game in Marina Square where players were armed with laser guns, put on sensors and went into a maze to shoot each other. Singaporeans needed such facilities to release their frustrations and live out their Rambo fantasies. The problem was a lack of real fun. "What's the name of that place again?" Ben asked. "It's called Laser Quest," James replied. Ben nodded. The 5 friends continued their walk toward Marina Square.
Ben was on point. The corridor was hazy with the smoke churned out by a machine. The place was dimly lit so that laser shots fired could be easily seen. Following behind him were the rest of the gang. They were the Red team. The 'enemy' was the Blue team. Made up of strangers who were also looking for fun. So far, they had made a few kills and managed to keep a clean slate. Having basic military knowledge helped, Ben thought. The five of them had all been through National Service. And though only Chee Keong was in a combat vocation all the way, each of them had gone through the Basic Military Training Phase. Those on the Blue team were mainly teenagers, kids whose training came from watching gung-ho movies. Ben peeked around the corner. He saw 3 members of the Blue team with their backs toward him. Where are the others? He thought, lying in ambush? Is that possible? Probably, Ben decided, never underestimate your enemy. He turned and told the rest what lay around the corner. James suggested they just go for it, after all it was just a game. "Let them get a few shots at us," he said. So the gang stepped around the corner, guns blazing. Suddenly a bright flash of light engulfed them and blinded them. Pain shot through their bodies. Then all was quiet.
Chee Keong, nicknamed Panda because he was built like one, opened his eyes. The surroundings were quiet, dark, yet the air smelt fresh. It was misty, not the heavy, smelly machine-created smoke. He sat up. The floor was cold and rocky; it had been carpeted a moment ago. Something stirred beside him. He looked down and saw that it was Vincent. "Hey, Vince, wake up." He whispered, not knowing why he didn't want to break the silence. Vincent groaned and pushed himself up. "Where are we?" He asked. Panda shrugged. Vincent and Panda looked around. They were in a cavern of some sort and there was a light in the distance. "This like some science fiction movie," Chee Keong remarked, "Look, there's even a light at the end of the tunnel." Vincent smiled. "Ike-masho?" Vincent asked in Japanese. It was a phrase he was fond of adding since he studied the language. It meant "Shall we go?"Panda shrugged and started toward the light. Both of them realised that they still had their "Laser" guns with them. "Might come in handy," Vincent reasoned. So they carried their equipment with them. As they neared the mouth of the cave, they heard some shouting, as if there was a fight going on. They cautiously peered out of the cave. The warm rays of the sun shone on their faces but they did not have time to appreciate it. Down below, at the foot of the hill they saw James, Castor and Ben running from a group of soldiers clad in what looked like Qing dynasty uniforms. And they were heading toward Vincent and Chee Keong.A thought suddenly hit Vincent and he raised his gun, took aim at the leading soldier. Chee Keong turned and stared at Vincent. "You're kidding." He said. Vincent responded by squeezing the trigger. A burst of light shot out of the gun and hit the soldier in the chest, knocking him off his feet and burning a hole in his uniform. Everybody stopped and stared. Then Vincent let loose a few more shots around the soldiers, kicking up stone and gravel. James and the rest ran up the hill toward the cave while the soldiers picked up the wounded and ran in the opposite direction. The 5 of them peered out of the cave. Nothing seemed to be moving outside. They moved in a little deeper into the cave and settled down.
"How did you do that?" James asked Vince. Vincent shrugged and said, "I don't know. I just thought about the gun being able to fire real laser and squeezed the trigger. It really happened." The five looked at the gun lying on the floor. Ben picked it up from the floor and pointed it toward the mouth of the cave. "You think if I squeeze the trigger this thing'll go off?" Ben asked, looking at the rest of the gang. Their looks told him to go ahead and try it. Gently, Ben squeezed the trigger and the gun jumped in his hand as a beam of light shot out of the cave. Ben put the gun back on the floor. "Well, at least we can defend ourselves for some time, assuming that this gun will run out of power." Ben said. Everyone sat deep in thought trying to make some sense of the events that had transpired.
Suddenly CK got up and thrust his right arm toward the wall of the cave with his palm facing outwards. He looked like he was delivering a blow of some sort. The next thing came as a shock to all present. The wall exploded and scattered bits and pieces of stone all over them. "No, I don't believe it. It's the 'Divine Panda Palm'." Vincent exclaimed. CK looked at the them. "I just thought about it and did it." He said. "Wait. You're telling me that whatever we think of, that's what will happen?" Castor asked. Ben suddenly jumped up and started leaping off the walls of the cave. He took a long leap into the back of the cave and while he was doing a better 'Air Walk' than Michael Jordan, he thrust out his arms in the same fashion as CK. At the far end of the cave, the walls shook and pieces of rock were blown away. Ben landed in a pose a la Wong Fei Hong. This was too good to be true. Suddenly everyone was leaping around blasting rocks out of the wall with their new found skill. "This is incredible." James said, looking at his hands. Vincent looked the others standing on the ground. "Hey, I've been floating here for quite some time but I don't really feel tired." He said. The rest looked up. One by one they leapt up and thought about staying there. They did. Then Castor began to laugh. "Why, what's so funny?" Ben asked. Castor put up his hand like a stop sign and paused to catch his breath, before saying, " I suddenly had this urge to wear my underwear on the outside."
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