Test The Limits

Helpless

"Now welcome the team from America, Mark and Amy!" A voice announced from near the judges as Mark and Amy skated onto the ice rink, preforming their routine that they had practiced for months. Only everything was wrong, the moves different and executed sloppily at best.

When they finished, Mark dared to look at the audience that had gone silent only to find that the audience wasn't there anymore, as well as the judges. When Mark glanced over at Amy, he realized that she wasn't beside him either.

He was alone.

"Do you really think we'll stay friends after this?" Jack taunted him as he walked out into the ice, Felix walking beside him.

"Guys-"

"You're helpless." Felix sneered.

"Can't even preform your routine correctly." Jack added.

"How do to guys know my routine, I didn't tell either of you!" Mark felt his breath catch in his throat. Why would his friends betray him by watching his routine?

"It's really not that hard." Jack shrugged nonchalantly.

Suddenly from behind Mark could hear footsteps, and before he could react, a hand grabbed the back of his head and propelled him forward towards the glass separating Mark from the empty seats.

"I wanted to win, and you failed me." Mark heard Amy sob before he felt his face hit the glass, pain exploding in his face as he was overtaken by darkness.

Mark practically flung himself out of bed, falling face first onto the thankfully carpeted floor with a muffled thump. His legs were wrapped up in a tangled mess in a bunch of blankets, his hair matted to his forehead with sweat as he gasped for air, trying to regulate his heartbeat. He put a hand to his cheek and felt the bruise he had received from the brawl last night throbbing with pain.

Once Mark calmed down enough, he managed to free his legs and walk over to the table beside his bed and check the time on his phone. It was only one in the morning, meaning that he had only gotten a couple hours of sleep.

He sighed as he pocketed his phone, taking the keys to the car he rented as well before changing out of his white t-shirt and red fuzzy flannel pants into a pair of black sweatpants, black t-shirt and his light gray hoodie. Once he finished putting on his tennis shoes, he took his bag of ice skating equipment and exited the room as quietly as he could, gently closing the door.

Only to remember that he forgot the room key to get back in.

He groaned softly in annoyance, deciding that he probably wouldn't need it as he walked down the hallway and into the elevator.

He wasn't the only one there.

Mark jumped in surprise when he realized that Jack was standing the elevator, his attention fixated on his phone before snapping up to look at him.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Jack smiled sympathetically, turning his phone off before sticking it into his blue hoodie pocket.

"Nightmare. You?" Mark asked.

"Nah, just restless." Jack answered wearily, covering his mouth with his hand as he yawned.

"You going to the ice rink?" Mark asked once the elevator slowed to a stop on their floor.

"Yeah, I gotta practice as much as I can since today's the deadline." Jack stepped off of the elevator once the doors opened.

"You can ride with me if you want, I'm going down to practice as well. Do you wanna stop by Starbucks first and get coffee?" Mark held the door of the hotel open for Jack, who nodded in appreciation as he stepped through.

"Sounds awesome!" Jack yelled excitedly, earning a small chuckle from Mark as he got into his car, Jack sitting in the passenger seat.

Jack fiddled with the radio until he found a dubstep frequency and turned up the volume, causing the car to shake slightly with each pounding base beat that resonated inside the small vehicle.

Mark reached out to change the music, but felt his hand slapped away by Jack, who's head was bobbing to the beat. Mark rolled his eyes in surrender and found himself nodding to the music as well as he drove to the nearest Starbucks.

As soon as they stepped inside, it took all of Mark's self control to keep himself from groaning aloud in annoyance and walking back out. Dark and Anti were sitting at a booth together, talking and laughing.

"If we ignore them, they'll leave us alone." Jack assured Mark as they stepped in front of the counter to order.

"Hey, I remember you two from last night!" Mark and Jack winced when they heard Anti's high pitched voice. They didn't dare turn back. Instead, they pretended to not hear him and study the menu, even though they both knew what they wanted already.

"Hey!" Jack jumped when he felt Anti's hand slap him on the back in order to gain his attention.

"What's your name?" Mark jumped when he realized that Dark was standing calmly right beside him, his voice deep and slightly gravelly.

"I'm Mark, this is my friend Jack." Mark introduced himself and Jack stiffly, feeling very uncomfortable with how close Dark was standing to him.

"You're YouTube gamers! What are you doing ice skating?" Anti asked.

"I guess I'm a Jack of all trades." Jack shrugged, smirking at his own pun.

"You're certainly a master of none." Anti snorted in amusement. Mark felt a flame of anger spark inside him, but he fought to keep his fists clenched at his side.

"Leave my friend alone." Mark warned him, his tone dangerously calm.

"Or what, you're going to get yourself and your friend kicked out of here too?" Anti countered with a sneer.

"Leave them alone Anti." Mark was surprised when Dark spoke up.

"You know, you're no better than the people that bullied you last year." Jack remarked as Anti and Dark turned to leave. Anti froze for a moment before Dark whispered something in his ear, seeming to soothe Anti as Dark slid his hand into Anti's and walked out the door.

"What a great way to start today." Mark muttered sarcastically under his breath as he rolled his eyes and stepped up to the counter to order.

A couple minutes later he was back in the car with Jack drinking his coffee, driving towards the rink.

Only to find Dark and Anti already there.

"Are you following us?" Anti's eyes narrowed accusingly as Mark and Jack dropped their bags onto the ground and started lacing up their skates.

"No." Jack stated simply as he waited for Mark to finish lacing his skates up.

When Mark skated out into the rink, his mind flashed back to the nightmare he had.

"You okay?" Jack paused by Mark, noticing him standing frozen in the middle of the rink with his gaze fixated on the empty seats.

"Yeah." Mark assured Jack as he shook his head to dispel the memories, warming up by skating laps around the rink. Mark could feel Dark's cold gaze on him the entire time as he preformed a couple of moves, making sure to do nothing from his routine.

Suddenly from beside him, he felt someone bump into him, surprising him and causing Mark to skate face first into the protective glass separating him from the seats, knocking him out before he hit the ice.