A/N: A random and cruel idea I got when I saw the words "mind game". I hope this will turn out into something interesting!

Titania

Luka blinked awake, groggy and confused, rubbing her eyes. What in the world had happened to her? She had been walking down the streets of Tokyo, laughing with her girlfriend of two years, Hatsune Miku, when she felt a stinging pain in the back of her head and blacked out. Who in the world attacked her? Did her attackers harm Miku as well?

That thought sent Luka scrambling up on her feet, panic jolting through her veins. She scanned her surroundings quickly; she was the only living being in the brown stone room she had woken in. However, the room was far from empty, lined from floor to ceiling with weapons and armor. Swords of various styles, mace, spears, shields, bows and arrows and all other sorts of olden-day weaponry greeted her, and Luka had a gut feeling that she would need some of them. On one section of the wall was armor in her favorite colors, black, gold and pink; and a yellow bag with a first-aid kit and some food sticking out from it leaned against the wall within easy reach.

Suddenly, a huge voice boomed from the ceiling in a language Luka knew wasn't one she had ever heard before, yet still understood. "Welcome to the 194th Mind Games! You are all gathered here today for the entertainment of the intelligent beings across the cosmos! You are currently in the Mind Games Stadium in Andromeda Galaxy, human female players, and to return to your Milky Way Galaxy, you must win these Games!"

Luka paled immediately, Andromeda Galaxy?! Helplessness dawned on her instantly; she knew she had no choice but to play whatever nasty game the aliens had in store for her. There was no way she could escape Andromeda and return to Earth, especially since she had no idea where Miku was. Also, she was simply a human, an ordinary Japanese citizen without any superhuman abilities. How could she hope to stand up against these technologically advanced beings? This could not possibly be a prank; the strange language she somehow understood told her that.

"The person you love has been captured by an individual Game Master, who will set challenges for you to face to save his or her life. Oh, "or her"! We have lesbians and bisexuals this year! This makes it so much more interesting!" the voice continued cheerfully.

Luka snarled aloud at the comment, she felt a little discriminated by it. However, they sounded more amazed and amused by the fact instead of disgusted, so she did not take it badly. Another part of the alien's speech that infuriated her was the one stating that Miku's life, and her own, were in danger for some kind of game, but she knew she could do nothing about it. These aliens had Miku with them, and Luka wouldn't risk Miku for the world. She would rather die here than abandon or harm Miku, even if she could wring the neck of whoever who planned these sinister Games she was unwillingly taking part in.

"Take anything you want and leave the room before your decision time is up. It will be made inaccessible to you after you leave it, so be sure to take everything your little human guts tell you that you might need or want. Intuition is often right, especially in these games where you place your life on the line. You are not allowed to kill one another; these Games are simply to test the loyalty of human females toward their lovers. You may travel in teams, but when the challenge comes, you must answer it alone. Failure to adhere to these rules will result in the death of your captured lover."

Luka made a mental note to follow every single rule; she planned on getting Miku out alive, whatever the cost might be.

"You have twelve hours to make your decision. The Game clock will mark off every hour, like the Big Ben that you humans have in London. If you have not left the room by the twelfth hour, you and your lover will be killed. To win, you must survive every challenge thrown at you and outlast the other competitors. There are a total of twelve competitors and twelve hostages in the Games. However, there can only be one winner; only one couple shall return to Earth. I hope your love is true and unfaltering, female humans. Good luck. Now, let the 194th Mind Games begin!"

A door appeared on the only section of empty wall next to her the moment a single chime rocked through the room. Luka grabbed the yellow bag quickly and headed to examine the armor carefully and slowly, scrutinizing every inch, intent on taking the Games very seriously. She didn't like armor at all; it was bulky and heavy though it did offer much protection. Still, she knew she had to get some, so she tried hard to identify something she liked. She did indeed find something, though its physical appearance made her doubtful of its protective capabilities. It was a thin, lightweight kimono-like top, black trimmed with gold, and a skirt worn low across the hips of the same color. She tested and arrow against it, wondering if it could be considered armor, and found the arrow unable to pierce the garment. She tried to force the arrow through, but it rebounded with equal strength in response. The garment seemed the strongest armor, so Luka quickly changed into it and stuffed an extra into her backpack.

Next, she examined the racks of weapons, seeking a katana. She finally located a whole bunch of them and sought one that had the same length as the ones she used in Kendo class, took one and stuffed two extras into the bag. She expected the katanas to stick out about halfway, but they disappeared upon being put inside. Confused, Luka searched the bag, and was unable to find it. Trying a different tactic, she placed her hand in and thought of a katana, and one materialized in her hand.

Alien technology, Luka mused; this must be one of the advantages to winning the Games. Others in bulky armor would have difficulty with speed and mobility, and those who knew not of the bag's properties would carry few weapons. She was glad that she liked taking things slow, thinking things through and preparing for emergencies before the start of any situation. It surely would give her the upper hand in these Games.

Luka decided to take two huge metal shields, padded with leather on the inside, and stuffed them into the little yellow bag that didn't gain any weight. She took one final look around the room, her old clothes tossed away in a corner, wondering if she needed anything else. Bows and arrows were of no use to her who couldn't shoot if her life depended on it, but she felt compelled to take one set anyway. Maybe she would need an ally that would need some, her allies might not know of the bag's properties. Extra weaponry wouldn't hurt; anyway, the bag never gained weight and seemed not to fill up.

The loud chime of the clock gripped the room six times just as Luka got ready to leave. She felt slightly unsure; did she have everything that she needed? She had six more hours, should she close off her entire armory right then? She thought it over and decided it wise, she was quite sure she was fully prepared, and she wanted to check out her surroundings before the Games began properly. It might do her some good.

The moment she closed the door it disappeared behind her, becoming a solid stone wall. She found herself standing in a huge brown stone hallway with various caves branching outwards randomly, another clue that it was probably true that she was in another galaxy. To have an arena of this scale, where could one possibly hide it on Earth? Also, no one had ever heard of any "Mind Games" on Earth besides the ones bullies played on their victims. Luka started to walk as calmly as she could, all senses on alert, very aware that Miku's life rode on her shoulders.

The creaking sound of armor alerted her to someone's presence, and she rounded the corner to see a tall brown haired young woman in red armor, holding a long sword and talking nervously to a shorter blonde in gold armor, with a bow and a quiver full of arrows slung over one shoulder. The duo noticed her too, and the brown haired one called out to her.

"Hello," she spoke Japanese, relieving Luka. It seemed that the aliens targeted Japan for this Mind Games; did they choose what country to kidnap girls from every year? "I'm Sakine Meiko."

"I'm Akita Neru," the blonde said, she looked very edgy and upset, not that anyone could blame her, "Do you want to join us or something?"

"We have no idea how this works, but safety in numbers, eh?" Meiko said awkwardly, running a hand through her short brown hair. She was smiling, but it fell through by quite a lot. It was hard to smile when your life and your lover's was on the line and you most probably in a whole other freaking galaxy.

Luka nodded, smiling slightly, "I'm Megurine Luka."

They spent the next six hours talking about their lives back home as they walked, exchanging silly stories to try calm themselves down. There was a limit to how good one could feel when one's life is on the line, but it still helped them feel better. It reminded them of home, of friends, of the other humans that awaited them back on their home planet that they were fighting for, in addition to their lovers.

Meiko lived in Osaka, and had recently recovered from a bad slump in life. Her studies went badly and her family threw her out, so she fell to drinking. She wasted away in dingy bars gulping sake until she met Shion Kaito, who pulled her out of her slump and changed her for the better. Kaito became her boyfriend, they grew extremely close, and then this happened. She longed to win to save Kaito's life in return. Neru lived in Akita (as her name suggested, Meiko playfully added), and was a troll who never had a liking for humans in general. She was extremely intelligent, but had absolutely no social life aside from annoying people on the Internet (and that wasn't really a social life). Then, she met her girlfriend, Yowane Haku, an alcoholic who had nowhere to go, and helped Haku against her better judgement. In the end, Neru realized that she made the right choice after all in helping Haku, for the silver haired ex-alcoholic completed her life and changed it for the better.

Luka told them about her life in Tokyo, she was a Psychology and Japanese Literature student who wanted to be a teacher when she grew up. Two and a half years ago, her friends made her hold a "Free Hugs" sign and stand outside the train station for a psychology project. Luka had to hug tons of perverted males, but eventually was hugged by a weeping 14 year old girl with turquoise hair in twintails. It was love at first sight. Eventually, Luka found out Miku had been disowned for coming out of the closet since Miku had nowhere to stay, no school to attend and no much money of her own, and six months later they were dating and living together. Miku gave Luka's life meaning, it brought color into her otherwise monochrome existence.

Knowing more about her allies made Luka feel a little better, even though she knew only one of them could get out alive. The Mind Games felt less hostile when they knew they weren't completely alone in an alien galaxy, serving as entertainment for cruel, emotionally-backward, technologically-advanced beings they never knew existed.

When the twelfth chime rocked the building, Luka wasn't sure what to expect. She simply braced herself for anything, ready to run or fight in a moment's notice. To her surprise, nothing happened. The tunnels remained empty, and nothing shuddered or collapsed upon them. Suddenly, Neru tensed, pain filling her features. Her head snapped upright, and she cried out, "Haku!"

"Neru…?" The duo looked at her in confusion, they heard nothing, but Neru evidently did. The blonde sprinted off, sword in hand, muttering Haku's name repeatedly under her breath.

A high-pitched shriek of pain reached Luka's ears minutes later, and she tensed, "Miku!" It was undoubtedly Miku's voice she heard, her cry of agony, and Luka couldn't stand it. How could they hurt her sweet little Miku?!

"Wait for me, sweetie," Mumbling under her breath, Luka shouldered her bag, kept one hand steady on her katana, and she ran. Following the sounds of Miku's pained screams, motivated by her desire to protect her beloved, Luka ran. She didn't know how she was supposed to find her allies again, but that was for later. What really mattered was Miku.

The sound of Miku's cries grew steadily louder, and Luka took a sharp left to follow it. Her gut told her where to go; her heart told her she was getting closer. She arrived at the front of a huge dark tunnel where a thin, dark haired man in a strange suit stood, Miku huddled behind him in a cage. Just as Luka skidded to a halt, Miku emitted another scream of pain; they were administering electricity to her body. It made Luka's blood boil to think of the pain Miku was going through. How could they do that to innocent, sweet little Miku?

"Megurine Luka," the being that looked like a man spoke in that strange unknown language she had heard earlier, telling her he was an alien, a Game Master, "This is your first challenge of the Mind Games. For each challenge you complete, you will be rewarded with either supplies or time to be spent with this girl. If you fail even a single one, however, this girl will die alongside you."

The man and the caged Miku disappeared into thin air, and Luka took a deep breath. She had no idea what to expect of her first challenge, but she knew she would have to keep her wits about her, no matter what strange things she might end up facing. She was fighting for Miku's sake; that thought alone gave her much strength and determination. She would be the winner of this cruel competition, she would bring Miku home and never let her get hurt again.

"Hang in there, Miku. I'll get us out of here." She unsheathed her sword and stepped into the large black tunnel, ready to face her first challenge of the 194th Mind Games.

A/N: Please leave me a review to tell me what you think about it!

Should I continue?