Home Invasion Season Two Intro
By Star Sage

Upbeat theme music plays as the last commercial fades out and the show starts its new run. Big and centered on the screen is the flashing logo, the show's signature look coming into focus as it showed large and proud for a moment, before slowly moving into the screen, and away from the audience as cheers erupted behind it, and onto the main stage of the show walked the host, a handsome male of indistinguishable ethnicity who flashed a glowing white smile at the in studio crowd, which got even more cheers as he and a group of scantily clad females made their way into the center, followed after by an almost completely random group of contestants.

"Welcome America, both South and North, Europe, Asia, Australia, and our newest viewers in Africa to the show that swept the ratings charts last year with it's new twists on old favorites. It's life or death struggles of normal people off the street. And of course, the intrique that comes from any adventure. This is Home Invasion!" shouting the last part, the man spun around, and lights on the stage flashed in his face, illuminating random portions of the studio for moments at a time, before all at once every light except for a single spot light went out, the shaft of luminescence focused on the host.

"Last year, our first season, and one that topped the ratings of five major networks, we premiered to only about twenty thousand people, but as our show got talked about, on the net, on the news, and of course, on the street, we became a hit. We were, without a doubt, a star. And now, to help you remember why, here's our announcer to remind you of the events that made us famous," he said, and a booming voice like the thunder of god came from above.

"That's right Al, we were the greatest hit on Television, as well as several web channels, and I'll tell you why. Never before has any game show taken you this close to the action, not out on the plains of Africa. Or deep into the Arctic like season twenty three of survivor. No, our locations were both familiar and exotic at the same time as we set average, everyday folks into situations that would push them to their limits inside normal, everyday homes," said the voice, clearly a woman, and the screen flashed for a moment, dozens of individual images appearing on scene, showing selections of the first season, including tiny people getting stepped on, eaten, and even tortured by larger ones.

"Exactly. We took you inside the most dangerous and exotic locations of all time, within the houses of some of the most normal families on Earth, with the contestants reduced to bug size, and forced to fight for survival against odds that were, to say the least, set against them," continued the announcer as images grew, some showing large enough to see he expressions on the face of the tiny people as they were slain without remorse, or even knowledge in some cases.

"Last season, each contestant was set down in a single home, their goal, get from their starting point to a hidden end game marker somewhere in the home. The rules? Absolutely none, save they couldn't mention the prize, which, as it is today, is kept a mystery. The only thing they had on them was a single call buzzer, used to contact the studio and forfeit. And with that, they had one week to find the marker, or die trying," she said, and the lights came on again, shining in columns on some of the average looking people who had been following behind the stage bunnies and the host.

"Today we have with us the five finalists. These three individuals showed not only daring and courage, but wits and cunning as well as they fought off not only the natural perils that came with their reduced stature, but also those roadblocks and hurdles the show's own crew placed in their way of that ultimate prize," the lights fade out again, and a new, larger spot comes on, and the audience oohs and aahs at the box which had contained the mysterious prize, which, last season, had turned out to be a quantity of platinum which total over seven million dollars.

"That's right Carla. Now, let's talk with some of those lucky winners today, each of which was given a prize of no less than one million dollars in value," chimed in the host, and he walked over to where the three individuals were standing in their own spot lights. Walking up first to an Asian man in a very business like attire, which included hard, shiny shoes and a tie, who smiled at the camera and waved toward it, he chuckled, shaking his hand, and then pointing to the camera while whispering something in his ear.

"Alright then, I'm sure you all know our third place contestant. Mr. Miyaziko of Fukuyama of the Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan, whom we placed in the home of a lovely pair of coeds, who had signed up for the show as part of what they thought was a test for some kind of bug traps, a precaution which we take to insure no creepy crawlies have a chance at our contestants before they can even try and find the end game," he said, and the Miyaziko bowed deeply at the camera.

"Alright, Miyaziko, how did you feel when you first found yourself shrunk and in sight of our buxom twins?" he asked, holding the mike up to the former winner's mouth.

"Well, I tried to get their attention at first, but they either ignored me, or they could not see me," he said, his English a bit halting, but his accent not as pronounced as one might expect being from a country that taught the language as a second tongue.

"Oh, yes, I think we have a clip of one of your more complex attempts, here, tell me what was going through your head as we bring it up," said the host, and the screen faded out, soon showing the small Asian man standing on the floor of one of the smaller rooms. The camera's angle for the shot was actually a little lower than his own, but it soon raised up to show that he was moving sheets of what looked like paper into a position to spell out the word ‘Help'.

"Right at this moment I was feeling triumphant. The message was large, big enough to be seen by someone of normal stature, if thy looked down, though still only a tiny message from a tiny person, if one considered how far away it would be from the girls. In fact, as the camera started to shake, and the angle of the tape changed, now being of a more normal height, almost eye level with the girls that were coming in, the message was all but invisible.

"Of course, had I been thinking more clearly, I believe I would have let my message do the talking for me instead of doing what I did," he said, and the camera lowered, now zooming in to show a tiny Miyaziko waving his arms rather frantically, pointing toward his message, before the ground shook violently, and he was knocked from his feet.

The camera continued on the angle it was, along the audience to see as the tiny man tried to shake himself off and stand back up, only to watch as his hard made message was blown away as the girl stepped over it. Of course, before he could do anything else, he turned toward her, and then held his hands up in some kind of paltry defense, before a shadow fell on him, and with an inserted crunching sound...or at least, it sounded inserted, her other foot fell on him, squashing him into the carpet, and the recording faded out, coming back to view the host, who had a scrunched up, painful face.

"Ouch, that had to sting. For those of you who missed last year, and are wondering, the reason our third place winner is still here today after a hit like that is a Second Chance Tag. One of the items that made this show possible, it regenerates tissue that dies from non-natural causes with an almost one hundred percent success rate. Each contestant is given five of these, and thus, five lives, to try and help them find the end game marker," the host explained, as he moved down the line, to a woman in a tee shirt and jeans, a sharp contrast to the more formal wear of Mr. Miyaziko.

"And of course, who could forget Miss Armand from Austin, Texas in the United States, who, thanks to her own skills and abilities, was able to contact someone at the home she was placed into, and came in second, even if she had a few pratfalls along the way," said the host, and the woman jumped up and down in excitement, showing her age to be only about twenty-five to thirty, if only for how much energy she had.

"Now then, Miss Armand, we all know how you got out of the house, using a small shard of metal and some paper to start a fire which eventually got the attention of one of the residents of the home in which you were placed. But tell us, what went through your mind in this earlier clip, showing you trying to get the son's attention," said the host, and again the screen faded out, this time coming back with an above image of a much more diminutive Miss Armand, who seemed to be standing in the kitchen of a home that was probably in some suburb somewhere in the U.S.

"Well, like Mr. Miyaziko, I figured the best way to find the end would be to get some help, but I had to decide who to go after. Thinking the boy had the best hearing, considering he was closer to the ground, I decided to go after him, and waited for him in the kitchen where I was dropped off," she started, and the image of her started to move energetically around as the screen shook a bit, and the camera backed off, to show the entrance of a young male, about fourteen years of age.

"As you can see, I wasn't nearly as organized at first, and tried to just get his attention using my voice, but when they didn't work, I wanted to get closer to him, to see if he might be able to hear me from closer up, and since he was getting near the dog food bag, I decided to climb it," she said, and the screen jumped a bit showing a scene that obviously took place a few minutes later as she had already gotten halfway up the bag, only to turn and scream silently at a shadow as it fell over her, and then wave her arms wildly as the bag was suddenly picked up and tipped, sending her down into a fast filling bowl.

"Right then and there, I panicked. I knew where I was, and what would happen, so I immediately tried to get out, but the animal, hearing food, was on me in an instant, and well, as you can see, it didn't end well," the screen kept going, the angle pulling out but remaining focused on the shrunken woman, who was obviously trying to get out of the bowl, as another shadow fell across her, and she looked up, her expression one of pure horror as she tried to move even faster, her feet carrying her over one piece of dog food, and right onto the slimy tongue, which she landed on with a comical(And probably inserted) splat. The screen then pulled back some more, and you could see the dog's jaws moving with a crunching sound, before it gulped, a lump moving down its throat and into its body.

"Oh, and that was death number two for Miss Armand, for those of you wondering. And now we come to our grand prize winner from last year. Mr. Ludwig Adler who was given the bums rush, as it were, on his very first minute in his location, which turned out to be, not a home, but a local diner on his own home street in Leoben, a city located in Styria, one of Austria's central states," said the host as he walked over to the last of the three winners. This man, his suit pressed, but looking a bit less ridged than Mr. Miyaziko, was not smile at the camera, his face momentarily flashing darkly, before he suddenly realized he was the butt of a joke, and he smirked warmly.

"Yes, I certainly had a time when I first woke up. I'm not sure where the show intended me to be upon first awakening in my location, but thinking back, they might have known this would be it, as I'm almost positive, you'll show my first, and only death," he said, eyeing the host, who only nodded as the screen blanked out, and then lit up again, this time to a small diner, with a door near the rear that probably led up to a loft above, where the proprietor lived.

The image took a moment to focus, moving all around the scene, as the one operating it probably searched for the target. For a moment they didn't seem to find it, and so it just drifted, and then it suddenly focused on a young woman who was sitting down at a seat in the center of the diner, her lips pressed together as she sipped at a steaming beverage of some kind, her eyes staring quite intently at the paper.

Suddenly the view became odd, and it took a moment for the audience to figure out that the camera had shifted to a heat sensitive lense, which showed the woman as an almost formless red for a moment, before it began to resolve into features, her beverage showing up as an even darker red than she herself. Then, as if drawn to it, the camera focused on a small red dot in front of her, which moved and squirmed as the image focused more, and one could make out the features of a tiny person.

"Waking up with the view of that woman's body between some oddly crinkled frames, I was at a loss for where I was, until I caught a familiar scent, and realized that I was in big trouble, even as I mused on how much I hate mayo," said Mr. Adler, as a large red sheet covered him, and the camera shifted back to normal, showing that the tiny red figure was stuck inside a sandwich, which the young woman was bringing up to her mouth, opening wide.

One could only guess what Ludwig's reaction was as they mouth came into view, and the infrared returned for a moment, showing him being devoured, before normal view returned, and it looked to the common observer like the woman was just enjoying a snack, not even seeming to enjoy it much as she munched on it, and then a loud gulp came over the sound, this one not inserted at all, as the camera zoomed in, showing her throat undulating around the small form, sending it down into her body, and toward her hungry belly.

"Yes, and, from that one death Mr. Adler was able to not only survive, but prosper, as he made his way through the restaurant, and finally up to the loft to discover the hidden end game marker, and with that, win the grand prize," the host and the stage returned, now cleared of the three winners, each of whom now stood in the background under LCD displays which flashed with their winnings, Mr. Adler's at four million, and the other two each half of the upper ones, for a total of seven million overall.

"This year we have once again, twenty two contestants. Each one here to amuse and amaze you as they go through the world around them, trying to find out if they have the stuff to win our prize, and become big winners like last year. Now, without farther ado, let's show you our first contestant, and then you, the views at home, will pick from among our choices, and decide the fate of this young man, and which place we send him too," said the host, and a black man in blue jean shorts and a tee shirt rushed onto the stage, clapping hands with the host and then waving at the cheering audience, before leaning into an offered mic and holding up one fist in triumph.

"Hello, I'm Randal Fisher from Las Vegas, Nevada, and this is going to be my year on HOME INVASION!!!" he shouted, the audience obviously loving his enthusiasm as they picked up some electronic voting devices, which had a list of places, and people he would encounter, and they were forced to pick one of each from a list of three.

Now for the interactive portion of the show/story. This is basically a voting thing, that is going to be done as I finish each story. You, the viewer/reader get to pick what kind of place the contestant is put into. A home, an office, a diner, or anything of that sort. And then you get to pick genders for the people involved. Male, Female, or Mixed, and from there I'll write the next story. Each may involve all five deaths, or may end after one or two(Ninety percent success rates for the Second Chance Tag means one in ten still dies.) If you'd like to be a contestant, or at least, have your physical description used for one, gimme a message. I'll accept them over the local PM system, if available, or over Email, at jonathan407@sbcglobal.net. The period for this lasts until I choose to end it, though that will be no later than December 1, 2007. So, if you want to choose, do so as soon as you can. Your choices are:

Gender
Mixed
Male
Female

Location
College Dorm Room
Club/Bar
Family Home