Chat

"Your plan is idiotic and is probably going to get us both killed," Sal said.

"Hi, Justin Ferin, have we me?" I replied. "You in or not?"

"We'll need to rethink some of it," he said. "There's no telling what we'll be in for."

"I know," I said. "But the Wooden Girl's got my hands tied on this."

"This won't be easy," Sal said. "I'd say we need help, but I don't know who here we can trust."

"Well, we do have someone on our side," I said, opening up my laptop. "Wake up, sweat-heart."

The laptop started itself up and started running an audio program. Rapid Japanese speak began pouring from the speakers.

"You're still speaking Japanese," I said.

"Gomen'nasai," the voice replied. "Is... is this better?"

"Much beer," I said. "Sal, I'd like to formally introduce you to V."

"Kon'nichiwa!" V said.

Sal stared a the screen for a moment before saying "It talks now...?"

"Yes," I said. "She does. The software is similar to what's used with Vocaloids. Allows her to create a purely synthetic voice for herself."

"I see," Sal said, rubbing his chin and considering this for a minute. "This... changes things. Getting the Thoughtborn involved could make this work..."

"My thoughts exactly," I said.

"Well, I'm going back to my room to think," Sal said. "We'll talk about this some more later."

Sal got up and walked to my door, opening it and revealing Anthony on the other side, with his fist up, ready to knock.

"Oh, um... hi," he said awkwardly. "I was uh... needing to talk to Justin..."

Sal grunted and pushed past Anthony, walking away.

"Hey man," I said. "Didn't realize you were still around."

"Well, the Game master did say surviving losers are allowed to stick around to watch the tournament continue," he said.

"I see," I said. "You know that puts you at risk, right? Since you're no longer a competitor in the finals, none of the remaining players are under any obligation to leave you alone."

"I'm aware," Anthony said, closing the door and taking a seat. "The only reason I accepted the Game Master's invite was for research purposes. I can potentially learn a lot from the upcoming fights. So I'll take my chances. Besides, I'm a big boy. I can handle myself."

"Research purposes, eh?" I said. "Is that why you were eavesdropping a second ago?"

"So you noticed?" he asked.

"Wasn't hard to figure out," I said. "How much did you hear?"

"Everything," he replied. "You're probably gonna die if you go through with that plan of yours."

"A Timberwolf doesn't fear death," I said. "We fear failure."

"I see," he said, opening up his satchel and pulling some folders out.

"What are those?" I asked.

"Information," he said. "Some of it might help you."

He set the folders on my bed and got up.

"I should be going now," he said.

"Why are you helping me exactly?" I asked.

"Why do you think?" he replied, before casually leaving.

"What kind of information is here?" V asked.

"Dunno," I said, opening o a random page. "Lots of numbers..."

I go up to check outside the door. The hallway outside seemed empty, but I wasn't about to take any chances. I closed the door, locked it up, and stuffed my jacket in the crack underneath, hoping to block out as much sound as I could. I sat on my bed, pulled V closer, and opened one of the folders.

"I'm going to start reading," I whispered to her. "I want you to transcribe as much of it as you can. IF Anthony thinks it'll be useful, then we should both try to memorize some of it."

Forfeit

So it's been a while since the first fight. I don't know what took so long for the second fight to happen, but it finally did. William's voice filled the whole place, informing us that the next match would take place in 30 minutes, and to come to the colosseum.

On my way there, I got sopped by Anthony in the hallway.

"Hey man," he said. "You gonna be in the stands?"

"Yeah," I said. "Why?"

"I was worried you might be my opponent," he said.

"Wait, you're fighting?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I was informed so in private, but I have no idea who I'm up against."

"Well, you'll find out soon enough," I said. "Pretty high odds that it won't be anyone merciful, though."

"I know," he said. "I'm gonna have to play this just right."

"Well, good luck out there, man," I said.

"Thanks," he said.

We parted ways, and I took a seat in the stands. The families were already in their seats above us. I have no idea where William is keeping them the rest of the time, but it seems he's gonna make them watch every fight. Bastard.

I spotted Julia up there. I had promised her I'd save her brother, but now I needed to find a way to save her too. And on top of that...

I glanced down at my wrist, where I could still feel the tightness of her invisible thread there. I had to complete the mission she'd given me on top of everything else, otherwise she'd take my hand. Bitch...

Sal took a seat besides me.

"Any idea who's fighting?" he asked.

"I know Anthony is," I said. "Not sure who he's up against yet."

"One everyone gets here, we'll know based on process of elimination," Sal said.

"Good point," I said. "By the way, we need to talk in private after this."

"Fine," he said. "I figured you'd want to."

He nodded up at the families.

"That family up there is staring a you," he said. "Especially the young girl."

"I know," I said.

I had felt my parent's eyes on my the whole time, but I was trying to avoid meeting their gaze. I haven't spoken to them in years. How the fuck am I supposed to look them in the eyes now? Especially after everything I've done since then. And my sister... I know she's been in contact with Anthony, but I have no idea what he's told her about me.

"They're your family, right?" Sal asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"They're worried about you," he said.

"Nice observation," I replied.

"Don't wanna talk about them?" he asked.

"Nope," I said. "What about you? You got any family up there?"

"Not up there, no," he said.

"Don't wanna talk about it either?" I asked.

"Nope," he replied. "I think everyone's here, now."

I looked around. All the other players were seated now. Except for...

"The lilim," I noted.

"Yep," Sal said. "Your friend has his work cut out for him."

William addressed all of us with that booming voice of his.

"It is time for the second fight of the finals!" he said. "My apologies for the delay, but I now bring you Anthony Helioson versus Sera Philips!"

Anthony and the lilim girl entered the colosseum and stood across from each other.

"Begin!" William said.

Sera got into a fighting stance, while Anthony quickly raised his hand to her.

"Um, can you give me a sec before we start this?" he said innocently.

She raised an eyebrow and relaxed her stance a bit. Anthony turned his attention to William.

"Um, William, sir?" he said. "Is it all right if I call you William?"

William exhaled slowly and folded his arms behind his back.

"You are to address me as the Game Master," he said.

"Right, right, of course," Anthony said. "Mr. Game Master, sir."

"What is he meaning of this interruption?" William demanded.

"Um, it's about to no surrendering thing," Anthony said.

"What about it?" William demanded.

"Are you sure?" Anthony said. "I mean, I don't really feel comfortable taking her on."

"Yes, I am sure," William growled. "Under no circumstances are either of you to surrender."

"I'm sorry sir," Anthony said. "I just think it should be a valid option. I'm just saying that maybe you should consider, you know... reconsidering?"

William thought for a second before realizing what Anthony was up to.

"You're stalling." William said.

"Whaaaaaaaaaat?" Anthony said, making sure to draw his words out. "Noooooooooooo. Why on Earth would I do that?"

"You are!" William snapped angrily. "Why? What are you stalling for!?"

"Sir," Anthony said. "I assure you that I am absolutely, positively not trying to waste your time in any way."

"Helioson…," William growled.

"Look," Anthony said. "I promise that I'm not trying to stall in any way. I would never, under any circumstances try to- oh! There it goes..."

And then he collapsed on the ground. William stood dumbfounded for a bit, before tensing up in visible frustration.

"DAY!!" he exclaimed.

One of the cards, the Ace of Hearts, judging by her mask, appeared in the arena and examined Anthony.

"He drugged himself, my lord," she said. "Prior to the match."

William covered his masked face with his hands and exhaled slowly.

"Clever bastard," I muttered to myself.

"The match officially began," Sal said. "Which means..."

William seemed to compose himself, and addressed us all again.

"Anthony Helioson has lost consciousness," he said, through gritted teeth.. "The winner of this match is Sera Philips."

He turned to leave, but before exiting, he looked over his shoulder and added one more thing.

"From now on, NO DRUGS!"

So yeah. No drugs. My plan to get stoned before all my fights has been crushed. Damn.

I'm sorry Justin. That Ace of Cups bitch and her healer showed up. We tried to fight her off, but they got Julia. They also hurt Keran, but she didn't go down without a fight. She managed to blast the Ace with lightning. I would be proud if we had actually managed to protect Julia.

I'd have made this post sooner, but I've had Davey to deal with. He showed up not long after that fight, wounded. Multiple broken bones, some minor internal bleeding, contusions everywhere. wasn't easy, but I've managed to handle worse.

Apparently he'd been attacked by Emissaries as well, but he had a bit better luck in fighting them off. He said he'd managed to escape, and promptly came to check on Julia. He was too late, unfortunately.

So yeah, between patching up Keran and Davey, and relocated to new, hopefully more discreet hideout, I haven't had a lot of time to post. But yeah. I fucked up. I'm the reason Julia's trapped there now. I'm sorry.

Benjamin

I found him in the Mess Hall and decided to go talk with him.

"Hey," I said. "So you're him, huh? Malkator?"

"Yes," he said. "And no. Whatever stories you've heard of me are likely false."

"Well, yeah," I said. "The fact you're alive and well tipped me off."

We sat in silence for a couple seconds.

"So, what's the deal with those stories, anyway?" I asked.

"Another version of me from another universe," he said. "His story seeped into our world."

I see. More of that multiverse crap.

"But I'm not him," he continued. "He's some self-proclaimed 'eccentric chess player' whose willing to sacrifice his stronger pieces for his pawns."

"And that's why he sacrificed himself, right?" I asked. "To save humans?"

Malkator nodded.

"I can't do that," he said. "Unlike him, I have something to live for. I have a family. I have to survive. For her."

We sat in silence for another minute. After a while he sighed, and let his hood down. He had stringy, light brown hair that fell down to his shoulders. This was my first time seeing it.

"Not much point in hiding now that William's exposed me," he said. He then reached up and removed the collar he had been wearing He coughed a couple time, and then said, in a much different voice, "Much better..."

I stared blankly at him for a moment before speaking.

"Holy crap," I said. "You're British?"

"The collar applies pressure to the vocal cords," he explained. "Alters the volume and pitch of the wearer's voice."

I raised an eyebrow.

"That doesn't sound like enough to hide a British accent," I pointed out.

"Nope," he said. "That was mostly just willpower. The collar still makes it easier."

"Huh," I said. "So why doesn't your sister have an accent?"

"Stop asking questions," he told me.

He stood up and turned his back to me.

"I like to think of us as friends, Justin," he said. "But I'm going to win this tournament. For my sister. No matter who my opponent is, I will fight, and I will defeat them."

He began walking away, but I had one last thing to say to him.

"Did you know that when you get a pawn to the opposing edge of the board, you can swap it out for a piece you've already lost?" I asked.

He paused.

"What the hell are you getting at?"

"That's why that other Malkator was willing to sacrifice himself for humans," I said. "Because he could see their potential. You claim to have good eyesight, but you must be pretty fucking blind compared to him."

He glared over his shoulder at me.

"Sod off," he said.

Then he kept walking.

The First Fight

We were all called to the colosseum earlier. It was pretty big. The Game Master sat in a large, isolated section of the stands, along with the two Cards he had keeping an eye on us before. I'm guessing those were his right hand goons. There was also a separate circle of seats, completely empty and levitating high above us. The Game Master stood and addressed all of us.

"The rules shall  change going forward," he said. "There will be no surrendering. Once a fight has started, it will continue until one fighter has been killed, or has lost consciousness. In the latter case, the loser will be free to return home, or stick around to view the remaining fights. However, knowing some of our finalists, I doubt we'll be seeing much of that occurring."

He chuckled to himself, and I heard a couple people in the stands join him.

"The winners shall move on to the quarter-finals," the Game Master said. "Now, I will decide the first of our fighters."

He conjured up a small deck of cards and shuffled them extravagantly (show-off...) before drawing two of them. He snapped his fingers, and two of us vanished from the stands and appeared in the middle of the colosseum. One of them was the Chinese Enhanced girl I'd seen Henry speaking to before. The other was the Hooded Guy.

"I present our first competitors!" the Game Master said. "He Mizushima!"

The Enhanced girl raised a fist in the air proudly.

"And, her opponent," The Game Master said, and while I couldn't see his face through that mask of his, I could almost feel him grin evilly as he spoke his next words. "Benjamin. Malkator."

I gasped, and I think I heard a few others do so as well.

I've heard that name. Plenty of times. I'm pretty sure most servants and some runners have heard of him. various stories of him get passed around. So many that it's hard to know which of them are true. But they all have an ending in common.

His death.

Benjamin Malkator is said to have died stopping some sort of cataclysmic event. And yet here his was, alive and well, and about to take on an Enhanced.

"Before we begin," the Game Master said, "I believe the stands feel painfully empty for such an event. Let's liven this up a bit."

He snapped his boney fingers, and the stands levitating above us were suddenly filled with panicked faces.

"I present," The Game Master continued, "Your families."

Our families?

I scanned the crowd above us quickly and saw them. My parent. My sister. They were here.

And then Julia caught my eye. Just a few feet from my family, she was there, looking sadly down at her brother in he ring, and I saw mouth the word "Ben",

I looked back at the Hooded Guy. His body had tensed up in... anger doesn't do it justice. This was rage. Pure, unbridled, murderous rage. His sheathed wakizashi appeared in his hand, and he turn to face Mizushima.

"Now," The Game Master said. "Begin!"

Mizushima charged, ready to end Malkator's life. She didn't get a chance. It was a blur of movement as Malkator drew his sword. Next I could see, he was crouched down, back to her, with his blade held in a reverse grip, and plunged into her torso. He pulled it out and rose, beginning to walk away from her.

She fell to her knees for a second, but rose to her feet again, growling at him.

"You think that's enough!?" she demanded. "You can't bring down an Enhanced that easily! Get back here and fight like a fucking man!"

Malkator kept walking, and spoke a single word, an order, that seemed to echo through the stands.

"Burn."

Mizushima froze in place, as a red light glowed from her sword wound. She then screamed in agony as flames rapidly consumed her body from the inside out. She fell to the colosseum floor moments later, as nothing more than a pile out ash.

Some of the families above us cried out in fear, and an Asian man, I'm guessing her father, shouted what I can only assume were Chinese expletives down at Malkator.

Malkator stood there for a few seconds, giving the panic some time to die down. As silence fell over the arena, he turned to the Game Master, and pointed his blade directly t the tall, skeletal sociopath.

"That was only the first," Malkator warned. "I'll cut through every opponent you send my way. And once I'm finished with them, William..."

The Game Master seemed to tense up a bit upon hearing that name.

"I'm coming for you!" Malkator finished.

The Game Master stood quietly for a few moments, before letting out a deep, slow chuckle.

"You sent chills, Benjamin," he said, before snapping his fingers. "Clean up his mess for me, will you?"

A couple of diamond masked people appeared to clear up the ashes.

"You are all free to go until the next match," the Game Master (or William, I guess?) said to us.

So, uh... yeah. That all... happened...

I'm gonna go to the mess hall and see if I can find Malkator there. I need to talk to him...

Endgame

So, Terrence and I had a look at those weird mega bullets that Rachel kept in that little metal case of hers. There was 8 of them, with an empty 9th spot in the case, where the one she used on the Crimson Knight used to be. They all looked similar, with their weird see-through casing, but they had some different stuff inside them. 2 of them had the same silver-blue that the bullet she'd used earlier had, according to Terrence. 3 of them had this fierce, writhing red light, 2 more of them had a crackling blue and yellow light inside of them, and the final one had a steady, golden glow to it.

"What do you think these all do?" I asked.

"Can't be 100 percent sure without testing," Terrence said. "But if the blue-ish ones are ice..."

He plucked one of the red ones out of the case and examined it a bit.

"I'm guessing this is fire," he said.

Shortly after that conversation, we encountered our good friend Henry McBurnscars. Something was off though. His left eye was glowing a weird, sickly yellow, and seemed to be moving independently of his right one.

We have to go, Daniel's voice sounded in my head. I ignored him.

"Henry!" I said. "Ol' buddy ol' pal! How've you been? Seen an optometrist lately?"

He sneered at me and rested a hand over his eye.

"This is just a minor annoyance," he said.

Seriously, get away from him! Daniel pleaded. You can't fight him!

"Looks infected," I continued. "You might wanna get that checked out."

"Justin, why are you antagonizing him?" Terrence asked.

"Because it's fun and we can take him," I said.

Damn it, Justin, would you listen to me!? Daniel hissed at me.

"Shut up, Daniel," I said.

"If you're done tuning your little mind friend out," Henry said. "We have business."

"What," I asked.

"I'm here to pass Judgement on Daniel Ferris," Henry said. "And it seems that killing you is my best shot at accomplishing that."

Is that true? I thought.

I don't know, but I'm bonded stronger with your mind than anyone else's, Daniel answered. So it's entirely possible that if you die, I'll go with you.

"And I've been wanting to finish you off for a while," Henry continued. "So this works out perfectly for me."

Henry drew 2 of the 4 sledgehammers he had with him. Terrence raised Rachel gun and pointed it at Henry's chest.

"Stay there," Terrence demanded.

Seriously, you guys need to run, Daniel insisted.

Henry turned his attention to Terrence, and his weird eye looked intently at the gun in his hand.

"Terrence," Henry said. "Don't think I've forgotten you. Scarring my flesh. Killing my friends. Destroying my home. You deserve judgement as well."

Henry took another step forward, and Terrence fired.

A blast of intense flames shot from the barrel of the gun, flying directly at Henry. Without flinching, Henry's left arm, seeming to move of its own accord, almost, swung a hammer, knocking the fireball into the sky, away from him. The hammer's head was destroyed, and a big chunk of he handle was scorched away, but Henry was unharmed. He then flung his remaining hammer a Terrence, hitting him right in the sternum. Terrence flew backward, dropping the gun, and hit the ground, losing consciousness immediately.

"Terrence!" I exclaimed.

"Idiot," Henry said. "Did he think I'd let fire throw me off?"

He dropped his destroyed hammer to the ground, drawing his remaining 2. I dove for the gun and took aim.

"Let's see you pull that again!" I snapped.

His glowing eye locked onto the gun again.

"There's no longer any traces of eldritch power there," he said. "You're down to regular ammunition now. And you've seen how easily I dealt with the eldritch bullets.

The glowing eye turned to Terrence's unconscious body.

"He still has the rest of those," Henry said. "In the case o his belt."

Okay, just what's the deal with that eye of his? I thought.

That's not just an eye, Daniel said. That's the Eye.

Oh. Well, that's unfortunate.

Suddenly, a masked person appeared, grabbed Terrence's body, and vanished.

"Hey!" I snapped. "Get back here!"

"Damn it!" Henry growled. "His heart was still beating!"

He sighed and focused both eyes on me.

"I'll have to settle for you two."

He charged at me, swinging his hammers, but Sal suddenly appeared between us and blocked them with his sword, before driving Henry backwards and aiming his shotgun at his chest.

"You!" Henry snarled.

"Hello, Henry," Sal said, before turning his attention to the Eye and addressing it as well. "Judgement."

Okay, guess I'll explain that. The Eye is a Fear resembling, well, and eye. It shows up in random places, and haunts people with a guilty conscious. IT watches them. Judges them. Makes them feel bad. Then it eventually possesses a person that it uses to kill it's victims. The people it possesses are called Judgement, and it seems like that's what's going on with Henry right now. But he seems to be in more control than Judgement-hosts usually are. Maybe it's because he's an enhanced. Or maybe it's more of the Board's weirdness. Or both. Who knows.

Before any of us could get back to killing each other, we were all suddenly teleported to a big lobby full of other people. There were 16 of us total. 9 guys, 7 girls. And standing at the top of a large staircase was the big guy himself. The Game Master.

"All fighting is to cease," he said. "For now. "All remaining fights will be arranged by myself. We have entered the finals. And I congratulate you all for making it this far."

"Damn it," Anthony said, sanding a couple feet away from me. "I was hoping I be out of here by now..."

"If you'll wait here for a moment, you will soon be shown to your rooms," he said. "Abdalin, Cleo, please keep and eye on them. Make sure they play nice."

Too more of the masked people appeared at the top of the stairs, looking down at us, while the Game Master vanished.

I got a better look at the other finalists. There was a masked dude with a machete, hanging out with a girl.

Sergei, Daniel said. You're gonna wanna watch out for him. And that girl with him is Dalia. I wouldn't underestimate her either.

Another girl was glaring intently at those two. Guess she knew them.

Henry was talking with a Chinese girl. They seemed to know each other. Maybe she was a proxy too. And judging by those impressive muscles of hers, she could easily be an Enhanced as well.  Just what we needed. More of them.

There was a woman carrying a first aid kit sitting alone in the corner, seeming a little shaken up. A blonde dude in a heavy looking black robe was speaking to a dark haired girl who looked like a typical runner. Leaning against the wall near them was a middle-eastern woman carrying what appeared to be a large, opaque water jug strapped loosely over her shoulder.

There was this one dude giving Sal the stink eye. I took a second to ask Sal about him, but he simply replied with "business rival".

Then there was an Oathbreaker talking to a girl who almost looked human, if not for the green scales visible underneath her torn clothing. A Lilim.

She's cute, Daniel said.

She's an enemy, I replied.

Think she's single? Daniel asked.

That's enough out of you, I replied.

And, last but not least, Hooded Guy caught my eye. I waved at him and walked over.

"I've been looking for you," I said.

"I know," he replied. "I didn't wanna be found."

"You're sister's been worried about you," I said.

"I know," he replied. "But she shouldn't be. I can handle myself."

"Well, I have to get you out of here," I said. "I promised her."

"You'll find that to be pretty difficult," he said. "There's no way out except to fight."

"We'll think of something," I replied.

"Doubtful," he replied.

He turned and stepped away from me. I sighed.

A couple of suits of armor by the entrance caught my eye. I had a weird urge to pick one of them up and angrily throw it at the other. But that would be childish. And I don't think I have the upper body strength to pull it off.

After a minute or two, some more cards showed up and took us all to different rooms. We're allowed to wander the place, and apparently there's a mess hall somewhere. But we're not allowed to have any fights outside of the official coliseum. So, we just have to wait until the Game master decides who fights first.

I just hope Terrence is okay. I know Judgement claimed he still had a pulse, but hat hammer attack must have hurt.

And speaking of Judgement, why is it after Daniel? I'll have to question him on that later...

I refuse to title any of my posts! From now on, if you see a post on this blog that isn't titled, just assume it's me. Because fuck titles.

So I was at IHOP earlier. By the way, apparently they're going by IHOB now. International house of breakfast? Nope. Fucking burgers. They've added burgers to their menu. And because of that, they've declared themselves the international house of fucking burgers. Fuck titles.

Anyway, I was there and then that Davey guy shows up, still having his sword across his back, and sits down across from me.

"Hey. Ciel, right?"

"Fuck you," I replied.

"No need to be hostile," he said. "I bailed you guys out, remember?"

"Fuck you anyway," I said. "How'd you get that fucking sword in here?"

"My invisible friend is using magic so that no one notices it," he replied.

"That's stupid," I said. "You're stupid."

He shrugged.

"So, how's Julia doing?" he asked.

"She's fine," I said. "Just who the fuck are you anyway?"

"It's a long story," he said. "You can just think of me as a friend. Or you can just keep swearing at me. Whatever works, I guess."

"You're an ass," I said.

"Whatever," he said. "Look, I just came by to check up on things. I'll see you later."

He got up and started walking away.

"By the way," he said on his way out. "If you let anything happen to my cuz,I'll do to you what I did to those tree zombies."

Swell.

Fuck that guy.