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...