We were so close. So close to surviving. So close to winning this game and escaping with our lives.
I got careless. I stopped thinking.
"MEGHAN!"
BOOM!
The chorus of harsh breaths.
The heavy scent of iron.
Heavy, booming laughter. Coming from a wall of muscle, blocking out the sunlight.
"Come out, come out, little bugs! Don't drag this out for us~"
The searing pain.
The crushing weight of defeat.
[1:30]
[1:29]
[1:28]
And the steady ticking of the clock.
And now we're all going to die.
______________________________________
2 MINUTES EARLIER
Clone creation. The ability to create a number of white dummies modeled after your body type.
On clone may be frail and weak, but gather up an army of them, and you'll have a formidable force. For even the weakest of fists, if relentless, can break down the most solid of defences.
"Kugh...!"
[CLONEX1000!!!]
Making a singular clone costs very little mana, and taking your time can lead to you gathering quite the group. But when they're just like you,
Weak,
Frail,
Pathetic,
They tend to disappear, very, VERY quickly in the face of a higher power.
The group against him are struggling to hold the clones back. The clones fall easily, but they are soon replaced with another, grabbing at their arms and feet.
He can win. He can hold them off for his friends.
He's no longer alone anymore.
Life expects so many things from you. A perfect body. Status. Money.
Without these things, in this day and age, one might find themselves lost in the jungle of life, easy prey for the hungry predators.
There's nothing you can do. You have no one to help you, no one to defend your corner. You're useless, you're NOTHING.
All you have, is loneliness.
Loneliness, a crushing force that sucks the air out of your lungs, drains the strength from your muscles.
But this boy found someone. Some people. A group that acceoted him and loved him and gave him hope.
He was no longer alone.
So now, he'll get rid of these kids for them. For his family-
The clones begin to fall, faster and faster.
"!?"
Nononowhatisthishowarethey-?
Rays of light, carving through his forces. Shards of ice, impaling his clones. Threads, tripping some up and leaving them as sitting ducks for a golden skeletal titan to rip apart.
THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!!
The clones are summoned to their deaths, too many to count. Born into the world only for the briefest of moments. Then he realises that a path has been made.
A path that leaves him wide open to him.
He senses your thirst for blood, to take his life.
He's been found out.
He identifies you as his source of torment, his agony.
There's nowhere to run, to hide.
The distance between you and him rapidly shortens as you shout for help.
But there's no one to save him. He's all alone.
How sad. Dying as you've always lived your pathetic life.
The start of a scream, the piercing of flesh.
The gurgle of blood, so much blood...
Alone.
[HAV0C has killed [cLoNeD]!]
______________________________________
"It's almost over."
"The clock is nearing the final minute."
"Ahhhh, it's so exciting~!
" We're fast approaching the end. The winner will be determined by those willing to give their all."
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
"Life....or Death. Survival or Deletion. Decided by the whim of a decision, the twitch of a finger."
"Let the game continue."
"Paint the floor red."
______________________________________
Meghan got complacent. Intoxicated by the promise of victory, of survival, she shoved away all thoughts of caution and possinle dangers. Spurred on by the steady ticking of the clock, heart pounding from fear and growing elation.
We're going to survive.
We're going to live. Everything is going to be okay.
A steady grin is growing on her face. Pulling Andro along behind her, who's breathlessly begging her to slow down, the flag pole gripped tightly in her other hand. The floating map in front of her shows the marker, just around the corner.
Almost there...!
She rounds the corner, fighting the urge to erupt into triumphant laughter.
Then she hears the stretch of a bowstring,
Sees the blinding green glow,
Feels the almighty tug on her left arm, pulling her back around the corner,
Then BOOM!
Smoke and dust is in her lungs. She can't see, can't breathe. A ringing in her ears drowns out all other sound.
As time passes she begins to hear the murmuring of a name. Her name over and over again. She coughs, hacking and wheezing.
"Just breathe, okay!?"
"What.....?"
Her hand is still clasped tightly in Andro's own. Then it hits her.
"The flag. Where's the flag....!?"
"Meghan, just-"
Her right hand twitches, bring alon with it the feeling of cold steel. She glances down, choking back a sob of relief.
Then the relief turns to an icy pulse of fear and revulsion as watches small rivers of blood trickle down her arm, pooling in her clenched grip around the flag pole and dripping through her fingers unto the floor.
There's now a gaping hole where her shoulder used to be.
"Looks like I missed. You're a lucky one, aren't you?"
The voice comes from around the corner, laced with contempt.
The ground shakes with the steady thump of footsteps.
"You won't miss again, [Bow]."
Meghan risks a glance around the corner, ignoring the urges to calm down from Andro. She only gets glimpse before ducking back, the corner getting a new hole where her head was a second ago. Her mind races to process what she saw.
A girl with a bow, perched on some kind of arch. The man from before, standing in front and acting like a shield for her.
A sniper and a tank.
"Poke your head out again, I dare you."
[Bow] smirks, her body shrouded in a dark cloak. As her name suggests, a black bow is in her hands, an arrow nocked in and pulled back.
"How many times do you think you can evade death in one go? I can promise you that there won't be a third time."
"So why don't you just hand that flag pole over to us, hm~?"
[Titan] beckons out to them, a smirk present on his face.
"Accept your fate and die quietly. This is our win."
Your win....?
YOUR WIN!?
As she hides there, Megan's eyes are focused on the clock, slowly ticking down. Ignoring the boom of laughter, ignoring the taunts.
I let my guard down.
I got complacent.
We're all going to die,
And it's all my fault.
How did we get here.....?
Everything around her fades. Nothing exists except her breathing and the flag pole in her hand.
We stay here, we die.
We surrender, we die.
There's no good outcome. There's no happy ending.
"Ha...."
"Hahaha...."
This is our key to survival, to freedom. Its ours, we fought for it. KILLED for it.
FOR WHAT!?
"Meghan....?"
Andro's voice is a hoarse whisper.
Is she losing it.....?
"Well?"
[Titan] folds his arms.
"Come on, we don't have all day. We're on a time limit, you know."
That's it.
".....No."
"No?"
[Titan] stiffens.
"What do you think if no one manages to put down the flag pole in time? Another challenge, some kind of overtime? No......I'll tell you what I think. All, all of us will die. This is just a game for whoever's behind this all."
Meghan lifts her eyes to the heavens, a small smile growing.
" We're all just toys."
"Why should we die for you guys to survive? Why should you guys die for us?"
The smile morphs into a twisted, manic grin.
"I'm not giving you this flag pole. Let the time run out. Let it go down to zero."
In the darkest pits of despair and hatred, she's ushered her own judgement on all forms of life around her.
"LET US ALL DIE HERE."
[Bow] and [Titan] are frozen in shock.
What is she saying...!?
"YOU CRAZY BITCH!!!"
[Bow] lets loose another arrow, but her growing sense of unease and fear has weakened her aim. It whistles harmlessly past the corner, exploding and drowning her targets in smoke.
"YOU THINK THIS IS SOME KIND OF GAME!? I...NO, WE.....WE DESERVE TO LIVE!!!"
All the while, the clock slowly ticks away.
Meghan softly laughs, hugging the flag pole to her chest. Her right side slowly drowning in a sea of growing pain and agony.
"Judgement comes."
BOOM!
Another explosion rumbles from the direction Meghan and Andro once came from. The two turn as a shadow skids out of the smoke, dragging something behind them. Meghan's eyes slowly widen.
"You're....?"
[1:00]
[0:59]
[0:58]
______________________________________
I want to live.
His eyes land on Meghan and Andro. The flag pole.
[Titan]
[Bow]
The clock.
I want to live.
In his grip is the body of [cLoNeD]. A body he raises up infront of himself.
No.
Meghan and Andro try to call out to him, knowing what he's about to do.
Don't!
"DON'T-!"
He lunges forward, using the body as a shield. Desperation, and the looming threat of death has dulled his sense of reason.
Time. I need to buy some time! A momentary blindspot, anything!
"Y-you fucker....!"
The bow is raised and an arrow is nicked in.
"You DARE use his body as a shield!?"
The arrow lets loose and time seems to slow. Everything comes into focus.
If you had just a minute to live, what would you do?
HAV0C'S side explodes, the human meat shield proving useless as it pierces him and his victim. He collapses to the ground in a pool of blood, dragging out a scream.
One minute to prove your worth. One minute to prove your existence.
"HAV0C!!!"
"Using our precious friend as a meat shield...!?"
[Titan] towers over him, fists raised.
"DIE."
"Use skill."
"[Winter Gale]."
A blast of freezing cold wind bites into [Titan]'s skin, covering him in lacerations.
"Ugh-!"
Ice covers Frozen's arms as he keeps up the blistering assault.
[0:45]
[0:44]
[0:43]
"Use skill."
"[Healing light]."
Warm beacons of light cover Meghan and HAV0C, sealing up their wounds.
One minute.
[Bow] goes to aim again but ducks to evade an arrow that whistles past her head. Taro smirks.
60 seconds.
[0:30]
[0:29]
[0:28]
Under the hail of snow and frost, [Titan] spots something. From the smoke, a flash of steel as the flag pole soars over his head.
We may not deserve to live. We may not be worthy.
"The flag-!"
He's silenced by a blow to his gut. A blow that would normally be ineffective, but with the ground made frictionless with a blast of ice.......
He glances down, stunned at the dark-skinned boy responsible as he falls back. Then upwards as the air begins to crackle with electricity.
But I want to live.
[Ben has taken control. Power is activated: THUNDERGOD]
WE WANT TO LIVE!!!!
The small frame of Andro has been replaced with the tall frame of a white-haired boy, eyes crackling blue as he grips the flag pole in the air, launched up by a pillar of ice.
OUR LIVES IS NOT YOURS TO TAKE!
"Use skill. Thundergod...."
"[Descend]."
[0:05]
[0:04]
[0:03]
[0:02]
[0:01]
BOOM!!!
The flag pole impales [Bow] and [Titan] with the speed and force of a lightning bolt. Slamming the two unto the marker as the surroundings are swallowed by a blast of light of and the ground is obliterated.
[0:00]
[Ben has set down the Leader's flag!]
[GGROLEPLAY IS VICTORIOUS!!!]
______________________________________
HAV0C opens his eyes, blinking. The chorus of voices, the flush of toilets. He's in a stall.
Did I fall asleep......?
He lets out a yawn, wiping his face. He did stay up a bit too late last night....
He quickly checks the time on his phone.
......5 minutes, huh? Passing out in a stall for a 5 minute nap.....that's embarrassing.
He opens the stall and steps out. He glances around, yawns once more, and leaves. Going back to his college life.
It may have just been 5 minutes....but I feel like I've had the craziest dream.