Chapter 82
Lizzy was happy for her cousin—sort of. She was happy it was Ken winning the Best Duellist award, if it couldn’t have been her. But it should have been her. Sure, she had won the Best Offensive Weapon award, but Best Duellist represented the whole package. She pushed her jealousy down, plastered on a smile, and clapped harder than anyone else on the stage, which didn’t go unnoticed. Ken winked at her as he retook his seat.
This awards ceremony was weird to Lizzy. She assumed that its purpose was to elevate War Games above the other two team challenges so far, but she couldn’t quash the nagging thought that maybe it was more than that. It seemed to signal a greater change in the competition, like a finale of sorts.
The Show was relishing the spotlight, taking center stage in this event of the decade. He deftly moved on to the next award. “We now turn our attention to the last two awards of the evening: our fan votes. In the last 24 hours, we have tasked our audience at home to vote for their favorite Challenger and their favorite All-Star. We are going to begin with the two Challengers who garnered the most votes!” Lizzy wondered who would win amongst the upstarts. She figured her cousin would have a leg up, given his relationship to her and her mom. But, his charisma wasn’t exactly universal. More likely, it would be one of the Bradley twins. However, their family scandals may have held them back as well. Before she could speculate any further, The Show called Cecilia and Ralph to centerstage. “UFO and Evergreen, you have received the most votes amongst the challengers. However, UFO, your bravery in the final days pushed you over the edge. Congratulations, you are the winner of the Fan Favorite Award and ten leaderboard points, while Evergreen, you are the runner-up.”
Well, that was surprising. Somehow, the weirdo had captured the hearts of the adoring public. Odd. She felt bad for her cousin, but she understood him well enough to know that, at the end of the day, he would prefer the Best Duellist award that he had actually earned rather than some glorified popularity contest. Cecilia was less shocking. The young native american woman was powerful, beautiful, and oozed queen bee energy. Lizzy turned her attention to the All-Star fan favorite. She noticed that no one had won more than one award so far and wondered if she would even be eligible to win this category after taking home the Best Offensive Weapon trophy.
“Now, for our final award of the night, our fan-favorite All-Stars!” Predictably, Flint held for applause. “More than two billion votes were cast, and the two Heralds that earned the most are… Olympian and Horizon.” He summoned both women to stand before him. Less than a hundred votes separated you two, but in the end, the winner of the fan’s favorite All-Star is… Horizon!” The crowd erupted in cacophonous applause as Lizzy beamed. She was genuinely surprised. She knew that she was popular. But tonight was the first time she had ever beat Athena at anything, and she beat her out twice! So, she leaned over to whisper to her rival and roommate, making sure to cover her microphone strategically.
“How does it feel to be runner-up?” Lizzy phrased the taunt in a way that if anyone overheard it, it would sound like a compliment like they were in it together and striving for excellence. But Athena knew the true meaning. “How does it feel to be second best? How does it feel to lose, to me?”
Athena smiled up at the taller blond. “How exciting is this! You and I are the only competitors out of this strong field to win two trophies. Congratulations, Lizzy, you earned this moment! Take it all in!”
The reaction frustrated Lizzy. What has happened to Athena? Did someone lobotomize her? What the fuck? “Thanks?” Lizzy responded, confusion and angst permeating her words.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The Show cut into the applause, “Okay, settle down. We have a few more announcements to make before we sign off on tonight's broadcast. First, Horizon, remain here. Athena, would you mind taking your seat, please? Now, Borealis, come join us here at the center of the stage.”
Jax looked shocked but stood quickly and made his way to Bobby and Lizzy, who were waiting at the center of the room.
“Don’t worry, son. This is a good thing, I assure you!” Flint laughed. With the two contestants standing before him, The Show began wrapping up the proceedings. “Now, before we end the broadcast, I have a couple of big announcements.” Flint turned his attention from the audience and cameras to the competitors sitting on the stage. “First off, take a good look at Borealis and Horizon here because they have what you all need: Challenge wins. By gaining the most points in the first two challenges, and captaining the winning teams, Horizon and Borealis have earned gold trophies. Each of you will need to win a gold trophy to earn your way into the final trial of the competition.” He walked over to Horizon and handed her a gold trophy in the shape of The Warrior’s symbol: two swords crossed in front of a shield. “Now, Horizon, you have earned a second gold trophy for your performance in War Games. So, you have the option to hold it yourself, limiting the number of contestants in the final, or you can gift it to one of your competitors, handing them a ticket to the final. Keep in mind that there will come a time when those without trophies will be able to challenge you in one-on-one battles to steal them from you. But that will come later. For now, would you like to gift one of your gold trophies to one of your fellow competitors?”
Woah. This was a twist. Lizzy’s brain cogs began whirring. But before thinking through her options, she voiced a question. “Mr. Show?” Lizzy noticed Flint bristle, but before he could correct her, she continued, “Will challengers be able to take both gold trophies during the steal phase?”
The Show regained his composure after the quick slip and quickly answered Lizzy, “No, Horizon. A challenger can only gain one of your trophies if you are defeated in one of these battles.”
This made Lizzy’s decision simple. She thought briefly about gifting Ken with her War Games trophy, but she needed to hold on to her insurance policy. Plus, her cousin would reject any award he did not earn himself.
“I think I’ll hold onto both of these, thanks!” she gleefully answered with a wink.
“Just as I thought. Congratulations on your second win! Now please, if you could both retake your seats, we have one more piece of business before signing off for the night.”
Lizzy and Jax did as they were told. She glanced over at the young Bradley boy and noted the wide grin he held on his face as he stumbled back to his vacant seat in a daze.
“Okay,” The Show continued, “Now that we have talked about those at the top of the pack, we turn our attention to those near the bottom.” He spun on his heel with his arms outstretched and then pointed at the large screen over his head. “Bring up the Leaderboard!” The house lights dimmed, an animation played on all the screens in the room, ending with the leaderboard being plastered all over the auditorium. After the tabulation of the War Games points, Horizon was in the lead with 50 points, followed by Olympian with 35, and Samurai Tortoise with 31. The rankings had changed greatly since War Games had offered so many potential points. Once everyone had taken account of the point leaders at the top of the list, their eyes followed down to the red line and those nine names below.
Below the red line were Bobby and Animatorch with 15 points; The All-Star, Latch, with 14; Arsenal and Connor had 12; and Artie, Hanzel, Spencer, and Megan all had 10 points each. Lizzy beamed with pride. Not only was she top of the list, ahead of her childhood rival Athena by a nice margin, but Ken was also having a great showing in third place. She had hoped that Hanzel and Artie would be able to stick around, making things easier for her down the line. But really, anyone going home from that bottom group would be fine with her. Things really couldn’t be going any better. Before she could further analyze the list, and even though the leaderboard was still up on all the monitors, the house lights had brightened. The Show’s voice interrupted the scattered mutterings amongst the audience.
“Now, as you can see, some of your favorites may have fallen below the red line. But fear not! Head on over to TopSeed.tv and vote for the competitor that you would like to save from elimination. In one week, we will return, and the four competitors with the least amount of votes will be sent packing as they will be eliminated from the competition.” As outro music began to play through the PA system, Flint walked close up to one of the cameras and spoke directly to the viewers at home, “The power is yours. Use it wisely. See you all in a week!” Flint waved as the cameras pulled back from him, ending the broadcast. The ball had started rolling that could soon crush the dreams of four of the Top Seed competitors.