"Sir, are you sure this is a good idea?"
The sergeant looked on at Junichi, lost in his own little world as he happily paced through the top of the car park, occasionally looking down at the people below. People living their own little lives. From where Junichi was, it was cute.
"Excuse me, mister sergeant?" He said as he turned around to meet his eyes. He was pointing at something, so the sergeant went to see what it was. It was just a guy. A guy in a suit, perhaps he had a long day at work. He was stumbling on the street just enough to be noticeable. Perhaps he had a little too much to drink. Perhaps he didn't want to go home due to familial issues, or perhaps he lives alone in a small and depressing apartment. Perhaps.
"The man in the suit, stumbling. You see him?"
"I do."
"What do you think his life's like?"
"Who's to say?" The sergeant replied. He didn't know why this man was speculating, but he didn't seem like a threat at the moment, so he didn't care to join in.
"I reckon he's unhappy. Stumbling daily through life. Locked into a career he's unpassionate for, alienated from what could make him fulfilled. The city that claims to provide anything, and it betrayed him."
"You think so?"
"The look in his eyes. Of mundane despair. Of knowing he doesn't have the willpower to make his life less mediocre. My previous life."
"Your previous life?"
"I was an office manager. Good pay, had a family. But after a while, I was bored. For over twenty years, I stayed. But my life was meaningless. I could die and be replaced the next day. Whatever spark existed between my wife and I was long gone. Complacency, and nothing more. Then the terror attacks started."
"Terror attacks?"
"Armed men. Never learned what they wanted, but they invaded the office one day. I panicked and killed one, throwing an old computer monitor on top of him until he stopped fighting back. And it was the best moment of my life."
"I'm sorry, the best?"
"The best indeed." Junichi continued. "All that tedium, all that monotony, gone in a single moment. I grabbed his gun and began fighting back, firing bullets into anyone who looked suspicious. It was the most alive I ever felt. And then I was shot dead. After that it was a little more of the same. Got to heaven, entered a training program for the next fifty human years to become a god and rule over my own share of the universe, failed in that. And now I'm here"
"Run that last part by me again?" The sergeant asked.
"Oh, becoming a god. Or a representative of a god. I chose Izanagi myself, had to compete against another man for full control over the timeline. I lost in the end, but I was asked to come here instead. To hide out instead of facing whatever punishment awaited."
"I see." The sergeant nodded, trying his best to process this information. That heaven was real, that the man merely represented one of what sounded like several gods.
"All things considered, letting each man become a god if he has the potential is a great system. I'd recommend trying it once you die."
"I'll try." The sergeant nodded slowly
"But that's enough of another worlds past. Now I have to address the present."
The footsteps suddenly halted when they reached the top.
"Allan!" Junichi exclaimed with outstretched arms. "And Tedros."
"What's up, both of you?" Allan replied, looking at the sergeant.
"Will I leave you to it?" The sergeant asked as he began walking out of view. As soon as he began moving, Allan quickly got a grenade from his backpack. The pin was pulled and thrown at him, and he couldn't respond before the explosion went off. When the smoke subsided, his body was nothing more than a smouldering corpse.
"Was that necessary?" Tedros asked, trying not to look at the body.
"Against the feds, everything's necessary." Allan replied, smirking at Junichi to gauge his reaction. He just smirked back.
"I kill your friend, and no response?"
"I told you already, I'm not connected to him. This is just a temporary alliance."
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Allan said. "So here's the deal. We're gonna fight you, we're gonna beat you, we're gonna take you in, and we're gonna see what you really are. Sound good?"
"Works for me."
Allan took a pistol out of his bag, another treasure from the soldiers he kidnapped, and fired. Junichi dodged, trying to maintain his composure. Tedros ran towards him, trying to land a punch. He jumped out of the way when Junichi tried grabbing him, placing one white dot on the ground. Junichi had to avoid another pistol shot from Allan, trying once again to get Tedros.
This was his attempt at starting a hostage situation, that was obvious. Hold Tedros in front of him, try to make Allan fire an unlucky shot. Wasn't happening, because those were the only two bullets he had on him. The solider was as good at keeping bullets as he was at keeping affairs secret.
Tedros continued running, placing another dot down. Everything relied on this last one. He ducked under another grab attempt, looking at where the last two dots he placed were. Both were near the corners of the surface, meaning everything was perfect for the big play. He ducked again, running behind Allan.
"Don't hold on!" He yelled as he ran past.
Junichi moved this time, to Allan. He automatically ducked down from anything that gun could fire, beginning to chase him. Allan kept the gun steady and looked ready to fire at all times, and the occasional erratic movement meant Junichi thought it was loaded. Tedros ran past Allan and ducked Junichi once again, whispering 'stay in the centre' to Allan as he passed.
Allan did as Tedros told him, running to the centre. He waved the gun a little, faking a quiver to look more afraid, more like prey. And Junichi, mighty predator he saw himself as, went for the bait. Tedros placed the last dot down, and the pillar of light erupted from the ground, it's spike caught on the back of Junichi's suit and dragged him upwards, dangling from the top. He quickly caught Allan, opening his bag to see what he could take. One grenade. He had this.
He made one more desperate dash upwards, the spike itself feeling easier to walk on than expected. It could be slightly shifting to his whims, something to look into later. Junichi's face was strained, trying not to show off the panic within him, attempting to show more contempt than anything. But that didn't matter. Tedros pulled the grenade's pin, leaving it in Junichi's pocket before jumping down to the ground, hearing the explosion just as he hit it. He hit the pillar until it disintegrated, letting the body fall to the ground.
Allan had a manic expression on his face, on having actually killed one of the hosts, but Tedros stopped him getting too close. This was an alleged god, so a resurrection wasn't out of the picture. But after about a minute or so of nothing, it was probably safe to celebrate. But then the soldiers arrived.
The first looked at the two smoking corpses, recognizing one of them as the sergeant. He pulled a gun on the two of them.
"I've got this." Allan whispered. "You run, and I'll see what I can do inside."
Tedros ran, jumping off the top of the car park, quickly placing three fingers on the wall to make a pillar to hang off off as he jumped inside the next level, the yelling of an increasing number of soldiers increasing above, right before the normal ringing began once again.
"And Allan has been subdued! He will be out of the competition for the time being! Congratulations to everyone else for surviving another round!"
Allan woke up in complete darkness. If he was blinded, that would make sense, but he could still feel some sensation in his eyes, so surgical eye removal probably wasn't the case. But he was tied up. Couldn't move his limbs, and he couldn't burrow underground. But his hearing was back, and the discussion was all about him.
"Kidnapped…"
"Took out the sergeant…"
Yep, that was all him. Allan thought as the bag covering him was removed.
The windows were boarded up, and the room was a sterile white aside from that.
"Just gotta wait for our friends to show up." Said one man between a hit of his vape.
Suddenly, the door opened, and in walked four people. Halford, Xaawo, and Kwaku, accompanied by a new woman.
She was tanned, wearing a pretty simple white dress and sandals. She looked more like someone on vacation then the leader she obviously was.
"Hello, everybody." She said calmly. Allan knew the voice instantly. She was less enthusiastic, but it was unmistakably the same voice that announced each game. She walked up to Allan with her hands behind her back.
"So, you're the loser? I will say, your fight against Junichi was extremely compelling to watch. Killing a god isn't easy by any means."
"Defeating that one probably would be." Xaawo whispered to the other two.
"But you lost in the end. And I never thought the game to be a player vs host scenario. Junichi was just too ready to fight. Regardless, the game must end today."
"So we can take him away, miss?" The vaping solider asked.
"Patience, warmonger." She said, her voice dropping.
"Warmonger?" He asked.
"Xaawo?" She asked. Xaawo handed her some papers, which she threw at his feet. The history of the country she and her friends landed in. Military occupation of countries merely on suspected threats leading to hundreds of deaths. Installing dictators in other countries for better access to resources. The violent end of whistleblowers and protestors. All covered up, of course.
"I've seen a lot of this before, back in my world." She said calmly. "And now there will be just a few left. Allan, I'm truly sorry you lost like this."
The four left the room as the air began to feel heavier around them. But only for a few seconds before they couldn't feel anything at all. The woman looked inside as the room was nothing more than bloodstains and clothes indicating they were at one point bodies. She left a note of 'to the military, we are ending our relationship. Do not pursue us or the players at North Lion high.'