"OH MAN!!! WHAT WAS THAT????? WHAT AMAZING COORDINATION FROM Q3 AND Q4, HELPING EACH OTHER OUT? But how long could that last? It's unbelievable what kind of things can be done by the human race these days! What an amazing specimen! Next up, 20 seconds. Surely the quadrants can get out of this alive? Who knows?"
Unlike what I thought they would do, I figured they'd call me out on cheating. Which was a far cry from what they think. It wasn't in the rules to not help other quadrants, luckily. A person in Q2 asked me their question, to which I gave a proper response. They got it right, which was very fortunate. Then, it was our turn, then Q4, and this could only be done 10 times at most, and that was if we were going as fast as we could. When only 4 more seconds were left, I didn't speak up. I knew the answer, but. Well, frankly, I wasn't okay with sacrificing anyone from Q2 yet.
Especially when it would do no good. I was confident in myself this time. Whichever creature comes out, surely, it'd be on-par with a tiger. Or, at the very least, wasn't too perfect…
The sirens blared again, and the door of our quadrant opened up. However, the creature wasn't coming out. That was weird, but Jim wasn't speaking up..? Surely, if there was a mistake he'd clear it up..
But, it became drastically clear there was no mistake. When a member from our quadrant shot up in the air, impaled by something. My eye shuddered from the sight, I felt weak, what the fuck was happening? Two people, three, four, five, the number was going up, and it was coming closer to me.
I blinked multiple times, before focusing my eye on where the creature was. It took too long for me to see the flaw. 15 people had gotten either injured, or killed, it was too hard to tell. But, I got it, the weakness. I looked at the control panel, before kicking it multiple times, the metal busting open, and leaving a piece hanging off. It was risky, but I had to do it. I pulled out the metal piece. It had no good way to hold it, but it was good enough. The voice of Jim in the background was all else I could hear that wasn't the fearful screams of Q3.
"SHIIIIT, HE DESTROYED THE PANEL? HE'S GOT A WEAPON NOW, SO LET'S SEE HOW HE FARES, HEHEHE"
I kicked the ground, before running towards the invisible creature, the imperfections in it's invisibility now clear to my eye. When I was close enough, I bashed the creature's knee area, and a loud screech came out. I spun around and hit it's back, then the back of it's legs. The more i hit it the more imperfect the creature became. I kept attacking, and attacking, and attacking, hit after hit. To think this pitiful creature killed 15 people. How unbelievable. Everytime I hit the creature, I felt a new hit of adrenaline. And I kept going until it wasn't moving anymore, and it's green blood was splattered across the grass of the stadium.
"What.. the FLOP??? HOLY COW, MAN, THAT INSANE HUMAN DID IT!! THE INVISIBLE CREATURE FROM MARS! It's unfortunate, the losses, but man, did he avenge all of them smoothly, he beat it's lesser kind to a pulp! HAHA~! I LOVE THIS ONE ALREADY"
The people in all of the quadrants were in awe for a moment, before they all began to cheer happily. I swallowed the thick saliva in my throat as the adrenaline was cooling down. It was a mess of an event. It took me a moment before I realized the cheering was for me. I looked up, bewildered and the black haired lady was right next to me. "Well, hero, my name's Ashley. It's nice to make your acquaintance~"
I blinked, my eyebrow raising, before I cleared my throat.. "Y-yeah, my name's Jack" she helped me up, and surprisingly, the crowd was going wild for me..? Why? People… A lot died? Is it because I tried my best to save people? I can't take the credit. I don't deserve it. The opponent wasn't that formidable. What was going on?
"Well. I'm… This was a brilliant first game. Ah~~ THE CROWD, THE CROWD GOES WIILLLLDDD AAAHHHHHHHHH. ALL SURVIVING PARTICIPANTS MAY LEAVE THE STADIUM, HAHAAAA-" the mic cut off there, and people began to excitedly run back to the main living quarters. I walked slowly, Ashley following close behind as I looked at my hands. They had blood on them, it was green, but it was still blood. I did this… Hey, wait a moment..? I looked to my side, and a menu was open
/-----------\
Your volume was raised by 2!
\-----------/
Ah, this must be the level system thing... My "Volume" was raised by 2, so, that must mean I am at 3. If this is like any roleplaying game, and you start at level 1...
"What are you staring at?"
I shook my head "Oh, nono, it's nothing, just.. I'm surprised."
"That you killed that thing, that everyone cheered for you, or that people died?"
"Uh- I mean, like, well... All of the above, haha.."
Ashley nodded, "You really are good at trivia."
"That isn't useless knowledge, lady."
She smiled a bit, and we both made our way back into the cellblock. My body felt.. Odd. I've never used it in that way. But, at the very least, I was able to kill a creature. Which is better than not being able to. I even got levels from it. When we arrived at the block, people had been celebrating, again.. People died? I guess it was because fewer people than expected died, but is that really it?
I sat down, my right eye began to ache. I couldn't touch it, I didn't want to, in fact, I probably shouldn't, as well. So, I just lay my head down. "I'm glad that's over.. But I'm not too happy about our Losses.."
Nick had poked the back of my head. "Hey, man, it's alright. You saved people, at least. A lot of people here are.. Well, they are envious of you, dude! You're fuckin' wild!" I smirked a bit, before turning my head "So, there was a reward, right?"
"Oh, you betcha! They said we're all getting 25 coins! Especially for the amazing performance! Although, only the surviving people of the quadrants get the special reward, which is roughly, uhm.. 210 people? That's alright, though, you guys deserve that shit!"
I perked up a bit, before standing up "I'm gonna get some sleep now. I'm… Really spent, man." I got up and went to my cell, my body aching, a lot, I never knew this was what would happen when I'd do something so physical all of a sudden. I was crazy. I flopped on my bed, and lay in a way where I was facing the T.V. "Fucking hell, what a day.. Was that really only a few minutes?"
I rubbed my face on the pillow. Taking in a deep breath. I remembered that Feature, and decided now would be a great time to practice. Only.. Who knows how long that would take. OH WELL.
========
I had fallen asleep. I didn't know what time it was, but something was emitting light in the dark cell I was in. I drowsily looked up and remembered, I have to claim my special prize and coins. I looked up at the screen, yawning a bit, before tapping on it, a protrusion came out of the wall and gave me the coins, and the screen changed to a statement and a text box.
/-----------\
To claim your special prize, please tell us what object from earth you want to help you in the future!
Confirm?
Cancel?
\-----------/
I thought for a moment, before coming up with nothing. I could ask for a weapon, but I don't know if it'd really come to be useful, at least, entirely useful or not… It wouldn't hurt though. I spoke up, "I want a tempered steel dagger, the blade will be 4 inches long, the handle is 3 inches long. The handle should be made from polished, sanded birch wood, and I want 'Jack' engraved on both sides of the handle."
Everything I said was perfectly translated into text, and I smiled. I tapped on yes. I looked at the protrusion and grabbed the coins, moving over to my mattress and taking the coin bag out, depositing my earnings into it quickly. Before I went to bed, I checked my lung Feature, it was level three, if I remember right, that took quite a bit, I must've gotten bored and fell asleep. Makes sense. I laid back down and closed my eyes.
I couldn't wait to get some good celebratory grub tomorrow.