Death Games

Welpen decided to speak out of nowhere, not knowing if anyone here was going to hurt them.

“Hi! I’m Welpen! Umm…Can someone tell us exactly what we do here? Do we just sit here like all of you or what?”

“Hi! Hi! I’m Izumi Kamiko,” a small girl said with a happy smile on her face. She was young and had bright blue hair. She wore a pink dress and pink slippers along with an eyepatch over her right eye.

Welpen: “Miss Izumi…Where exactly…are we? My friend and I saw some flashing lights above the building and came here, but we don’t really know what this is.”

Izumi: “Oh? That’s okay. It’s not something I can really explain. Just follow me and you’ll be okay.”

Izumi smiled again and put her thumb up in the air as if everything was going to be okay. A man came up from behind her with white hair that spiked upwards. He wore white armor that extended above his head with his arms wrapped with cloth. He wore an interesting belt that lit up blue and extended blue flames to his hands. His eyes were narrow and yellow in color almost like he wore a mask.

Izumi: “Oh! Naoki! You’re here this time. Last week I didn’t see you here. Were you busy?”

Naoki: “Don’t act like we’re friends, Izumi. I’ll let you do your thing, but don’t drag me into it. I’m here to do my own thing.”

Izumi: “Have I done something wrong? I…I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”

Izumi started to cry from Naoki’s words. She turned to Astro and Welpen.

Izumi: “Maybe he had a bad week. Sorry. I get emotional. I hope I didn’t say something bad to him.”

Welpen: “That’s okay! Everyone has their own problems. Hey? Did a girl with black hair come through here at all? Her name is Isara.”

Izumi: “Hmm. I don’t think so. I haven’t seen anyone like that.”

A voice came over the intercom, much similar to the voice of Izumi’s. “Hello? Uhh, testing, testing. If everyone may please make their way to the main lobby. We will be beginning soon!”

More people began to flood in the front doors when 2 large gates in front of them opened. Welpen hadn’t even been paying attention and didn’t notice those gates. Astro followed the two into the new room where black chairs lined up against the walls of an enclosed room with red walls.

Izumi: “Welpen, come on. Sit next to me.”

She grabbed Welpen’s arm and dragged him along with her. Astro walked over and took a seat on the other side of her so that she was in the middle. Lots of unfamiliar faces surged into the room. Creatures of all kinds. People of all kinds. There were 100 chairs in the room, all the same black color.

Izumi: “I wonder what we’re going to play first?! Hopefully not too many of the same games. I won’t get that many tokens then. I didn’t come fully prepared this time.”

‘Tokens?’ Astro thought. ‘Does she mean Glory Coins? No, that can’t be right. Those have all been lost. What are these tokens?’

The voice came over the loudspeaker once again. “Hello all! Hello contestants! Thank you for your willing participation today. I see many familiar faces returning today along with some new faces. I shall explain the rules before we get started to be fair.”

A man yelled out, “Hey! Let’s just play already! Screw the rules! Everybody knows them!”

People shouted along with him before the girl spoke again. “I know, I know. But, we have to be fair and state the rules once again. For those who are new here, welcome to the Weakening City’s very own Death Games!”

Astro: “What?”

Welpen: “Death? I don’t like the sound of that. Izumi, I won’t die will I? Izumi, what’s going on?”

Izumi: “It’s okay. Just listen to the rules. Don’t worry. We won’t be like everyone else here. Nasty, nasty beasts. Hmph. Just no respect at all.”

Before the rules were announced, they selected two people at random to come to the middle of the room. They stood toe to toe and stared each other in the eyes. A crocodile-like man with a large spear and a young girl with purple hair and fangs with snakes wrapped around her body. She held a white gun in both her hands. The announcer then explained the rules.

“Now, now. Everyone please pay attention. This week's games will be very different and luck based. As most of you know, you earn death tokens through these games. Luckily for you all, the Hallow’s Tournament is beginning in a couple days, so these tokens will be extremely crucial. There will be a boost in tokens for this event. All kills will still be single digit, but all deaths will be double! That’s right! Double! And do remember, you may die through the same technique multiple times, but once you have died one time through that technique, then no more tokens will be awarded. Please help your opponents the best you can. After all, this event benefits all. May the two opponents please demonstrate.”

The young girl’s snakes released from her body and strangled the crocodile to death. However, he didn’t resist. It was almost like he wanted to die. Astro sat in silence, but Welpen stood up to protest this.

Welpen: “Hey! Release that! You’ll kill him! Stop!”

The girl just laughed as the crocodile died in the spot in front of her. Within a few moments, he rose back up onto his feet completely fine.

Welpen: “H-Huh?”

The announcer spoke once more. “As you can see, a death will result in 2 death tokens and a kill results in 1 death token. Miss Violet Kocho receives 1 token and Mr. Hoshi Boa receives 1 death token. The number will appear on the back of your chairs. There will be a total of 7 games. Please remain in your seats as we set up the first game.”

Astro thought, ‘Death tokens must be the currency in this land. Thinking back, that man asked us for death tokens to purchase that dagger and chaplet. So this is an event that they hold to get these tokens. You die to gain currency. It even gets you more than killing. However, they don’t need an incentive either. I’m sure everyone here loves killing, but would be happy to die to get more tokens. This girl–’

Welpen: “Izumi, they can’t do that. They can’t just kill for no reason. Clara always told me that if you must kill, then it needs to be for a good reason. I won’t kill. I’m leaving.”

Astro didn’t even budge, knowing what would happen. He was all too familiar with places like this. The front door didn’t open. He wasn’t allowed to leave.

Welpen: “Hey! Open the door!”

Nobody responded and the contestants began to laugh. A man approached Welpen from behind with orange spiky hair and green eyes. He wore a black and red garb while looking at Welpen menacingly.

“Why don’t you take a seat kid!” He swung down on him with a curved silver sword that had a large green gem encompassing the middle.

Welpen thought, ‘Crap! He’s gonna kill me! What do I d–’

A large scythe wrapped the sword to the ground. Astro snarled at the man.

Astro: “Leave the kid alone.”

“Ha! Are you his protector? There’s no such thing here. That boy and you are gonna die. You’re both on my list. Look around. You’re on everyone’s list now. Now…Go sit down like a good boy and wait for the game you freaks.”

Astro: “Let’s go, Welpen. Go back to your seat. No reason to start anything yet…Oh, but by the way grapefruit hair, I’m pretty sure you want deaths in these games.”

“Yeah. I guess you're right. Let’s just see how long you last newbie.” He laughed as he walked back to his seat.

Welpen: “Astro. This isn’t right. I’m scared. I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die.”

Astro: “I can’t promise you that kid. I can’t say I can protect you. There are 100 people here that wanna kill us. They're not just here for the tokens, but for pure enjoyment. We made too much of a scene. Everyone here is turned against us. I’m sure of it. You won’t die. I know it’s scary because you haven’t died before, but think of it like this. It will only hurt for a moment, but always remember that on the other side of that is life. You will breathe again no matter what here. This isn’t like the outside world. You get multiple chances. It’s kind of fun right? You can’t do this anywhere else. This is reality kid. Don’t get trampled. You don’t necessarily have to kill, but don’t lose yourself in your own mind when the deaths start piling up. Let’s get started.”