Game 20: Zap Back at Ya

Proteus stared down the gang leader as he offered him his challenge.

“Are you ready to play?” the gang leader asked him.

Something about the air, something about the roar of the cheering crowds, something must have driven Proteus to become more confident than usual.

“Let's play.”

•

Inside the Pariahdome, Proteus and the gang leader stared each other down. Neither had left their place since Proteus had said “Let's play.”

“Could our contestants please enter the court?” The announcer was not pleased with either of their antics. When neither of them responded, the announcer repeated his question, this time much louder, almost ear-piercingly so.

“Let's play, then,” the gang leader told Proteus.

Both players entered the court. Takeshi could only wonder what was going through Proteus’ mind as the game commenced. What was making him so unusually confident all of a sudden? Was it the sudden desire to stand up for something other than himself? Was it him finally being tired of getting pushed around by people who thought they were bigger than him?

“Light it up,” the gang leader told the people operating the electric wall surrounding the court. After they turned on the machine, the walls of the court began to crackle with the sound of electric currents flowing through them.

“So who gets the first serve?” Proteus asked.

“Since you're the challenger, you get the first -” Before he could finish, though, Proteus had already served the ball and hit it over the net. The ball bounced into his opponent's area, and towards the wall. Once it made contact with the wall, it sent a bolt of electricity right at the gang leader. “… serve… Dang, that actually hurt…” The gang leader's Life was now at three.

“Seems simple enough,” Proteus sneered. “Now, you get to serve.”

“It would be my pleasure,” the gang leader told him.

He served the ball even faster than Proteus did, but Proteus was able to return the serve with only a little difficulty. The pace of the game was more akin to table tennis than outdoor tennis, as both players furiously worked to prevent the ball from touching the walls. However, the gang of criminals had other plans. One of them fed a spear through the wall and poked Proteus in the back with it, causing him to miss the ball. It zapped him with a powerful electric shock. As his Life Counter was still buggy due to being afflicted with the Desert Rose's curse, it could not give an accurate reading of his remaining Lives.

“Cheating!” Takeshi protested.

“On the contrary,” the gang leader corrected him. “Your little friend is the one who is cheating!”

“How am I the cheater here?” Proteus asked.

“We keep track of our scores using our Life points,” the gang leader explained. “Your Life Counter is broken, so it would be impossible to see how many Lives you have left.”

“Can't you keep track of the score like normal people?” Proteus then asked.

The gang leader then said, “Drag Away,” sending Proteus back into the wall, forcing him to take the full force of the electric shocks. The gang leader proved to be a potent magic user. “There's only one punishment for cheating in The Game. Game Over.”

Proteus was now completely powerless to stop what was happening.

•

Proteus awoke to find himself reliving a memory of his old friend, Jacques. He probably wasn't much older than twelve at the time, and he had just given his vows to Jacques. But at the time, he had just been beaten down by a rival guild. He remembered Jacques scolded him for letting himself be taken advantage of like that.

“You took a vow in order to join my guild, Rhade,” Jacques told him. “Do you need to be reminded of what that vow was?”

“No,” Proteus told him. “I must never steal from my guildmates. I must never steal from the weak. I must never take Life without necessity.”

“And…?”

“And… I must protect my teammates to the best of my ability.”

“And you must protect yourself to the best of your ability. You cannot keep letting others push you down. If you do that, you'll never make it far in The Game. The name of The Game is survival. You must survive in order to win.”

Jacques then did something that he never did. He offered Proteus a tea.

“You've never shared your tea with me,” Proteus told him. “You always told me it was your medicine for sleeping.”

“It'll help reduce the pain of the transition,” Jacques told him.

“Transition? To what?”

“To death. You're having a near-death experience.”

Proteus couldn't believe what he was hearing. “Am I… dead…?!”

“No, you're dying. There's a huge difference.”

“I can't die!” Proteus protested. “That's not how The Game works!”

“Yeah, that's what I thought,” Jacques admitted. “And then my own best friend killed me in front of you. I'm sure you remember that.”

“Wait… if you're dead, then how am I talking to you right now?”

“Again, near-death experience.”

“There's… There's nothing I can do, is there?”

“There is one thing,” another voice, this time that of an older woman, answered. Proteus turned to see the woman, immediately recognizing her as the High Matron, the leader of the village that took him in when he first entered The Game.

“Are you dead, too?” he asked her.

“Unfortunately,” the High Matron answered. “Something in the Game is causing players to die for real if they are defeated in The Game. Everyone you have ever seen be defeated is now dead.”

“And I'm about to join them…”

“Only if you allow yourself to lose now,” the High Matron answered. “But there is one way out of this situation. You must use your power, and transform into a ragbunny.”

“Why didn't I think of that?”

“I've been trying to figure that out for three years,” Jacques answered.

“But wait, that guy has the power to push people without touching them,” Proteus countered. “How does that save my life?”

“You just need a little bit of luck,” the High Matron answered. “I'm afraid this is goodbye for now.”

Proteus was now crying.

Jacques comforted him. “My maman always told me, 'Au revoir n'est pas éternellement’.”

“Huh?”

“Goodbye's not forever.”

•

Proteus woke up in the form of the ragbunny, alive, and free from the electric shocks.

The gang leader was shocked to see what had just happened. Where once a fifteen year old boy was, a ragbunny now sat, minding its own business. “What kind of witchcraft is this?!”

The ragbunny then became Proteus again. “Finish the game.”

“Who are you?!” the gang leader screamed.

“My name is Proteus Rhade. I was cursed by the Desert Rose with the ability to transform into animals, but only the cute and cuddly ones. And I think we have a game to finish.”

The gang leader shook his head in rejection. “No way. I'm outta here!” He tried to reach for the door, but he had forgotten his own rule. Nobody gets out until the game is over. His Life was now down to two thanks to that mistake.

Nobody in the Pariahdome, not even Takeshi, could believe what was happening. Proteus was actually standing up for himself. No longer was he just helping others, he was now helping himself. He stared down the man who just tried to kill him. “I took a vow to never take Life unnecessarily.” He then turned to the people operating the machine. “My opponent has forfeited. Shut the game down.”

Not sure how Proteus would react if they didn't, they shut the machine down, allowing both him and the gang leader to leave.

•

Takeshi and Proteus were now free to make their way to the Arena in time for the grand tournament. Takeshi couldn't help but smile. His friend had finally learned to stand up for himself.

“I'm proud of you, Proteus.”

“For what?”

Takeshi half-lied, “For learning how to use your power skillfully.”

Proteus played along. “Yeah… I guess my powers are useful, after all.”

Takeshi continued, “I mean… we all knew all along. You just needed to convince yourself of that.”

Before Proteus could answer, they had arrived at the Arena. Proteus had to quickly shrink himself to fit inside Takeshi's pocket before the gates opened. Once inside, they were greeted by the Game Masters.

“Welcome, Takeshi Ishida!” Lazlo greeted him. “You are the sixty-fourth entrant into the Grand Tournament! And without a moment to spare, as the main event will begin soon. Contestants, take your positions!”

Takeshi did as he was told. He could tell he was being watched, not by the spectators, but by the other contestants. A quick glance to his left revealed one of his opponents was none other than the Slicer.

The Slicer said nothing, but instead gave Takeshi a furious glare. He meant business.