Game 21: Battle Royale

“I would like to welcome you all to the first ever Grand Tournament, sponsored by the V Corporation and Hanson & Jenkins,” Lazlo greeted the crowd. “We have gathered sixty-four elite fighters from across The Game, who will battle it out in a massive battle royale!”

As the crowd cheered, Takeshi was confused. He had never heard of a battle royale before. “Does that mean we're fighting each other all at once?!”

“To the death!” Lazlo continued.

Eileen immediately protested. “That was not our deal! We had a deal!”

“The investors had a better deal in mind,” Lazlo explained. “It turns out life-threatening reality show-type games are all the rage, as the young people would say. With this new arrangement in mind, The Game will make us billions! Trillions, even!”

“You unimaginable buffoon…” Eileen told him. “Those people are going to die, and their blood will be on your hands.” She then stormed off. Lazlo was unfazed.

“Now, for the two hundred and fifty-six thousand people in attendance and the countless others watching from wherever you are, contestants! Fight!”

All sixty-four contestants took aim at at least one other contestant. The Slicer immediately charged at Takeshi.

•

Takeshi, even with his ragbunny boost, was actually having trouble fighting the Slicer. It was obvious that he had trained long and hard for this moment.

“Oh, have I waited a long time for this moment, Takeshi,” the Slicer told him. “Now, I will finally have my revenge!”

“Is that why you saved my life that one night?” Takeshi asked him.

“Nobody will be allowed to defeat you except me! Spin Dash!” The Slicer spun his body around very rapidly in an attempt to deal lots of damage very quickly.

•

Elsewhere in the Arena, swordsmen, casters, brawlers, and archers fought each other as best as they could. One of the fighters in particular was armed with a magical staff.

“Confine.”

Several fighters had their weapons mysteriously vanish. In the rush of confusion, many of them tried to reach into their inventories to grab backup weapons. However, the magical fighter called out “Zap Break,” sending arcs of electricity at her opponents.

This was the Desert Rose, probably the most powerful magic user in The Game. Although her magic was incredibly effective, she seemed to be putting hardly any effort into the actual fighting.

“Can I get an actual challenge, please?”

She looked up to the sky and saw the Blue Moon begin to rise. With each passing moment, she could feel her magic getting stronger.

“Not yet,” she told herself. “Just like the boss said, I gotta wait for it to rise higher.”

•

Meanwhile, the Slicer had pushed Takeshi into the center of the action, surrounded by other fighters who were desperately fighting to stay alive.

“Ragbunny Leap!” Takeshi called out, trying to get away from the other fighters. As planned, he jumped high into the air.

But Slicer had seen this trick before. “Drag Down.” This magic attack brought Takeshi back down to the ground.

“What the?!” Takeshi was shocked to see his ragbunny boost was not effective in fighting (or trying to avoid fighting) the Slicer.

“Your feet will be staying firmly planted on the ground,” Slicer commented, “so I can pound you into it faster!” His attacks commenced, even harder and even faster than before. Takeshi tried his best to block every oncoming hit. But the Slicer was simply faster and stronger. Takeshi was, in no time, reduced to one Life.

Takeshi then reached into his bag, revealing a white orb. Proteus, speaking from inside his coat pocket, protested, “Weren't you told by that Game Master that orb is only meant to be used for emergencies?”

“Proteus… I think this definitely counts as an emergency…”

“Do you even know how to use that thing?”

“Not at all, but I'll need to figure it out quickly.” Takeshi then noticed the orb had a small button on it. That, he thought, must be how the orb is activated. As he pressed the button on the orb, he pulled off a pose straight out of a superhero show and chanted “Let's rocket!”

Nothing happened.

“Really, Takeshi?” a miniature Proteus emerged from the coat pocket. “Let's rocket?!”

“It sounded cool, alright?”

Suddenly, the wind picked up with considerable force, almost enough to knock even the Slicer off his feet.

“What's happening?!” Slicer asked.

In a sudden flash of light, Takeshi's run-down, second-hand armor had been replaced by new armor, resembling an angel's wings. This was Takeshi's Brilliant Angel mode. His strength, speed, and swordsmanship all increased elevenfold in this mode. His Life points were also increased to 5 while in this mode.

“Now, this becomes a real fight!” Takeshi told the Slicer.

“I couldn't agree more!”

•

Meanwhile, high in the audience, guards moved to secure the Game Masters. “Sirs! One of the Master Orbs has been activated! We need to evacuate now!”

“Evacuate?!” Lazlo asked. “This is our moment of triumph! We have a real battle royale on our hands! I can't leave now!”

“Sir, that is a highly experimental item -”

“I know what it is! I want to see it in action!”

•

Takeshi and the Slicer were much more evenly matched now, with Takeshi even potentially having a slight advantage in the fight. Arm blade vs. sword, magic vs. cunning. Neither of the two fighters would give an inch to the other.

“Fireblast!” The Slicer was aiming to finish it off right here, even if it meant he himself would be defeated in the process.

“Ragbunny Leap!” Takeshi managed to dodge this attack with ease, with the Slicer instead aiming towards the other fighters.

Takeshi was able to strike a quick blow from behind, taking the Slicer's Life down to three. However, the Slicer grabbed a hold of his opponent.

“You aren't getting away from me this time! Fire!”

“Proteus, now!” Takeshi called out for his friend, who quickly leaped out of his pocket in the form of a butterfly, then a deer, only to charge right at the Slicer. The pain from the attack reduced his Life to two and forced him to drop Takeshi.

“What kind of magic have you learned since we last met?” Slicer asked him as Proteus the butterfly returned to his coat pocket.

Takeshi said nothing. He could now feel himself getting stronger again, this time from the Blue Moon. Even with all this new power, though, Takeshi's will remained strong. He would not finish off the Slicer, no matter what.

“A coward, you are,” Slicer taunted him. “All that fancy new armor and you still don't have the guts to finish it.” With an angry roar, he then charged right at Takeshi.

Takeshi had never known strength like this before. It had made him feel so… alive. Was alive even the right word for it? Takeshi was now fighting solely defensively, turning each of Slicer's attacks into reversals, but not wanting to deal any more damage to his Life.

Takeshi's outright refusal to actually attack him angered Slicer more and more with each failed attack. But that anger also wore him down with each failed attack.

All the while, the Blue Moon rose higher and higher in the night sky. The Desert Rose saw her opportunity. She flew high into the sky, as if to meet the Blue Moon face fo face. “Mystic Supernova.” Her staff generated a massive orb of energy, and sent it right at the Arena. An enormous explosion consumed much of the Arena.

•

The Desert Rose's dark magic blast had reduced a large section of the Arena to rubble. So many players had been defeated in the attack that the disembodied announcer's voice had broken, only being able to repeat “G- G- G- G-” incessantly.

One of the players who had not been defeated in the blast was the Slicer. Even in his weakened state, the Slicer was able to shrug off most attacks with relative ease. “If anyone is going to defeat Takeshi Ishida, it will be me!”

The Desert Rose laughed at the mere thought. “I think you need to refocus your priorities here.”

“You're absolutely right…” The Slicer then moved to attack the Desert Rose instead. Despite being a magic user, the Desert Rose was able to effortlessly parry his attacks with her staff.

“Diamond Punch.” A flash of light emanated from her staff. In a flutter of diamonds, the Slicer was sent flying into a pillar, one of the few remaining intact from the earlier blast. Despite this impact, he didn't lose a Life here. None of that mattered.

“This can't be happening to me! The Slicer always wins!”

“So long, Slicer…” The Desert Rose once again aimed her staff right at him. “Final Time.” Her staff launched twelve magic blasts at Slicer. Each one landed right on target. The last one sent an electrical charge through his body as the area around him became unstable. Too much magical energy in one place will tend to do that. The Slicer was caught in an explosion that engulfed much of the surviving arena structure. When the flames finally vanished, he was gone.

“That's…” was all Takeshi could say as he finally pulled himself out of the rubble.

“One! Two! Three! Slicer is down for the count!” Desert Rose announced. She turned her attention to Takeshi. “Your time will come soon enough, but the boss seems to think you're still useful. I'll see you around.”

The Desert Rose left the Arena in a state of absolute horror.