One Down: The Rest to Go

The scream was the first thing Ulrich heard when his senses returned. It pierced his ears, and he could feel it going directly to his brain. He turned around, getting a look at source of the scream.

Silvia.

He saw Silvia shaking Timothy, and he wasn't moving. His eyes were jolted open, staring directly at her.

"Come on, Tim. Come on now. This...this isn't funny, Tim."

She got his body on his back, and his head slumped over. She finally inspected his neck, seeing the hole in it. A small hole in his neck, a small stream of blood pouring out slowly.

"Come on, Tim. Wake up. You made it this far. We can't give up now."

The door opened, and Leonie showed herself outside the doorway.

"Look at that, viewers at home! Our very first kill, live and in colour! Ah, always nice to see the game truly begin! Am I right, Kalea?"

"Whatever you say." Kalea sighed, her face looking paler than usual, staring at the light in the ceiling. Her hand was at her mouth and her breathing looked more intense.

"Who, who did this?" Silvia asked in between her sobs.

"Well, I can't exactly go around saying that, can I? That would ruin the surprise!"

Silvia stood up, her sobs getting quieter. She stumbled slightly, but was soon standing upright.

"You. You did this. I-I-I'll kill you!"

She ran up, and Ulrich sprang onto her, grabbing her wrist before she could land a punch. She turned to him with a look of tearful fury, landing a punch to his face. Ulrich's grip loosened, but before anything could happen, Andrei managed to grab her from behind, standing firm as she let a flurry of kicks and elbows into him.

"Good one, Alien." Leonie chuckled; her grin turned to a scowl. "Now, let's get going."

The nineteen of them silently left the building, with Leonie's attempts to bring in conversation failing.

"So, how was that. Good experience? Any new friends? Eric? Yun-Yeong? Odebode?"

Nobody responded to any of it.

Ulrich walked near the front of the group, and felt a finger tap his back.

"Excuse me, sir Alien. But your nose is bleeding." A man in a green baseball cap informed, walking with his hands behind his back.

Ulrich ran his finger under his nose, and sure enough, it was bleeding. And blood was all over his clothes, too.

"Oh, damn." He muttered quietly. "Thanks for telling me."

"Take this, Courtesy of Valentina Nova-Vico." The man replied, handing him a handkerchief. "It's not much, but I hope it helps."

"It will, thanks, mr…"

"Cyrus, Sir Alien."

"My name is Ulrich."

"Understood." Cyrus nodded, keeping a distance behind him.

"So, did you give him the handkerchief?" Valentina asked.

"I did, miss Vico. Still, if I may add something, I don't feel it appropriate to start treating Ulrich with care until he's been properly assessed."

"Assessed?" Valentina sighed.

"I managed some research on the game before entering. I found that many games will have someone secretly alligned with the Novas in order to cause trouble for the other contestants. And considering the story for the audience, I do believe it's him."

"I see." Valentina nodded. "Well, I'll keep that in mind, but paranoia towards who's out to betray who so early in the game can't lead to anything productive."

"Understood, lady Valentina." Cyrus nodded, trying to hide his weary sigh.

Yun-Yeong slowly approached Eric near the back of the group, holding her left wrist.

"Thanks for that, man."

"Eh, it's nothing. That dude's a complete nutjob."

"Ah, okay. But speaking of the nutjob, when it went dark…"

She took her hand off her wrist, revealing a pool of blood forming underneath it.

"What the fuck?" Eric whispered. "Gimme a sec, this might hurt a little."

Eric let a small bubble form in his hand, wrapping it around her bloody wrist. The bubble was already somewhat bloody a few seconds in, but Yun-Yeong breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, why were you so quick to defend me, anyway?"

"Eh, I never gave in to the whole 'blood-types are tainted' thing. I know several blood-types, and the nice-asshole ratio was about the same as other power-types. And as for the serial killer thing, you could have targeted scumbags, I don't know."

"That was the plan, anyway." She sighed.

"See, nice intentions! Probably. But it was what glass-head said, him being so quick to try kill you makes me think he did something worse."

"That…makes sense." She nodded.

"Anyway, sorry if this comes off in bad faith, but you wanna form an alliance? You, me, and Wendy here."

"Your blood is electric, right?" Wendy asked. "I'm electric, too!"

"Cool." Yun-Yeong chuckled. "Anyway, the alliance doesn't sound like too bad an idea."

"Nice." Eric nodded. "Welcome to the Thundersurf."

"That name is ridiculous." Yun-Yeong laughed out loud, stopping when her wrist started hurting again. "But I can't think of anything better."

Before they knew it, they were once again back in front of their bedrooms. Leonie turned around to the nineteen of them. Some looking bored, some tired, some covered in blood. The usual for a gauntlet challenge.

"Alrighty, food will be provided in the food hall again." Kalea nodded, moving away from the front of the line."

"And for our exciting killer, the one hundred coins will be provided once you get back to your rooms. Have fun and sleep well, and prepare for our next exciting challenge tomorrow, brought to you by Nocturne Jewellery: giving people everywhere the power to create a new universe." Leonie bellowed with enthusiasm.