Very Important People

Wendy stopped moving.

So this was death. And she died so stupidly, too. Jeanne was probably watching this on TV, too. The way she died was so pathetic, too. She would probably hate her. She felt herself under the embrace of a pair of arms. The angel of death, maybe? She wasn't really taught a lot of religion, so it could be.

"You can open your eyes now." The voice announced calmly. It didn't sound like an angel of death, it sounded like…Huang. She slowly opened her eyes, and they were floating. Once her vision adjusted, she saw an angelic pair of translucent wings attached to him.

"Still shaking, it seems." Huang sighed, placing her on a train platform. "Allow me to inform Eric of how we're doing."

"I live another day!" Lloyd screamed out, laughing manically. Eric lay defeated on the floor, his eyes completely dead, and Silvia was still ready to pounce.

"Wendy…" His voice trailed off.

"Huang took care of it, dumbass!" Silvia yelled. "If she was dead, the train would have stopped!"

Lloyd tried to run past Silvia, who quickly formed vines through her hair which coiled around his ankles, restraining him. Eric stood up, producing water from underneath his fingernails, the bubbly sensation feeling more intense than ever. He wrapped the water bubbles around Lloyd's head, as Silvia wrapped the vines around his limbs. Underneath the water, Lloyd was desperately trying to stay awake, as the vines moved him to the edge, as Eric removed the water from his head.

"Anything you wanna say?" Eric asked calmly, looking ready to kill at any moment.

"I'm sorry!" Lloyd cried out. "I'm sorry for everything!" I-if you let me live, I'll undo everything! I'll get you anything you want, just let me live!"

"Wow, you really are worthless." Eric sighed angrily. "He's all yours, Silvia."

Silvia undid the vines, and Lloyd hit his chin off the platform before falling off the ledge.

A few seconds later, the train stopped.

"L-L-Lloyd has been defeated." Leonie announced, sounding on the verge of tears, while an audible cheer was heard in the background.

"Aurora, they did it." Amber cried heartfully, hugging Andrei.

The doors to the train opened, and the contestants stepped out, Silvia and Eric fist bumping as they left. Eric got a message from Huang afterwards, asking what platform they landed at. Same one they entered in, so Huang flew over there, carrying Wendy.

"You doin okay, kid?" Silvia asked. "Damn, I need a smoke after that."

"I'm doing okay!" Wendy replied enthusiastically as Eric hugged her, crying.

"I hate Lloyd enough, and he goes and throws a kid out of a damn train." She sighed. "Whatever, at least he's dead now."

Silvia walked back up the steps, along with most of the others, as a disheartened Leonie walked out of the train, looking at Wendy.

"It should have been you." She croaked, utterly defeated.

"The universe is funny like that." Huang added merrily.

"Or...or you." Leonie replied as her watch beeped, causing her to panic. She quickly ran up the stairs, weeping to herself.

"What's her deal?" Yun-Yeong asked.

"Ignore her." Kalea smiled. "Anyway, have fun with the rest of your day."

"So what now?" Vanessa asked.

"Look, there's one thing we need right now, and that's drinks!" Silvia yelled. "Any bars nearby?"

"It appears there's one very close by." Huang said, checking his watch.

"Awesome!" Eric yelled, slamming his fists together. "Tell everybody that drinks are on me!"

Half an hour later, everyone was gathered in the Destroya bar. A small place with leather seats, and a smiler manning the taps.

"Alright, everybody!" Eric yelled out. "I've got a good mood and a wallet I need to make empty! Here's to life!"

Ulrich looked up at the drinks on display, turning to Silvia.

"Do any of those have peanuts?" He asked.

"Nah. Yo, smiler! Two party poisons, as soon as possible!"

The smiler handed them two pint glasses filled with some kind of purple liquid, and the mere smell was enough to make Ulrich tipsy. He took a sip, and it immediately declared war on his throat, forcing him to spit it out all over the smiler. It didn't react.

"Come on, Solar Flare! I thought you fire types could handle this shit!"

"Not this much!" Ulrich yelled back. "I'm not even old enough to drink where I'm from!"

"Neither am I, ya little bitch! Live a little!" She chugged the entire thing down in a single gulp, and her face reddened immediately.

"That's the good shit." She whispered.

"Just a soda, huh?" Andrei asked Wendy.

"I don't really like alcohol." Wendy replied. "It's too bitter."

"I hear ya." Andrei nodded. "Water, however? Can't beat water."

"Soooo, where do you live?" Vanessa asked Amber in the corner. Amber looked at the two empty glasses in front of her, and she was already drunk.

"Level three." Amber replied calmly.

"No wayyy, me too!" Vanessa yelled. "We habe so much in common!"

Amber smiled at her. Aurora was the same way when they first met.

"I'm sorry about my friend here, she's really bad at holding her liquor." Huang sighed.

"No no, it's fine. She's my friend for the night." Amber replied.

"Girlfriennnds!" Vanessa mumbled, holding Amber's face and leaning in for a kiss. Amber put a small layer of shadows between their faces to prevent her from doing anything.

"Well, as long as she's sober by the nights end, do what you need." Huang laughed.

"Hey, have you seen Micah?" Yun-Yeong asked.

"I don't think he showed up." Eric yelled back, lightly buzzed. "Sucks to be him, more drinks for us!"

"Right." Yun-Yeong nodded slowly. "I need to go. I'll be with you in a second."

Yun-Yeong stepped out into the sunset, turned around, and heaved a lump of blood onto the ground. This was new. This was a solid lump, as opposed to the regular blood she had been throwing up. She asked Micah where he was, and she got a response as soon as she sent the message. By the train station.

She made her way down there, and Micah was there, observing the unmoving train.

"Hey." She spoke.

"Hey." Micah said, not looking at her.

"Cleaning staff done?"

"Think so. Lloyd's dead. Super dead."

"That's something." She sighed. "Speaking of dying, I need to talk to you. It's gotten worse."

Micah turned around swiftly, almost falling off the platform.

"How worse?"

"Vomiting up entire blood balls worse."

"Oh, shit. You told any of the others?"

"How do I tell them?" Yun-Yeong wailed. "Hey, I'm about to die?"

"You know, I'm not sure how much I'm aloud to say, but I may know of a cure."

"A what?" Yun-Yeong asked.

"A couple guys I knew were working on a power suppression supplement for blood types. During the testing phase, they discovered that it could neutralize blood problems."

"You're lying." Yun-Yeong replied.

"Can you afford to doubt me?" Micah asked calmly.

"So, what do you want me to do?" Yun-Yeong questioned.

"Make sure I get to the end, I guess." Micah shrugged. "Anyway, want to talk about this train? The technology behind it seems pretty cool."

"No. No, it's…it's fine." Yun-Yeong replied, heading out to the surface.

A chance to live. A legitimate chance to live. She looked at Micah again. He was from Level 3, if she remembered right. So knowing people who make drugs like that wouldn't be too outrageous.

No, he was lying. This was a killing game, and he hasn't done anything worthwhile yet. This was his weird attempt to get ahead.

Besides, she had four other people to take to the finale. No way she was just letting any of them die.

Back in their rooms, Kalea and Leonie saw a screen on the table light up, the smooth voice perfectly coming through, even if the screen was mostly static.

"Well, girls. That was a surprise, so be sure."

"Boss, Kalea did everything!" Leonie wailed. "I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen!"

"Relax, Leonie." The voice replied. "Lloyd's condition is bad, but both of you are perfectly capable of continuing the game."

"Excuse me?" Kalea asked. This was her first time talking to the boss, and she was pretty sure it was Leonie's, too.

"The Clifton's have failed to meet my expectations, so I have no issues with what happened. I'll deal with everything, and both of you will merely receive a twenty percent pay deduction for today's antics."

"Oh, thank you!" Leonie cried out.

"Uhh, yeah, thanks." Kalea added slowly.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, an unknown VIP has made themselves known, so I must leave you. Leonie, as a reward for your dedication for such an interesting game so far, I have altered the next event. I hope it is to your liking."