Ridgedog watched the tributes shifting uncomfortably in their glass cages – they nodded at their teammates, gorged themselves on cake, checked their chests, and discussed their tactics. As he flew overhead, preparing to strike the button to begin the games, he chuckled slightly.
Tactics? Pointless.
In the survival games, it was kill or be killed. There was nothing more to it, and nothing less. Ridgedog pondered the sheer diversity in the characters below him – a spaceman, a dwarf, a cyborg panda, a poolboy, a scientist, a wizard, a half-naked man, a musician, and many more – but that didn't matter. At the end of the games, all but one of the cowering tributes below him would be dead. They would either have to watch their friends get slaughtered or do it themselves.
How fun, he thought to himself, as he pressed the button to raise the platforms.
The 16 players clambered out of their cages and darted off, some to raid the centre for supplies, others simply to escape into the thick greenery on the edge of the spawn area.
Nilesy clambered out of his cage, struggling to heave himself out. Toppling onto the floor, he opened his chest and began stuffing his pockets with the contents, only to see Sjin thundering towards him, armed with a wooden sword, a steely glint of determination in his eyes.
"Ah, going for the kill, are we, Sjinny-boy?" Nilesy thought, getting to his feet and scanning the landscape for his partner, Panda, who might be able to assist Nilesy in defeating Sjin, or at least scare him away. Nilesy, spotting his friend, began to make his way towards him, but felt himself catching his foot on a feathery obstacle. "Fuck! Stupid chicken!" Nilesy thought as he fell to the floor.
Sjin, seizing the opportunity, struck the poolboy in the back repeatedly, driving his wooden blade through Nilesy's back, the horrible sound of blade piercing skin accompanied by Panda shouting from a few feet away, "Nilesy! Oh my God!" Rooted to the spot, he watched helplessly as his friend's blood began to stain the grass.
Sjin, his wild hair blowing in the wind, dripping with poolboy blood, drove his bloodied blade deep into poor Nilesy, who let out a final cry of pain before he was silenced. Seeking revenge, Panda jumped out from behind the trees and made a beeline for Sjin, his mechanical eye menacingly reflecting the sun's light.
Sjin, who had pulled his sword from the poolboy's corpse, saw no reason to stick around to be beaten to death by an angry bear cyborg, and so, with a cheeky grin and blood on his face, darted away to rejoin his partner, MintyMinute. Panda, wanting vengeance for his friend's death but keen to still make use of the chaos and panic surrounding him in order to slip away undetected, disappeared back into the forest, cursing Sjin under his breath.
Ridgedog swooped down and landed weightlessly next to Nilesy's corpse, his long coat billowing behind him in an invisible wind. Tutting disappointedly, he clicked his fingers and the body disappeared.
"If they're all this terrible, this will be no fun at all." He mused.
Ridgedog then pulled out a shiny gold loudspeaker from his infinitely large coat pockets. Taking off once again, he said into it; "Nilesy was slain by Sjin." and the message boomed around the entire arena, reinforcing an early grudge for some; and for others, making them quake as they thought about the possibility that they would be next. Satisfied, Ridgedog pulled out a stick from his coat pocket, which ignited the moment the sun's light touched it. Smiling evilly, he dropped it down into the park down below.
"Be advised, there has been a fire started in the park."
With flames beginning to sprout from the ground below him, swallowing the innocent swings and slide, Ridgedog drifted through the clouds peacefully, while below him, mere mortals were preparing for bloody battle.
The Survival Games had begun.