Prologue

Damage Control

"Yes, I'm meeting them now," Lisa Valentine spoke into her phone rapidly, a grim expression spread across her otherwise striking face. Her long auburn hair was brushed back but was losing its footing from all the running around Lisa had been doing. "I know… I know! Nowhere else, though? Only London?"

Lisa walked across the underground car park with brisk steps, no time wasted. She reached a pair of elevators sitting in the middle of the car park and called one down. "We're running counter measures, bribing the news outlets, that kind of thing. Covering up something like this, though?" The door slid open and Lisa stepped in, immediately pressing a button for the top floor. She stood straight in the elevator as she listened to the voice on the other end of her phone.

"I saw it. Over a billion views and still climbing. I didn't think the effect would transmit over video but it did. People who are watching that video all see different things. Their deepest fears, their darkest regrets. As a result of this we're getting hundreds of reports of the supernatural, even though the majority of them are nothing but the wind or wild animals." The elevator slowly came to a stop. "I'm just glad to hear that it's only here. Keep an eye on the other HQ's, though. If it happened here it could happen elsewhere. Thanks… Yes, will do. See you later." Lisa hung up and slipped the phone into her jacket pocket, striding out of the elevator into a pristine corridor.

It was absolute chaos. Workers were running back and forth, shouting over each other and handing papers from the offices to the left and right of the corridor. Some were tapping furiously at their keyboards, others were breathlessly speaking into phones. Lisa Valentine's workers were trying their best to get some kind of control of the situation.

Reaching the end of the corridor, Lisa pushed open a pair of clear glass doors into her office. As soon as those doors shut behind her, all the noise and fury of outside were shut out as well. Lisa let out a breath and sat down at her desk, running her hands through her hair as she booted up her computer.

It had been around fourteen hours since the clouds split above London. The phenomena had lasted over an hour before the clouds had slid shut once more, leaving everyone who had personally seen it in shock. Not to mention that every single person saw something different. From the cliché like skeletons and demons, to the occult, like werewolves and witches, to the strange, like naked men or pools of water. It was beyond anything Lisa had to deal with her in her time as the CEO of the London Branch of the Department of Supernatural Investigations.

Lisa logged into her computer and almost as soon as it did a program opened up all by itself. Lisa quickly rolled her shoulders to loosen some of the tension out of her body before the black screen greeted her with only a voice.

"Valentine."

"Good morning," Lisa greeted the faceless voice. Whenever these exchanges with the Board of the DSI occurred, they would never show their faces and they would never let more than one speak during the whole thing. Lisa presumed it was some kind of security measure.

"The situation?"

"We've managed to get control of the newspapers and the television outlets. We're lucky it happened in the evening so we had time to make the necessary offers. We've had no choice but to run it as a movie stunt. Projections from helicopters. It sounds unreal but… well, the reality is even less real."

"And the clock?"

"It has sped up. The ten year deadline has moved forward. Our man predicts that we've got eight years instead now. That's not counting if something like this happens again and it speeds up further."

There was silence on the other end of the laptop and for a moment Lisa thought the Board had hung up.

"Besides this incident, we hear there is another potentially serious problem?"

Lisa sighed. How the hell did they do that? The Oracle had always said she would never deal with the Board directly so there was no way they could know what Lisa was hiding. With no choice, Lisa took another deep breath. "We've had… disappearing bodies since the incident. We've only been able to do a quick investigation of a few of the legible claims but there is certainly truth to the matter. Connor Shepard, Rain Orlando, Mila and Max Abernathy…" Lisa shook her head. "We even had one of the ones from the Epsilon Incident disappear."

"The musician, yes?"

"Bridge, yes. No sign of his body at all. We got his blood stains, we can see where he slumped in what must have been his last moments but… nothing. No body. We recovered Lily Talbot and Sabrina Holland's bodies, though. Both deceased. Ruby Ascot is currently in hospital. She's a strong girl."

"And Jason Ryan?"

There is was again. How did the Board know that kind of information? "He's currently in a safe house. We haven't had time to decide what to do with him yet."

"We want eyes on him. Make him join the Department if necessary."

Lisa was surprised at this course of action. She started to speak without thinking, "That sounds like-"

"You presume to speak out against our decision, Valentine? We remind you that we are the ones in control. Jason Ryan is one of the rare few who has an Ability and we need to research it. So you will invite him to the DSI. Get one of your best men to train him, nurture him, make him into something we can use when the Doomsday Clock hits zero."

"I suppose I could get Solomon… Maybe Cecelia…"

"Use Joshua."

Lisa's eyes narrowed at this. "With all due respect, that's not an option."

"We don't care about your respect. Use Joshua, being a similar age he'll be able to get Jason to where he needs to be. Do not make us concerned about your actions, Valentine. Investigate these missing bodies as a priority. That will be all."

Before Lisa could even dismiss herself the video clicked shut. Lisa sighed and leaned on her elbows, massaging her temples. "Christ…" A light knock on the door made her look up to see someone she didn't really want to see right now. However, she beckoned him in. The young man pushed open the doors and crossed his arms over that garish red-and-white shirt he always wore with the faces of drama emblazoned on either side. "Joshua," Lisa said, leaning back in her seat.

"Lisa," Joshua replied, his expression as carefree as it usually was. Looking at him Lisa was reminded far too much of his father. There was hardly anything of her in the boy. Perhaps the eyes, part of the nose, a little bit of the hair colour. But that was all. In every other regard Joshua Valentine was nothing like his mother. Cocky, impulsive, emotional. If he was ever to take her place as the CEO of the London branch of the DSI, he had a very long way to go.

"What is it? I don't have time for idle chitchat."

"Nice, as always." Joshua sighed and smiled. "I was going to come here to report how Jason Ryan was doing but if you are going to be like that…"

"Don't play around," Lisa said sternly. "Spit it out."

"…Fine, fine. I suppose the tension is a little thick what with the sky and all." Joshua casually walked to the side of the room and pulled a chair slowly over in front of the desk. It let out a high-pitched scraping noise as he deliberately took his time. Finally he sat down and looked at his mother's impatient face, taking joy in the fact. "His body is in good condition. They've treated the leg, got him in a cast, so that's all well and good. With the state-of-the-art health department we have, he shouldn't run into any problems."

"Has he woken up yet?"

"He did…" Joshua scratched at his nose. Lisa didn't fail to notice the red lines poking out of his sleeve like some animal had clawed at him. "He woke up and went wild. Took out the doctor's eye – like literally, gouged the thing out. It took three of us to get him down but he was ranting and raving. Maylene this, Maylene that."

Lisa closed her eyes. "Christ… I was hoping he'd be a little bit more cooperative."

"Nothing like waking up with a bunch of strange people who were confronting you about investigating a top secret company and all that. He probably thought he was going to get tortured. Anyhow, we've thrown him in the White Room." Seeing her expression, Joshua put his hands out. "Don't worry, don't worry. We bound his arms and legs. Hell, we even put a muzzle on him so he can't bite his tongue and accidentally drown in his own blood. I figure give him a day or two and maybe he'll settle down somewhat."

"He wouldn't have to settle down if you hadn't been clumsy."

"Here we go…" Joshua just laughed and turned his back. "I'm not even going to listen to you, Lisa. I'll remind you that Death had his hand in me falling. You wanted me to wipe down the windows and watch him – I wiped down the windows and I watched him. I can't do too much when Death decides he wants his meal." He grabbed the handle of the door but stopped at Lisa's strict tone.

"Joshua."

Joshua slowly turned to face his mother. "Yes?"

"I've got an objective for you."

"Oh really? What is it this time? Would you like me to be a garbage man? Maybe a plumber? Ooh, I got it, I can go find myself some overalls and head into the sewers and clean it with a toothbrush and my own spit. That seems suited to what you think my abilities are, right?"

"Be serious."

"As you well know, serious and I tend to have disagreements." Joshua grinned. "You've only known me my whole life, you should know that. Well… I say known me…"

Lisa didn't have time for her son's foolish antics so got straight to the point. "You are to take full custody of Jason Ryan. You are to train him to join the DSI. You are to be his teacher, his mentor, his friend. Oh, and don't get the wrong idea. I don't think you can do it but the Board has decided."

"Excuse me?" Joshua's eyes widened. "You want me to babysit that crazy guy? I remind you – he ripped out an eyeball! How do you expect me to get that savage out of him?"

"I'd start with getting him to terms of Maylene's death."

"Jesus Christ, Lisa. You don't half give me the shit jobs, you know? Fine, fine, if the Board says so than I guess I haven't a choice. I'm going to give it a week before going back to him, mind. But I am not a miracle man. Chances are the moment I let him out of his binds he's gonna jump me. Hey, maybe that's your plan. Get rid of good ol' Joshua once and for all. Good riddance and all that." Seeing her expression, Joshua just laughed. "Got it. Take care of Jason. Bath him, clothe him, hold his hand as he crosses the road. I'll make him into a wonderful soldier, you mark my words." With that last sarcastic quip, Joshua strolled out of the room, shaking his head at the ridiculousness of it all.

After taking a moment to regain her temper, Lisa picked up the phone from the handset on her desk and dialled in a few numbers quickly. She put it to her ear and waited a moment. "Doctor? It's Lisa Valentine. How is she doing? Not much evidence of shock?" Lisa nodded, allowing herself a smile. "I'm glad. She's just as strong-willed as I hoped. The situation she was in would have broken a normal person. I'll be coming by later today. Once things have calmed down. Thank you, doctor." Lisa hung up the phone and crossed her arms.

Jason Ryan was one of two survivors of the latest group who had become targets by Death. The other, Ruby Ascot, was the one Lisa had her eye on. This Jason was too much of a wildcard, too haunted by what he did to his ex-girlfriend, Maylene.

The reason she wanted to talk to Ruby personally was to give her a choice. To either join the DSI and become a valuable asset for the company. Or to continue her life elsewhere. The DSI would, if Ruby so desired, supply her with whatever she needed to move to wherever she wanted. Lisa doubted the girl would want to stay in London after everything that had happened, after all.


A/N:- Here we go! Final Destination: Elimination Game! Book Two of the World's End Chronicles! Encore was about one girl's selfishness and desire to live... Elimination Game is about one girl's pure of heart and desire to save everyone. It's gonna be a very different state of affairs, I'll tell you that much! Anywho and anyhow, I shall see you in the first chapter on the normal release schedule of Monday and Thursdays, and we shall introduce you to new and old characters like! Adios!