Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except for some characters that I created. If I see them in another story without my permission, well, just see what Nothost does to the council in my story. I'll do that to you if you plagiarize my works. Now, to begin the next chapter:
Note: Footnotes at the bottom, explaining the numbered phrases.
Nothost was on an emotional high he had never felt before; he supposed this excitement was the feeling that Cybrans got when they were taking Root Beer (1). Nothost hoped he wouldn't have to suffer the crash after his high point. Tormenting the council this way was his most ingenious plan he had come up with. Not only did he get to torment the enemies that had made his life a living hell, but he actually got to have fun doing it. Nothost decided to go ahead with the next punishment. He couldn't wait to have that exhilaration that he had felt when he sent Hetra into the pit. He pressed the intercom button.
"If you enjoyed the first show, then you'll just love the next program. " Nothost pressed a button, and the viewing screens showed Halburn Stadium, a stadium that was usually used for Wingball (2). However, for this occasion, it was the site of Nothost's next twisted game. The stadium was filled with Nothost's military men, all of who were cheering at enthusiastically at the spectacle in the center of the stadium. Guards brought up Draco and Crena, and unshackled them when they were about 5 feet from a small platform that was covered with a curtain, and about 4 feet off the ground, and 7 wide. Nothost's voice came over on the intercom, and the crowd was instantly silent.
"This show is going to be your money's worth, my faithful fans. Two council members will be judged here, at the price at only getting to see one show!" The crowd roared with approval.
"You're so predictable Nothost. You've set us up in a gladiator ring, with a bloodthirsty crowd thirsting for our blood. What's behind the curtain? Could it be a Narglad? Of course it's a Narglad, it's the only predatory animal left on this planet you didn't exterminate." Draco said sarcastically.
"Why would I bother to conceal the stage with a curtain if it was a Narglad? Besides, when did I say this was going to be a gladiator match? Oh, that reminds me." Nothost pressed a button, and the screen went black.
"If you enjoyed seeing this show, but feel bad knowing that your family and generations to come won't see this once in a lifetime showing? Then pre-order the DVD of "Serene Judgment" today!" A announcers booming voice shouted, and then a picture of a DVD box depicting a white robed figure throwing a lightning bolt down on 6 Cybrans, presumably the council members. Crena stared open-mouthed at the commercial.
"He's selling DVD's of our suffering to the entire general public? Doesn't he have everyone gathered up to watch this?" Crena asked incredulously.
"I think you're missing the point here." Drago replied coolly.
"For just 29.85, you can add this to your DVD collection today! You can watch the council get their divine punishment from Nothost as many times as you want! This DVD also comes with exclusive bonus features, including "The death of Krevax, the 7th council member", an unreleased footage that has never been seen until this release!"
Up in heaven, Krevax was being restrained by his sister and Glemax from trying to dive into the water. "That twisted fiend! Getting killed I can handle, being betrayed I can handle. But advertising my death as a bonus feature on a twisted DVD? I'm going to kill him!"
"Please stop oni-san! You won't be able to see what else is going on if you disturb the image!"
Meanwhile, down on the planet below, the advertisement was about done.
"So for 29.95, this DVD, and all its bonus features, can be yours! But wait, if you preorder now, you'll get a bonus disk that has Nothost himself, that's right, Nothost, being interviewed by Grace Brightwing (3) in which he reveals his feelings on killing the council, as well as how he came up with his brilliant punishments! So order now, at .com, today!" (3) The commercial ended, and Draco noticed that quite a bit of the crowd had taken out laptops and were typing like crazy, eager to get this marvelous product before the special extra DVD was no longer in stock. Nothost's voice came in over the intercom again.
"Now that's over with, I'll explain the rules to our game, but first, let's s see what's behind the curtain. The guards pulled a rope, and the tarp over the stage fell over, and Draco and Crena gasped. Behind the curtain, 7 Cybrans were tied up on racks. 4 of them were on one side, while 3 of them were on the other. In the middle of the stage, a wheel that had pictures and symbols on it stood there. Despite it being nothing more than a carved up piece of wood with depictions on it, it had an ominous presence. This wheel would bring bad fortune. Over each of the Cybrans on the stage, a light bulb was fixed. All of them were off at the moment.
"Nothost Chuckled. "I've taken the liberty of gathering your families together, and put them all in the front row seat for my show. Well, to be more precise, they are the show."
"What are you getting at?
A guard walked up to them and threw them 15 caliber anti-tank riffles, which were primitive weapons in the current time period,
"Alright, let me explain the rules to this little competition. You see the wheel and the lights? Each of you will take a turn, shooting at the other council member's family. The wheel will hand on a body part. You will shot that particular body part of the family member who has a light above his or her head. Oh, and if you get a skull with two scythes on the picture, you have to kill that family member." Draco's son Hama started crying from his position on the rack.
"What? What makes you think I'll participate in such an act? Killing my friends own family, what makes you think I'll do such a thing?" Draco shouted.
If you fail to shot the target within 30 seconds, a sniper will hit the depicted body part on a family member of yours. And if you try to run away, they all will die. Don't even bother trying to take any of the audience hostage either; a one way barrier is trapping you in there and shielding the crowd from harm. Needless to say, you are all isolated in this little game of mine, and will play it, or will suffer the consequences. Spin the wheel!" The light above Crena's wife glowed on, and the wheel began to spin. Draco was still trying to process what Nothost wanted him to do. Kill Crena's family to save his own? Nothost couldn't have made this clearer, but did he really expect for them just to blow their family away in cold blood? The wheel was slowly coming down to a stop. To his horror, it landed on a skull with two scythes.
"It looks like Draco has to kill Crena's wife Grentia right off the bat! What an exciting way to start things off!" The announcer's voice sounded suspiciously like the one that did that DVD commercial.
Forgive me, Crena. We grew up together in these harsh times, thinking that our friendship could endure trivial things like death and war. And now it ends in the kind of game that was outlawed centuries ago. How strange, that death doesn't stop friendship, but something like this obliterates it." Draco raised the gun towards Grentia. Time seemed horribly slow in those brief moments of horror; he could feel his finger pull the trigger, he could hear the bullet roaring in his ears as it was propelled from the thin tube at the end. He could hear it hit Grentia's head. With a sickening thud, and her screams after it hit. But what he heard the most was the crowd's roars of approval, a roar that blocked everything else in the stadium.
"And it looks like Draco has struck the first blow against the competition! I thought for sure he was going to chicken out, but I was proved wrong! Can his opponent retaliate from this blow?"
Crena was staring at Draco with a mix of shock and anger.
"You killed her! You didn't have to."
"Nothost would have killed her anyway. Besides, you'll get a shot at my family soon enough."
"Draco, there's only one way to escape from this madness." Crena shot Drago in the head. Draco's wife screamed, his son started sobbing, and the crowd grew to a deafening roar that even blocked out the announcer's microphone. However, Nothost spoke, and the crowd went silent.
"Bravo! You figured a way out of this situation with minimal losses. I didn't think you would have to guts to do that."
"You can go join Draco in hell, Nothost. As soon as I get out of here, I'll kill you."
"I think you should spend less time thinking about escaping and more time to what's happening to your family on stage." Nothost pressed an orange button on his control panel. A column of flames engulfed half of the stage, more specifically, the one with Crena's family. Crena tried to get them out of there, but a force field flung him back onto the ground, where he stared in horror as his family was consumed by the flames.
"No… this can't be happening!"
"You killed your opponent without playing my game. I'm simply punishing you for breaking the rules."
"You set me up!"
"It took you that long to figure that out? How did you even get on the council?"
"Go to hell Nothost!" He ran for the exit. He was tranquilized by the guards, and dragged away.
"I didn't expect for the game to end so quickly folks. Don't worry though, I have another game that you're all invited to see." The screen changed, and it showed two more of the council, Jomar and Grena, inside of what appeared to be the labyrinth. They were in different parts, and the screen showed both of them at their respective locations.
"Welcome to the maze. The task is quite simple my council members. All you have to do is find an exit, and get out of there. I guarantee your freedom, since I don't expect you to get out anyway I think it's only fair to keep my promise. I should warn you though; I've rigged the place with all kinds of traps. Don't succumb to them quickly though."
"Is there any other things we should know about your twisted labyrinth Nothost?"
"Now that you mentioned it, there is. You better high-tail it through the maze, cause there will be giant spiders coming after you. And they are all deprived of blood at the moment, so they'll tear you to pieces if they find you. Although, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll give you two a 5 minute head start before putting them in the maze. Now on your mark, get set, go!" The council members started off. Grena was having trouble running due to his weight; this amused Nothost to no end.
"That's it my little flies. Go into my webs."
Grena was running when he stopped. He noticed that the ground in front of him looked different from the rest of the surrounding area.
"Is a pitfall the best trap you come up with Nothost? I expected better of you. Grena opened his wings and took flight, and soared above the hole. Nothost grinned.
"It isn't a pitfall, Idiot."
A worm-like creature rose from the hill, and dragged a screaming Grena into it, a few seconds later; bones were ejected from the hole.
"That was a Doom Dozer (4), a little something I ordered off planet. You should know by now, things aren't as simple as they appear to be with me. Now let's check on how Jomar is doing." Jomar was navigating through the maze as quickly as he could, hoping not to become the spider's dinner. He turned the corner, and stopped as he noticed a patch of ground different from all the others.
"That's it! Fall for my trap! With this, I'll only have one more council member to deal with!" Nothost was at the edge of his seat, staring intently at the screen.
Jomar looked around, and noticed a boulder nearby. He flew up into the air, grabbed the boulder, and dropped it onto the patch of strange ground. It went into the concealed hole, and there was a sickening thud, and the cries of a Doom Dozer dying.
"Looks like Jomar is a bit smarter than the last one folks! But can he make it through the rest of my maze?"
Jomar ran for what seem like forever, avoiding more pitfalls and spikes and other traps throughout the maze. Right, left, left, right, he lost track eventually. Suddenly, he saw a light ahead of him. He had found the exit.
"I don't believe it! He found the exit! It looks like I've failed in killing him." Nothost said sarcastically.
Jomar opened the door, and screamed as a spider pounced on him, devouring him.
"Well, he did find the exit folks. But I failed to mention about the kind of spider I released. See, the Poaching Spider picks a spot, and stays there, waiting for its prey. So naturally, I released them outside of all the exits. They never had a chance. And now for the moment you've all been waiting for. The judgment of Yaha will now commence!"
What does Nothost have in store for Yaha, and what will Krevax's decision be? Find out in the next chapter! Please review, I would like to know what you think of this story.
Footnotes:
Root bear was the liquid from the roots of the trees of the Cybran home world. It is extremely alcoholic.
Wingball is sort of like foot ball, only since Cybrans have wings, well, you get the general idea.
The website where supporters can report suspicious activity, send In suggestions, and by stuff that is allowed to be purchased by the government. (Nothost really needs to get a new name for that site, it's so cliché, lol).
A doom dozer is a worm-like creature that tunnels around, makes holes on the surface, covers it up, and waits for prey to show up.
