Day Nine
POV: Adriane
Emily was right when she said we needed to get a head start. It took us till about midnight to get to the shore on the island the man was talking about: The one we started at. Which was half away across the island from where we were, anyway. By the time we finally found the same, dumb old annoying man we had met the first day, we were all exhausted. We hadn't run into any assassins, thankfully.
We all collapsed onto our backs when we reached the shore. "It would've helped if you'd been more specific, old man," I snarled dryly.
"The good news is, you all got a good work out," The man said cheerfully.
"The good news is that you're defended by giant rats, or otherwise, I could tell you where my foot would be."
"Adriane..." Emily muttered.
"No, no, she's right," The +Anima said.
Sakura shook her head, too tired to do anything else.
"OK, so here's what we've got. Adriane Charday, the warrior of Avalon, Emily Fletcher, the healer of Avalon, Husky, the +Anima, and Sakura, the key to unlocking Tsubasa."
"Yay," We all said sarcastically. No one really cared what Avalon, Tsubasa, or a +Anima was right now.
"Can we go home now?" I said bluntly.
"There aren't four winners," The man said.
"I know, I just felt like asking."
The man shot me a dry look. I shrugged.
"Anyway..." The man started. Suddenly, a small army of rats flooded into the area and created a box around us about a mile long. Or at least, that's how it looked. They also blocked the entrance to the ocean. They probably would've had a harder time with this if someone like Saphira was there. But there wasn't, and it would be impossible for us to defeat an army of angry, oversized rats.
"Now that we've got exits blocked off, lets get this clear: You are going to fight with assassins and against each other. Your goal is to defeat each other before the assassins kill you. I will give you each this one chance right now to send yourself to the lab before the game begins."
We all rested on our backs silently. "Can we rest first?" I asked.
"You have five minutes," The man decided irritably.
It was quite possibly the shortest five minutes of my life.
"Have you all decided?" The man finally asked. Everyone kept silent. So it was probably a surprise when I stood up.
"I can't go home," I admitted. "There's no way I could go home without Stormbringer, or Dreamer, or Ozzie. I could go home without Kara, but that's aside the point." I turned to look at Emily.
"I'm really sorry." And with that, I disconnected my collar.
Subject 92835 defeated.
-----
POV: Emily
I stared at the spot where Adriane had disappeared, sad, but not really surprised. I bit my lip. Why were we even here? Why were WE the unlucky people who were forced to tear each others lives apart?
I sighed deeply and pulled myself into a sitting position, still tired from lack of sleep and walking hours and hours on end to this spot. I looked around. Sakura, the +Anima, Husky, and I. Well, this was going to be fun. Not.
"All right, then," The man said. "Let's get going."
The assassins were technically dumped on us by helicopters. You can imagine how fun that was, seeing as we weren't prepared. I think some were purposely dropped into the pit of rats just so we could see the results. I won't repeat them, but lets just say it was gruesome.
The assassins started to attack us almost immediately. I wasn't the warrior, I was the healer, so I couldn't fight back. I ducked, swerved to the right, ducked again, jumped, and started looking for a safe corner. Everytime I neared the rat barrier, they forced me back into the battle with their teeth. Before too long, my legs and arms were covered with various cuts and scars. Sakura and Husky didn't seem to be fairing much better. Sakura had a deep scar along her cheek, and it looked like she might've dislocated her ankle with a bad jump. Husky had a dislocated assassin claw sticking out of his shouder, and a deep scratch down the back of his leg. Sakura managed to take one of the assassin's claws and was using it as a sword, though it looked like her hands might've been getting cuts in the process of using it. Husky was very experienced with a staff, but it wasn't doing much good here. If Adriane were here, I might've been able to fight, but I didn't like to hurt people, so I just dodged. Which might've been why I was the most injured.
Sakura dropped the object she was using as a sword, revealing the deep, straight scars on her palms. There had been no real grip to the sword. An assassin's claw went straight through the back of her knee. She screamed and crumpled to the floor.
"Sakura!" Husky yelled.
"I thought you hated girls!" I called at him.
"But I hate these assassins more!" He shouted. He ran over to Sakura, weaving through the assassins. He dislocated the shoulder of the assassin who was about to kill Sakura. "I'm sorry," He said, and brought his staff down on her collar.
Subject 31415 defeated.
I made my way over to Husky and we started to work together. Apparently, he had a second staff to spare, because he gave me the one he was using and took out another one. "I usually use this to punish Cooro, but it will do good for now."
"Who's Cooro?" I asked.
"Is now really the time for that?" He growled as an assassin brought down his claws on his head. He deflected it with the staff.
"Listen, Husky...do you have anyone to go back to if you win?" I asked. He nodded.
"Cooro and Nana. A bat and a crow +Anima. Usually, Senri would be there, but..."
"Listen, Husky, I actually can't go back without Adriane and Kara, either. I don't know what the magic animals would think of me. So I want you to go ahead and disconnect my collar," I said, deflecting the blow of an assassin who tried to sever my foot.
"A...are you sure...?" He said, obviously stunned.
"Yah. I'm sure. After all, I need to keep Adriane out of trouble, if anything. Maybe we can break out."
"He seemed quite clear when he said no one had broken out before," Husky murmured. I glanced up and noticed that the man was talking to the bunny in his hand. Mokona, he had called it on the first day. Mokona disappeared, and Husky started speaking a completely different language.
Right, Mokona had been are translation system throughout the game.
I poked Husky and poked my collar, then nodded, hoping he would understand. He did. He swung around and smashed the staff into my collar. The red mist picked up around me.
"Congratulations, Husky," I said, though I wasn't sure he understood me. I smiled to let him know I wasn't insulting him, then I disappeared.
Subject 16529 defeated.
-----
POV: Husky
I just stared at the whole mess as the assassins and the rats all backed off. I stared at the ocean, just thinking. Blood's Island. And I mean this with all the sarcasm in my heart: what a fun place this turned out to be. The man didn't even approach me. He probably knew I would end up kicking his sorry little behind if he did. I sat down and allowed myself to fall asleep on the spot.
When I woke up, there was already some type boat waiting at the shore. The man walked over to me to escort me in, but I swung around and snarled at him. I wasn't following him. As I left the island, I turned back to stare at the shore, wondering what to say to Cooro and Nana. Then I realized, there was almost no way I could tell them anything. If I told any sane person that I just won a battle against thirty five people on an unchartered island in the middle of nowhere, they would think I was nuts. Maybe Cooro and Nana didn't count as sane people, but they wouldn't believe it if I couldn't believe it myself. I remembered Kamui, Kurogane, Syaoran, Cassie, and Fai. Their lives had been taken. You could say I had left many friends, but that wouldn't be exactly accurate. Maybe in any different type of scenario, we could've become friends. Chances are I could've befriended one of the girls.
Yah, fat chance.
But still, I almost wished the whole thing was a nightmare. But as I remembered Senri, everyone else who had been sent to Makai, the people who had died, I knew there was no way it could be a nightmare, no matter how much we all wished it was.
I walked into the boat quietly, gripping my Cooro punishing staff tightly and starting to wonder if I'd ever have the nerve to use it on Cooro again. As I sat on the boat, and it floated away from the shore, I wondered how everyone who had survived was. Makai. That's where we had been warned we were going if we lost. It's the only reason some of us had fought so hard. And I knew that some of them had to go there because of me. The thought that some of it was my fault...
I shook my head, shaking the thoughts away. There was nothing I could do anymore. It was all up to them to make the most of their lives. I had to decide what to do with mine.
I looked up at the person driving the boat. "Out of curiousity, how am I supposed to get home?" I asked.
"We're taking you to a temporary home until we can locate your dimension and send you back." I narrowed my eyes.
"How long is that going to take?"
"Ask the scientists when we get there." There was nothing more to be said after that.