Gore warning: Blood, Stabbed in Wrist
His hands shook, even as he grabbed at his head, which ached from where he'd been slammed into the wall.
Slammed by the Blaze.
Which didn't make sense- the flaming Punishment was supposed to kill Aiden, and then get killed by the others.
So why had he stopped?
Why he had attacked them instead?
"Dealmaker."
The sound of his name made him finally look up from the floor.
And he could only stare.
The Judge was bleeding.
They had blood.
It spilled down their face from a crack in their silver mask. It dripped down the edge of the sharpened rod embedded in their gauntlet. Crimson blood, dripping down them.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
It made him uncomfortable.
On the occasion Dealmaker had seen people bleed- the inevitable death of the Games, or when he had to take care of somebody for Hadrian-, there was always something that tugged at him uncomfortably. Because blood was a human thing.
In a way, it was the strongest reminder that somebody was human. That they had emotions, thoughts, desires. That he'd just ripped a life away from them.
It should have made him think the same of the Judge. Finally convinced him that under that great 'Judge of all things' facade, the mastermind who'd created this Judgement Day scenario was really just human.
But it didn't.
Instead, it only made him afraid.
Because blood meant people were hurt. That they were in pain. And most people showed this. Most people cried out, most flinched, most curled up. Some people even died.
But the Judge?
They held out their hand, and the shimmering lights on the circle of their gauntlet's palm glowed. With a buzzing sound, the flames in the room beyond the window of the one-way mirror were devoured by pure white pixels in seconds.
Then the Judge looked to their hand, the golden rod sticking out. It seemed painful. It had to hurt. Taking it out would be even worse.
The Judge used their freed hand to yank it out, leaving a gaping hole in their gauntlet and flesh. They didn't cry out. Didn't shift their face. Didn't even flinch.
The Judge was bleeding, yet didn't react to it at all. As if they didn't feel pain.
It terrified him.
The panels of the gauntlet glowed, and with a glitchy-sounding buzz, white pixels flashed across the Judge's face.
They turned to Dealmaker. The large crack that had been in their mask, from when Blaze had thrown them into the mirror, was gone. The blood still remained.
And fury burned in their eyes.
"Dealmaker," the Judge said, their voice still sounding monotonous and inhuman, despite the rage in their eyes, the blood dripping down their face, and the gaping hole in their hand.
Fear pulsed through his veins, his body cold, and tension gripped his muscles tight. He gulped, and managed to say, "Yes, Master Judge?" and realized that, for the first time in years, his voice was wavering.
"Find the Blaze. He is clearly hostile, and we can't have him interfering with the other Punishments, or any other aspect of my plans."
Realizing that he was still sitting on the floor, Dealmaker stood up, shakily. He tried regaining control of his face and voice as he replied, "Of course, Master Judge." He wasn't about to argue with their orders right now.
"Good. I have other plans I have to handle, what with this... unexpected turn of events." The panels glowed again, and Dealmaker felt something drop into his inventory.
It seemed it would take more than a rogue Punishment to destroy a gauntlet with the power of a Command Block.
The Judge said, "I know your fighting skills are most likely a little rusty, however you're going to need that to kill the rogue Punishment, and with that," they turned and walked towards the door, "I will take my leave."
The Judge left the room, leaving a trail of blood drops behind, smeared by their swishing black cloak. Once the Judge's footsteps were out of earshot, Dealmaker pulled the weapon out of his inventory.
The blue diamond blade shimmered with enchantments, and while he wasn't sure with what, sharpness seemed to be at least one of them. He took in a deep breath, steadying himself, and once he'd cleared the image of the Judge bleeding painlessly out of his mind, he stepped into the secret hallway that enabled him and the Judge to go into and observe any room via the two-way mirrors.
Then he started to search for Blaze.