CHAPTER NINE: TRIAL OF BLOOD

Edmund found himself staring at a heap of old cars. He was in a junkyard. The junkyard had been chosen as the arena for the 'Last Man Standing' match. In his hand, he held an assault rifle. The match had begun. Five against one, all Edmund had to do was kill them all before any of them frag him. Should be an easy job.

Edmund gulped down his saliva. Who was he kidding? What was he thinking when he accepted the challenge? Well, its too late to go back now. Edmund knew he just had to do his live long job. Fight.

Edmund paused as he mentally sized up his opponents. He would target Steven first, as he would probably be the easiest to kill. Edmund tried to recall what he read from Steven's dossier. He was ambush specialist. He loved hiding in corners until his opponent stumbled across him, where he would blow off his opponents head. Not very warrior-like, but anything goes. What else...Oh, and he loved the Flak Cannon.

Edmund consulted his map, and smiled. There was only one Flak Cannon available in the whole junkyard, and it happened to be just nearby. Edmund made his way past the heap of junk. Careful not to give away his position, Edmund ducked as he made his way to the Flak Cannon.

When he reached there, he prepared his trap.

Edmund removed the grenade launcher attached to his assault rifle, and dumped its contents next to the Flak Cannon. The Flak Cannon was situated on top of a crate, so Edmund generously distributed the grenades around it. Then, he chose a hiding place that would give him a perfect shot at the Flak Cannon, yet did not reveal himself to the enemy. Edmund hid behind an abandoned hover car.

Immediately after he did that, Steven came into view. He saw the Flak Cannon and laughed. He threw aside the assault rifle he was holding. And reached out for the Cannon.

"Steven, leader of the Truth Sayers. Ha ha. I like the sound of that!"

Edmund sighted the grenades with his crosshair. "Glad to hear that Steven!"

Steven whirled, the Flak Cannon coming up. Then he saw where Edmund was aiming the rifle: at his legs. Steven looked down at the grenades scattered all around him.

"Awww, damn!"

Edmund squeezed the trigger. The shockwave of the explosion threw Edmund backwards to land on his back. The fiery mushroom swallowed up Steven whole, and when the fire abated, Steven was no more.

"First Blood!" The announcer screamed.

Edmund pulled himself up. One down, four more to go.

The explosion was felt by both Lee and Aaron, and they both heard the announcer's voice screaming first blood. They looked at each other. Aaron smiled. "How much you wanna bet that was Steven?"

Lee chuckled. He shouldered the rotary chain gun he was holding. "Edmund will pick us of one by one at this rate. Come on, I'll cover you."

Aaron nodded, a rocket launcher in hand. Together, they made their way to the blast site. When they were almost there, Aaron signaled Lee to stop. Half running half ducking, Lee took cover behind some barrels and quickly set up a firing position.

"Go on, I've got your back."

"Roger that." Aaron could not help but smile. He was reminded of his youthful days when he was a marine in the Terran Military. His smile faded. Time for reminiscence can come later. Aaron brought the rocket launcher to his eye, ready to shoot at a moments notice. He entered the explosion site.

Lee continued to watch Aaron's back, his chain gun scanning for targets. Something was not right. He could feel it. He knew his ex captain well. This was easy. Too easy.

Then Lee looked down at the labels of the barrels which he had ignored earlier. It read. "Explosives."

"Holy mother of Go-"

The explosion tossed Aaron suddenly forwards, and he nearly lost his grip on the grenade launcher. Aaron cursed. It was an ambush. Aaron looked up, and caught sight of Edmund standing on top of a pile of junk, looking down at him. He, also held a rocket launcher. There was a spiral of three rockets bearing down on him.

Grunting, Aaron flung himself away from the rockets path.

But he did not land on his feet, instead, one of his legs connected with a cylinder like grenade from the explosion of Steven. It was a dud, which had not gone up with the fiery ball. It tripped Aaron.

Aaron fell forwards even as he accidentally squeezed the trigger for his own rocket launcher. At that time, it was aimed straight at the ground. The resulting explosion blew apart Aaron's torso, leaving behind only his legs.

"Three down and two more to go!"

Edmund whooped in delight. That was when a high caliber bullet tore through his left shoulder. Edmund screamed.

Edmund stumbled off the pile of junk he was standing down and landed on the ground. He spat out dark burnt earth. Edmund covered the hole in his left arm with the palm of his right, willing the pain to stop.

"Aarrghh. Dammit!"

The pain was excruciating.

Edmund mentally recalled the stats of the people he had chosen. Then, he knew who had shot him. Rita. One of the best sharp shooter there was.

"It is when you are most confident, that you will fail!"

Edmund started and looked around, searching for the voice. He deemed it familiar.

"Don't bother searching for me, Edmund. I am you. Look down."

Grimacing against the pain in his shoulder, Edmund looked down at the puddle of water. It was his own reflection. Only...only it was not him.

The eyes of the reflection bore into him. The lips of his reflection parted...and spoke. "I am so unreal..."

Edmund Ross screamed and stumbled backwards. The old fear returned. "What are you?! Get out! Get out of my head damn you! Get out!" Despite the pain, Edmund clutched his head with his hands. "Get out get out get out get out get out get out..."

A harsh laughter echoed inside Edmund's skull. Edmund roared in pain. "GET OUT!"

A sound to the left. Edmund grabbed for the nearest weapon, Steven's assault rifle and fired blindly. "Get out get out get out..."

The rifle bucked and spat as Edmund fought against the recoil. He shut his eyes as he shot, spraying the whole area with depleted uranium shells. Finally, the rifle choked and stopped firing. It was out of ammo.

The rifle fell from his numb hands. The pain had passed, so had the harsh laughter. Slowly, Edmund opened his eyes. The sightless eyes of Rita stared back. She lay in front of him, body riddled with bullets. Another one down.

Directly behind her, was Sud, and he was holding a high caliber sniper rifle, same as the one Rita had used. He was smiling oddly.

Edmund felt a strange calm fall over him. He picked himself and the assault rifle up and replaced the ammo slowly. Sud raised the sniper rifle. He shook his head almost pityingly. "Too slow, Edmund."

The rifle bucked in Sud's hand, discharging its shell. The bullet went through Edmund's right shoulder, spraying the ground with his blood. Edmund was beyond pain. He ignored it and primed the assault rifle. Sud's eyebrow's arched upwards. He fired again.

The bullet tore Edmund's right thigh, causing him to stumble a little. Edmund brought the assault rifle up. Sud began to panic.

"Die!"

The third bullet struck Edmund in the chest, but he still stood, and the assault rifle was aimed at Sud. By now, Edmund's whole armor was bathed with his own blood. Sud gasped.

"W-What the hell are you??!!"

Edmund aimed. "I am so unreal."

The assault rifle chattered its stream of death.