Reviews :
Snake557 : Yeah! You remember Mr. Favor ;) He's in the next chapter that will be uploaded on Monday. Solid dude, he is.
Burgie : Yeah, I'm currently in the middle of writing chapter 180... It's just an asinine amount of plot and exposition I'm just drowning in, these chapters being uploaded now are absolutely no different haha. Not complaining! It's just... My brain is goo lmao
*Chapter 156*
"Gideon! Gideon, over here!" A reporter, amongst seemingly hundreds, yelled from the crowd. Everyone only barely settled into murmurs as she hurried into her big, fuzzy microphone, "Had you been planning to use that massive brick in any of your fights or was that a spur of the moment idea?"
"Spur of the moment," Gideon's raspy, darkened voice mumbled into the absolute sea of microphones held out before him, he flinched as cameras flashed over and over. He inhaled a long breath and lulled his eyes half closed in hazy remembrance, the flashing cameras created a void of speckles in his vision, "I just... Recalled the game Ralph's from, a rudimentary game where the only real threat are bricks."
"You know this due to another Ralph being your father, right?" Another reporter managed to squeeze in, hundreds of microphones thrusted forward in the sea, Gideon felt hatred course his veins in hot, seething frustration.
"Yeah," Gideon grunted meanly, the crowd lulled into knowing, chuckling nervousness though quickly roared back into hurried attempts to garner Gideon's attention.
"Gideon, how does it feel to be the first human-like gamer to win Game Over?" Another reporter quickly shouted.
"Fucking fantastic," Gideon's deep voice sagged, his bass-booming voice caused the reporters closest to him to take a nervous step back, to which he huffed a sarcastic chuckle.
"Gideon! Are you ever going to be able to live down the loose idea that you killed your own father?" Another reporter very bravely asked, cameras began to flash rapid-fire.
"Fuck OFF with the Ralph questions, seriously," Albar suddenly barked with a snip of his terrifying wolf fangs, Gideon flinched and peered to him over his left shoulder.
Albar huffed a hot, steamy breath of an irritated sigh through his snout and tossed his dark brown eyes to Gideon's in a knowing loft. Having briefly met his new housemates and friends, the previous Game Over winners, the only exception was that Vye was someone he had yet to meet. The person Gideon immediately felt secure with was Albar, Game Over's second-season winner, a massive beast of a werewolf gamer with fluffy tan and grey fur, harrowing battle wounds and a mess of beautiful, intricate tattoos that sprawled his chest and upper arms, however hidden beneath his mass of fur. A grizzled, fatherly creature, he was starkly different from Game Over's third-season winner, a wily, alien-like species of a guy, Jukkit. He seemed thrilled to be alive, a goofy, sarcastic spirit that acted as if winning Game Over was a simple, joyous bucket-list item he was eager to tick. He bounced on the paw-pads of his feet, he had roughened grey and beige scaly skin, doughy hazel eyes and a grinning, cheeky, structured face of almost menacing, boyish youth, even beneath his hardened exterior and snarky deep voice. Outside of Vye, Game Over's fourth-season winner was the one Gideon was the most wary around.
A lithe, terrifying ghost of an individual, Ora stood just shy of five feet tall and was a pale humanoid-like being, though lacked any shred of distinct warmth or features that would prove her to be anything that wasn't a living, breathing nightmare creature. White skin, white eyes with mere tiny, black specs in the center of said sclera, her skin from her forehead down was a gentle gradient of dark grey tattooing that flood to her sheet white skin, all crowned with midnight black hair. Ora always stood in a bit of a hunch that almost made one wonder if she lacked confidence even so much as existing. She hardly ever spoke, her pupils would often broaden and show proof that she was an intelligent, understanding being, though just being in her presence was unsettling, the raw idea that she had seemingly every single last understanding about the universe was what floored Gideon. A walking god with the absence of god-like powers, Gideon was almost the most scared of Ora for the idea that she won Game Over by sheer wit, sheer defense and nearly no directed, outward action. A mental terrorist, something Gideon almost was eager to strive to be like, due to his manifestation powers and his own ability to use other's weaknesses against them. Although Gideon was backed by his new friends, in this press meet, he felt a growing nervousness continue to plague him with the raw idea that Vye was distancing herself.
"Gideon, what ideas do you have for your winner tattoos and piercings?" Another reporter quickly covered after Albar's brief eruption.
"...Must've missed that memo," Gideon grunted a soft laugh, furrowed his brow in hot confusion and fervently tossed his eyes to Albar and Jukkit, who grinned and began to nudge one another in excited knowing; Gideon felt his pupils tighten in the dreaded realization that all three of his new friends were heavily tatted and pierced in one way or another.
"Yeah, buckle up, kid, getting blasted in one go will leave you clenched for days," Jukkit joked, though Gideon somehow felt relief with the way Albar rolled his eyes in a guffawing manner, as if to insinuate maybe this notion wasn't as bad as Jukkit was leading on.
"Easy remedies to get rid of the pain, you know the drill," Albar's bass-tone, grumbly, grandfatherly voice soothed Jukkit's fiery spirit.
"Yeah, man, the manifestation?" Jukkit hissed in whispery excitement into Albar's bubble, though Gideon looked back to the crowd and could still hear Jukkit's voice, "Y'know how much dope is suddenly available to us?"
"Enough to shut you up, probably," Albar murmured with a cough of a quiet laugh, he shifted on his feet and crossed his big, terrifyingly muscular bare arms, "A feat in of itself."
"Gideon, did you ever have doubts about winning? What one fight did you worry you'd lose?" Another person rushed over the roar of clacking camera shutters and other reporters desperate to get their questions in.
"Probably the one before Ralph," Gideon grimaced and looked down to his hands. Although reset, he still could somehow feel the burning sensation of the microscopic barbs in his eyes that were hissed his way, "I should've accounted for the potential to being blinded."
"Did you manage to pick up that power before you killed her?" The same reporter quickly quipped, though with the strange collection of words that hit Gideon's brain, he furrowed his brow and felt the world spin to a slow, croaking halt.
"No," Gideon huffed gently, somehow the raw notion that he was now entirely labelled a murderer had him wondering why he wasn't landing his feet on remorse, but instead sailed right on past it and felt blistered with victory.
"Gideon, you totaled thirty seven kills, more than any of the other winners," The same reporter luckily got another stab of questioning out before he could be drowned by the sea of chatter, "Do you worry that might put strain on your new friendships?"
"Yeah, we hate his guts," Albar muttered in disinterested sarcasm as he gently gripped Gideon's upper arm and looked to be en-route to leading him away, "We're gunna go cry about it before realizing that all five of us combined have knocked enough heads to silence this entire room."
"Albar, where's Vye!" Someone shouted as Albar began to lead Gideon away, with Jukkit and Ora tight in tow.
"Probably painting her nails and wishing she was a pretty unicorn who ruled the fairy forest," Albar muttered in continued disinterested sarcasm as he flagged his hand, "No more questions."
Gideon and Jukkit quietly erupted into laughter with one another as the four began to be fervently escorted by Arena workers, who also began to hold back the scrambling wall of urgent reporters. A bunch of reporters began to toss Jukkit a ton of questions, though just as he perked up and grinned in menacing tease, so to begin snarkily answering said questions, he choked a noise as Albar suddenly yanked him by the collar and pulled him back with their disappearing group of winners. Jukkit loudly protested, and though Ora rolled her eyes and Gideon was quick to follow the three to an unknown, more secluded destination, Gideon caught Albar doing solid work to try and stifle laughter as Jukkit desperately tried to squirm from Albar's grip. Gideon swiftly was discovering that these hardened killers were not much different from him, and though certainly Jukkit had the killing wherewithal to swipe Albar off of him, both boys began to urgently banter in stifled bouts of happy laughter, securing Gideon with the raw fact that these gamers were soulful individuals, friends he was now floored to have a world in common with, as opposed to the struggles he was having back home. Although interested to see just how he'd fit in, how his powers, heartfelt desires, strengths and weaknesses would mix with these three, four if Vye was included, he was floored that their foundation was the raw idea that they each had endured and won their own rounds of Game Over, a harrowing task he knew he'd need camaraderie to emotionally unpack.
"Don't worry, we don't have to consort with The Block's public very much, so count that as being one of your last times you'll have microphones and questions shoved down your throat," Jukkit muttered, the four now causally began to saunter down a large corridor, dimly lit, clad in depressing, dark metal. Gideon inhaled a shaky breath, nodded and glanced down to Jukkit as he continued on, "There's gunna be a lot to unpack, within the next few weeks, but, for now... Welcome home!"
"Sorry if we end up ranting your ear off," Albar muttered as he eyed Ora with an almost endearing amount of loving annoyance, "We're thrilled Ora joined us last year, but... It's been rather quiet, and you'll soon understand living with Jukkit is something you'd take a second round of Game Over for, over hearing his nonsense day in and day out."
"Man, fuck you, you were THRILLED the second I came along, you spent a year in solitude, I know you'd be sad without me," Jukkit noisily complained, Gideon was shocked to hear a quiet giggle out of Ora, though he was even further shocked to see that Albar and Jukkit were equally as jarred, "Holy shit! I got a laugh outta her!"
"First in weeks," Albar muttered, the four sauntered in step, the whole corridor sung with the dominant, cocky, terrifying vibe these four killers laid upon the land, it was something so palpable, a camaraderie Gideon had never felt before, he nearly grinned and felt as if this was nearly the best day of his life. Albar grunted, shook his head and firmly grappled his strong arm about Gideon's broad shoulders with a jostle as he gestured to Ora, "C'mon, O, gotta at least give him SOME form of a hello..."
"Nice to meet you," Ora's tender, gentle voice nearly murmured in sweetness, Gideon felt his heart sag, he eyed her in warmth and was excited to hopefully learn more about her, even though she looked like a living nightmare creature from the nether realm.
"You too," Gideon volleyed, Jukkit grappled the sides of his head and took off the dusty, tattered tan cap he was wearing, thus revealing a tuft of charcaol grey sprout of hair atop his head.
"You know what I got outta O the second she joined this rag-tag team of murdering delight?" Jukkit yelled as they continued down the corridor, "I got a 'hi' ... How do YOU get a 'nice to meet you' ?!"
"He's sweet, you're not," Ora bravely muttered, Albar covered his mouth as all three men gaped in prickled, stunned delight.
"Oh, shit," Albar muttered through the uproar of laughter everyone, but Ora, was rocketed into.
"I can be sweet," Jukkit meanly muttered as the four rounded into a darkened corner and happened upon a massive swing of metal doors that opened into a dimly lit elevator, all aglow with gentle red lighting.
The four piled in, shifted on their feet in the gentle peer to one another as Albar pressed for the right floor. Gideon took note that it was an extremely high floor in this building, almost near the top, which was nearly fifty floors high. Gideon knew he'd eventually learn the ins and outs of this building, this arena, this city and the dark web all intertwined, though he was very quickly understanding that The Block, said city, was due to going into a temporary hibernation. Due to the recording of Game Over, and the anticipatory wait for episodes to air, Gideon understood that everything was to be on lockdown until Gideon's final, winning episode aired, which was due to being late fall, in which it was currently early spring. Almost thrilled to be curling away and learning this new way of life, with what seemed to be a solid brother and sisterhood with these quirky, surprisingly fun-loving individuals, Gideon sagged in relief and further-allowed his past, and all of those memories, to remain securely tucked away. He was beginning to learn that, with the help of his manifestation skills, if he diligently kept at it, he could lean into the potential at erasing memories altogether, something he was eager to test out and was en-route to beginning the process. A proverbial sweep of issues under the rug he was excited to follow through with, now that he was apart of this brand new era of his villainous life.
"So, this whole building is preoccupied by arena workers, a lot of the floors are rented out by other gamers on the dark web... Lots of trading, selling, red rooms, hacking, the black market, a substantial amount of that bullshit happens in this building," Albar gently explained, though as the elevator finally hummed to a clank of a slow and an eventual stop, the doors opened to a massive sprawl of a lobby, incredible floor to fifty-foot ceilinged glass of a whole view of the arena. A perfect perch to watch the show, and as the four pressed to said glass and overlooked the arena, easily the same square-footage of at least ten football fields, Gideon huffed a chuckle of floored surprise and bobbed a nod as Albar gently continued, "This is our roost... This is the only floor you have to worry about, for now, anyways. Our home is the entire strip of the building hovering in the gape above the rest of the floors, you saw what it looked like from the outside."
"This is insanity," Gideon whispered in boyish delight, he couldn't believe his eyes were now graced with the whole expansion of their little bubble of the dark web.
A massive black dome covered the whole of the city, a dome that expanded up and outwards for seemingly miles. The dome was tidily lined in massive hexagonal tiling that had the gentle illumination of white that barely peeked few, like organized stars, though Gideon knew this was just the upper levels of the internet the dark web eventually crawled upwards to. A trek downward Gideon had to take by his lonesome, the only one window of time The Block was open to outsiders due to taking applicants for Game Over. The city that surrounded the Arena was crowned with tall sky scrapers, with the hug of littler buildings as well, a black mass of gorgeous glass and mirrors, a city to very closely replicate Tron if it were much less illuminated and a far more harrowing, dangerous place to exist. Gideon took in a huge, deep breath and felt floored that he, alongside his four predecessors, were quite literally top dogs in this realm, the scariest realm to grace the grid, and he owned it in strength and wit. He grappled the railing with his bigger hands and felt the urge to grin, a maniacal desire to let loose a cackle crawled up his throat, though he stuffed it and figured this high of feeling like the king of the underworld would eventually subside, and his new life would swiftly turn into a gentle norm of new tasks and things to do, around these new parts.
"Y'think this is insane, this is just our lobby," Jukkit joked with a chuckle and a shrug, he pat Gideon's upper back as the four settled in tender silence, a silence only they understood, Jukkit calmed his aura for this brief moment of said understanding, "Your fight was wicked good, dude... We were rooting for you from the first opponent in."
"Yeah, that lava trick?" Albar bugged his eyes and shook his head as all four aimlessly peered down to the foggy arena. It was tidily pieced back together again, free of blood, bodies, or wreckage, a spooky aftermath that was once a wasteland now pristine and beautiful, "Whew... Shocked the pants off of us. We thought, for sure, you'd continue that lava trend."
"I-It took way too much outta me," Gideon cautioned, he recalled just how incredibly depleted his coding was due to the amount of energy output given just to create such an intensely hot substance.
"My favorite was the black fox reveal," Jukkit added, Albar nodded with a grin, "Methinks you should get some canine-bites, some sort of mouth piercings to go along with an awesome stunt like that. It's in your name, after all."
"Mouth piercings," Gideon sucked in a nervous breath though regret showing apprehension for pain, Albar and Jukkit immediately began to dog on him.
"Oh, COME ON, you JUST endured THE game of all games, you nearly died," Jukkit loudly complained as he gestured his arms towards the frosty glass with a hearty laugh, "Y'can withstand some needles, my guy."
"Gimme your worst, then," Gideon grunted with a sarcastic chuckle, to which the group began to turn and head towards what seemed to be their home's front door. A big frame of a double door that looked modest, though Gideon knew this whole entire floor was dedicated space for them. He swiftly assumed their penthouse home was likely entirely massive, full of many rooms, a mansion in of itself, Gideon smiled and knew this was the lifestyle he was partially used to anyhow. Before the four could reach said door, though, Gideon rubbed the back of his head and glanced to Ora in confusion, to which he finally dragged his eyes to Albar's and Jukkit's who both also caught on to Gideon's slow crawl of question, "Hey guys, uh... Wh-when will I get to meet Vye?"
Albar heaved a long sigh through his nose, looked down into Jukkit's eyes with an equal amount of dread and finally brought said gaze back to Gideon's in a swing of smiling apology.
"Vye unfortunately doesn't live with us... She lives in her own private abode above ours. We have the communal home, a more tight-knit space for us friends, she doesn't really want anything to do with us," Albar regretfully admitted. He shook his head and looked down, to which Gideon could see Jukkit look off in almost sorrowful confusion, cueing Gideon into a bout of curious worry, "She's never told us why, and although sometimes she visits us and makes sure we're each doing okay, don't expect to see her very often, or get to know her."
"Even Albar hardly knows anything about her," Jukkit shrugged, Ora sighed and looked off in gentle contemplation.
"There are differences," Ora wisely muttered; everything she said never came out in full, structured, coherent thought, but more like jigsaw pieces one had to collect in the hopes that one day you'd eventually see a grander picture, something Ora could never fully verbalize.
"Whatever, I think she's a stuck up bitch, just because she's the first winner doesn't mean she's somehow better than all of us," Jukkit gently whispered, he flinched as Albar took a hefty backhanded swat to Jukkit's chest. He jolted and gave Albar a bewildered look, "It's TRUE."
"I don't think that's the case," Albar shushed, though he gave Gideon a gentle look and shrugged, "She'll probably come congratulate you for winning and that's about it... I can request you visit her upstairs, if you'd like. We did the same thing when Ora won."
"Did she talk to you at all?" Gideon asked Ora, he felt his insides clench as her terrifying, pin-prickled gaze locked with his.
"She didn't need to," Ora soothed, her voice was ladened in ghostly lace, "Her mind's eye revealed what was, what is, and what will be."
"VERY helpful, O, huge props," Jukkit muttered in annoyance, though he flinched the second Albar threatened yet another backhand.
"C'mon, I'll take you," Albar assured Gideon, he gestured to Jukkit and Ora as him and Gideon began to head back to the elevator, "We'll meet you guys inside in a sec."
"Okay," Jukkit muttered as him and Ora unlatched their home's front door and quietly vanished inside.
As Albar and Gideon made their way into the elevator in silence, Albar pushed the singular and only floor above theirs, to which the elevator lurched and began to make its humming ascent.
"Don't mind her attitude... I-I know we all have had shitty past-lives, it's the reason each one of us are here, but... I don't know, I think we've all been able to disconnect from it and move on. Vye, not so much," Albar delicately explained, Gideon eagerly hooked his attention to Albar and struggled to swallow in the sudden spike of nervousness, "Don't take any insults personally. You'd think five years is enough time to grieve, especially in solitude like she has been, but... I guess everyone's different."
"Noted," Gideon gulped, and as the elevator doors opened, Albar seemed surprised to see Vye standing out in her own stretch of lobby, identical to their lobby one floor down.
Albar and Gideon slowly stepped off the elevator and peered to Vye as she faced away, she peered out at the same view their lobby had, down to the arena. Her arms were crossed, she stood in silent, contemplative poise, though as Albar slowed to a halt and allowed Gideon to press on, Gideon held his breath and felt a terrifying realization hit his brain. In the slow, melting process of erasing memories from his mind, he flinched as the whole of it desperately tried to begin recovering itself. He was shocked that Kepa's name had a difficult time resurfacing, as did anything else he left behind, though the sheer sight of Vye had his heart thumping in whole entire realization, such a realization that made his skin hot. Due to her darkened silhouette against the foggy arena lights below, the trick of it all had Gideon swearing this silhouette was Kepa's. Her stature, physique, stance, the lull of her tail, the sag of her cat ears, Gideon clutched his chest and felt a cold wash of dreaded understanding hit him. The suspicion that Vye and Kepa were somehow related sagged into his brain like hot coals, though with nowhere to put this information, no sense of using it for anyone's benefit due to his past-life en-route to being long gone, he basked in the simple knowledge of it all. He gently pressed to her side and gave her space, he eagerly peered to the side of her face, and upon seeing her up close, in the flesh, once and for all, he could see Kepa's features written all over her, without a single doubt.
"Congratulations, Gideon," Vye's voice was deep and gentle, womanly and as soft as velvet, darkened and defeated.
She raised her eyebrows and finally glossed her gentle eye contact into Gideon's. With facial features, mouth shape, everything mocking Kepa's to a T, the only difference were her eyes. They glowed a dim, cerulean blue, and instead of Kepa's cross-hairs, she had bigger, black, oval slits for pupils. Information continued to urgently keep its head above water, in Gideon's brain, information he was desperate to drown and delete, though he finally gathered that Vye, too, was in an un-molted stage. Whilst Kepa's un-molted fur was a muted peachy color with big, youthful, maroon-colored freckles, Vye's was a dark, dusty tan-like grey with a creamy swirl of the promise of stripes near her eyes, trailed her upper arms, feet and tail, she was incredibly beautiful, just like Kepa. The promise of molted beauty was almost something Gideon could foresee, also just like Kepa. She had shoulder-length hair that was dark grey at the roots and evened out in a tan gradient towards the abrupt cut that barely kissed the tops of her furry shoulders. She took in a deep, trembling breath and, although her and Gideon held eyes, she proved Albar's and Jukkit's complaining and reserved a lot of the emotions it was clear she was equally trying to drown.
"Welcome to hell," Vye muttered with a minimal peak of a sarcastic curl of her lips; as she spoke, Gideon could see the same teeth and fang structure Kepa had. His heart raced and raced, and though he wanted to somehow leap outwards and beg Vye to listen to him, to spill every ounce of the truth, that Kepa was alive and well, he swallowed firmly and understood now that none of it would ever matter ever again. There was absolutely no way he'd ever be able to return to Litwak's and have normality, he knew Kepa likely would refuse to even so much as look at him ever again, and so, this information harbored was something he firmly shut closed and promised that it was going to be deleted, shortly.
"Can't be THAT terrible," Gideon grumbled above a whisper, he was floored to see a genuine smile eventually sprawl Vye's face as she looked out to the arena, such a smile had Gideon's heart surging in confusion, the battle to keep memories either dead or alive was turning into a massive tug of war.
"Guess you can just keep me posted," She mumbled with a continued smile and a shrug, she tossed the beautiful, calm glow of her blue eyes back to Gideon's in a swing of gentle welcome, "I don't come around often, so if you need anything, Albar's your best bet. You seem pretty self-sufficient, though... Doubt you'll be in dire straights."
"I do what I can," Gideon murmured with a nod, he narrowed his gaze and felt brave, even though he knew he likely shouldn't, "Why don't you come around often? I've only known these guys for half an hour now, but they're-"
"Cool gamers, I know, I don't need the reminder," Vye snipped with a nod, her ears flattened in rising frustration, "I unfortunately didn't win Game Over to make friends and bond over murdering people."
Gideon felt thwarted, and though he knew this wasn't the main reason he arrived, he held his breath and wondered just what Vye had been through. As the first contestant, he wondered just what her reasoning was to begin such a harrowing trend. He long-blinked and now understood the reason she distanced herself, he was floored to know more about her backstory than he'd ever lead on, and though he knew none of it would ever surface, he felt mightier knowing that he somehow knew her crux. So much as mentioning Kepa's name would surely have her crawling out of her hole of isolation. Due to this, he almost hesitantly promised that he'd never erase Kepa's name from his mind, and though he adored her and deleting the memories he had of her would be something he knew he couldn't bring himself to, he was well aware there'd be days where he'd want to. So much as knowing they exist, locked up in his brain, was almost too much to bear. Though still, he wondered if these nuggets of information would somehow win him Vye's friendship in the future. A being that clearly was misunderstood, he was eager to bridge the gap in the hopes that she'd eventually feel welcomed with the rest of the winners.
"Take care," Gideon politely cued, he gingerly turned heel and knew this act of pretending to seem disinterested in her insults, pretending not to care that she was en-route to having a bitchy attitude towards him, was ultimately his way of taking a page out of Ora's book, to play mental terrorism back at someone who seemingly had a leg up. He huffed her a dry conclusion as he began to step back to Albar, who stood in wait at the elevator, "I know I'm all set, but... If YOU ever need anything, we'll be downstairs."
Albar largely bugged his eyes, raised his eyebrows and stabbed his terrified gaze down to the elevator button as he began to rapid-fire push it over and over, praying the elevator would swallow him and Gideon whole before Vye did. Vye scoffed a quiet noise of surprised offense as Gideon proudly walked away, though as the two pushed onto the elevator and the doors closed, Albar bared his fangs and urgently jostled Gideon's shoulder.
"Do you have a death wish?!" Albar sharply wheezed as the elevator lurched and took them down a singular floor.
"I mean, isn't that why I'm here?" Gideon muttered in mild, numb disinterest, and as the doors crawled open, Gideon confidently sauntered off the elevator, to which Albar froze and watched him in stunned, almost ecstatic bewilderment.
"Y'better sleep with one eye open, my guy," Albar muttered as the two pressed to Gideon's new home, a brand new page to a seemingly brand new book in Gideon's life.
