CHAPTER 7: ENDGAME

The two men walked Blain and Norton into the luxurious office that Norton was in before. "Norton. How good it is to see you again." The man sat behind his desk smoking. He stood up and walked over to them. "What the hell's this about? Who the fuck are you?" Blain asked, denying the drink the robot had to offer. "Don't play dumb with me, you insignificant waste of life!" The man shouted to Blain. "Do you think you can actually cheat in this Tournament?" The man pounded on his table. "Wait a second, I didn't cheat.." He said backing up toward the door. The man's thugs grabbed Blain and hauled him off.

"You can relax, Mr. Peterson." The man fixed the collar of his suit. "You mean, he really cheated?" Norton watched the man walk over to his door. "Yes. He thought he could split the winnings with the other team if he agreed to lose." He closed it, and turned back toward Norton. "What will you do to him?" Norton took a drink from the platter. "Whatever I feel is nescessary." He chuckled. "How do you know?" Norton took a sip of his drink. "We know everything Mr. Peterson." The man grabbed a drink off the platter that his robot was holding. "Right. Who will win the next Tournament then?" "We're hoping on you." "Me? I can't win a Tournament." "We know you can't win." Norton looked out the window at the City skyline. "Then what's this meeting about?" "Have you ever thought of why you're here?" "What does that have to do with anything?" "Do you think your wife would approve of you doing this?"

"She's not my wife." Norton smirked, the robot went back to it's original spot. "I mean your real wife. Julie.." "Wha- How do you know about her?" Norton choked on his drink. "We know alot about you. Why she left you, why she took your little girl Angelica. How you gambled your savings away everynight to try win them back, how your girlfriend only loves you for your piece of shit car.." Norton looked at the man in terror. "How you've recently been staying up at night thinking about Avalon.." Norton shook his head and put his drink down. "How can you.. I never told anybody this." The man smiled. "Don't worry. She did the same.. She still does it. Probably doing it right now.."

Norton got up and looked around the room in paranoia. "How do you know this about me? I quit!" Norton walked toward the door. "Let me out of here!" He shook the doors but they wouldn't budge. "You have a contract, Mr. Peterson.." "Fuck the contract!" Norton pointed at the man. "Let me out!" He shook the doors again. "You think you won that little contest by chance? You were chosen. Perfect for it really." He laughed as Norton stood out of breath near the doors. "You see, we needed somebody who would fight for something, yet have nothing.. Somebody we can pluck off the streets and turn into a real champion. Somebody like." Thugs burst through the door. "You.." They grabbed Norton by the arms as the man laughed.

"What the fuck are you doing! Get the fuck off of me! Somebody help!" Norton shouted as the thugs slammed the doors shut with their feet. "I'll give you a little hint as to how we know what goes on inside that head of yours, Peterson." His thugs held him still, as he turned on the hologram that was sitting on his desk. It was the Teleporting Pad. Norton looked at the man with sweat dripping from his forehead like bullets. "The- Teleporter?" "Yes.. Once you step on that, we own you, and you belong to us. We rebuild you from the ground up, out of our own expenses. We know every nook and cranny there is about your DNA structure, so I figured. Why not thoughts too?" Norton tried to break free. "You're insane! Let me go!" The man walked back to his desk. "Insane? No.. Insane would be doing all of this, without one of these."

He reached into his desk and held up the contract Norton signed. "You signed this. You see?" He pointed to Norton's signature. "All I have to say, is that you volunteered for it. You think anyone would care if you existed or not, once we take you away from your Ex-wife and Girlfriend?" The thugs loosened their grip. "Sarah would look for me!" Norton struggled to break free. "You think that cheap whore cares about you, Norton? Wesker cares more about you than she does." He laughed. Norton broke free from the thug on the left and kicked him in the stomach, the thug on the right held Norton in place as the other kicked Norton in the stomach three times. "I suppose I can just.. Kill Avalon, and tell Sarah you ran off with her." The man turned back to his desk. "No.. ..Don't hurt her." Norton put his head down in defeat.

"What a romantic.." The man smiled and took a sip of his drink. "Am I right fellas?" Him and his thugs laughed as Norton spat out blood. "Take Mr. Peterson down to the holding cells and tell the surgical team that our specimen is, finally ready to upgrade.." He smiled. "Upgrade? Surgery? Where are you taking me?" They put a bag over Norton's head and his screams were muffled. "Goodbye, Mr. Peterson.." The man sat in his chair as Norton was dragged out of the room.

Sarah sat on the light blue leather couch watching a replay of Norton picking up the U-Damage for the first time. "Ouch.." She cooed, and flinched. "..Mrs. Peterson?" The voice said from behind the door. Sarah groaned as she got up to robe herself, and walked to the door to use the hologram to see who's outside, it was a Liandri robot. "Yes?" She spoke into it. "We've just recieved a very unusual message from your husband." It replied. "He's not my husband. I'm his girlfriend.." The robot stammered. "Well, that explains it then.." Sarah opened the doors. "Ah.." The robot extended it's arm to greet her. "Sarah.." She didn't move. "Sarah, yes.. I'm sorry to inform you that your significant other has quit the Tournament." The Liandri robot tried to step inside, but Sarah blocked it. "Quit? Why would he quit?" The Liandri robot stood in the hallway. "To return home to his wife and child of course.." The robot stepped inside and Sarah remained in the same position, shocked. "Is this true?" She turned to ask. "I'm afraid so." The robot began cleaning the suite. Sarah remembered Norton saying he was thinking about quitting the Tournament earlier and it clicked in her head. She grabbed her suitcase and ran out of the room in tears. "Madam, your belongings!" The robot waved to her.

(One Year Later)

Sarah was in Club Grymm sitting at the bar, the music quaked, and she could barely hear her friend beside her talk. As she looked up at the Tournament screen Avalon appeared, Sarah stuck her middle finger up and finished her drink. "Want someone to walk you to your car?" Wesker said as he brushed his arm against Sarah. "Fuck you, Wesker.." She put her drink on the bar counter and stood up.

"Ladies and gentleman, tonight's match is all we've been waiting for, for the past six weeks-"

"Oh, fuck! Sarah!" Her friend tapped on the counter in excitement. "This is that shit I was telling you about.." Her friend outed her cigarette and pointed at the screen. "It's the new Liandri battle-droid.. They say he's the baddest one yet!" Sarah stared at the Liandri machine on screen with a sense of vague familiarity.

"Our newest, contestant is the one you've all been hearing about. He was once a flesh and blood man with battle-hardened wits-" "..What's it's name?" Sarah couldn't take her eyes off it. "I don't know yet, that's why I'm here." Her friend laughed.

"Now he's here to face off in an all-out Deathmatch to thirty, against Visse, Entropy and more. Here is.." Sarah gritted her teeth.

"Matrix!" The Liandri machine entered on screen, and the club cheered, her friend jumped up and clapped. Sarah stared at the machine as it trudged from left to right toward the Teleporter Pad, she knew she had seen that walk once before and shed a tear from her left eye. Sarah remembered the man she had once loved.

"Norton.." She painfully whispered, unaware that he was right in front of her.